Virgin Active

Fantastic experience: I have a personal training with Bahar in Virgin Active Finchley Road branch. It’s so worthwhile. Bahar teaches me different exercises and techniques in each session. My posture has improved and I am building more muscle with better strength in just a few sessions. I am looking forward to my training with her!

Fantastic experience: I had a great experience with Ard who showed me around the club and answered all my Q’s! Ended up committing to a 12-month membership, looking forward to it!

Negative experience: The man at the counter at finchley o2 was not interested in giving a tour

Fantastic experience: Always,well looked after when I take my car in for service or repair

Positive experience: Virgin Active Swiss Cottage – Well-Equipped and Convenient, but Not Quite My Scene Ive been a frequent visitor to Virgin Active Swiss Cottage, and while it's a well-run gym with solid facilities, it caters to a broad, mass-market clientele. It’s a great option for those looking for a spacious, well-equipped gym, but those seeking a more premium or exclusive experience may find it doesn't quite match their preferences. That said, it’s clearly a very popular gym, which speaks to its appeal for many people. Pros Convenient Location & Parking – Only a 7-minute drive for me, with a huge car park where I’ve never struggled to find a spot. The location is also great, right next to a large Sainsbury’s, making it easy to pick up post-workout nutrition or do some shopping on the way out. Spacious Premises – The gym itself is massive, with tall ceilings that give it an open, airy feel. Even at peak times, it doesn’t feel claustrophobic. Plenty of Equipment – There’s a large selection of cardio and weight machines, and it’s rare to be waiting long for anything. The gym also has a strong calisthenics community, which adds a unique touch. Good Mix of People – There are plenty of fit and motivated members, both male and female, but the gym still feels welcoming to beginners. There’s no real ‘intimidation factor,’ which is a plus. Full-Length Pool – A solid addition for those who swim as part of their routine. Popular & Well-Frequented – The gym is generally busy, which shows it’s a popular choice for many. Cons Squat Racks & Bench Press Areas – While the gym has all the essentials, the number of squat racks and benches isn’t sufficient for demand, which can be frustrating. Poor Gym Etiquette – Many members don’t put weights back properly, which makes navigating the free weights area a bit of a hassle. Spa & Wellness Facilities – The hot tub is underwhelming—small and not particularly warm. The steam room isn’t very effective, and while the sauna itself is properly heated, poor etiquette is a major issue. People treat it like a pub and have loud conversations, which ruins the relaxation aspect. It also gets overcrowded, which can be uncomfortable. That said, I greatly value the sauna and put up with it. Group Classes – I attended yoga classes, but they book out very quickly, so you have to be fast. The instructors were fine but nothing special. Final Thoughts Overall, Virgin Active Swiss Cottage is a good gym—well-equipped, convenient, and clearly popular. However, it’s not quite the right fit for me long-term. I originally joined to supplement my workouts while David Lloyd Notting Hill underwent renovations, but as those improvements wrap up, I’ll be ending my membership here. For anyone looking for a large, well-equipped gym with a diverse mix of members, it’s a solid choice. But if you prefer a more premium experience with better etiquette in the sauna and weight areas, it may not be ideal.

Positive experience: The gym is modern, new machines were added a couple of years ago and the staff is helpful. One of the ladies in the changing rooms is always friendly and proactive. The feedback that is left on the app tends to be addressed promptly.

Negative experience: We pay money for the service, but every month you have a problem + lack of cleanliness, weak water strength in the bathroom and weak water temperature. This is unacceptable. GymBox Westfield Stratford

Negative experience: This place has been mismanaged. Overpriced, dirty and poor general management have let this gym down.

Negative experience: There are better gyms out there!! I have been a dedicated member of Virgin Active for 19 years, frequenting various locations. For the past decade, my primary gym has been the Swiss Cottage branch. Unfortunately, over time, I have noticed a decline in both management effectiveness and the overall quality of the environment. Post-COVID, there was a general manager who stood out positively. He was often present on the floor, personally addressed members' concerns, and, despite limited resources, demonstrated a genuine commitment to improvement. His visibility and engagement made a tangible difference, even when actions were constrained. In stark contrast, the current general manager is rarely seen or available. When I have raised issues such as the persistent odor in the bathrooms and the cleanliness of the women's facilities, I have been directed to submit written complaints. This impersonal approach is disappointing and undermines the purpose of having a general manager—someone who should be accessible and responsive to customer feedback. There is a glaring lack of investment in essential areas that could significantly enhance the member experience. The women's bathroom and dressing rooms are in dire need of renovations. Broken exercise bikes remain unrepaired, and the limited availability of mats is a consistent issue. The reduction in the stretch area is a step backward, and expanding this space would be a welcome improvement. It is perplexing that management prioritizes adding more sofas and chairs to common areas, seemingly focusing on creating a lounge-like atmosphere. Members visit the gym to work out and wellness, not to socialize in a seating area. Despite these challenges, I continue to work out at Virgin Active Swiss Cottage, primarily due to my exceptional trainer. Without their expertise and support, I would have no loyalty to this location. The pressing question remains: when will Virgin Active head office recognize the urgent need to appoint a competent general manager who can genuinely elevate the customer experience? A leader with vision and a proactive approach is essential—someone who is visible, responsive, and committed to making meaningful improvements on the gym floor, not just in common areas.

