Balham Leisure Centre

Reviews

• VY

  Vlad Yanchuk

  Oct 15, 2026
  5.0
  Very good place, specially swimming pool
• CK

  C Kirby

  Oct 4, 2026
  2.0
  Lazy staff
• SO

  Sophie O

  Sep 19, 2026
  2.0
  I’ve been a member of Balham Leisure Centre for several years and unfortunately my experience has become increasingly disappointing; so much so, I've joined a different gym that's cheaper and with better facilities. I feel annoyed at myself not having left sooner. The biggest issue for me was the customer service. I found it extremely poor and at times bordering on rude; it's like they don't care or realise that their conduct will result in members leaving and/or giving bad reviews. The feedback process is very frustrating. Every now and again, the gym will ask you to submit a feedback survey; what they don't tell you is that these surveys are not anonymous. After completing one of these surveys with some constructive feedback of the centre, I received what felt like a passive-aggressive response explaining why my feedback was essentially wrong. It did not give me much confidence that feedback is genuinely welcomed or taken on board. The swimming facilities are particularly poor - not very hygienic. A PT at my new gym says that the pool is known on the SW London gym circuit as "The Swamp". To me, the pool changing rooms constantly smell of faeces, particularly the cubicles and, bizarrely, the lockers. I took my partner to the pool once and he refused to come back after changing in a cubicle that had what looked like excrement smeared on the bench. There are lots of flies in the pool shower area. On one occasion, while I was using one of the showers in the unisex changing area, a man began banging on the shower door and telling me to get out because he thought I was taking too long (I had stepped in just moments ago). It was a very unpleasant and intimidating experience. I have also personally seen on a couple of occassions the staff who are mopping up the edges of the pool push dirty water back into the pool. There have been occasions where I think the lifeguard has appeared distracted rather than consistently watching the pool (e.g. talking to other members of staff or pool users). There are some positives. I generally enjoyed the classes and the variety on offer, and there are some good instructors (Carmen and her mum, I can't remember her name). However, classes are often overcrowded which can make something like Pilates very difficult to do properly; the first time I booked onto a Pilates class, I was told that I might have to leave because there wasn't enough physical space. On more than one occasion, an instructor has arrived saying that they'd had a big night out and consquently delivered a softer class. There have also been occasions where a substitute instructor has turned up without prior notice and effectively taught a different class from the one advertised and booked. The app can be very glitchy, freezes, crashes, or can show the wrong session/class timetable. The gym workout area is very basic. I didn't realise this until I toured some alternative gyms recently and realised what facilities could be like. I don’t expect a local leisure centre to be luxurious but I do expect basic cleanliness, attentive lifeguarding, respectful customer service and for advertised classes to be delivered as described. Having been a member for several years, it’s disappointing to feel that these fairly basic standards are not consistently being met.
• RB

  Richard Butler

  Jul 28, 2026
  5.0
  26 August. Lock on Gents toilet broken again!! Hopeless New lock required, not just a repair!! I will post this every week from now on but am beginning to despair at managements lack of concern.... My earlier comment now obsolete - Wonderful! The lock on Gents Toilet in the swimming pool side has at last been replaced and for he last two weeks is has been efficiently protecting us from frequent embarrassing moments. Congratulations to all !!
• CH

  Christine Hawkins

  Jun 28, 2026
  5.0
  First time doing body conditioning amazing and fantastic instructor, really motivated me to keep trying as hard as I could. Can't wait to go again

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