September 2025 by Enrico DG
Worst Virgin Active in London (Ladbroke Grove) ? dirty bathrooms, ridiculous towel policy, unsafe sauna conditions, and a manager who doesn?t care.
September 2025 by David Rea
This place is going down hill.
Been a member for years so it?s easy to compare . Towels are now restricted to just one , even if using gymn then pool then sauna . Totally un hygienic. Today was told that the small sweat towel is complimentary & none available . No change in subscriptions to reflect reduction in service.
Overall reduction in enjoyment .
September 2025 by Sharif Elkrissi
been attending this GYM since before Virgin active acquired the building and it was Holmes Place.
They have been consistently putting up prices and consistently reducing the service quality.
For example for over 10 years i have been provided with two towels every time i attend.
They have limited that now to one towel and will charge you £15 extra a month for an extra towel.
Ive been informed by members of virgin active staff that they have lost over 300 members for this one simple scrounging of costs by not allowing customers an extra towel. THERE member count is falling! The Gym costs is going up and you wonder why!!!!!
For that simple reason of not even weighing customers feedback (that nearly all members require two towels) and making customers pay for an extra towel is not a way to treat loyal customers.
I will be suggesting to all 80 members of staff in my company to cancel there memberships with immediate affect and send a notice to all 2.1 million followers i have on social media to not join Virgin active. They are terrible at keeping their loyal customers.
IN fact the manager Marc did not care at all about keeping the loyal customers of the gym and was so wuick in suggesting to cancel my membership he didnt even care! SO MUCH FOR MANAGERS CARING ABOUT Virgin active members and there loyalty and concerns.
join DAVID Lloyd people they are a better gym all round
August 2025 by Les Ale
Clean, very very well equipped, excellent staff, fantastic facilities. Decent parking space.
August 2025 by Cooper House
Rude rude rude rude staff just rude (today exceptionally 27th).
They should go learn some manners from other VA like Fulham Pools etc?i will end my membership here.
August 2025 by Nomi N
1/5 ? Disappointing treatment at Virgin Active Notting Hill (visit on 19th Aug 2025
I?m a long-standing Virgin Active member (over 20 years) and visited Notting Hill with a colleague who wanted to try the club and consider joining. When I checked the app at reception, it simply showed ?no guest passes? with no explanation about allocation limits or expiry. I?ve never received any email or notification saying passes were issued or would expire.
I raised this with the Operations Manager, Joshua S. His response was, in my experience, rude and dismissive (?you should keep checking the app?). I explained I don?t routinely check the app because I haven?t needed to, and that I travel abroad frequently?sometimes for a month?so any short expiry window would be easy to miss. I asked for a one-off goodwill guest pass given my loyalty and the circumstances.
Instead of helping, he spent about five minutes searching the website for a policy stating members only get three guest passes that expire after three months. I?ve still not found this policy on Virgin Active?s official sites. Meanwhile, no practical solution was offered and I had to pay £30 for my guest (receipt available). It was embarrassing in front of my colleague, who then said he no longer intends to join Virgin Active because of how this was handled.
What I expected: clear policy communication in the app/email, a courteous approach, and a simple goodwill gesture.
What I?m asking: a refund of the £30, reinstatement of three guest passes (or the correct allocation), and a clear written explanation of the guest-pass policy (how many, expiry rules, and how/when members are notified). I also hope staff receive coaching so future interactions are member-centric.
I?m sharing this so management can address the gaps in communication and service?this experience was far below the standard I?ve come to expect from Virgin Active.
August 2025 by Victoria Salmon
The club staff are great. The facilities are only adequate, the choice of classes is limited, the cost is rising and the attitude of customer services is appalling. The brand and reputation of this company is declining every since new management took over. I'd recommend people try elsewhere before signing up to membership here.
August 2025 by MapDetective
Great gym
July 2025 by Fari Peyman
The staff at this health club are fantastic ? friendly, helpful, and professional. The facilities are modest but generally good: a decent range of equipment, a small yet enjoyable pool, and a compact steam room and sauna. The changing rooms are usually clean, though not consistently so.
