Virgin Active

Reviews

• MH

  Mila Harper

  today
  5.0
  It's a fantastic fitness center! The equipment is excellent, and the gym is spacious. However, the highlight is the sauna and steam room, where the temperature is perfect, the atmosphere is cozy, and everything is clean. After a workout, taking a steam bath is an incredible experience! I highly recommend it to everyone!
• ZM

  Zuhair Mansour

  5 days ago
  1.0
  The worst, most horrible gym experience in central London. Rude staff, extremely unhygienic gym, and inexperienced management. All long-time members have begun leaving this gym for the same reasons mentioned above... this place is getting nastier by the day. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
• JH

  Jason H

  May 8, 2026
  3.0
  Left after several years of membership because of the constant, poorly communicated refurb work. Management routinely gives last-minute warnings before shutting down the spa or changing rooms for weeks, making it impossible to freeze your membership. You end up paying full price for half a gym. The new spa remodel is actually a downgrade. Ugly faux marble, blinding fluorescent lights, and wasted space (an infrared sauna and cold plunge nobody asked for), leaving the actual usable sauna and shower areas incredibly cramped. The location is great and the gym floor is solid, but it’s dragged down by unappealing spa updates, poor management tactics, and showers that need to be cleaned much more thoroughly.
• IA

  Isabella Amara

  Apr 30, 2026
  3.0
  Virgin Active is one of London’s better-known premium gym chains, offering a polished, well-designed fitness experience that combines training, classes, and wellness facilities under one roof. Many clubs feature spacious gym floors with modern equipment, a wide range of group classes (like strength & conditioning, yoga, HIIT, cycling, and reformer Pilates), plus spa-style amenities such as pools, saunas, and steam rooms. A key strength is the variety of facilities and classes, which makes it feel more like a full health club than a basic gym. When everything is running well, members often highlight the quality of instructors, the range of training options, and the overall “premium” feel compared to budget chains. The gym spaces themselves are generally modern and well-equipped, with a strong focus on comfort and wellness, including recovery areas and spa-style features that add value beyond just training. That said, the brand’s reputation is mixed in real-world feedback. Some members praise the facilities and classes, while others point out issues like overcrowding at peak times, maintenance problems, and inconsistency between different locations. Overall, Virgin Active is seen as a high-end, all-in-one fitness club that works best for people who value classes, wellness facilities, and a more premium environment — especially if you choose a well-run location and avoid peak-hour training.
• XX

  X

  Apr 25, 2026
  1.0
  If you like being photographed whilst naked, this is the gym for you, because this is something that happened to me, and I'm absolutely mortified. There are always ladies in the locker room taking selfies whilst other members are naked/changing. These ladies seem so focused on themselves that they don't notice they captured an image with someone naked in their photo as they post these images online and/or send them to their friends. When you confront member's about this and ask for a photo to be deleted, they act like it's no big deal and even say "everyone else is doing it, so I can too". Totally inconsiderate and oblivious to how another member might feel about being unexpectedly photographed whilst naked and having that photo exist on someone else's phone, posted publicly online, or sent to others by text. Virgin Active just don't seem to care to properly address this, as they are not really reprimanding members who do this. Members are also super disrespectful by taking photos in class without other members' permission. Virgin Active really need to sort this, as this is completely unacceptable at a £200+ gym!!! More concerningly, I informed VA staff when this happened, and I was told that they couldn't do anything because the person who photographed me is very good friends with someone named Sasha. I don't even know who Sasha is...but at the end of the day, this type of behaviour should not be acceptable no matter who is friends with who. And finally, VA had my original review removed, but I'll keep re-posting it since my privacy has been completely violated (me being photographed whilst naked). This is something people should be aware of happening at this gym. This is not something that goes on at the Kensington location, but is a problem at Mayfair. PS - I also agree with the other reviews about the mould problem in the showers, it's as bad as described, I don't even use the showers anymore because of this. The toilet cubicles do smell incredibly bad, and the urinal cakes they put on the floor don't mask the horrible urine smell. The toilets are always out of order too. There are really no sufficiently working drinking fountains in the gym, which is strange given this is a gym, a place where people are more likely to need access to water.

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