Negative experience: Verbal abuse and physical intimidation. No accountability taken and situation downplayed to my complaint regarding your stuff verbally assaulting me at your branch.

Negative experience: I am absolutely appalled by the way Virgin Active Finchley Road has handled a serious incident. My friend was verbally abused at this gym, and instead of taking it seriously, management brushed it off as if it wasn’t an issue. The complete lack of accountability or any willingness to take meaningful action is both shocking and unacceptable. To make matters worse, there was no offer of compensation, no apology, and no effort to address the situation. This raises serious concerns about how much they truly care about the safety and well-being of their members. As someone who values a safe and respectful environment, I am seriously reconsidering my membership here. This kind of response is disgraceful and not what I expect from a brand like Virgin Active.

Negative experience: Moving to London, I recently considered starting a membership at this Virgin Active 255 Finchley Road, as Virgin itself seemed promising, as recommended by a friend. And Unfortunately, reception was rude on the phone. Also it’s clear the staff is extremely rude and I heard swearing/calling customers names is allowed and issue isn’t treated as a serious offense? I value respectful and courteous customer service. I hope the management addresses this issues properly to ensure a more welcoming and respectful environment for future potential members.

Negative experience: Receptionist it's very bad not helpful at all And if you want to speak with manager never available even by phone call

Negative experience: My wife has been trying for 1.5 years to cancel our son's membership and after dozens of mails and calls it still continued to deduct the money every month until we cancelled the direct debit and now have to go through getting the money back ...

Positive experience: Customer service in decline. The club recently stopped answering phones and emails and instead refer customers to a useless chatbot. Reception is chronically understaffed and managing simple membership queries is an exercise in frustration as reception staff always are behind a 10 minute queue and while they are dealing with a simple request they are constantly being interrupted. The club-v creche initially appears to be an amazing service however when you try to use you'll realise it's likely being phased out since hours are increasingly limited and booking is near impossible (they no longer answer phone and can only be booked through useless chatbot that can takes 5 business days to confirm a reservation or answer a yes or no question. Virgin is keen to bill you a premium membership rate but provide services more fitting to puregym. For a premium priced membership David Lloyd still manages more reasonable levels of customer service.

Negative experience: I've already cancelled my VA membership as a result of the rude staff here… Virgin Active Management: If you'd like to respond to this review, I'd kindly suggest that you make a meaningful effort to compensate. Feel free to contact me directly for further details.

Negative experience: They are misinforming and cheating. Tim Formby, PT, pushed to give him a chance and sign contract to reveal immediately after signing that he is not available for sessions and going on holidays. Customer service is appalling, there is no real contact number or people to deal with issues. Everyone says they can't take decisions and will send to corporate. We as customer do not have anyway to talk to the "corporate" or no body hears back from them. Shrouded behind corporate veil.

Fantastic experience: “I want to take a moment to praise the manager of Virgin Active in Swish Cottage for their exceptional service and warm, friendly attitude. They consistently go above and beyond to ensure every member feels welcome and cared for.

Positive experience: I recently joined Virgin Active in Swiss Cottage and I wish I joined earlier as I love the facilities and the friendly staff. I just would appreciate if there were more benches next to the swimming pool as 3 are definitely not enough. Also, an extra shower next to the sauna would be beneficial, but apart from that really happy that I joined.

Negative experience: They refuse to answer the phone. Called up to 7 times throughout the day. Not once could they pick up. Service is going down the drain

Positive experience: A bit small and old compared to other branches. Steam room is not working before its closing time--I was there half an hour before.

