The Castle Centre

Negative experience: I am absolutely appalled by the disgraceful experience I had at Castle Center. This facility has reached a new low in terms of professionalism, fairness, and basic customer service. First and foremost, their booking system is a complete disaster. I booked a court for a doubles game, yet upon arrival, I was told that only three people were allowed to play. How does that even make sense? A doubles game requires four players—this is basic logic. Yet the staff refused to acknowledge their mistake and insisted on enforcing their ridiculous policy, completely ruining our game. To make matters worse, the level of discrimination I encountered was absolutely shocking. When I booked using my English name, they refused to recognize my reservation, yet when the same request was made under another name, it was suddenly valid. This kind of selective treatment is blatant discrimination and completely unacceptable in any professional establishment. And as if that wasn’t enough, they refused to issue a refund despite the fact that they were the ones at fault. They took my money, failed to provide the service I booked, and then dismissed any complaints. This is outright fraudulent behavior, and no customer should ever have to deal with such a scam. This place is beyond disgusting—from its dishonest policies to its discriminatory practices and complete disregard for fairness. If you value basic respect and decency, stay far away from Castle Center. They do not deserve anyone’s business.

Fantastic experience: Richard Rodrigues5D The Castle Centre Swimming Pool South Thames College Morden Orchard Hill College Camberwell South Thames College Tooting South Thames College Wandsworth Orchard Hill College Camberwell 2025 2026 Richard Rodrigues5D National Express Coaches A6 Stansted Airport The Castle Centre Swimming Pool 136 136 To Grove Park Station Bus Bus 136 136 To Elephant And Castle Station 136

Fantastic experience: The Castle Centre boasts an excellent gym, 2 swimming pools, a sauna and other function rooms for different classes they put on throughout the week. I have been a member for some time now and have always had a pleasant experience with my visits. The team is friendly and always ready to help out with any queries. Definitely worth signing up to this centre’s membership!

Positive experience: Update number 6,005: If you only want to use a gym, and have no use for a pool and badminton courts, leave the Castle Centre (nice as it currently is) NOW, and move to the Gym Group gym down the road. It’s an even better gym at a much lower price. The castle centre now wants £44 per month for a place with a long track record of being crap. Sure, it’s nice now, but it’s impossible to have any confidence it’ll remain that way. The gym group gym is £20 per month presently and has been as low as £15. The issue with the Castle Centre gym is it's run by the council, so it's entirely focussed on people who don't pay to get in – the kind of people who break equipment – and sees anyone who does pay to get in as a sucker. They spent a month doing it up and didn't refund that month's membership fee, because that is how council people think. 'Hey just use the pool instead' (no thanks) 'or use our gym in Peckham' (definitely no thanks; it's like a prison gym.) Now they’ve socked up their pricing by 20%, starting from April. Yes, that’s right: twenty per cent. Anyway, for legacy reasons, here's the last update to my review of this place: To my utter amazement, the gym here – previously a total dump – has been fully renovated and given all-new equipment to replace the malfunctioning, rusty crap they had before. I have to admit I’m seriously impressed. Let’s hope they can maintain it, and discourage the more moronic part of their clientele from misusing equipment in insane ways, which must have contributed to the dire state of the old equipment. Please note, the lockers now require a padlock – the ones that used the old-style pound coins (not the current pound coin; that would be way too simple) have been replaced.

Positive experience: Has had a great upgrade. Music too loud (and not very good).

Fantastic experience: I never came here pre-refurbishment but I love it here. The staff are friendly, the gym facilities are really nice with v modern machines and I was really impressed with the free health check machine in reception too!

Fantastic experience: Spacious and full of light. My favourite gym.

Fantastic experience: Debbie the fitness manager is amazing. She taught the best legs, bums and tums class. We need more classes taught by her

Fantastic experience: State of the art gym renovation, at an extremely reasonable price point!

Fantastic experience: I’ve had such an amazing experience so far. I did a 12 week swimming course with Nicole and I can confidently say I now know how to swim. Nicole is an amazing swimming teacher, prior to lessons with her I wouldn’t think to go into a swimming pool, but with her as a teacher I’ve gain the confidence to learn and enjoy swimming. I also put my daughter with 1:1 swimming lessons with Ariane and she is amazing. My daughter who is autistic is now so excited to go swimming thanks to Ariane. I would highly recommend them to friends and family.

