Nuffield Health Newbury Fitness & Wellbeing Gym

Negative experience: Smells, rundown and overcrowded.

Negative experience: 1.The gym consistently lacks enough machines to accommodate members, despite having the same number of people as other gyms in Newbury. 2.A price increase during a 12-month contract period feels unreasonable and undermines the purpose of a fixed-term agreement.

Negative experience: Really is in a state of disrepair sadly. A few examples of poor quality; 1. Severely mouldy ceilings in shower rooms that continue to not be a priority. 2. The toilets SMELL SO BAD! Honestly, I avoid them at all costs. 3. The locker rooms are mostly broken and don’t provide secure storage, of the ones which do somewhat work I’m fairly certain people go home with the keys 4. Things like the garment drier break and then they fail to repair it, and have now just removed it all together. Much like other items. Does concern me what they would do if something like the sauna or steam room broke whether they would repair. 5. They spend money replacing perfectly fine carpets but fail to address major issues, or update the women’s bathroom which was already in a much better state, as the men’s is horrendous. 6. My girlfriend was laughed at and humiliated by another member, although I appreciate that Nuffield has little control over this, when she told reception how she was made to feel uncomfortable it was not a surprise and the knew who the individual was. Clearly further action SHOULD have been taken to ban this person but it’s not taken seriously. Therefore I would not recommend this to women based on both Nuffield’s attitude to protect its members and the type of people who attend. 7. The swimming lessons for kids. We waited months (6), it’s a very very long wait. No complaints about the quality but did have a lack of communication. It’s a convenient location for me so will continue until my year comes up but I strongly recommend people do not join until Nuffield takes this facility more seriously.

Fantastic experience: So far this is a great gym to use

Negative experience: Pitches itself as a family gym. Charges £17 a month for children 3 and higher but doesn’t let non members supervise them in the pool. So it’s £17 to have access to an under funded Creche.

Negative experience: Dodgy air conditioning and generally run down changing rooms etc, gym itself is ok, would be a member if not through Vitality.

Negative experience: Myself and my wife were at this gym for just under a year. We left due to the state it was in. All the comments are right that people post. The bad bits: Female changing rooms stink, always dirty, part of the ceiling was missing and cables hanging out. Got told it was due to maintenance at the time. This never got fixed. The gym is so small and ends up being so jam packed. Over selling of memberships. The cafe: well what can I say. Absolutely lack lustre staff and environment. Press the bell and stand there for an age to just buy a drink. Staff are like robots who barely make eye contact. The seating area is sad and feels like some 80s cheap butty shop. Never once acknowledged by any other staff member in management. Walk straight past and ignore people saying hi. I find it strange personally. The toilets have broken seats, and manky ceilings. Told them all the issues and thats why we are leaving. The fact its worse than a council gym for the price is just insane!!!! The good bits: The reception staff ladies are absolutely lovely and are so helpful. The beauty therapist give the best full body massage and are always nice.

Positive experience: Gym is great but pool and changing rooms really need a refurb

Fantastic experience: Staff are amazing and friendly. Creche is superb with a fantastic team.

Fantastic experience: Great gym, great equipment, great staff.

Negative experience: I think people are struggling with the fact you are taking their money for kid memberships in Newbury Nuffield Health who cannot do anything at the moment as your pool is closed and has been for over a month. The fact you are refusing to freeze their memberships and making parents throw their money down the drain. Also that you are expecting members to drive 40 mins down the road to another Nuffield to use a pool. Big warning to all members of Nuffield they do not care about you as a person just want your money there are so many angry people and they do not care

Negative experience: So when I first joined the gym was a great place to go, loads of good classes and a functioning pool and hot tub, the beauty and physio facilities were great too! Fast forward to the last two years and sadly enough there are many issues- pool seems to be out of commission, the sauna that was once open is now closed- as an environmentalist I understand the usage of elec and water could be better used elsewhere… but then why not reduce the price? I am now pregnant and can I find a class that is geared toward post or prenatal fitness? Nope. The aqua aerobics was something I could do, yoga is not targeted toward pre/post natal fitness, so frequently I could only do two or three positions… I understand that the teachers need to be trained in this to avoid liability… but then why no option to reduce membership fees for lack of services? Very sad to say Ive had to leave ☹️☹️☹️

Negative experience: Pool is often closed, jacuzzi is now permanently closed. Basic maintenance is done really badly. It has the feel of club about to close down. Most of the reception staff are nice.