Negative experience: I don't know where to start from. This place is an utter joke. I only stay because I am in a one year contract. I spoke to many other people and they all say the same. They wait for their co tract to end so that they never step their feet ever again in here. The swimming pool: Always crammed with people. Swimming pool operates for kids and adults at the same time and it is always a mess. There is never space to swim. Spa: What an utter joke. I wanted to go to spa to relax and with every visit I feel more frustrated. The jacuzzi is tiny and always full of people. Men members who come in groups of 5 and more are always inside the jacuzzi and stay for hours not allowing anyone else to get inside. They also leave dirty clothes, dhoes, towels, bottles and anything you cna imagine just outside of the jacuzzi and behave like animals. Some of them do push uos inaide the jacuzzi or lie down upaide down laughing. The member of stuff who was there was just ignoring them. I complained about that to the member of stuff who was working there and he literally laughed and asked if I have a problem with men and said the jacuzzi was not time restricted and he can't do anything about it. I complained to the manager about the behaviour of the man and the whoel situation and she seemed annoyed and indifferent. I never saw worse customer service anywhere in London. Classes: I have been to a class where the instructor yelled and screamed at me like she was on drugs because I didn't have the appropriate socks for the class even though she had socks that were supposed to be distributed to the people attending the class. I compalined about it and they never followed up about it. The room where the yoga class is happening is pipping hot every time because of a broken radiator and no matter how many tiems people complained they just don't do anything. It is impossible to do yoga because of this. Reception: the vlonde girl called Caytlin is the most sarcastic and rude person I ever met in a reception. When I aksed her if I can leave the gym she laughed and said no you can until your contract runs out. She seems to be so miserable that dhe actually enjoys complaints so that she can be rude and destroy other people's days. In order to enter the gym members need to scan their card and the machine almost never works and you have to scan your card 10 times till it works. This happens to me every single time for the last 6 months visitng the gym. A few days ago there wasa big queue of people trying to get in the gym and their card was not working and thet were complaining. The answered by sarcastically saying :"Aw is it not working? this is strange". I said to her no this is not strange it happens every time to which she replied "no it doesn't. The whole place is a joke and runs just because of the members who registered and are on contract and can't leave. The employees are ridicuclously incompetent and probably unemployable anywhere else as they look slow and not taking any pride in their work. All responses to reviews here are just for show. No one investigates anything and no one in the gym cares about making it decent for their members. Please don't join. I hope this place will shut down for good shortly.

Negative experience: It’s really sad , use to be a good gym Not clean Nothing works Showers dirty Steam room always broken Why am I paying for a broken gym

Negative experience: Despite numerous complaints about the low temperature of the steam room relative to other clubs, the management insists it’s within health and safety issues, which other clubs do not seem to have. The club is not cheap and it advertises the steam room as a facility, no one is in ther because the temperature is so low that the neighbouring sauna is packed while the steam room is always empty. Listen to customers!

Positive experience: Was doing some research to join my first ever gym and when I looked at this was happy but not anymore after seeing the reviews and the hygiene of it

Fantastic experience: You can swim on small pool or the big pool it is safe in the small pool and the big pool is safe but you can't stop swimming if your a kid you can't stop swimming because the water gets deep

Negative experience: Gym is nice but a bit old. Courses are poor. No spinning classes with continuous cancellations for the past months. Management not reactive to sort this issue out.

Negative experience: Disgusting staff, dishonest and very rude. The pool and the jacuzzi are very dirty. The Arab guy at the desk tried to extort £10 off me for a locker key he knew I had already paid for online. The eastern european cleaners throw trash and dust in your face while you're exercising and walk inside the members' changing rooms throwing their weight as if they owned the place. Awful

Negative experience: BUYER BEWARE — Would NOT go back to a Virgin Active Gym again after a blonde girl on the desk reception named Caitlyn who went out of her way to harass my 14 year old Daughter at the time off of some machines and then got Larik to back her up in a quest to bully us out of the gym and make it a toxic environment (gang mentality) — would NEVER go here again and they did not refund me — its not worth the hassle or the steeped price - horrid atmosphere and environment that the staff intentionally create and they do not have any genuine customer service. Will be letting everyone we know about our encounter with Finchley Road staff members - totally unacceptable and lack professionalism and social ettiquette towards its customers - STEER WELL CLEAR

Negative experience: I recently joined after being promised a completely refurbed gym. Despite having new gym equipment, things are already breaking, and some of the cable machines have been broken for weeks. I have found fleas and fruit flies every time I have gone. The change rooms and pool area is still dreadfully old and tarnished. There is no possibility to try the gym before joining, and if I had I would have never signed up. The manager is brilliant at ghosting you when you raise the issue

Negative experience: Filthy changing room and showers, same with area around spa pool. Frequently no shampoo/conditioner. Needs a thorough deep clean. Facilities often not working but price increasing. Cannot recommend.

Negative experience: The club is filthy, bathrooms are unusable. You can literally see sweat stains on machines, they don't really clean anything. Steam room and sauna are small and, guess what?, dirty. It's not worth 100£ per month, I've seen 30£ clubs cleaner!

Fantastic experience: Bahar Malekpour is my personal trainer at Swiss Cottage. it has been 6 months and I enjoy the designed work out with Bahar, she is dedicated, sincere and customises according to your fitness needs. She is very sweet and professional. I highly recommend Bahar if you are getting PT. Thank you

Positive experience: An abundance of fitness classes, led by awesome instructors plus a 25m pool. Especially good if you can go off-peak.

Fantastic experience: Great club , amazing PTs , staff always helpful even when under a lot of pressure. Gym floor refurb was a great improvement. Reformer and spin classes have good instructors. The lounges are nice to sit in and relax or work from. The club works for me I love being a member value for money and then some.

