Top Indoor swimming pools in London, United Kingdom

Decent enough for a local leisure centre, but in the pursuit of profit and the ideal client they closed their creche and took away a life line for local parents. Me being one of them. Currently in desperate need of a refurb.

I've been a member of the Aquatics Centre for a few months, using both swimming and gym facilities about four times a week. The overall design of the building on the outside is timeless but the wood that surrounds the top of the building needs some urgent treatment as it does appear to be rotting on the north west side.

I have never had an issue with cleanliness of the venue, perhaps I'm just lucky but the pool has always been spotless. The changing rooms could be a tiny bit more clean but it's not unclean to the point where it would actively deter me from changing there.

The gym is relatively small and I have to lower my score here. There is quite a lot of equipment out of service at the moment. Rowing machines take up quite a lot of space in one corner - but only one of them is really working. Hopefully with a change of the venue caretaker, we'll see some better and less break-prone equipment too.

Also, I've read through some reviews on here and I'm a little bit bewildered as to why some people say that the lifeguards are rude - I have never experienced a rude lifeguard here, if anything the lifeguard was upset with you because you were taking pictures of your child with other people in the pool, which is made clear that you're not allowed to multiple times. But hey, you'll leave a bad review on here just to "prove" your point.

Anyway, good venue overall but could do a tiny bit more on the cleaning and quite a bit more on the gym.

Have been using this gym for around 2 years, 3-5 times a week. In summary - very good for the price. Some of the equipment is tired and occasionally out of action but I would still rate 5 stars given how cheap it is for the area (and includes a swimming pool but slots are tricky to land).

Love this place. Staff is very friendly and welcoming. Any problems, they are quick to sort it out. Dulwich leisure centre is very clean. Especially the toilets.

Too crowded and no hot water. Changing rooms are never cleaned and mould is present everywhere. Lack of maintenance and will not recommend to anyone since this is a health hazard which needs to be shut down immediately

I love this swimming pool. It’s a great place to swim for both, if you are a beginner or advanced swimmer. But the water in the shower is boiling hot! We have raised this problem several times at the desk but nothing has happened. Maybe at some point it got better but it’s back to hot now. They say it’s an independent company who cares for the Water and although the swimming pool informs them of the problem they don’t do anything. How is this possible?? This is the best swimming pool in London I can’t believe they can’t sort it out for more than a year now!!!!!
Also, the place is cleaned very well, several times a day, which is great, but unfortunately not the pools! I can see so many disgusting things in the bottom of the pool floating around. I would expect more from an amazing place like this. If this two things were sorted it would get 5 stars.

Terrible experience with these two guards, I paid for the swimming but I didn’t go in the water immediately because I felt the water a bit cold for me and a bit unwell, so I sat on the side to watch my baby in case she needs help. They kept asking me if I don’t go in the pool, I need to go out now, their attitude were so poor, didn’t want to listen, just used the high voice to ask me go, even I said I would go in the water when I feel better, I already paid for this. But now, the man kept arguing with me until I must go! That was terrible attitude of them! Is that hurting someone if I feel not ready to go in the water immediately and sit on the side? Ps: I and my family just went in for 5 minutes, and I just sat there for 3-4 minutes!!!! What a joke!

This is honestly by far the dirtiest swimming pool I have ever seen. The changing rooms and sanitary facilities are so dirty that we decided to leave immediately before entering the pools, even though we had already paid. It seems that the facility has not been cleaned since it opened in 2012. The architecture is impressive and worth visiting, but unfortunately it is not sufficiently maintained. If you decide to go swimming anyway, you need a £1 coin for the lockers.

Olympic swimming with more than 10 lanes. They also have a 25 meters pool and a cafe. Great place for swimming around Stratford.

Unanimously feted as the architectural triumph of the London 2012 Olympics.
Designed by Zaha Hadid - massively expensive - her trademark smooth curvilinear mastery emphasising the undulating roof (apparently best viewed from overhead)
Organic sloping silhouette paints well, suggesting flow and motion dramatically and decisively.
A swimming fitness centre not without distractors.
Humidity, maintenance and management issues seemingly temper this popular destination.