Fantastic experience: I have joined this gym with my friends, it's the best in Southwark, it has women only swimming, sauna and steam room on Mondays, it has variety exercises classes, many machines and the staff are very helpful, if they see you struggling or using a exercise machine wrongly they will advise you. I have been to all Southwark gyms, but the castle is absolutely the best.

Fantastic experience: Love this leisure centre and gym! Great community and super friendly staff. What’s even better is that it recently got refurbished and the transformation has been amazing! You really get so much value for what you pay. Highly recommend!

Fantastic experience: Such a modern gym, very tidy, friendly staff, the new renovation is amazing and for the price it is great. No faults !

Fantastic experience: Love the new refurb! There’s everything you need: pool, great classes, brand new gym equipment, friendly PTs (shout out to Jonathan!) and all for such a good price

Fantastic experience: Very happy about the refurbishment! The equipment and the layout are great. Hopefully clients will look after the equipment. I would suggest to invest in better modem as wifi doesn't always work.

Fantastic experience: Pool is clean and tidy Sauna is nice Gym equipment is new and great machines. The personal trainers are very nice and kind

Fantastic experience: I'm so happy with the gym, the machines are new. It has different classes to train. The personal trainers are friendly, but they get the best out of you and are strict. Sometimes, I feel like I'm in the army .After a strong session is a nice finish in the steam room or the swimming pool. And also, the relationship between quality and price is the best.

Fantastic experience: Amazing space that exercises mind and body! They refurbished all the space with new machines and it looks amazing! Plus the staff is always ready to help you! 100% recommended

Fantastic experience: The best gym like triner a lesson

Fantastic experience: Taking part in the free 12-week swimming programme was one of the best decisions I’ve made. The amount I’ve learned during the 12 weeks, along with confidence I’ve gained has been truly amazing. Nicole, my instructor, has been wonderful, she breaks down each technique so effectively and is positive throughout each lesson. She has the expertise and care to turn complete beginners into comfortable swimmers and I couldn’t recommend her enough!

Fantastic experience: I’m so grateful for the 12-week free swimming program! It’s done wonders for my confidence in the water. I actually look forward to swimming now, and that’s all thanks to my amazing instructor, Nicole. She explains and demonstrates everything so well—she’s the reason I can swim!

Fantastic experience: This gym has undergone an incredible transformation! What used to feel like a cramped, outdated relic from the 50’s is now a spacious, modern fitness hub. The new design is bright and inviting, with state-of-the-art equipment and plenty of room to move. It’s a pleasure to work out here—huge credit to the team for the amazing upgrade!

Fantastic experience: Very good Southwark Council leisure centre at the Elephant and Castle. I was there to try out the newly refurbished gym. But the Centre also has two swimming pools and a sauna. The newly refitted gym is light and airy and has all the latest equipment from Pulse Fitness. The new changing facilties are also excellent. Very friendly and helpful staff. Highly recommended.

Negative experience: Most of the gym equipment is often out of service, there is not a lot of space for stretching or dumbbell workouts. The shower facilities for the pool are unclean. Furthermore, when I tried to cancel my membership they have continued to take money out of my account and the multiple calls I have made have been entirely unhelpful with different staff members telling me entirely different things. There is no sense of communication. I would not recommend this gym as other gyms in the area I have had much better luck.

Fantastic experience: Finally, a gym to match the competition and deliver on detail and kit. Fantastic to see Southwark Council are finally investing into both gym and pool.

Positive experience: Gym has been upgraded and it’s looking amazing with the latest equipment, new paint, gym arrangement has been changed

Fantastic experience: Lovely staff, a shout out to Nicole especially. She took the time out of her day, despite it being her time to clock out to show me all the new equipment in the gym and how to use them all safely.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely LOVE the new equipment, had the best workout that I’ve had in ages, thank you!

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym refurb. The best it's ever been since first open when it was fusion gym years ago.

Fantastic experience: I’m really happy with the new gym, I love it . It really help me to keep it healthy.

Negative experience: The online booking system won't let me log in.. over past few days I have missed the chance to book sessions I wanted to as everytime I tried to log in, the system showed me a blank page(both on the app and mobile site). Please fix it. I kept trying to book the public swim session when it was available and couldn't. Now the session is full up. Also tried to call earlier today but they didn't answer the phone.

Fantastic experience: Great to see the gym refurbishment has started!