Fantastic experience: Gym with a Creche : what else? I couldn't ask for more! The nursery is a little treasure, litterally. Fantastic and professional staff. My son is spoiled and well looked after. A 10 0ut of 10!!cannot wait to come back. I can finally have a proper gym session and enjoy all of the amazing facilities and classes they have. I wouls suggest to book classes at least 7days in advance

Negative experience: The worst gym ever. What’s wrong with staff? They are bullish, patronising and condescending and don’t answer the phone!!!you could be waiting for the entire time and then it says leave a message!!!! This has happened 3 days in a row, 3-4 times a day!!! If you don’t have staff then get more people who know the meaning of customer service rather than junior folk who just don’t have any work ethic, emotional intelligence or empathy whatsoever!

Negative experience: Mariana S is the worst instructor. Barely understand what she's saying, and shes rude to everyone including staff. I moved from another club where she taught and was dismayed to see her here as well. Will cancel my membership before its too late. Deeply disappointed.

Negative experience: Beware! They will keep charging membership fees with requesting “proof” something official! My teenage daughter told and emailed them we move out, but their customer service doesn’t approve it. The guy in charge didn’t respond our questions initially, so we didn’t realise they keep charging until recently. Simply too much. They don’t refund it in the end.

Negative experience: I am relatively new member. The Quiet Lounge at Virgin Active Swiss Cottage, which was advertised as a quiet space, often becomes a spot where people take phone calls. It would be helpful if staff could occasionally monitor the area and remind members of the lounge's purpose. However, my primary concern is the persistent hygiene issue in the lounge. I've noticed mouse droppings, flies, and even small mice in the area. While I understand that Nando's is located next to the gym, this situation is unacceptable. The rest of the gym is well-maintained, but this issue demands urgent attention for the well-being of both current and future members. I strongly recommend that management take steps to address this, including asking Nando’s to secure the shared door and ensuring regular, thorough cleaning of the lounge and removal of waste. When I raised this concern with a staff member, the response was rather dismissive, which is disappointing given the impact on both members and employees. Please address this issue seriously to ensure a healthier environment for everyone.

Fantastic experience: Couldn’t be more delighted with this branch of Virgin Active. They have good facilities, friendly and helpful staff, and a wide variety of classes led by great trainers.

Negative experience: I will keep it short and sweet . poor hygiene in the gym, classes, sunna & steam, toilets, showers, and pool area. . The majority of items are broken, such as machines on the gym floor, showers, and dispensers for shampoo, and conditioner in the showers, Sunna is not working. It's super hard to book any classes . Overall, Poor quality, and disappointment for a well-known brand!

Negative experience: Bad gym, not kept to the quality virgin gyms should be, security measures are not great either.

Negative experience: Disgusting changing rooms and spa. Very unhygienic. They should be closed down until they are at a hygienic standard.

Positive experience: Nice club quite spacious and convenient for locals in the shopping centre but prices keep increasing doesn’t reflect the amenities. Included a big pool sauna and steam room (if lucky enough they are functioning) and staff are good overall

Negative experience: Some of the staff here have lost their manners on how to talk to members. They think they are conversing with their friends - shouting and being rude. Management cover this up and don’t take appropriate action. You pay a high fees for the quality of service received. It seems that some VA Swiss Cottage staff have lost the sense of customer service. In turn the ones good suffer!

Negative experience: Customer Services is really appalling.Their internal data system appears to be really obsolete too: there was a technical issue when renewing my membership (in April!!) and no one seems to be able to look into this. I have been a member of this gym for almost 20 years and I can confirm it is really going down the hill. I feel really neglected as a loyal customer and very disappointed with the club.

Negative experience: Overpriced, understocked in terms of classes. Outdated equipment. Cancellation of classes last minute and for long periods without notice. Disgusting shower and changing rooms. What are you charging £100+ a month for

Negative experience: Lucky to even get a 1star, receptionists are rude and not friendly at all, would definitely not recommend this as your home gym!

Negative experience: I’m very disappointed with all the very apparent cost cuttings with the amateur trainers and only few good ones left particularly in reformer. The most surprising is the ridiculous change in music as Virgin is not paying for copyright now, the core of spinning class or cardio is to have the right music and tempo. I hope this one is addressed sooner than later. No wonder Virgin forced everyone into 12 months contracts as if there is another gym opening in the area everyone will leave. The quality is low in every aspect of the gym which seems to be the chosen direction with the management.

Negative experience: The Swiss Cottage Gym every month becomes more and more worst. The Bathrooms, changing room and spa area is old and dirty, most of the time the pool area is closed. They prefer to save money instead keep the customers happy!