Negative experience: Staff on reception and generally around the site are absolutely amazing and doing a fantastic job given the pressure that they are working under. They are always willing to help with a smile on their faces and always say hello. They really are the people who hold the place together. The management say hello if they’re showing new potential customers around. There is a significant problem with the management of the place. The lack of routine maintenance and upgrading, combined presumably with the effect from a lack of funding over 2020/21 has caused a perfect storm. If you walk in there today, you can expect: The swimming pool closed due to a leak Toilets, changing rooms and steam room to smell of sewage and mould. Mould evident on ceilings of the showers and locker area. No towels Air conditioning in gym broken Squash court 1 with holes in front wall, court 2 to be leaking with a giant bin to catch the water and court 3 to be freezing (and therefore no use for squash) No jacuzzi (in line with their national policy as this was closed in 2022) The cafe to be closed for food/drink outside of regular working hours A nice and functional spinning studio. I’m sure there’s more that I’ve just forgotten. But it’s ok- if you follow their guidance on social media, you can always use your membership if you’re prepared to drive to Reading or Swindon to use their facilities.

Negative experience: * Pool often closed for maintenance. * Hot tub permanently closed. * Sauna and steam room often closed for maintenance. * Skeleton staff. * Café hardly open after school hours. If it is open, food is rarely available. Coffee and snacks only. If you are lucky enough to have a staff member available. * Beauty spa, closing down. * No towels * No air conditioning! Upstairs smells of hot perspiration. * All changing rooms smells of old drains and urine. Nuffield Newbury, overpromise and under deliver! Pool has been closed for over a week this month and no light on it opening anytime soon. Very expensive rates for poor quality amenities!

Negative experience: This Gym is in desperate need of a major refurbishment. Too many issues to list.

Positive experience: Nuffield health Newbury for me is amazing!It has a large swimming pool with a sauna,steam room,squash courts and a sports Hall that can be booked to play sports like badminton (Rackets are provided) also there is a large gym on the second floor we're you can also book a personal trainer.There is also a beauty salon. Downstairs there is a cafe and a play area for kids.I would say the cafe may need a bit of an upgrade as the food isn't that great.Finaly there is an outdoor area with a slide and stairs but there is a lot of space for football or sunbathing.

Negative experience: We were on a rolling contract but the Manager gave us a hard time about putting our account on freeze for a month so we cancelled to avoid charges. Found a better gym and never looked back!

Fantastic experience: Always enjoyed coming here, reception is always so welcoming and the gym staff are always checking in. Specifically recommend Bill, lovely chap and very knowledgeable!

Positive experience: The two members of staff were very friendly and helpful. We were guests at The Lodge, so got discounted access. I think we were there on a quiet day, because we had a lane in the pool to ourselves. The steam room and sauna were always free too. The hot tub was out of service. The facilities are a little dated, but for the price we paid (£10 each) it was brilliant.