Positive experience: The Castle Centre is a well-equipped community hub with excellent sports and fitness facilities. There’s a good selection of morning classes, from spin to yoga, catering to all fitness levels. The gym is modern, and the staff are friendly and helpful. My only suggestion would be for the café to be cosier and open a bit earlier.

Fantastic experience: From all sectors are very kind! Clean areas! I enjoy to be with swimming pool (sauna/steamer), also Gym with Sam, Zumba with our lovely Bianca she’s fantastic and Aqua aerobics our teacher is very good! All of them are very kind and friendly! Thank you so much to make my day more lighte and smile!

Negative experience: Relaxed and fun atmosphere but increasingly gym equipment is broken even though of a refurb announced for spring 2024. It's Autumn and this still has not happened, yet the prices continue to rise. It means lots of waiting and queues and is quite frustrating.

Positive experience: A wonderful community facility. Nice atmosphere and the cleaners do an excellent job. Unfortunately maintenance of the gym machines is very poor. Today I counted twelve machines with signs indicating they were out of order. There were other machines that are clearly in need of repair. I'm not a qualified service technician but I know when a knocking noise isn't right. However, there is probably more than half the machines working properly. The free weights are in good order and always tidy and organised. So you'll always be OK if you can workout with free weights.

Negative experience: I have to agree with the recent comments about the lack of picking up the phone! My Grandmother is a member here and I help manage her account. Occasionally I would have a questions. I have left a message for a callback from the membership team a week ago and did not get a call back. I have tried to call reception over 10 times at various times in the day and they do not answer. Is the phone in he back office? If so get a cordless one. If you end up just ignoring calls people are only going to be more frustrated when they get through. However it seems rather than deal with enquiries they just ignore. Your other centres do not do this they pickup the phone.

Negative experience: The actual experience that i have had at the place is fine, however the lack of people taking calls about inquiries is poor and frustrating, and when you try to leave a voice mail, the inbox is apparently “full”. Leaves me feeling extremely annoyed, and whats worse is when you call during the opening hours yet there is no one to answer calls. No point of even having a number at that point, incredibly stupid.

Negative experience: Terrible gym, extremely rude customer service and have no respect for patients coming from cancer/hospital DO NOT GO!

Negative experience: This place would be fantastic if they would actually get off their chairs and bother to fix equipment. How hard is it to call a guy to repair a stair master machine? Certainly should not take 4/5 months but since that is how long it’s currently been, they are clearly lazy and incompetent. Seriously, call a guy up.

Negative experience: It's probably the worst gym I've ever been to. Most machines are nonfunctional and never replaced—only removed. Response to the comment below: The equipment has been broken since April/May. Before that, the card readers for the entrance were not functional for more than a month. Despite all the issues, the subscription was increased.

Negative experience: OK so this is a review of the holiday club you have at the Castle Centre. My son wants to put a review out for it (his words below): Teachers mean A lot of bullying Nothing fun to do Teachers make things unfun Short amount of time to eat Super boring Some kids bullied me about my gender Just don't go! Oscar, aged 7

Negative experience: I tried to call every day for the last few days..are you closed? After so many calls every day on different hours still extremly busy with other calls? Only a robot talk there?

Negative experience: Ever since Southwark council took over, this gym has been going downhill. Fewer than half the treadmills work and the aircon is perpetually broken, meaning it’s nearly impossible to use the gym anyways as it’s unbearably hot. The turnstiles don’t work to get into the gym, meaning sometimes you have to queue for at least 15 mins to get in. It’s also extremely dirty. I always notice black marks all over my trousers if I use a mat. While it’s inexpensive, it’s still £30 down the drain if you can’t use the facilities due to them being broken. I would advise to look at other alternatives until the council can get their act together and run this properly. As an update - it is getting worse. There are now about 5 working treadmills with fewer working it seems each day. Not sure what the plan is when they get down to 1 or all of them… I guess keep charging people the increased fee? Unless something is done ASAP, I will be moving to a different fitness centre, as this is going to become a waste of money. I would not recommend joining here until the supposed refurbishment actually materialises.

Negative experience: I am giving it one star it was cold the water. And they don't tell u that the saun is only during open swims. Also the steam room has been broken for years. This is not very old but already run down. Just like Peckham Pulse.