Where the experience falls apart is the membership structure and accompanying terms and conditions. In any other industry, these would likely be seen as deeply unreasonable ? if not outright exploitative ? and certainly not customer-friendly.
Attempting to speak to an actual person is an exercise in persistence. After navigating layers of automated menus, web chats, and being redirected to speak with someone ?at your local club,? I eventually reached a representative. While they were polite and clearly trained, the conversation made it abundantly clear that common sense, flexibility, and fairness had no place ? only rigid adherence to pre-written terms.
I originally contacted the club just to clarify a pricing increase. I had no intention of cancelling. However, the experience ? from the deliberately obstructive communication process to the inflexible, legalistic justification of every charge ? convinced me to terminate my membership. It became clear that the system is designed not for service, but for extracting as much money as possible under the guise of ?fee updates? and ?membership upgrades.?
Ultimately, I cancelled because the stress and frustration simply weren?t worth it, especially as an infrequent visitor. I?d rather take my business somewhere that values its members' time and trust.
July 2025 by Toby Rogers
This gym is well below other Virgin Actives. It?s filthy and never cleaned. It?s half the size and has half the machinery of the likes of Fulham Pools.
They also constantly run out of towels.
June 2025 by Thaina FP
Virgin Active has undoubtedly some amazing instructors, but the Notting Hill club is a HUGE disaster when it comes to management and support.
This Sunday, I attended two reformer classes at Swiss Cottage (the instructor is so amazing I go out of my way to attend her classes at other locations). I swiped in, was physically checked off by the instructor in both, and later that day saw I?d been marked as a no-show for both classes. Two weeks ago, the same thing happened.. I realised something was wrong because I didn?t receive my weekly reward. When I asked why, they said it was just ?a glitch in the rewards system.? No apology, no fix. Yesterday when trying to book my next Sunday classes I realised I had a block on my account. I called customer service, explained everything in detail, sent proof, and asked them to speak directly with the instructor (who had checked my name off). Still nothing. Their response: ?Only the Notting Hill manager can remove the block.? But she?s NEVER available. The staff say she ?works from home often? and that ?this happens sometimes.? No sense of urgency, no real accountability. They said they?ve ?emailed her,? but sometimes she doesn?t even reply to them.
What kind of management is that??????? It?s embarrassing to say the least.
I?m doing everything right, and still getting blocked from using the services I?m paying for?. just because of their own broken system and INVISIBLE management. Let?s not get even mention the customer service.
If you?re thinking about joining Virgin Active - especially Notting Hill - be warned. Some instructors are brilliant, but the experience is beyond frustrating. You?ll spend more time chasing them to fix their own mistakes than actually enjoying your workouts.
June 2025 by Naz
Most staff are lovely, decent facilities too. But I?ve never met anyone as rude as Iain.
May 2025 by Deepika Misra
I?ve been a member at Virgin Active Notting Hill for nearly 9 years and the experience has only declined while prices continue to rise. Even with a discount, I honestly don?t think it?s worth the money. This gym charges premium fees but delivers a budget experience.
The equipment is poorly maintained, the ambience is uninviting, and it?s not a space that motivates you to work out. You can?t even call the gym directly?everything has to go through head office, which is frustrating. Complaints go unanswered, and rewards that are advertised can?t even be claimed at this location.
It feels like they?re raising prices to fund improvements at other clubs while completely neglecting this one. One or two PTs are genuinely great, but overall staff engagement is lacking. The only reason I?ve stayed is convenience?my husband left out of frustration, and I?m honestly not far behind.
April 2025 by mariL arrg
Very disappointing!! Classes are the only good part but other than that
:Very dirty lockers bathroom steam room etc
- they introduce a charge if you need a second towel ( so let?s say you want to use one towel for the sauna /steam room , and one to actual shower you now have to pay 3.00 pounds for the second one !) - very premium isn?t ??
- I used to refer a friend promo and 5 (!!) months later still haven?t got my free month as advertised!
Very bad !
April 2025 by henry twynam
John PT was consistently excellent during the 3 months I had with him. He was professional, friendly and we made real progress with the persistent injuries I came with. I highly recommend him to anyone.