I love the gym itself it’s a beautiful building and I actually feel sorry for the staff cos I think they must get so many complaints on behalf of everyone active and now Southwark council management. It’s clearly not their issue. But this gym is awful! It’s £29.99 a month and essentially robbery. There hasn’t had Wi-Fi for months and they’ve had an on going hot water issue for months too which i find insane seeing as surely Wi-Fi and hot water are two very basic facilities a gym should have. I mean no hot water is seriously unhygienic and in winter too?! When you’ve just got out the pool are you expected to take a cold shower? They should refund members for the time these issues have been on going. Also the gym is WAY over subscribed. I love that there’s young people, old people and people of all abilities it makes for a lovely community atmosphere but then there’s times where the gym is so busy with people who can clearly afford a nicer and better gym and no space or any machines available. Sad because I think there’s a lovely community here but I’ll have to leave soon cos the facilities are so tragic and there seems to be no change…

I love this pool SO MUCH, but… someone has to clean it. Seriously. I’ve been coming to swim into the 50m pool and the level of dirt all around the pool is sickening. I’ve seen the same ear plugs in the same spot for 3 weeks in a row now. Ear plugs abandoned everywhere and you can see the floor is covered in slimy dirt. Such a shame because otherwise this would be the best place ever to swim. I hope you’re going to improve e the cleaning of the pool and changing rooms soon, or I might have to consider to go to some other place, with a heavy heart.

If you’re looking to join, I highly recommend trying it out first and paying as you go for a few weeks / a month so you get a sense of the place and all the different times you might use it / how busy it gets / how it’s run etc. I made the mistake of paying up front for an annual membership with Everyone Active right before Southwark took it over. I just don’t think Southwark have the operational experience to run leisure centres properly. The gym I would say is “okay” but lots of the equipment is poorly maintained and tired. I was using it for mainly for swimming, but have largely given up at this point. There simply aren’t enough lane swimming sessions - the times are either first thing in the morning, midday, or late at night. Almost all lane sessions are full at least a week out, so you have to be very on top of checking the app every single day to book a week in advance. There is a waiting list and spots do become free, often an hour or two beforehand, but it’s a really clunky system and you can’t rely on it. They’ve also closed the pool now several times, often for weeks at a time, without any compensation. So certainly in terms of swimming, unless you’re making use of the Southwark Resident Free Gym and Swim at the weekends, personally I think membership here is a waste of money as there are other better run pools. If you do take out a membership I strongly advise not selecting the annual option - the discount for paying annually just isn’t worth it when they keep closing the facilities due to issues and don’t offer any comp. - at least paying monthly you have the option to cancel your membership more easily. Just wish I realised all that earlier.

Due to lack of better options I decided to sign up for my gym here. More times than not the staff is borderline rude. I’ve never had an introductory tour although I asked for it multiple times. The gym and swimming pool are extremely busy. It’s pretty much impossible to book a swim session outside of silly hours such as 1pm when majority of people are at work. There are also not enough classes at a reasonable time and majority are squeezed into the morning hours. The gym equipment is outdated and the gym area needs renovation and a good clean. Although the monthly membership price is affordable, it doesn’t justify the poor customer service and inadequate facilities.

The London Aquatics Centre is a swimmer's paradise with multiple lanes and a spacious 50m pool. It's a blissful escape from crowded pools, allowing for a refreshing and enjoyable swimming experience. Whether you're a serious athlete or a leisurely swimmer, this facility offers a perfect aquatic haven in London.

After our second 'lockdown' in April' 21 the gyms have reopened and Britain seems to have rediscovered the art of queuing (see photo).
Nice!
Usual excellent customer service from the staff: the app and website, however, seem to have busted but I guess you can't have everything eh!?!
At the moment it looks like we will need to phone the Dulwich Leisure Centre to book gym sessions.