Negative experience: Facilities are good, it’s the people who make it a pain to come here. Both staff and other guests from v low income brackets and it shows in their behaviour. Do not bring valuables. Do not try reasoned arguments

Negative experience: A large amount of gym equipment is constantly broken, often months on end. Better yet, the broken equipment eventually gets thrown out rather than being repaired or replaced - the gym is noticeably smaller with fewer machines than last year. I’ve been to many gyms, including gyms in developing countries, and none were this badly maintained and disfunctional like the Castle Center.

Negative experience: Terrible stuff. Terrible system. About the gym, half of equipment has broken and no one fix them. Very limited equipment and over half of them is very unprofessional. And very terrible internet connection in the building.

Negative experience: I am giving you this review because staff consistently do not answer the phone. It's like they avoid work clearly their manager is not monitoring them. Why not answer to the phone and say 'please hold for 1 min as I am serving a customer' rather than just ignoring the phone after trying to get through over an hour. When people call they usually only have a couple of questions etc,

Negative experience: I visited today with my family to update our details, due to Southwark council take over gym. The staff our rude and I do not feel like welcoming, The castle center. She is like upset and her face is ugly. Because we are four person. She like feedup her job. Even I asked her whats is Southwark council staff benefit. She seems to be don't know anything. She is used her mobile phone at the reception. She refused to give her name. She is Very ride, unwelcoming , ugly face. I am very disappointed today. How Southwark Council give her job. I don’t know. I will take this matter in to manager or area manager. The customers service is very poor.

Positive experience: Elephant and castle leisure is lovely and friendly centre, the accommodation is superb, the service is excellent Angela Accu class is superb. Mr Fernando is very helpful and I can say he is a very good manager.

Positive experience: Find all the staff and teachers both friendly and helpful. Really enjoy Angela’s water aerobic classes. Would be nice to have some yoga classes for seniors plus some extra aerobic classes. Downside is that maintenance seems to be very slow when something breaks down.

Positive experience: Firstly I must compliment Fernando and the great job he is doing you can always get your queries resolved. The staff at reception are much more welcoming. The lifeguards are polite and friendly. The steam room has not been functioning for months but that is no fault of the staff. The sauna is most time too packed but that is because people book for swim but only to use the sauna so therefore the pool can have few people.and you are unable to book a place that is down to the system in place. The cafe is well run and very pleasant staff with nice variety of food. Aqua classes with Angela and Alex are fantastic but more slots would be welcomed as waiting lists are often very very long. All in all there are changes that would be welcomed with maintenance bearing in mind some users of facilities can take more care and appreciate the leisure centre.

Negative experience: Everyone who works in this gym is friendly and helpful but that sauna has been broken for aaaaaages and the fact you have to book in for swimming if you want to use it is so incredibly stupid that whoever thought of it should be embarrassed

Negative experience: This is a horrible leisure centre, expensive and with very poor customer service. They have no way for non-residents to purchase a membership and instead require pay as you go, which is incredibly expensive. I spent nearly £20 for just one class and to swim one time—after being told I would be refunded once I was able to buy a membership—which there is actually no path for me to do without having a UK bank account. The swimming was very crowded with reservations for four people to a very narrow lane, meaning you cannot do a proper workout of any sort without risking running into someone else’s swim. They also do not provide any standard gear (kick-boards, buoys etc) but require you to buy them. They are a waste of money to do pay as you go, there are several other gyms that have better hours and more reasonable prices. They also do not answer their phones and take several days to answer any emails, whereas other gyms in the area answer right away and are friendlier.

Negative experience: Don’t join if you want to do classes! They spend a fortune on decorating the studios but so many bikes are out of order foe indoor cycling it’s very hard to get a place - down to 15 - and if you do then there is a high likelihood of been bounced off it through shortage of working bikes! Been like that for two weeks now. There’s just two Pilates classes a week always massively overbooked with 20+ on the waiting list. It’s now May and still as bad. Down to 14 out of 25 bikes now and as many as 20 on the waiting list for the only two Pilates classes a week.

Negative experience: I join this gym because steam and sauna and from last two months is not working and they keep taking money from my account. I have the medical conditions. Very disappointed The staff should take this matter very serious

Negative experience: I've never seen a gym with so many broken equipments and machines like the Castle Centre. The machines that are not broken are either extremely rusty, have missing parts or are wobbly. I get the sense that many of those machines are dangerous and may do more harm than good to the body. I just don't give one star to this so called gym because some of the trainers are good and attentive.

Negative experience: The gym equipment is so broken, I used one of the least battered treadmills which was was missing the bottom of the touch pad and held together with duct tape. Do better Southwark.