Negative experience: This is by no means one of the good virgins, not even close but the reason for the low review is the price - an unbelievable £110 a month now! Virgin are getting way too big for their boots and this price is absolutely obscene for the gym here.

Fantastic experience: I love it I wish they still sold the hot chocolate for free tho but over all it is a really good place to exercise ☺️

Negative experience: I was very shocked by the poor condition of this gym, especially in comparison to the other Virgin Actives in London. Particularly the state of the toilets and changing rooms which were immensely dirty and neglected. I would say this branch of Virgin Active is very damaging to the general reputation of Virgin Active in London, which in my experience has been really good.

Positive experience: The club had better days but looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel now! Thanks to Fabs for being so proactive and acting promptly when necessary. We finally have a shower seat!

Positive experience: I dont know what couple of lady receptionists get paid for. They mostly just look at phones and dont even look up when there is customer. The cleaners are the most friendly people. Gym floor is good. Toilet areas are not.

Negative experience: I was apart of this gym but left due to the racism and downright rudeness in this club. First of all there’s a woman in this gym that goes around harassing people of Afro-Caribbean descent. She tries to be buddy buddy but instead goes around causing problems. This woman would not leave me alone when I was working out. I even ignored her and she would begin copying my workout routines. I changed the times I would go to the gym but to no avail. I had to report her to the gym manager (who did nothing). I even got attacked by someone (to this day I have no clue who it was) whilst I was exercising on the treadmill. Someone threw a medicine ball at my head from the balcony above. It knocked me unconscious and I had the worst concussion of my life plus a migraine as well. I couldn’t work or remember anything for months. It still affects me to this day. This club doesn’t care about Afro-Caribbean people at all! DONT GO THERE IF YOU FIT THE DESCRIPTION!!! THEY ONLY WANT PEOPLE THE SAME COLOUR AS A PAPERBAG OR LIGHTER. And even then good luck to you. The harassment and discrimination I faced. Plus the ableism as well. And it costs £120 per month now??? You’re better off going to PureGym or Gymbox or David Lloyd’s. At least they listen and are proactive. I had to leave the area as well cause this woman decided to stalk me as well. ABSOLUTELY CRAZY PEOPLE IN THERE!

Positive experience: Gym has a pool, jaccuzi, steam room and sauna. Location requires parking though. Sainsbury’s offers it for free if you spend £10

Fantastic experience: Jess and Mo were amazing! Great customer service and incredibly facilities, would recommend :)

Positive experience: The instructors are very nice and I like using the app. I would have given Swiss Cottage Virgin Active at least a 4 but I am not impressed by the cleaning. In the pilates room there is always hair and dust under the reformer beds. The showers and toilets are not well cleaned, showers have black moldy areas and they are old. I guess the cleaning crew should be increased so the cleaning is of high standard. If the dressing rooms and showers were renewed it would be a much better place to visit and I bet they are planning to sometime as all the gym equipment is brand new now.

Negative experience: Impossible to get a refund for sessions that I could no longer do with my personal trainer because my trainer left and before she did the gym was close for renovation!!! An absolute joke, stay away from this place

Negative experience: I was sitting in the sauna last night and a conversation was taking place which I was not a part of turned racist. A lady was speaking to another two men saying that all Jamaican people are aggressive. She added when they do a crime, their own country doesn’t want them because they’re scared of them. This was not pleasant to hear. I intervened and asked her politely to think about what she was saying and respect other people sitting inside of the sauna as she could be offending people including myself. I explained to her that the steam and sauna area is for relaxation and not for personal views. One of the men sitting next to her quickly apologised for the conversation that I had overheard. However, the lady continued to justify her opinion. I explained to her once again that her opinion should be kept to herself and if she didn’t stop talking the way that she was, I was going to call the lifeguard. In which she replied, call the lifeguard, you’re stupid and uneducated. I went to call the lifeguard because I found her views racist and quite disturbing in a public space. The lifeguard called the duty manager who came very quickly. After everything, the lady denied everything that she had said. The duty manager namely Eleni said she did not hear the conversation and questioned whether that was really said. I find this quite disheartening as I was the one that came out of the sauna to inform the lifeguard of what was happening. Eleni belittled me and made me out to be the one that was causing the trouble, when in fact it was me that came out of the sauna feeling uncomfortable about the comments that I had heard to tell the lifeguard. The lady that had made the racist remarks and then denied that she made them was not corrected by any Virgin Active member of staff, or Eleni the duty manager, which made me quite frustrated. It would seem that Virgin Active accept racism and do not have measures in place to protect their members against other members that are racist. As I spoke to the lifeguard on duty who was very nice and handled the situation very well, the O2 security came into the pool area unnecessarily to talk to me who had been called by Eleni for help when someone was being racist. Little did she know I have known that security man for many years and he knows my whole family. Nothing was resolved, I was told to let it go. I went back into the steam room and left very disheartened at the treatment I had received as I was victimised based on a complaint. The lady carried on smiling and laughing all the way to the changing rooms brushing past me in a bullying manner and I just kept quiet. She got away with being racist and there’s nothing I could’ve done about it. I thought the staff at Virgin Active were there to protect their members, but clearly this is not the case. Not only did Eleni cause a scene, she called security and they could see there was no reason for them to be there. The security understood where I was coming from and believed me yet Eleni kept saying she was not present at the time. If we are unable to bring cameras into the sauna and steam room, we are verbally abused by other members and we go to complain, how can we prove what has been said and why would I lie? Why would I leave the sauna area and go and seek help when I feel attacked by racist comments and not be believed?