Positive experience: Great place

Negative experience: Freezing cold changing rooms, and very smelly drains Jacuzzi hasnt worked for months

Negative experience: Beware of misleading holiday hours. Although they say they close at a particular time, they actually close the front doors an hour before and proceed to evict people way before “closing time”. Don’t get all the way there just to be disappointed

Negative experience: Nuffield Newbury has been ruined due to poor management and inadequate running of the facility. I have known this facility for over 25yrs (Nuffield, Pinnacle and Cannons) and in the last 3 yrs it has become worse than ever. Nuffield have failed to add any air conditioning to the facility which has meant temperatures in the mid to high 30s throughout summer. Nuffield promised its members to fix this in 2022 which never happened. The facility has removed the towel service (which was blamed on Covid), the spa pool has been closed (blamed on environmental issues which is very low), changing rooms are degraded and often smell like sewage, leaks are all over the facility so buckets are normally collecting water, floorings and ceiling tiles have water stains, many areas are in disrepair too. The bar/ kitchen which was once a fully running restaurant is now never open and is never used. The facility now runs on short staffing so there is commonly no manning of the gym areas which is simply dangerous (I have trained in the gym on multiple times alone with no staff or members anywhere). Due to the short staffing there are now many young members using the gym incorrectly and dangerously. Nuffield are now stopping members entering the gym one hour before they close which I guess is due to staff issues but will make people leave. General members and staff moral are at an all time low ! All this taken into account you would expect prices to decrease but no the monthly fees have increased. Nuffield have failed to run the gym effectively and cannot keep up with competition such as Cross fit, Pure, David Lloyd. I’d love to see this turned around but I believe the facility needs to be sold on to a company for a cash injection which it needs as is not worth the price advertised.

Negative experience: Overpriced, pool access quite limited for various reasons or paid activities ( even outside those you still need to share lanes even if 3/4 of pool is empty ), almost no access to the jacuzzi because is always ocupied, the sauna is not usable and showers are a bit old and deteriorated. Also access towards it is quite restricted if you use the road next to the racecource.

Negative experience: I’ve never been to a gym that is so poorly maintained. Things are constantly broken such as air-conditioning (promised to be fixed in August and still isn’t) hot tub always breaking, steam room always breaking and damp in the changing rooms. When I asked for a discount due to the poor state of the gym this was denied as ‘the gym had plans to rectify issues’. For the price of membership I advise to look elsewhere. Not worth the money.

Fantastic experience: I like the place for being really quiet. The treadmills go to 30km/h which is a big wow for me.

Negative experience: This is not a £70 a month membership £35 at best, so many issues currently no air conditioning in the gym in the winter no heating yet as a member your still expected to pay a membership fee for facilities you can't use, read reviews before signing up

Negative experience: Bought a joint membership and paid up front but we were not made aware of the many deficiencies including broken air con, ceiling of steam room collapsing, steam room smelling really badly of urine, no towels. We also found not much access to pool due to lessons / classes etc, lady's sauna not hot enough, cafe opening times very patchy. Left after one visit. If you are considering joining then I suggest you ask for a week's free trial to assess the actual condition of club and it's services before signing up. Hopefully many of these things will have been fixed since we left but don't pay without checking it out.

Fantastic experience: I recently had a great induction with Debbie, and the facilities were well equipped with ample amount of machines. A program was set out for me and on further visits the support I have received from staff is fantastic

Negative experience: Avoid at all costs if you have any intention of swimming at this gym. Feces in the pool, other regular pool closures and, even when open, there are only ever 1-2 lanes available for swimming proper lengths (majority of the pool is mainly occupied by classes, swimming lessons, etc even outside of class time)

Negative experience: We joined because we were wowed with how lovely the facilities were and the general top quality vibe of Nuffield. Today we have visited as a family and it's just really tired and run down and we left wondering why we are still members (we pay well over £100 a month for membership) We made an enquiry on reception and the person working wasn't very helpful, staff in and around the gym do not go out of their way to help or want to talk to you. The cafe is closed yet again, not even doing drinks. The indoor children's play area is disgusting, it hasn't changed in seven years and is dire need of updating - even a lick of paint would make a massive difference. The changing rooms are dirty, there are nowhere near enough lockers, the shower ceiling had spots of mould, the swimming costume spinner has been removed (usually it's broken anyway). All in all Nuffield is in desperate need of some TLC because it's run down and doesn't offer or reflect what we are charged as members.