Positive experience: First things first, booking system needs to go. It is absurd that slots for lane swimming are fully booked a week in advance - and when you get there, the pool is half empty. Members who book and don't actually turn up to sessions should be penalised, since it then means other people can't access the pool. The facilities are pretty ok, compared to other pools around London. Obviously it's dirty and smelly... but less so than some other places I've been ! The sauna is actually quite good when it works - however for some reason they think that it makes sense to close the Sauna during lane swim sessions, meaning it is extra busy during 'family swim/swim for all sessions. In reality, people who are exercising benefit from a quick sauna session before / after their session, this would also make the sauna less congested during other sessions. (Sometimes it's literally like being on the tube during rush our, standing room only... in a sauna......) I think it's great that the council has special discounts for many people in the Southwark, I value the residents discount, however the centre has lately become totally over subscribed, and obviously being council run, attracts people who do not take care of it, make a mess in the changing rooms, and behave poorly. Please fix the booking , ie make more time slots available, and make the sauna available to fitness swimmers (who need it the most!!) In terms of the gym.. it's pretty well equipped, just very busy whenever I have been, meaning you always have to wait for equipment. (If you are doing weight training that is)

Negative experience: Probably one of the worst pools I’ve been to. The schedule/management of the pool is terrible. They have a schedule for the pool online, but often you will turn up to find you can’t use the pool for lane swimming, if at all, because what’s on the schedule is not what’s actually happening at the pool. You can’t call before you arrive there to check because they never answer the phone. If you want somewhere to take your children to mess around this is probably the place for you. if you want somewhere that you can go to swim lanes, don’t bother. This place is never accessible/available/suitable. I live really close to this centre but after months of trying it really is just easier to get on the tube/bus and head to the closest alternative council swimming pool. Also the staff are quite rude and unhelpful. On top of all this, it’s clear that they have no idea how a swimming pool is used by customers for lane swimming. Lately they have decided to keep the sauna closed during lane swimming sessions, it’s only open during “family time”. Basically if you want to lane swim and use the sauna before and after to soothe muscles and joints before and after, as some do to prevent injury and improve performance, you are not allowed to do this. So if I book a 1 hour slot, I can’t even decide to spend 10 mins of that in the sauna, because they deliberately close it! Also, covid is long since over, but they have for some reason decided to keep the lane booking system and 1 hour slot idea( except that this is now on the hour, which makes this even worse) from that time period. This means that you literally have to choose whether you want to be in the fast or medium lane etc when booking. to anyone who has any experience of lane swimming this is of course ridiculous. What are you supposed to do if when you make it to the pool you find that on that particular day you are not able to keep up your normal speed(less energy/stamina/more injury on that particular day), so really you should move from the fast lane to the medium lane, rather than get in the way of swimmers? Or if some of the people in the medium lane don’t turn up for their booking so the fast lane is crowded and the medium lane is almost empty. Also fast and medium are relative, one day I might need to move to the fast lane and one day I might need to be in the medium lane, it depends on how fast the other people in those lanes are swimming on that given day, which means I might have to move. In other words sure manage the total number of people in the pool to stop over crowding, but trying to manage individual lane capacity is pointless and ridiculous. People will naturally spread out across the lanes according to their speed and how crowded each lane is on their own. The one hour slot in the hour is also ridiculous, basically the way they are doing it is you book a slot for an hour and the whole pool is cleared on the hour, so you start at 4pm and finish at 5pm when the whole pool is cleared out, if you are late to your session and only get into the pool at 4:30, then bad luck, you can’t stay till 5.30, you only get 30 mins in the pool. Ridiculous! Also the whole idea of a 1 hour session is silly because some people may want/need less and some may want/need more. We are talking about lane swimming not messing around in the pool, if someone wants to book 2 hours, let them, if they want to book 45 mins let them, also you should reserve some space for walk ins, given that people often don’t turn up for their booking or take less than their allotted time.

Negative experience: Terrible customer service. I had an annual membership with the castle centre for over 2 years. I have always been given at least a month's notice before expiry and contacted with any offers for renewal. This time round I was given 2 days notice!!!! When I contacted the membership department to complain about this they said they have tried to contact me (which is a lie) and were very dismissive. The staff are very unprofessional and lack customer service training. Truly disappointed and will not be renewing.

