Virgin Active

Very unimpressed with policies and customer service. This is an extremely expensive gym but if you miss a few classes you can’t book in for the next month. Because the classes are so overcrowded and you need to book a week in advance I can’t even use my membership. I am now paying for something I can’t use. Service desk said “too bad” and when I tried to cancel my membership he said he couldn’t do it. DON’T JOIN THIS GYM.

This place needs a major revamp. It has equipment that has not been upgraded since it opened and most of it doesn’t work. The Norwest gym has had like 4 facelifts whilst this northern beaches one is so dilapidated. Wake up virgin active!

I am writing this review to express my concerns and ultimately share my decision to cancel my membership at this gym. While there are aspects I genuinely appreciate, I have encountered a few recurring issues that have significantly impacted my overall experience.

First and foremost, hygiene has been a major concern for me. I have noticed cleanliness issues around the pool, spa, sauna, and boxing room. On one occasion, I witnessed a fellow gym-goer performing intense boxing exercises without bothering to use a towel to wipe away their excessive sweat. The result was an unpleasant puddle of sweat on the floor, which was both unhygienic and off-putting. Additionally, the "ozone glove cleaners" have proven ineffective as the gloves still retain strong smells of sweat, indicating inadequate sanitation.

Moreover, the overcrowding and parking difficulties have been a consistent source of frustration. The gym's location often experiences high traffic volume, leading to actual traffic jams that make it a tedious task to find parking. It frequently takes me more than 10-15 minutes just to secure a spot. Once inside, I have noticed that the weights room tends to be overcrowded, which can be quite inconvenient and limits the effectiveness of my workouts.

I want to stress that I genuinely loved this gym and the wide range of classes it offers. However, due to the infrequency of my visits and the persistent presence of these issues, I have made the difficult decision to explore other alternatives.

I sincerely hope that the management takes this feedback into consideration and addresses these concerns promptly. Improving hygiene standards, ensuring effective equipment cleaning, and finding solutions to overcrowding and parking issues would greatly enhance the overall experience for members like myself who value cleanliness and a comfortable workout environment.

Great gym. Overall, anyone complaining obviously hasn’t attended other gyms out there. Virgin active is in a class of its own.

My account had issues and no one can help me resolve it for a few days resulting in me not being able to book a class. The reception staff ended up giving me other person's account which is a complete breach of privacy. I understand the staff are young but they should be educated to handle enquiries or trained when to escalate to senior staff member to deal with complex matter.

THERE ARE 2 ISSUES I HAVE WITH THE CLUB:
I am sorry to give a 1 star review but after more than a year speaking to staff about it and sending in online feedback nothing has been done.

FIRST ISSUE
All I ask is that some inexpensive, effective signs be placed on the sauna door and on the wall facing you when you enter the plunge pool.
These should advise members to shower after leaving the sauna and BEFORE entering the plunge pool, spa or swimming pool. In particular the small plunge pool, it's not nice when you are joined by one or more members who step in from the sauna absolutely dripping with sweat and rinse it off in 2 cubic metres of water. Many members lack common decency in this regard and I believe the onus is on Virgin Active to effectively communicate the rules in this regard rather than leaving it up to members to do it.

SECOND ISSUE
I use the lap pool, spa, sauna and plunge pool facilities the most. Today when I arrived today 21/03/2023 I was told there was a maintenance issue since yesterday and these were all closed. I accept that these things can happen BUT what I don't accept is that I was not informed beforehand by email or text message to my mobile. I wasted a trip to the club for nothing as did many others. This has happened on several occasions in the past. Why can't members be informed on a timely basis about the closure of facilities? This is not good enough, communication with members is non existent, lift your game Virgin Active.

Apart from the above happy with facilities and staff.

Fantastic gym and crèche.
I like that it has classes running all day and an inexpensive membership for my 13-17y.o family members.
My baby loves the crèche which I find really warm, welcoming and cost effective.
The family is getting in shape whilst the baby socialises, fantastic all rounder gym, very happy.

Nice gym but is getting too expensive for what you get. 30% of the equipment needs replacing and sauna is gross.

