Virgin Active

Right, I've been looking for reviews for virgin active gyms on the Internet and haven't really been able to fond anything concrete. Anyone who writes anything about them tend to be rather negative. A business simply wouldn't be able to run if such negative reviews were the rule rather than the exception. I work all across London, everywhere except East London. I've been to many gyms in my tender years, including short stint working in one in Paris. I've been a member of Virgin Active since October 2010 and have tried a few clubs.

My 'home' club is technically Kingston. I tend to use Sunbury the most as my best mate goes there. I also use others such as Croydon where I've been working recently. I'm moving out my area to a more central location in London. This will give me more access to some of the other gyms across London. I signed up for my membership in Kingston I was told I couldn't use the 'classic' clubs. This included Twickenham, Kensington Canary Wharf and Broadgate. Fine, I dont tend to go to those places anyway.

I wasn't aware that there was a restriction on usage of other clubs too. Apparently, the inner london clubs have a restriction that as a member of an outer london club such as Kingston you can only use an inner london club four times a month, with the exception of a few. So basically, I'm moving to St. Johns Wood and i can go to thhe gym in Oxford Street or Regents Park as much as i want but not Marylebone or Mayfair (and a few others) Perhaps these clubs are of a particular standard? From where Ill be it is around 2.5 miles to these Central London clubs, which is also OK. Im lucky that Cricklewood is also 2.5 miles from St Johns Wood and is unrestricted with a significantly bigger complex to benefit from. My aim over the next few months within the limitations of my membership is to go to as many of these different Virgin Active gyms as is possible. I'll even try and go to some of the classics. Theres a fee to pay, but its only half of the guest fee, which can't be that much. Ill try and give an idea as to the pricing of each club too.

I'm not a gym fanatic by any means, but I did get an email saying i had been 25 times in 8 weeks. Consistently three times a week. As I'm moving into a small flat with an electric hot water heating system, I'd rather shower at the gym than anywhere else. It saves money and is much nicer. It also encourages me to use the gym more! Before I joined virgin I never swam, now I swim all the time!

Kingston: this is my home club. I pay £55 a month for the privelidge of using this gym and others across the country on a 12 month contract. I like this gym and the staff are friendly. The sales team were good and the personal trainers also help you in the gym even If you're not paying them. The clientele is youthful and ive made one friend there. He just came up and started chatting. The only downside of the gym is that it isn't open enough. The rooms are a little small and it feels a little like a school with studios instead of classrooms. However, it is on top of a shopping centre, so its understandable. On the subject, i was at the Bentall centre today and unfortunately a girl jumped from the top floor to her death. RIP. Parking is free after 6 in bentalls car park, car park B is always best.

Sunbury:I probably spend most of my time here. The same membership at this club is £58 per month from what I remember. Not a huge difference. The staff or generally good, but don't go on a Monday. I went today and its generally busy, but the staff at reception could be more accommodating. This is a nice club with very good facilities the place feels open and there always tends to be cleaning staff in the changing areas. Parking is good too.

Croydon: I've been here about five times, enough to get a good feel of the place. Price is similar to Kingston. The staff here are good, with female staff retaining an element of the south london flirty vibe. Facilites are better than Kingston but not as good as sunbury. The clientele is mixed, definitely older than Kingston. The place is in croydon town centre and they give a 15% discount on parking there, even if the car park is impossible to find. I'm still fairly new to croydon.


I'll add to the list in due course. I don't try classes much but would like to integrate it into a routine.