Negative experience: Great local fitness/leisure centre. The pool and sauna (which is what I go there to use) is clean and at a good temperature. The showers are great, with a really good pressure! I had a look at the gym and the studios too, they look good. The bit I don't like is the way the pool sessions are booked. I'd like more flexibility with being able to come and swim, but that may just be my preference. That's why it's 4 stars not 5. Today the sauna was cold. It was turned on 10 mins late. Dropping a star. Dropping another star (to 2) as the sauna was out again, for the third time in as many months. They claim all manner of vandalism and technical issues, but every gym in the world with a sauna has the same issues, but manages not to be out of order every second week.

Negative experience: Poor quality equipment, machine area is very outdated. Some machines in desperate need of an MOT. Also extremely busy so be prepared to wait for kit.

Fantastic experience: Lovely staff members that are very supportive with my studio bookings. Great space. Will keep coming back for more studio hires! The only suggestion I have is for better lighting controls and the ability to move the blinds up and down, but otherwise extremely happy!

Fantastic experience: Located in the heart of London, Castle Centre is a vibrant and bustling market that offers a diverse range of products, food, and cultural experiences. With its central location, this market has been a staple of the community for years and continues to draw in locals and tourists alike. One of the highlights of Castle Centre is the wide variety of fresh produce and international foods available. From Middle Eastern spices to European vegetables, the market reflects the multicultural nature of the area and provides an opportunity to sample flavors from around the world. Additionally, there are numerous stalls selling clothing, accessories, and household items, making it a great place to find unique and affordable goods. The atmosphere at Castle Centre is lively and energetic, with vendors calling out their wares and shoppers haggling for the best deals. It's a great place to immerse yourself in the local culture and get a sense of the community spirit that thrives in this part of London. While the market can get crowded at times, especially on weekends, it's well worth the visit for the authentic experience and the chance to discover some hidden gems. Whether you're looking for fresh ingredients for a home-cooked meal or simply want to soak up the vibrant atmosphere, Castle Centre is a must-visit destination in London. Overall, I highly recommend checking out Castle Centre for a taste of the diverse and lively atmosphere that makes London such a unique city.

Negative experience: This place is so dirty and unwelcoming that I'm not going there anymore with my kids. The water in both pools is ice cold, the toilets are simply disgusting, half of the showers are always broken and staff is walking in dirty trainers just next to the pool where we had baby swimming. In addition, most of the staff members are rude and extremely unfriendly. A sad place.

Negative experience: Gym equipment is old and lots broken. Gym is also massively oversubscribed and busy. Pool is always booked up and sauna steam room seem out of action more than in action. Changing rooms unsafe with lockers getting broken into. Whole place feels tired and outdated.

Fantastic experience: I 100% recommend Nicole for both 1:1 and group swim. Went from total beginner to being confident in my front crawl and backstroke. Within 4 months I was doing lengths and really enjoying swimming.

Negative experience: Booked in and paid for my first swimming session a week in advance. Arrive there only to be told that the pool is closed for cleaning. They never thought to inform their customers (and why allow them to book that time in the first place??). Lots of irritated would-be swimmers there and the staff couldn't care less.

Negative experience: Some of the staff have a serious attitude problem. I asked for help and was given an answer of “cant you read?”The gym is tight and there isn’t enough equipment to be used it makes you feel squashed because of how close everything is.

Fantastic experience: We have Nicole for 1-2-1 swimming lessons for my 4 year. She is very engaging and adapts learning techniques to the child. My little girl is in stage3 at age 4 thanks to Nicole.

Fantastic experience: Nicole is a wonderful swimming teacher and has been fabulous for my Daughter’s swimming journey. I cannot recommend her highly enough.

Negative experience: I went in on Tuesday and the water was way too cold and I ended up catching a cold because of it. They need to take into consideration that it is now winter and that if even healthy people are getting sick because of how cold the water is, I cannot imagine how the people whose health may not be the best will be affected by the coldness of the water. Please do have that in consideration and try to regulate the water to the weather outside by making the water warmer.

Positive experience: My daughter has just started 1:1 swimming lessons at the Castle with Nicole and have found our experience to be excellent. Nicole is very enthusiastic and passionate teacher who has a wonderful and engaging way with children. She is very patient and able to adapt lessons to the skills of her students and my daughter is really enjoying her weekly sessions. I have also found the reception staff to be very friendly and helpful and the changing facilities are generous in size and clean.

