Disappointing, expensive and not good for young families (David Lloyd (Cardiff))

Member Name: Customer

Product:	David Lloyd (Cardiff)
Date:	05/05/09 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good gym area

Disadvantages: Very expensive for a poor service

The David Lloyd in Cardiff seemed like the perfect option for a parent with a young family. The smart and "family friendly" gym was however no where near the picture painted by the sales team. I believe there is parent and child parking, but have never managed to park there.
The changing area was spacious and had lots of useful things such as a spinner to dry swimwear, hairdryers ect but the showers cubicles are not well designed for parents with young children as they are a bit narrow. The main pool had floats for children to use and was clean, but the pool was nothing special. Taking two non proficient children swimming was difficult as there was no shallow area for littler ones to touch the floor. This was unfortunate as the only other option was the baby pool which was so cold that I had to take the children out blue and shivering after only a few minutes.
Family events were a nice idea but the reality was events that were overcrowded and understaffed. The car park was totally full for any events, so I ended up parking in streets far away.
The gym induction was good and there were most of the machines you would expect for a gym. The classes were however not so good, yoga class for example was so overbooked that I could barely move.
The kids clubs were fine, and the Friday evening family play sessions were and were well planned to coincide with classes but they then changed the timetable and refused children under 3's. They however still expected parents to pay a fee for a non existent service for 2 year olds. The soft play area in the restaurant was useful and it was nice to be able to grab a coffee. The play area was not well maintained, nor was it very clean. I also received a rather unpleasant letter that was sent to all parents about keeping children under control in the club.
The reception staff are great at "listening" to the problems but in my experience the customers are ignored and I know I am not alone.
Overall, very expensive. The joining fee was a £100 for one person or £75 each for a couple, plus a monthly fee of £68.50 for one person or £59 each for a couple if only using the gym and classes (I think for on peak 08/09). The monthly fee was more if you wanted to play tennis. You are also expected to continue a 12 month contract, however poor or non existent the services. Watch out for the change of timetable, which seems to involve cutting back, removing services or adding extra charges. In terms of the children, kids were charged £7.50 per month for age 2-5 and £22.50 for age 6-17. Bear in mind that 2 year get no complimentary sessions anymore and to use the creche in the building (which is run by someone else) would be about £9-£9.50 for a 2 hour for every session. It may be of use to a young single person/couple, who use classes or the gym most nights but I am sure there are more trendy places to be. It was certainly not great for young families who should make sure they look elsewhere before considering signing up.

Summary: For the money they really could do with providing a better service for families