Dulwich Leisure Centre

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.

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 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…

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.

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.