Virgin Active - (Near City of London, UK)

5 /5 Reiss: Great-sized gym that never feels too busy, with friendly staff and an impressively clean environment. Special shoutout to Vladimir, who always does his absolute best to keep everything in top-tier condition. A lot of other Virgin Active locations could learn a thing or two from this gym.

3 /5 Cathy Mark: Virgin Active Aldersgate. I have been coming to this gym for over a year and on the whole I’ve had a positive experience. POSITIVES: - Courteous and helpful staff and PTs. - A good range of equipment for cardio and strength training. - Lift and Cycle classes are fun. - Pool and Spa area is great, not too busy. - Changing rooms, toilets and showers are usually clean to a good standard. - Well used seating area for relaxation and working. NEGATIVES: - The gym has been closed for a good number of days in the last few weeks - not great! - Classes (especially Cycle) is often cancelled. - Pool and Spa area is regularly closed. For the monthly fees being paid, it’s not great to have these regular and ongoing issues. Disappointing! Tempted to give 4 stars, but constantly receiving a notice to inform members of an issue in the gym, pool or spa is frankly irritating! I, of course, appreciate the notifications, but for a gym of this calibre I don’t expect constant ongoing issues and cancellation of classes. A good gym, but could be better!

5 /5 sandy G: 5/5 best gym in the city I’ve been training at Aldersgate since 2020, and it’s easily the best gym in the city. The equipment is well-maintained, and there’s always enough space to work out, even during peak hours. The management is professional, and genuinely care for their customers, Richard and Felix always welcoming and makes you feel like home. This gym is the cleanest gym you’ll ever train, the spa area is amazing it has sauna, steam and hydro massages, it has the biggest pool in the city. I highly recommend to anyone looking for an organised, friendly place to train.

1 /5 Yana Pampukha: I deeply regret that I didn’t read the reviews before buying a membership at this gym. This low rating is absolutely justified. Over the past six months, there hasn’t been a single day when I didn’t regret purchasing a membership in this gym chain. Virgin Active is definitely the worst gym in its price category. First of all, the gyms are extremely overcrowded. And not because they are so popular, but simply because there is very little equipment. Something is often broken. Overall, the facilities are quite small and uncomfortable. The spa zone is absolutely not up to standard. The pool, sauna, and steam room are usually not hot enough. And this is the case in many clubs. I have been to many different locations, and it is the same everywhere. The clubs that have existed for a long time do not update their equipment at all. And in some locations, for example Angel Islington, all the machines are literally rusty, many are broken, and everything is dirty. Overall, the gym is quite dirty and unpleasant. The service is also absolutely terrible. When it comes to equipment, I was very surprised at the Canary Wharf club, considering that this gym is positioned as a premium-level club among their other locations. They have a very limited selection of machines. This was the first time in my life I saw a gym without a leg press machine, without a leg abduction machine, and without a hip thrust machine. You really have to be very creative to do a basic lower-body or upper-body workout there. Also, if you are a tennis lover like I am, keep in mind that Virgin Active has only two clubs with tennis facilities, and there are only a few courts there. Meanwhile, for example, Better Gym has 10 or 12 locations with tennis facilities. They have outdoor courts, indoor courts, and various options. Virgin Active is simply very bad. And of course, the service is what really hits rock bottom. Every time I think it can’t get any worse, they somehow manage to surprise me. The last time, I had an issue with my membership card. I contacted their customer support, and they didn’t reply to me for a week. After a week, they replied saying that since they hadn’t responded for a week, they hoped my issue had resolved itself. And if not, they recommended that I contact them again. I honestly find this shocking. But today something happened that was truly the cherry on top. I arrived at the Angel Islington gym in order to finish my workout before closing. To my surprise, the staff asked me to leave the gym 15 minutes earlier than the closing time stated in the opening hours. I asked why. They told me that it is a rule that the gym closes 15 minutes earlier than what is stated on the website or any other public sources. When I asked them to show me this rule on the website or anywhere else, a lady who introduced herself as a manager came over and started being rude to me. She very aggressively told me that I had to immediately get off the treadmill and that she did not have to show me anything, because since she is the manager, if she says I must leave the gym, I must quickly gather my things and leave — simply because she said so. I find this completely unacceptable. I pay £150 per month for this membership, and this is how the staff treats me when I ask very reasonable questions, politely and respectfully, simply asking them to show me the rule or policy. Instead, I was met with rudeness. I consider this absolutely unacceptable. I will be demanding early termination of my membership, because when I made the decision and signed the membership contract, I did not know that managers have the authority to arbitrarily set opening hours and kick me out just because they feel like it. You are essentially paying for a PureGym-level experience, but three times more expensive and with a long-term commitment that, unfortunately, you cannot break. Please be careful!!!

5 /5 Jonathan Watson: This gym is the best! Cannot believe there are any negative reviews but you cannot please all the people all the time. I have been a member here for two years and the facilities are first rate. An excellent work out area, new and modern equipment and big clean rooms for the classes. The spa is top notch, better than some of the third space I have been to. And the staff are always so friendly and helpful. I cannot name them all but immediately Mark, Fu, Tia, Aria, Rudy, Micah, come to mind… But there are so many more. Always friendly and helpful. I honestly don’t think I have ever found anyone difficult or unwelcoming. When I moved near this area, this gym was a big incentive because it has such excellent facilities. The wonderful staff are an added and very welcome bonus! I have been members of gyms where the staff show no interest and clearly don’t care about you. This gym is the total opposite and you will be well looked after, encouraged and supported by the team. Well done to all the staff and the management here, you have done a terrific job. Keep up the great work!