Be warned I’ve been with VA for a few years now, their overall standards/ care factor seems to be dropping dramatically when comes to standards of maintaining the building and workout equipment.

Half of the workout machines do not work, it’s been like this for several months with several complaints being mentioned at the front desk. Even lockers don’t work & the simple water fountain.

The staff are very friendly but no action is being followed through whoever their equipment maintenance supplier is, they are not doing their job. It’s getting to the point where it’s not worth going to this particular gym as you pay very high membership fees for equipment & facilities you can’t use.

This needs to be fixed ASAP & to have long term measures put into place!
It’s Ridiculous.

This gym is far better than other VAs I have visited. Very big, lots of equipment which is appropriately spaced, has ample free parking, very clean - especially the bathrooms and showers, no bad smells, and the air quality doesn’t feel stuffy. This is my favourite VA to visit. Just wish it was closer to home and to the office!

I joined three months ago from a small barre only gym. I found it really good value for money as it has the diversity of classes (up to 30 a day!) and instructors. You just have to keep trying until you find the best class and instructor match for you. The pool is very clean and never crowded and the spa and sauna is a bonus if you like them.

Have recently joined this gym switching from a local gym. It’s a great facility with amazing classes which make it good value for money.

The only negative I would say is the opening hours, not opening til 5: 30 weekdays and 7 on the weekends. As someone who trains very early due to work this is a little annoying and is the only reason my partner won’t switch over with me. Just a little earlier would make such a difference.

I have been a member since VA Northern Beaches opened its doors. As I am relocating out of Sydney I have cancelled my membership. Tried online and was called with in 4 hours. Then I was told I had to go to the Gym to personally cancel. I went and cancelled in person before the payment date. VA are still charging me and will not respond, even though they state some one will contact me within 24 hours. Very poor and unprofessional treatment of a longstanding customer.

The gym is great but closes too early on the weekend. It doesn’t worth to pay $ 50 a week for a gym that closes super early.

Absolutely disgraceful way the staff treated me today.after using the pool and having a shower i realised i had left my towel in my locker so went quickly to open it and once again the battery had died and it wouldn’t open. No towel and dripping wet my friend rang the front desk to get someone to open it. Ten mins past, freezing cold and we ring again, one lady goes to the front desk and asks again to open the locker, again no one shows up. Again my friend goes to the front desk to be told they were doing something else.
By this time i have w been standing freezing, wet and not happy. After 20mins in walk the girls no sorry nothing. Manager your staff and you should be ashamed of yourself. I have cancel my membership. This was the seventh time this has happened.

State of art facility with friendly, smiley staff.
Revitalised and it looked simply amazing!

When first joined in 2010 prices were reasonable but increases of 75% over the years make them uncompetitive compared to other gyms in the area.

I have been coming to this gym for years. It’s super clean, the team is super friendly and the classes are great. I recently had a small little trouble with billing due to a mistake in the system caused by a former employee and James went the entra mile to help me. He fixed the issue and he gave me an amazing customer service.
In a world where many business manager and owers have become accustomed to the idea that customers are for granted, James has a different attitude and values every person coming to the gym. So Thank you!
It’s a pleasure to exercise here:)

Every person works here that I meet are so nice and friendly. Always greet with a smile. Every trip here is a happy trip:) The view upstairs is 10/10 gorgeous and the swimming pool is

Just one thing: I might have stayed in the spa for too long, after I went out I noticed that my dark brown hair was bleached into a dark orange-ish colour, if you also have long hair please be aware and protect the hair if you are going.

It's a little pricey at 35 dollars for a casual visit. Even if you only use the sauna, spa and pool and nothing else. There is no chairs to sit on around the sauna spa area but has a good sauna, spa and cold water blunge pool which is great. Has a good showers. Also has an outdoor sitting area. The 35 dollars includes the use of the gym but not everyone wants to use the gym so therefore should not have to pay the full price if only want to have a sauna and swim. The white tiled floors can also be a slip hazard especially if got thongs on. There are other places which charge lot less for a casual swim and sauna visit.