LA Fitness, London Wall

48 London Wall
London
EC2M 5QB

Date of visit: September 2010

They were doing three free sessions on the Internet. I filled in my details, got a missed call from a man, called back and got rebooked with Nadia. Nadia seemed like a good sales person: professional, well presented, not pushy, she seemed to know all the different schemes, but didn't know about other clubs and didn't seem to be that knowledgeable about fitness. I trained for free in an unventilated basement (when I was there the air conditioning had been shut down for works!). Nadia offered me £55 per month for 12 months or £66 for 4 months with a joining fee of £60.

Good Points: The reception area was pleasant enough - but who cares? - I don't go to the gym to drink coffee. The sales person was nice. At midday, when I went, it was full of people, atmosphere was good, people looked like they were there to work out. They had lots of cardiovascular equipment and a fair amount of free weights and machines. They also had two studios for classes, a spinning room, and a pool.

Bad points: The ceiling was low, they had no natural light and the place felt dark. They did have mirrors, but not by the machines - I would have liked to have seen myself when I was on the machines and cable crossover! Because the air conditioning was broken/off there was sweat everywhere – literally dripping from the ceiling and on the floor. The whole place felt sticky and dirty. The changing area just felt dirty. The walls were dirty and needed painting. The flooring was some kind of wood laminate - see Soho Gyms Waterloo for great flooring! I had to search for the handle for the cable crossover and it felt like they should have duplicated on such things. The dumbbells were a mess and I couldn't find the ones that I wanted. There seemed to be enough staff on the floor, but they weren't keeping things organised!

Conclusion: These guys cater for the mass market, members were paying about £40 per month, their gym is old, and they are more sales focussed. They have enough staff on the floor, but they need more cleaning/tidying staff - having the aircon break is one thing, but this shouldn't affect how organised/available your dumbbells are! As their rep said - They are Fitness First with a swimming pool.