Bannatyne Health Club Chingford London

Reviews

1. Carmel ★☆☆☆☆

   Fancy inhaling mould, chlorine fumes, and straight-up neglect? Then step right into Bannatyne Chingford— the filthiest excuse for a “spa” I’ve ever had the misfortune of paying for. Calling this place a spa is insulting to actual spas. Drinking water taps are constantly out of use. **Pool accessibility is a complete joke - there are no ladders available because they’re permanently hijacked by swimming teachers using the lanes with ladders. I’m not paying £70 a month to awkwardly ask a child in a 1-to-1 swimming lesson to move just so I can physically escape the pool. The chlorine levels are ridiculous and burn your eyes. The pool vents are black with dirt, and multiple times this year the water has looked like a literal Shrek swamp — cloudy, green, and disgusting. The hot tub is a full-blown health and safety violation. Multiple tiles missing, only *one* jet works, and I actually cut my foot on the broken tiles while trying to use it — all while being blasted with freezing AC and dust blowing out of filthy vents. The showers are beyond vile. Most don’t work, the ones that do are filthy, and I’ve found actual human poo in the showers more than once this year . Men openly shower naked in full public view of kids and women and staff do absolutely nothing. If you didn’t want to pay for Óñlŷfāņș , congratulations — free ñudïty comes with your membership. There is barely any signage about essential oils in the hot rooms, so anyone can bring whatever they want and potentially trigger allergic reactions or asthma attacks. Zero care, zero control. Fire exits are more dangerous than the fire itself. The evacuation point is full of broken glass, cans, and overgrown grass — perfect if you fancy standing half-naked with glass in your foot during an emergency. Now here’s the fun part: be prepared to constantly nag staff about all of this, because management does absolutely nothing. Complaints get brushed off, delayed, or ignored — it takes over four weeks just to fix a drinking water tap. No exaggeration. The manager, Terry, is basically invisible. Conveniently only around on weekdays when more non-members are in, or when members are rushing in before work and don’t have time to actually use or notice the facilities. Don’t bother complaining — there’s no point. Staff turnover is constant. People are always leaving, and somehow everyone in the building becomes a “deputy manager” after about **two months** of working there. That alone should tell you everything about how this place is run. And yes — before anyone says I’m exaggerating — maggots and black worms on the floor and in the drains Dirty. Unsafe. Negligent. Poorly managed. Absolutely not worth the money. Avoid at all costs.

   almost 6 months ago
2. Nev Lau ★☆☆☆☆

   water fountain by pool side has not been working correctly for months, now it’s completely broken it’s been like this for around a week ! Water should be available at all times there is a sigh saying go to reception to get water so I need to leave pool side in my swim wear to get water and catch a chill ! There should be a sign at entrance so you can go buy extra water if needed The shower by pool side there is 3 only 2 have been working the 3rd one has been broken for months too

   almost 7 months ago
3. Jay G ★★★☆☆

   I joined Chingford Bannatyne this year and already there has been an increase in membership fees but he increase that I felt was unfair and surprised me was the non member day fee increase from £15 to £25, I can see no justification for that and have made my views known directly to the club. I was told the club has moved up a tier! Cons: the facilities particularly changing rooms and toilets seriously need modernising and regular maintenance. For the membership fee I would expect a clean and well maintained environment but in parts you can see where patch up jobs have been done and not to a good standard, in that you can see it! It’s also unacceptable that the toilets sometimes do not have toilet paper! Why aren’t regular checks made throughout the day? On one occasion when I complained staff were apologetic but they could not access the toilet paper immediately because it was in store room which was accessed through a studio where a class was being held! The slat area around the jacuzzi also needs fixing and cleaning & the silver hand rail has dirty marks. Also noticed when staff dip plastic bottles in jacuzzi and swimming pool water, the plastic bottles are filthy. I have pointed this out. How hard would it be to clean them before dipping them into water that members are already in? I also feel the gym equipment doesn’t have a wide enough & up to date range. Feels a bit dated. Dislike having to complain to front desk when the few disabled spots are taken and no blue badge is displayed! Have seen lack of etiquette in steam room with a woman using a brush to remove dead skin from feet Pros: are the actual facilities in that there’s a gym, jacuzzi, sauna, spa area. Have had several massages in the spa which were really good.! That said I enjoy the steam room and jacuzzi facilities. The swimming pool temperature can sometimes be too cold and I can’t see why they can’t regulate so one isn’t shivering when entered! The jewels in their crowns are Pilates and Aqua sessions led by Tali Spink and Jesse. Excellent standard, hard to beat, professional, effective and enjoyable! Also Bannatyne members are engaging and friendly, so that too is a plus! Overall, the gym has clearly seen better days but current members should be valued enough to ensure the facilities are maintained to a good standard! Another massive plus is the professionalism and helpfulness of front desk and other staff.