Negative experience: Most awful gin that I’ve ever been to. Can’t work out for the life of me why I’d want to keep going and leaving. Probably because I hope it will get better each time I do it. Alas no it just seems to get worse. They have now palmed me off with this mumbo-jumbo as I can’t even take my Guidedog in there. I phoned three other Nuffield gyms and they’ve said completely the opposite. Poor equipment poor communication and bad customer service. Gym staff that didn’t seem to bother whether you were on the gym floor or not. Seems to have become a lot more like a LeisureCentre than A health club. It’s overpriced for what it is. And one of those sorts of places where if the face fits you’re fine. It seemed as though when I was there but they were just after my money. Well not anymore. I have found somewhere else and guess what I’ve managed to stay there and not keep leaving and joining. Now that says something doesn’t it. I highly recommend against joining this gym unless you want your money taken. And having quantity against quality which is very poor. That is about all I have to say as that is my true opinion of the place.

Negative experience: Its an OK gym, but no where near good enough for the price they charge. Perfect example of quantity over quality: it's a big and spacious building filled with very average / below average facilities. I'd personally recommend BST fitness as a MUCH better value gym, or David Lloyd as an expensive gym which actually justifies it's price. For me, Nuffield Health is just a robbery.

Negative experience: Went in looking to have a gym tour and check the facilities, they said that I would have to buy a membership before entering the gym, I'm not paying £75 to test out a gym, completely contrary to what they said on the website and then over the phone, unprofessional

Fantastic experience: Nice gym, fully equipped and always clean

Positive experience: Had an enjoyable time with the gym for the six months I was a member. However, upon trying to pause my membership, as a student membership allows, I was told to send an email to the membership team. My email was ignored and as the cancellation only begins upon receipt of a confirmation email, I had to pay membership for the time I was away at university in the North East as I couldn't be present in person. Upon returning, the club said they could only let me fix the situation upon paying for the months I wasn't there to 'unlock the account'. Once I had done this the staff ignored me and threatened to call security if I didn't leave. Day after I speak to a different member of staff. The situation was resolved after speaking to another member of staff the day after, they were extremely understanding, it's a shame the staff are so hit and miss.

Negative experience: Avoid! For unethical business practise. They sign you up with the impression that you can give 1 month notice, casually slipping in the word "calendar". What they don't tell you is that word "calendar" somehow gives them the right to charge you 2 months notice period if you give your notice the day of your payment or a day later. When you try to give notice at the desk they conveniently don't have the forms, as if trying to nudge you over that day. I complained about this the guy on the phone said 1 month should be OK since it was so close. But of course then they start sending threats when you cancel your direct debit and pass your details onto debt collectors. Disgusting!! Before anyone posts the stock reply about terms and conditions being provided: hiding this practise behind confusing legal jargon does not make it any more ethical.

Negative experience: Myself and my partner were members of the gym for the last year. It started well but unfortunately went downhill for us. We were going a good amount, 4-5 times per week and mainly using the gym and pool. The gym staff were pretty friendly as well as the front desk team. However, maintenance issues started to become an issue - broken showers which only produced dangerously hot water, broken sauna with slats loose and exposed screws, the hot tub regularly out of action, the list was long. We were assured these would get fixed but months on and nothing really changed. This isn't the cheapest gym and these were basic maintenance issues which I doubt a health and safety assessor would let slip. It wasn't so much the issues as the false promises and poor communication. We then decided we'd try another gym a bit closer to home and were frankly fed up with these maintenance issues as well as what seemed to be an increasingly over-subscribed gym. The turnover of clients and staff appears to be huge which is always a worrying sign. We handed in our notice only to be told that we'd missed the small print deadline by 5 days so were forced to continue paying for another 2 months. We haven't used the gym for the last month as, when we wrote to ask if they'd waive the last month given all of the problems we'd experienced, we received no communication back. Nothing. We spent the time writing a polite letter and got zero response. This is a poorly managed gym and I wouldn't recommend paying for it in the current state and with the current management. A real shame, we wanted it to work out for us.