Fantastic experience: Had a great yoga class with Laura, steam room and cold shower were great, newly dont gym floor

Positive experience: I only joined a month ago, but the staff are always really helpful and approachable and I like the pool. Still need to try out some of the classes. It hasn’t been too busy when I’ve visited either which I appreciate.

Positive experience: Pretty average but steadily going downhill. The swimming pool is insanely shallow, about a metre of depth, water goes up to my belly button when I stand in it. All the loungers and benches on the side of the swimming pool have been removed, meaning if you are there to wait for someone, or need to sit and have a break, you have to sit on the dirty and possibly wet floor. The sauna is very weak and feels like you are sitting outside on an average summers day, absolutely puny temperature. The jacuzzi is ok. The changing rooms are nice and big and have many different benches and lockers to change, the highlight of the swimming pool experience. The showers do not lock and are constantly run out of either body wash or conditioner, sometimes both. Waiting area/lobby is empty and lifeless, no food/snacks, only 1 vending machine. I have gone to this swimming pool for over 10 years, it is going downhill and wont be long before it shuts down due to lack of customers.

Negative experience: Gym floor is decent but place is a rip-off otherwise including in terms of the spa facilities where nothing's ever working right, such as the lousy steam room and other things like staff gradually getting rid of the pool side benches for no good reason given that there's more than enough space, so that I'm sure soon there will be none left, and people will just be expected to chill on the floor.. what a joke. The Virgin app keeps requesting feedback which is pointless because the staff don't ever respond.

Negative experience: It’s been horribly crowded since the merger with the Cricklewood branch. The classes are always booked, there’s usually a queue to get into the sauna and free-weight area is as busy as a PureGym. This used to be a quiet gym with an older clientele that wouldn’t mind paying a bit extra. Whoever thought it’s a good decision to fill the space with a £30pcm campaign should know that they made a lot of people quite upset.

Negative experience: The gym requires a serious revamp feels like out of 90´s catalogue, but more importantly to up their cleanliness level, it´s deplorable. For the amount they charge monthly is not comparable to other Virgin Active gyms like Angel, Nottinghil or Fulham .

Fantastic experience: This has been my favourite club since ever! As a fitness pro I can say that it has great facilities and lots of equipment, differentiation of working out areas, top reformer Pilates studio, spinning and so many classes to choose from. The staff at reception is very friendly and helpful, particularly Mo and Caitlyn, same as all the PTs. I always feel very welcomed and at home.

Fantastic experience: Friendly staff and incredibly equipped gym. It is not very crowded and you usually don't have to wait to use any equipment

Positive experience: Great gym space, cycle studio, reformer room and swimming pool with sauna and steam is great! The best part has to be the friendly and incredibly helpful staff - Macy went out of her way to solve my issue and did it very effectively and efficiently. Many thanks. One suggestion would be to top up the shower gel / conditioner dispensers at the showers more frequently as a lot of those were empty and having to keep switching showers especially when busy can be annoying.

Negative experience: I recently joined and went 4 times to swim with my son and I do regret it already. The lady from Club Z she is the rudest person I had ever met that works with children. She was so offended that my 4 year old didn’t want to get in and have a look around. Changing area is so cold my child needs to come with a bath rope on when outside are +25 degrees .

Negative experience: I saw a mouse running through the changing rooms the other day… there are even mouse traps in the individual changing rooms so clearly they are aware of the issue… very off putting. Classes and teachers are amazing so it’s a shame the above brings it down a lot.

Negative experience: The gym, jacuzzi and sauna are ok. But the problem is their inflexibility. Ending the membership can be a long and painful process. And the freeze policy is not very flexible anymore.

Fantastic experience: Great gym, I recently joined and the staff are just so friendly, laid back and helpful - Rochelle is great! The gym floor is large with a range of equipment, and swimming pool is a decent size with a jacuzzi, sauna and steam room - the steam room is excellent. People are friendly and I feel comfortable here, which is not always the case in some gyms.…overall great experience so far :)

Negative experience: I had around 7 guest passes expire and the club (info@virginactive) would not renew them even though I was not able to use all of them in time and got incorrect notifications from the app saying they were still available. As other reviews also mentioned, this club is running out of towels often and the last 3 times I wanted to go there, they had no towels so I could not use the facilities. Given the issues they had at the club, you would think they would at least make an exception on something as minor as guest passes (given their app was the one that gave out the miscommunication on their availability). Given the above, I have requested to cancel my membership with Virgin Active and will change to a different club that is not part of Virgin Active.

