Fitness First - London

Cassidy Kevorkian

I Very strongly recommend this gym. Incredible pool, which isn’t crowded with very good water temperature. Great street workout facility. Welcoming staff that are knowledgeable and always ready to help to optimize your training regiment. I personally recommend coach Jacob (PT) who coached me weekly. This was all during a very difficult internship I had and coach Jacob helped me get back on track physically and mentally. He also enabled me to push myself like never before. If you’re looking for a gym, I highly recommend fitness first cottons!

Dania Suheimat

This is meant to be a gym on the more premium side, but the here has been my experience the last few times I’ve been there:

There were no mats available for a good 10 minutes in the entire gym, as there was a class taking place and all the mats were used up by that. Two of the sinks and one bathroom in the ladies room were not functional. Some machines have been broken and out of use for MONTHS. When I told this to the staff at reception, they didn’t say they would pass it to management or do anything about it.

You could go to a gym that charges a third of this one and get the same quality, if not better.

Gleb Petrenko

This was at one time a premium gym with a great reputation, and now has sadly become a bit of a sad joke amongst the members. It’s slid into serious decline, and I wouldn’t recommend it except if you’re intending to visit it like you would a museum.

The swimshorts dryer is broken, the steam room is broken, most of the water fountains are broken. Everyone sits in the sauna, without water, wondering how they’ll get their soaking wet shorts home. There aren’t any studios, so classes take place in the open gym. No real admin staff, just personal trainers who are asked to stand on the desk - it’s not their fault, but they have no idea what’s going on and have no way of contacting head office. A lot of the showers smell a bit like egg. Lockers are somehow all always occupied even when the gym is empty. Shower by the pool only runs cold, and seemingly has never run hot - one very old member claims he had a hot shower there 10 years ago but no one believes him. The area for stretching is about the size of a large double bed, otherwise you have to put your mat out on the gym floor somewhere and let people walk over you. Once I was in the sauna in the middle of the day, and the cleaning team came in and opened the door and began cleaning. That sums this place up pretty well.

My membership price went up by 50% without anyone contacting me, and once they picked up the error they were unwilling to refund me. In an ever globalised world with instant live chat features, fitness first had one customer service email, and they ‘do their best’ to get back to you in 10 (TEN!) business days. Staff on the desk acknowledge that it takes a long time, but they don’t know how to contact them either, and there’s no phone number. Rumours abound that they don’t actually exist.

What was a really good place to workout around 5 years ago is now more of a social experiment than a gym, and you should save your money.

You will notice after this review that fitness first will suggest I speak to in-club staff - this is by design, the in-club staff can do nothing because they are all personal trainers, and can’t get in touch with management. Once you speak to them, they tell you to email customer services. After that, it’s 10 business days until you get a reply to speak to in-club staff. All the while, algae continues to envelop the shower block and more equipment breaks.

Giles Beven

Been going to FF cottons for a few months now. 10/10 would recommend. Top quality, very good equipment for any type of workout, lovely pool/spa area with sauna and steam rooms. Jacob, holly and Maria and the wider staff are always very happy to help whether it’s a question about working out or just general queries.

Arthur J

Save your money… it used to be a good value for money, it is not at all anymore.
In terms of equipment, cleanliness, staff, members, you’ll find the same in a 30£/month gym and you’ll be able to bring a friend couple of times a month without paying a day pass…

It all starts with the staff that is not able to answer to a “Hello” when you enter the gym. Most of the time you’ll find them in the middle of the entrance joking, fighting or flirting with each others. I guess if you’re a woman it will be slightly different as they will all come to you to ask for your instagram or phone number, gentleman behavior surely.

The locker rooms are old, many are in poor quality and not clean.

The machines, when they are not broken for months, are old and not very sophisticated. It was good maybe 10 years ago it’s not anymore. There’s only one leg press, one lat pulldown, no seated row, … very poor equipment for that price.

The water fountains are not really working, even the wifi has been down for a good month and not fixed.

Let’s not talk about the very aggressive marketing strategy that makes the gym now extremely busy from Monday to Thursday.

It seems that the members also slowly became more and more disrespectful. Very noisy, not using towels or cleaning after themselves, groups of 3-4 guys fighting in the middle of the gym all of that encouraged by some of their friends in the staff.
Probably some serious and professional management would be needed here…

Finally now it becomes more and more usual to close 15-20min before the normal closing hour.

In short if you don’t use the pool on a regular basis, save 70% of money by joining a cheap gym. For +100£/month this has sadly turned into a scam.

Zasha O'Brien

Facilities at this gym are great - it’s spacious (though awkwardly laid out), has a huge variety of equipment, changing areas were clean, and seems worth it if you prefer to work out on your own or with a trainer. However, the two classes I attended were a total disaster, especially compared to the classes at other Fitness Firsts. One was a virtual class and started 20 minutes late due to technical difficulties. It’s ridiculous that classes take place at such an expensive gym without even a single instructor physically present! The staff aren’t the friendliest and generally did not have a clue what was going on. I visited this gym as my regular branch was closed for renovation but will not be returning.

Laura Meotto

When they contact you for a survey, saying your feedback is valuable, it’s frustrating to see that some machines have been out of order for weeks or even months and that they are not getting repaired. The sauna and steam room are rarely as hot as they should be, or they don’t work at all. Wipes for cleaning the equipment are often unavailable, you have to go through the whole gym to get some and no one seems motivated to refill the dispensers when you go to the reception to tell someone they are empty. People are not showering and go straight from exercising or sauna to the swimming pool. Despite paying £105 a month, it feels like there’s no budget for hot water in the showers…

Kirsee Ali

Although this gym is a little more expensive than others, it’s well worth the price. There are boxing bags, a swimming pool, spin bikes, yoga studios and a sauna. Not to mention two floors of multiple gym equipment. The only criticism is that less expensive gyms have deodorant, dry shampoo, hair ties and cotton swabs in their bathrooms but you’d expect a more expensive gym to have these amenities. However, based on the equipment and classes available alone it’s worth the extra expense.