   almost 7 months ago

1. Nick S ★★★★★

   Very quick 10 min back massage, as we were late, but it was very efficient! Jemma and Gina were amazing! Also I found the Spa Day deal very good. Lunch would give you an option of a dish and a small bottle of Prosecco, also access to the Spa was very good! We enjoyed it everything!

   almost 7 months ago
2. Halin Pasut ★☆☆☆☆

   There are so many bad things about this place that I dont even know where to start but here we go, enjoy the lecture before u sign up. 1. The building is pretty big although the gym itself is tiny so dont expect walking into some bodybuilders playground because its not.. 2. Gym equipment is broke on regular basis, once I counted at least 5-6 machine broke on same day - considering there is only single unit available for most machines - this is significant. They get repaired weeks or months later. 3. Its pretty messy, the weights are often all over the floor, loads of staff on the shift, no one is bothered to clean it. Obviously people should clean after themselves but if they dont, thats where the staff should step in. 4. 90% of lockers in changing room dont work or Are taken because people use them as storage. If you are renting self storage, dont, come to bannatyne and take advantage of no one giving a sh*t. There are notices that lockers will be emptied by the end of the day and stuff disposed but its only for a show. 5. Showers and toilets are gross, they did some “light refurb” recently to mask the dirt but it doesnt change the nastiness of it anyways. 6. People coming to this place are pretty uncivilised, starting with blokes that remove their dead skin in the sauna and steam room, leaving it all over seating area and floor, ending on groups of noisy guys that accupy one machine for ages, guys that shout and disturb other people and middle aged men that wear flip flops while exercising. 7. Staff rotation is pretty high, people come and go and that tells a lot about the place as well. Enjoy ur workout xoxo

   almost 8 months ago
3. emma reid ★☆☆☆☆

   Awful. It's like an old school swimming pool that was last re decorated in the 80s the pool is tiny. The spa has cracked tiles. The steem room smelt really bad, as did the toilets. My massage was the worst I have ever had, there was no pressure, even though I asked for firm pressure, she even left the room. I paid for 40 minutes back, head and foot massage and was out of the room within 30 minutes. They don't have any vegan food on offer in the cafe there is black mould growing in the shower.

   almost 3 years ago

1. Malika G ★★★★★

   I had a really great spa experience . Although I initially struggled booking online, I called reception and the lady managed to resolve my issue and was extremely kind and helpful. The ladies doing the massage and facial are lovely and the Elemis products they use smell and feel amazing. Will definitely book again

   almost 3 years ago
2. Naomi Jones ★★☆☆☆

   Really tired place, needs a refurb. Went for a spa day and at best you could spend 3 hours there (including treatments). More of a gym with massage rooms as opposed to a spa. Mould on the ceilings in the changing room, so much scum in the jacuzzi you can’t even see your knees when sitting and had tiles missing. The relaxation room was nice but cold and massage itself was average at best. Staff seemed nice enough but not forthcoming with information about what was where but gave answers if asked. Did not use gym so cannot comment on that. Would not return nor recommend until it has been upgraded. Cleaner was sat on her phone in the changing room the whole time I was showering/ dressing, not cleaning at all which explained a lot. This is to all Bannatynes but paying to hire a towel when you’ve spent £100+ on a spa day is a joke!

   almost 3 years ago
3. Jay A ★☆☆☆☆

   Very poor gym, avoid joining at all cost. This is a gym where the cable machines have been broken for months, lift broken for months. Spa facilities full of fungus

   almost 3 years ago

1. Slippery Simon ★★★★☆

   My Wife and I joined here a couple of months ago. We are both keen swimmers and this gym has a 25 metre pool. That's not too deep. We have been quite a lot recently and it really suit ours needs. This is an excellent gym and pool. The only downside was the pool has recently been closed because someone broke a glass container poolside. Not Bannatyne's fault but disappointing to have to go elsewhere to swim. We can't wait to get back there.

   almost 3 years ago

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