Negative experience: Update: no I won’t contact customer services, if you read again my review you might see I’ve already done that a number of times. Why don’t you let them know there are not enough towels today and no one messaged us to bring our own? Good luck with the mess OMG I have sent a number of emails on specific complaints with no response. Black mould in the showers, classes cancelled last minute, changes in locker approach, aircon occasionally out in the spinning room (welcome to the sauna !) and of course overpriced coffee lol. What a mess. Reception staff are 50/50 a some are lovely and trying to help others are bluntly indifferent and ignorant of what’s going on. Staying for a few more months as I’m moving soon and not worth starting a membership with a new gym but please make sure you don’t spend such an amount of money (in this economy !) to this disorganised, absolutely overpriced mess.

Positive experience: The staff are lovely. The classes are great. The people are friendly, it's a nice social vibe. The 3 stars is for the gym space itself, it's decor is a dark grey in areas and a bit squishy and no natural light. This lack of open plan space has changed how I work out, meaning I do less stuff and don't use the studios . Could do with a couple more machines, and a power plate please.

Fantastic experience: Great gym with all the great facilities, beautiful pool and fun acqua classes. Virgin multi access means you can attend all clubs London and quite a few. Very friendly, kind staff and I would recommend.

Positive experience: Nice gym, good classes, facilities could be cleaner, it would be nice to have more than one of som types of weight machines.

Negative experience: Very poor customer service in Swiss cottage. They are having lots of rules but there are not mentioning them neither in contract nor providing the announcements inside the gym. If you sign up with a child one day they may tell you go off the pool just because kids are allowed to swim only in specific hours while all other adults are allowed to swim from 9 to 10 a.m. in weekdays. They never mention it on contract you know it afterwards. Very poor spa experience comparing to other Virgin Active clubs like Islington and Moorgate. Sauna and steam room are very small for the amount of people visiting. Jacuzzi is not any better either. The only plus are class teachers. Really like yoga ashtanga and cycle classes.

Negative experience: The most dirtiest gym I have been to. This gym is actually worse then the £20 gyms the lighting is terrible. Why so dark in there. Someone wrote it zaps your energy upon entering, felt exactly that. The swimming pool is outdated, my family are from a developing country and my country standard is better can you believe. Changing rooms are ancient and dirty. It feels like this was an old gym that virgin took over.

Positive experience: The gym is functional but in serious need of a revamp especially the ladies changing rooms and toilets. The actual space can be used more constructively as well. The staff are generally friendly, the instructors are all very good. Classes are enjoyable and the equipment is mostly sufficient. Could do with additional boxing bags (only 1). The mind and body studio is tiny and not very hygienic (despite repeated feedback people wear shoes inside the studio). In an ideal world, VA would invest in a Tier 1 space in Hampstead, especially considering the wfh model post COVID or convert this to a TIER 1 club after a big refurbishment!

Negative experience: Ancient machines and equipment, ancient toilets and changing areas. Not necessarily dirty but thoroughly stained from age and use. Massively over-priced for what they offer. The only good things are the location and friendly staff members.

Negative experience: No chance of having a hot cup of coffee or tea in this cold weather. Other gyms have sandwiches, meals, fruits and snacks. This place only has a "free" drink machine which is always "out of order" and an automated machine selling "energy bars" and "energy drinks" at high prices which are just a load of sugar. ----- Thanks for your reply. The drinks machine was fixed but is broken agan today. And where are these vegan crisps you refer to? (see photo showing "protein drinks" and "protein bars"). Can't I just have a sandwich or a banana?

Positive experience: Not sure why all the reviews are so bad.. this is a decent gym! The staff are nice, the spaces to relax are really nice, the treadmills have screens where you can pretend you are running in the mountains. Shower gel smells amazing and is free. Honestly don’t know what people are moaning about

Negative experience: Very bad customer service. Rude and racist staff. Dirty sports complex, very low level and unprofessional sports equipment and ((swindler)). I regret signing up for this Swiss Cottage club. Anyway, I had a bad experience with this set and I made a mistake, and I'm sharing this with people, so that they don't regret it like I did.

Negative experience: The gym is just expensive as hell. Was promised a PT session upon joining, didn’t get it. And to top it all off, the cancelation policy is so bad, you have to pay an extra month, plus fees. Its harder to cancel at virgin active than with a bank, let that sink in. The gym in itself is mediocre.

Fantastic experience: Just wanted to say thank you to the team for making me feel so welcome and helping me sort access to my app to book classes.Emily was very friendly and welcoming great addition to the team

Fantastic experience: Love this gym just recently joined. Good atmosphere great equipment and great staff welcome Alex and Emily.