Negative experience: When I joined I explained that I wanted an option to suspend my membership through the summer, they suggested a month by month contract which costs a bit more so I could do that. When I went in to suspend my membership yesterday they told me I couldn’t and would have to cancel and rejoin with a joining fee. Inconsistent and frustrating. The gym is ok, reasonable facilities and not too busy. On the downside they seem to have a lot of issues with facilities that take a long time to get fixed.

Negative experience: If you're a squash player, this place is shockingly bad. Courts are poorly maintained despite repeated requests from members to make repairs and keep them clean. They're happy to take your money, but not willing to provide a decent service.

Negative experience: Went there to use jacuzzi because of my back problem. It was out of order so I decided not to stay as there was no information about this on pay as you gym website and also staff didn't mention it when I arrived. I asked for refund as I was going to leave to go to another place with working jacuzzi but they denied it as other facilities were available. I am disappointed as the jacuzzi was the only reason I went there and I expected refund as I didn't stay there for more than 5 minutes...

Negative experience: Very disappointed with the staff and the length of time it takes for them to get back to you.

Fantastic experience: Excellent facilities and exceptionally caring staff...almost a year attending and it has changed my life...I can not but smile as I swim in the pool. Perfect recreational experience, thank you!

Fantastic experience: Thought it was a bit expensive for two of us but I was wrong. Well worth it for great big pool, mot health checks, sauna and steam room. Looking forward to using the gym when I get back to health after operation. Really enjoying being a member.

Positive experience: I'm very happy to come in Nuffield, it is a nice gym with lots of things to do. I'm satisfied. However there are things that I don't like and I'm not happy to pay the full prize: 1) From November the turnstiles are broken 2) Air Conditioned doesn't work 3) AS THE PARENTS PUT THE COVER ON THEIR SHOES WHEN THEY ARE IN THE POOL THE SAME RULES SHOULD BE RESPECTED BY THE TEAM. I always see the lifeguard with sneakers ( I've never seen nobody with sneakers but ALWAYS with pool slippers and the reason is for hygiene). Last day the guy came into Jacuzzi for taking some water was without the cover on his shoes. Why? 4) Why the instructors, in weights machine, help only people who paid the private lessons and they don't check and correct if someone is working incorrectly?

Fantastic experience: Lovely place lots of things to do

Fantastic experience: Have always found the staff helpful and approachable. I like this gym as the badminton and squash is included in your membership and there is nearly always a court available.

Positive experience: On the good side Nice place and pool and you do get a lot of little extras such as free badminton courts and a supplied towel ( save alot of messing about with the washing! ) On the down side Some of the staff can be a bit prickley .. I tried to order a coffee at 9:45, only to be told that they could not take my money as the till was already counted down as it was a slow evening and that the staff could go at 10:00. That being said this was a one off and its normally pretty good. The other major bugbear is the location, there has been building going on around the site with for about a year with hundreds of new houses being built causing alot of traffic and ever changing diversions to suite the builders. I am told that there will be access build onto the site ( but not seen any progress to that effect ) so this has to be a consideration when joining. Try to get there between 5 and 7 and expect more time in the car when your are less than a mile away than the gym!

Negative experience: Good facilities, friendly staff but overpriced and impersonal. Bringing a guest in is £15 a session which means I would go to the council run Northcroft for swimming with partner and child instead. It is difficult to get advice on equipment that you are unsure of or even an induction on equipment you don't know how to use. I've found I am just pushed into £100 for 3 personal trainer sessions to get basic info. Classes are free and those that I have taken have been good considering it is a large gym environment. I've been coming here on and off for 10 years and there has been a constant problem with incompetence/overcharging on rates when anything changes and always a big issue to resolve. From conversations with other members it seems this is a normal way for them to make more money from you and a constant bugbear. Overall a mixed bag.

Positive experience: Love it there, but im a teenager and i have to pay £55 a month to be member which is too much... Otherwise great facilities and very kind people!