Soho Gyms - Waterloo

Soho Gyms Waterloo
11-15 Brad Street
London
SE1 8TG
020 7793 4238

Date of visit: August 2010

I called the gym at 1pm and was greeted by an enthusiastic sales rep. He started to explain the club and then told me to go over and have a trial session. I was in the gym by 3pm on the same day. The Soho people were a massive contrast to the used car salesman like Graham of 37Degrees. The warm and relaxed Khan from New Zealand showed me the gym and gave me the options.

I was offered a number of deals, which included pay as you go direct debit. There is a £50 deposit, which you lose if you cancel before the end of your term. There are also some cash deals, e.g. at the moment they have and £89 for 6 weeks deal.

The gym is 15,000 sq. feet and has free weights, lots of cardiovascular equipment, two rooms for classes and a boxing ring. They seemed to use a mix of suppliers. I saw a lot of stuff from Technogym and Escape. They also have some cross trainers by PRECOR.

Architecturally it has to be the nicest gym that I've seen in London. It's built in 3 arches, which sit under a train track running to Waterloo Station. If you like architecture or interior design, please have a look at this place. It is a piece of art. There is also so much natural light flooding through the enormous windows.

GOOD STUFF: I went at about 3pm, but there were still people training and the atmosphere was good, there are mirrors everywhere (10/10); The venue is outstanding and the finish is to a very high standard. They had mats and rubber flooring everywhere - none of this laminate floor.

BAD STUFF: The only thing I noted was that it was male dominated. I don't think that there was one girl training. I am told that the girls do more classes and that 30% of their members are girls.

CHANGING: Lots of locker (you need a padlock), 14 showers and a sauna in the changing rooms, which seemed clean.

OTHER STUFF: Khan says that they have about 2,000 members and retention is high (looking at the kind of people in there, I believe this). Once a member you can use all of the gyms in London. They give £3 off per month, if you don't use their towels.

Final Note: I have been to all Soho Gyms in London and they do not all come up to this standard. Look out on my blog for more reviews coming soon.

Review of 37 Degrees, More London

37 Degrees
2b More London Riverside
London
SE1 2AP
020 7940 4937
Date of visit: August 2010

After being assured that I would have a free trial of the gym, I got my gym kit together and went to see Graham (from Romford in Essex). He must have spent an hour trying to hard sell me. He was very pushy and if he hadn't told me that his last sales post was in Fitness First in Romford, I would have assumed that he'd come straight from a used car dealership. Anyway, how could I make a decision without trying the product first? He sold it to me as a luxury joint, where I'd never need to wait for any equipment - very dangerous!

There is no atmosphere in there. Very few people are passionate! I looked at one of the personal trainers (a girl with short peroxide hair) training a lady. Where was the inspiration? Motivation? Later on the same trainer came back for a workout. She hogged about 3 sets of dumbbell and wouldn't let me use the 4kgs. They need to duplicate their dumbbells. I wouldn't have minded, but they sold me a certain idea that they couldn't deliver - I had to wait for a piece of equipment and worse of all it was because of a member of staff/personal trainer.

This gym (more of a spa with gym equipment) is for local office workers, who pay corporate rates of about £65 (£80 joining fee). The pool (20M) looked very nice and the sauna and steam room were great! Graham offered me £85 per month for a year’s contract with £80 joining fee or £95 per month rolling. Graham was very busy showing potential new member and I know that a lot of office workers really rate the place. However, I believe that this type of gym is fashionable and gives some symbol of status, but doesn’t appear to have that much to do with athleticism/sport.

The gym is big (Graham said 15,000 sq. ft), and he said that they have 3000 members (this may have just been part of his "we're not a packed out gym" sale).

It has given me a very valuable lesson in what a large (lazy to some extent and not athletic) portion of the public want. 37Degrees have just one other site in Olympia in Kensington.

Machines/Cardio: They use PRECOR USA - which are said to be a top quality brand.

GOOD STUFF: Towels, Locker Room, Shower, Equipment, Clean

BAD STUFF: No Ambient/Passion, No Mirrors (Isn't 95% of going to the gym about vanity?)