Britannia Leisure Centre - London

S R.

I went there the other day after years of not going there. I didn’t even know they refurbished it over covid time. The place is much more modern, as the previous building was very old and dated. More floors, and more sports halls available. There’s so much more to do here now, with excellent views from the gym and studios. The tennis courts are on the roof too, which I found very cool! I’d be going more often to check the place out properly.

Rebecca D.

Beautiful leisure centre however do not join this gym if you are interested in doing classes. There is absolutely no availability ever, especially for pilates. I have a flexible schedule and cant even access the classes midday as they get completely booked out immediately, a week in advance. I have had to cancel my membership as I have accepted that I will never be able to do a class in this centre. Sad because it has the potential to be amazing.

MB S.

My bike got stolen outside the leisure centre between 6-7 pm while I was in the gym. This apparently is very common. I found it impossible to get hold of the right people at the centre to get the cctv, after a week I eventually got hold of the deputy general manager directly who was helpful, but the process to get there was very frustrating.

I would not lock my bike here. There are so many locks cut around the facility. Bike theft is out of control, they need to put in additional measures to tackle this problem, eg hiring security.

The centre itself is a good size, but the vibe is terrible. The steam room is always full of men who harrass the women who dare to come in. Complaints are made to lifeguards about this but no action was taken. Gym etiquette is non existent, creating an intimidating environment compared to other better centres in the area. I would not come back to this centre and would not reccomend it to others.

Cyprien D. M.

The gym is super well equipped with a great variety of high quality machines and equipment. Unfortunately it's a victim of its success and is regularly very busy. I often have to wait 10 minutes or more to use a given machine at peak hours. During the day it's a bit better.

Cristina L.

I was a member for a short time at the gym here. The gym is very well equipped and has a great view over the Shoreditch park.
But....

1. I was assaulted by 2 other gym members, threatened, verbally abused because I " dared" to talk to them. It was very scary. I talked with the manager. Nothing was done, no follow up, nothing.
I did not feel safe anymore to go to this gym at all. And as a woman I would not recommend any other woman to go there.

2. There is no gym etiquette
- nobody puts the weights back
- Teenagers just hang out in the gym making comments on women
- rarely there is somebody on the gym floor to ask questions or support
- smell sometimes is very hard to handle

Overall a great place, shame that the management and staff are not helpful or present or willing to impose some rules of conduct in the gym.

John N.

Modern facilities, but Better UK are a complete nightmare to deal with. Their membership systems are completely broken and periodically block you out of the system, prevent access, cancel payments, etc. The staff at the centre are rude and have no interest in helping customers.

M.A H.

This is a state of the art gym in London Borough of Hackney. By far the most advanced in the borough. It would seem that Hackney is levelling up for the local residents of Hackney but the invading gentrifiers are trying to take claim to this leisure facility ! Hackney is very lucky to have such a beautiful modern building like this. However here are some of the downsides of this leisure centre - 6 months down the line of becoming a member. Britannia Leisure Centre is oversubscribed with members, not able to accommodate for all its members, hence why the machines in the gym keep breaking down and the same applies to the sauna and steam.

Sauna and steam rooms near the main poolside are severely oversubscribed, the sauna is filled to the brim of people that you can’t even breathe in there. This should not be legal. This is a major safety hazard. There are also a few odd, loud regular guys in the sauna area. They never miss a day in the sauna and steam. There is this one French guy in the sauna and steam room who openly spouts his resentment towards religion which is egregious. People go there to relax not to hear racism and other vile things being spouted. This makes the experience very hostile environment when you have someone being very rude towards one’s own beliefs. There is this One regular, a bald-headed Geordie man sits on the floor in the sauna for hours and shouts and laughs very loudly. He’s one of the regular culprits that can be seen here at every sauna/steam mixed sessions here at the Britannia Leisure centre. These Usual suspects are always using the sauna and steam, making it here a very uncomfortable experience indeed with their loud ramblings on, some of whom come down from the gym. There are also Swimmers also splash water outside the pool landing onto your feet which is egregious. All this spoils the enjoyment of what is supposed to be a relaxing amenity. There is always this French guy, using his roller and standing on the benches in the sauna and steam rooms to stretch - when he comes down here after finishing at the gym. This is a sauna dude, like what are you doing with a roller in there! That stuff should stay in the gym, away from the sauna and steam rooms. Odd guy. There is a young kid about ten years old who can be seen using the sauna here which is illegal! There are some dirty showers down there in the pool area. Though they regularly clean round the clock, it’s still dirty with hairs on the floor and bags in the shower cubicles.

The gym is severely oversubscribed, and it gets really busy during peak hours where people are stood waiting for the machines to become free and available for use. Some of the newly furnished equipment are damaged and most need repairing or replacing altogether which is unprecedented- given it’s only been two years of usage. This would suggest it is an oversubscribed gym with riff-raffs abusing the equipment here at the gym. There are also kids messing around at times on the machines. Overall, this gym is not what I had expected it to be - just 6 months down the line. A lot of let downs for me especially the people who are using the gym - some are rude and obnoxious to say the least. This kind of hostile environment exists in the sauna and steam aswell. In the gym, other users will constantly ask you how long you have left until you finish using the machine. No one should feel intimidated when using gym equipment. It just feel like a constant harassment. This is again to blamed for the gym being oversubscribed. This is not the way to run a gym, leisure centre facility. Poor management and oversubscriptions must be blamed for some of these issues. However, this is to be expected from a poorly run, local community facility, i.e. you get what you paid for. Ventilation is poor in the gym as you can smell body odour oozing off other gym users next to you, on a treadmill for example.

There are some treadmill machines in the gym that are making loud squeaky and banging noises and this is very dangerous as the belt could slip or snap and cause a major accident.

Petrice B.

This review is for the creche! The ladies who run it are absolutely fantastic. My 2 year old hasn’t settled well anywhere else but they have make it the most stress free transition every time we go… whether I’m in a class/gym, steam/swim or just the cafe I know my little one is safe and has settled playing with all the toys 🙂 thank you so much!