Fantastic experience: My children have been receiving one on one swimming classes from Nicole for almost a year now. They love her and have improved remarkably, all thanks to the great teaching. Super friendly and fun, but also a very concientious teacher. She really cares about the kids :-). Highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: Today was a long queue in reception, and Christopher and Zehra managed it together very well I have to say. A good team work and well done for your customer service. Zehra always with a smile in each customer and Christopher taking time to be sure the customer understand everything right. Safeguarding Andrew and Jack are nice and very attentive in their job. Well done for all of them!!

Negative experience: Don’t use swim teacher Nikki/Nicola! Witnessed her do a swim lesson and talk to staff the whole time, she did pay attention to her student at all! I questioned her, she responded as I assumed she would , defensive when caught out, also her friend she was gossiping with Andy tried to defend her shouting at me when there was an autistic boy in the pool, the mum asked him to not shout but he continued shouting ‘you don’t know me’, a threat from staff whilst I’m swimming with my 5 year old! Very rude and unprofessional staff. Told the manager who said he would deal with it but obviously these type of people shouldn’t be working with customers if they can’t work/talk properly unless a manager is in their presence.

Positive experience: gd gym ️‍♂️ an swimming ‍♀️ staff are ok need to start trying the foods on sale there. overall cool gym ️‍♀️

Negative experience: Dirty staff are terrible rude no nice locks are broken unsafe shower no lights at all, specially changing rooms are dirty smiling and men coming out the shower and changing rooms with out clothes on , in the front children what shame, where’s the manager or staff doing. No good.

Negative experience: Absolute mess and only gotten worse. Went today and left right away as gym floor was roasting. over subscribed and crowded and not well air conditioned so it's always hot which makes it impossible to do cardio for long. Entrance scanners not working for months, equipment often broken, wifi not set up. Camberwell has none of these issues btw

Positive experience: Have been coming here for a few years - but recently the gym has gone downhill. Lots of equipment in the gym doesn't work and the AC seems to be constantly broken. Since the Council has started running it, the facilities appear poorer. The pool is still great, however.

Positive experience: love the gym & swim really nice atmosphere, but couple of the receptionist have got little attitude problems!

Positive experience: For 30 pounds a month it’s a competitive proposition but still it’s council so you have to adapt to their rules and times rather than just jumping in the pool whenever suits you. In the swimming pool they insist on everybody leaving at each hour even though nothing stops you from going back in 5 minutes later. This causes congestion in the changing room since everybody is forced to exit at the same time. The pool itself looks clean but being often busy and open to absolutely everybody I question the hygiene. To be fair the staff is trying hard to keep it clean but there’s only so much they can do. The sauna is way too small and only open during the “public swim sessions” They recently renovated the benches but still people are allowed to enter with swimsuits and without towel so the wood is always soaked. Sometimes i just stand in there rather than sit on other people sweat. Also the location of the sauna next to the swimming pool doesn't really help with relaxation since you can hear all the noise coming from the pool The changing room is overcrowded and often dirty. To be fair this is mostly due to poor behaviour from guests rather than lack of cleaners. Only one working hair dryer. weekends it’s free for all southwark residents, only southwark despite being at the border of two boroughs. So much to foster a sense of community around the elephant and castle. in weekends you end up sharing the place with a flood of people who don’t pay (and don’t care) for it leaving a trail of rubbish behind them. The gym part is ok although too many cardio machines and not much space for free weights. They have Lifefitness which is ok although i prefer technogym. Would be nice to also have a roman chair / hyperextension. such a simple tool and yet so hard to find... The classes are the best part: fun and effective with good equipment, nice staff and nice people attending.

Positive experience: With the new recent changes, getting in and out of the centre is a bit tricky, and the new app needs to time to get used to. However I think this is still a great place to exercise, especially if you are a Southwark resident, where you can ask for the free gym and swim scheme. Free weights go up to about 40kg on the barbells and dumbbells, squat racks and bench presses have rubber plates that are easy to handle. Many treadmills, mats provided.

Fantastic experience: Lovely pool and good size gym at an incredible price for its location and quality. I have found all the staff to be lovely and helpful unlike some of the other reviewers. Would recommend to anyone who lives or works nearby.

Negative experience: Utterly frustrated with the staff. They are rude when you go in, don’t pick up the call at any time of the day. And don’t bother calling back or responding in anyway. The app and website is also now broken making it impossible to book sport courts.