Fantastic experience: Great club,great team had a wonderful swim session and just want to give a particular mention to Alex who was extremely helpful with my enquiry

Negative experience: To improve you would need to clean the training floor (currently filthy). Also, you should act on guests who keep their gear in lockers overnight forcing the rest of us to huddle into the same area of the changing room. The remarks about your staff being rude are exaggerated in my opinion although it is true they are mostly helpless. - thank you for responding. I can confirm you have someone working at the floor though it is not what I call cleaning, especially the training mat area. I shall take pictures next time I go. Have locker chops every day like other gyms do and this will no longer be a problem. - further update : I have emailed your service already and nothing has changed hence my google review. This gym has earned its 1 star from me, clearly I am not alone feeling let down by your service. You have my comments, do something about it or not but I am glad my membership is now over.

Negative experience: Dirty dinghy gym. Studios are tiny. Air con hardly works. Changing rooms dirty. Loos stink. Classes over crowded. The membership is a joke. I’ve been paying for nothing. David Lloyd more expensive worth every penny

Negative experience: I’ve been a member of this gym for over 3 years, they put up the prices while service and facilities keep dropping. Staff is very rude and you can tell from miles away they don’t wanna be there. Changing rooms are disgusting, toilettes very dirty and machines falling apart. Since few months they closed down the Cricklewood branch and brought in all members from that club so pay premium gym prices but the reality is you are in fact having a budget gym service. No point spending £120+ a month for this. Do yourself a favour and look elsewhere.

Negative experience: Please read the full message: sorry gym manager. I am afraid there’s nothing inappropriate about my review. The truth has to be told and I didn’t forge the story, neither did I break GDPR. if you think my review is inappropriate, please point out which element it is. Just to point fingers is not good enough. In fact it’s morally wrong for me NOT tell the truth as atmosphere is a key reason for potential members to decide whether to join or not. Members here are sick and uneducated. my home gym is Angel Islington. I came here for the Zumba class on jubilee Sunday as Angel cancelled theirs. I like the teacher but I find the people are extremely uncivilised and rude. Two oldish women fought for the space! Then a chubby youngish girl murmured indicative the other girl in front of her occupied “her spot “. When I went to the change room, I found this youngish girl still talking about this to another member. OMG. If you don’t have the guts to speak to the person directly involved, you are either a coward or you don’t believe you have a ground to stand upon. this never happened in any other gym I have been to. Generally speaking, I find people who don’t know how to dance needs more space as the good ones know how to stick within her own “territory”. Don’t want to be discriminative but this is a sick place. Shame on some savages here.

Negative experience: Very Bad experience, dirty place. Avoid joining this gym. they won't let you leave the gym and keep building the credit which you will have. just fraud terms of joining

Negative experience: Dirty place and broken equipments, very rude staff. Worst experience when you think of leaving. They moved the gym from crickelwood to Swiss Cottage without notifying and kept charging customers. When i requested to cancel my membership, they sent me a bill to pay, when i asked to investigate my request of cancellation they kept investigating for 3 weeks and added another bill for that period as well. Just frauds….!

Negative experience: The most horrendous gym I have ever been to! Got switched from Cricklewood (as it closed) which I absolutely loved and the staff were brilliant there, however at Swiss Cottage ‘the top tier premium club’ had the rudest most unhelpful staff. Reception do not answer calls. Men walk around the pool in see through underpants. Dirty towels are left piling up. The changing rooms and toilets are disgusting with rubbish often left on floors and in lockers which are grimey. Swimming pool temperature for kids is far too cold. Club V is never open. It’s a complete shambles as none of the staff actually know what’s going on and what their job role entails let alone have any experience or understanding of adequate customer service skills. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE!

Negative experience: I’ve been a member of this gym for years, used to be great. Lately it has gone from bad to worse, overcrowded and dirty. Today we learn that there will now be no hot water for “the next few weeks” due to an emergency. But not to worry, the club will remain open! In these times of Covid, is this really a good idea to have no hot water to wash hands? Let alone for the cleaners to sanitise the place? No refunds have been offered. Not to worry, we can use any other club in London. Except there aren’t any nearby because they closed down Cricklewood at Xmas and funnelled all those members to our club, see overcrowding. The atmosphere of late had also plummeted and I have been on the receiving end of some unpleasant exchanges. Such a shame. None of this is the fault of the staff who struggle valiantly on. It’s a greedy parent company not wanting to invest. But be warned. A lovely new rival gym has opened down the street - at a fraction of the membership fees. I’d go there if I was you.

Negative experience: Been a member for over 10 years, and the service has dropped significantly. At the moment that can’t fix the hot water issues, and the pool is closed any other day without notice l, showers don’t work, cleanliness is 6 out of 10