2 /5 Alex Foley: I have been a member of this gym and spa facility for over a year and a half. For the most part, I have found it an enjoyable place to relax in the evening and meet interesting people, and the price is very reasonable, which makes it easy to ignore some of the routine problems -- filthy floors and rundown facilities that frequently break.
Unfortunately, the last few months has seen a tremendous dip on standards and the attitudes of staff, which has resulted in a number of friendly faces leaving. If this persists, I feel I will have to end my membership as well.
It now seems that the number of days that one or more of the facilities are out of order is more than the days theyre all working. In particular, the top bench of the sauna has been bowing dangerously for over a month, with no effort to repair it despite the obvious health and safety risk flagged by members multiple times. Yesterday I discovered the bench had finally broken fully, making what could have been a simple fix more of an ordeal.
The steam room recently had a hole in the wall and the repairs are obviously a bodge job that will not hold. In addition to the crumbling facilities, it is obvious there have been a number of cost cutting measures, especially around cleaning, that are impacting user experience. While members used to socialise politely, more most of the time is spent collectively complaining about the state of the place.
The real final straw, however, has been the way that staff have, in the recent absence of any management, begun making the place feel actively hostile towards members. The main tension seems to be tha they have unilateral decided to begin closing fifteen minutes early so that they can clean and go home earlier. Although one of the selling points for me is that Ive been able to come to the gym and spa after late days at work in London, I would understand this change if the result had been the facilities were any cleaner.
Staff are only paid until 10:30, we have been told, and rather than paying them more to ensure they have time to clean, the decision has been made to just close earlier. However, I recently left a bag in my locker and went back at 10:15 to see if I could grab it. A young looking member of staff was leaving and told me that he had already locked up and couldnt let me in to get my belongings.
That same member of staff has been incredibly duplicitous and rude in trying to force members out early. We watched him set all of the clocks in the spa ahead by five minutes, and I recently overheard him discussing with a colleague how they would turn off the jacuzzi, steam room, and sauna half an hour early so that customers would get cold and begin leaving. The result is that most of the goodwill between staff and members is now gone. Last night I witnessed him kicking a member out and doing a sort of victory dance afterwards. Regardless of the merits of the termination, this sort of display makes members feel incredibly unwelcome.
I doubt I will maintain my membership much longer, and I imagine they will struggle to retain many other members in the coming weeks if this persists.