Positive experience: I've always found the staff here not helpful in most cases. I generally believe there is not enough staff present for the amount of people that use the gym facilities. If you forget your card for instance, you almost always have to line up to speak to a member of staff. It can take 10 mins. This is annoying especially as I use the gym during lunch break as I work close by. Not enough benches the gym. People hog the benches. Staff never present in gym for help with anything. Swimming pool showers are in a state of emergency, doors hanging of hinges and the disabled facilities are broken. Believe me I have complained in the past. Nothing is done. The gym has moved from everyone active to Southwark council. The transition to the new system has been poor. I have been unable to book sessions via the app or website. The on Friday I had to wait 25 mins before I could enter the gym as the management decided everyone using the services despite booking had to get their cards checked at reception. I questioned this and was very abruptly and aggressively responded to by the manager Lee. He lacked any empathy and continually raised his voice when addressing me. Racial bias in his tone aswell. As he didn't speak to white people the way he did with me. Considering the diversity of Southwark I am very upset about the managers behaviour. I have made a formal complaint.

Positive experience: Yogalates was interesting but wouldn't do it again. Instructor was not that easy to hear and sequences hard to follow as so fast and continuous. Room nicely air conditioned though.

Negative experience: Weights area of the gym way too busy - can be difficult to even get from one side to the other there's so many people. Sometimes gym is randomly closed - they don't bother to email to warn you, so have wasted a trip a few times.

Negative experience: It is shame a new center is so bad administrated. There are no staff, don’t even bother to call the center, no one will pick up the phone. Toilets are disgusting, you can smell them from the room class. Please, do something to improve it or you will lose your customer .

Positive experience: This was a good gym to start out with, but I ended up rarely using it. I had a bad experience on the gym floor with another gym user, and couldn't find any staff to help. They were either discussing with their friends on the gym floor, or nowhere to be seen. It may be feel if there was an emergency, nobody would be around. The staff were a mix of friendly (a girl on reception who got my card activated and told me where to find things) and some not so friendly, barely grunt at you if you ask something. The facilities were mostly clean. I think the showers could do with a good scrub and there was the time the toilets ran out of paper and sinks ran out of hand soap, but this only happened once. Price wise, it was reasonable compared to some others, and it has a brilliant pool too.

Positive experience: Good swimming pool in terms of water temperature and cleanness. In the gym there are simply facilities that aren’t working well. I have hurt my ankle once on a E-cycle because it was somehow stuck and not functioning - the other two worked well so you’ve got to have a try before going for your exercise. Gym facilities might need some revamp for safety considerations.

Negative experience: Had better experiences smacking my own head against a wall than speaking to the receptionist here. Staff were rude, low-key hiding from customers, and were acting like they didn’t want me to spunk my life savings on a slither of time in their medieval ‘gym’. This has made me never want to go to a gym ever again I honestly feel sick - I rage quit at the reception lol.

Negative experience: the worse customer service and ableism i have experienced so far (as a disabled person trust me i have experienced a lot of both those things, so this is saying a lot that this place was the worse). My disability was mocked by two members of staff at the reception desk who i overheard speaking, after both being so appallingly rude and dismissive of me. Its not acceptable! also, you go to the reception and they don't even acknowledge you, they juts seem to be standing around starting at a screen not acknowledging people who are standing in front of them when they come to reception.. its like pulling teeth getting anywhere help. this place needs to be out of business. no one should have to fear being discriminated against when they go into any business, which is why i will never go there again.

Negative experience: Awful gym, old equipment, ram packed at all times, understaffed, swimming pool is unusable as its rammed and not managed, sauna doesn't exist, lockers are all broken, lack of equipment and the app is useless and to cancel your membership is extremely difficult and laborious! DO NOT GO HERE

Negative experience: I have gympass and the staff couldn’t sort out how to do my check in, even tho I pay for gympass and this gym is registered on gympass they were acting like I was begging them to go for free.

Negative experience: Very good pool, but gym equipments very old Rusty and dirty which I think it’s not fit for purpose looks like there over 20 years old

Positive experience: Only used the badminton courts (4 of them available for booking), good surface , bad lights with blinding spots. Great parking for cycles upfront, swimming pool seemed compact and busy.

Negative experience: Excellent, modern facilities in a great location, let down by poor management. The reception staff looked totally bored and inconvenienced when I wanted to enquire something, despite there being no customers before or after me. The men's changing rooms smelled unclean.