Review: David Lloyd Club (Poole) – Health Club

I’ve been a member of David Lloyd’s for over four years, and overall, I have been very pleased with what they offer. Compared to other gyms and health clubs I’ve been a member of over the years, David Lloyd’s is definitely the best, which is to be expected given that they are considerably more expensive than the other gyms. Below is a review of David Lloyd’s, and also a review of my local David Lloyd’s in Poole

How Much is David Lloyd’s Membership

David Lloyd’s membership is not a simple fixed rate, so you can’t easily get a membership price by just looking at their website. They have different types of memberships, some clubs are more expensive (usually London clubs) than others and there are various promotions and discounts that can be applied.

To give a rough idea of prices, In 2024 my David Lloyd membership was costing £139 per month for the individual Platinum membership on a 3 month rolling contract. 

UPDATE (September 2024): I’ve recently changed my membership from a rolling 3 month Platinum membership to an annual Platinum membership.

I changed to the annual membership because my son (aged 14) wanted to join David Lloyds. Had I stayed on the 3-month rolling contract, his membership would have been £60 per month; on the annual membership, his membership is £39 per month.

The David Lloyds ‘Older Child Membership’ is for kids aged between 3 – 18 years. 

Moving to an annual membership has meant my membership has gone down by £14, to £124 per month

Compared to many other gym chains in the UK like Pure Gym, Anytime Fitness etc, David Lloyd membership is at least three times more expensive. However, David Lloyd’s is a health club, and you do get a lot more for your money. 

David Lloyds Is More Than Just A Gym

I’ve been to eight different David Lloyd clubs in the UK and they all have good gym facilities, easily on par with the other gym chains in the UK that I’ve been a member.

You can use most other clubs without any additional charge when you’re a member of a David Lloyd club. Some exceptions exist, such as London clubs and David Lloyd Spa Retreats.

The big difference with David Lloyds compared to other gyms is that it has a lot of additional facilities, like Indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna, a hot tub \ Jacuzzi, a steam room, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, padel tennis, squash courts, badminton courts, table tennis, a restaurant, a bar, work areas etc. 

If you regularly use all these facilities, I think a David Lloyd club membership is a reasonable value for money. 

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David Lloyds Poole Review

My home David Lloyd’s club is in Poole, and I visit the club between 3 to 4 times a week. Here’s what I think of David Lloyd’s Poole

David Lloyd Poole Positives 

• Great staff – The Poole club currently (2025) has really helpful and friendly staff. 
  
  
• Clean – The club is generally kept clean. Occasionally, the shower area, toilets, and changing room and the lockers can get a bit grubby. 
  
  
• Busyness – During peak hours, the club can get quite busy, but very rarely rammed. Getting a parking space, using the gym equipment gooking classes or getting a court is hassle free. The only exception to this is booking padel courts, which seem to always be fully booked
  
  
• Facilities – The facilities at David Lloyd Poole are great. The gym is well kitted out. There are courts for just about every racket sport,  two swimming pools and all the spa stuff. The club also has a decent restaurant (a bit on the expensive side) with an outside area.
  
  
• Classes – There are loads of different classes (all included in the membership) with a timetable that should work well for most people.
  
  
• Sociable – Because the club is more than a gym, there are many more opportunities to meet and chat with other people. Although sometimes I do find it a bit irritating when people strike up a conversation when I’m not in the mood, like trying to relax in the Jacuzzi or steam room
  
  
• Guest Pass – As a David Lloyd member, you get 1 guest pass a month. The guest pass allows a family member or a friend to visit the club for free. The guest pass is only valid for 1 month. Buying a guest pass costs nearly £30!
  
  

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David Lloyd Poole Negatives

• Repairs Can Take A Long Time – Things break and go wrong, which is to be expected. However, it can sometimes take ages for things to get fixed. For example, the sauna element at the Poole Club failed, and the sauna was out of action for nearly two weeks. The hot tub seems to break on a fairly regular basis. It can take a week or more until it’s repaired. I’d have thought a large chain like David Lloyd would have spares in stock and engineers on hand to immediately fix things.
  
  
• They Don’t Listen To Feedback — The David Lloyd app regularly asks for feedback about your visit. I’ve left plenty of feedback about things that aren’t working correctly or areas that could be improved. Some things that I’ve reported remained broken for months. None of my amazing (in my opinion) suggestions for improvement have been implemented, and I’ve never had a response, even though I’ve asked for one.
  
  
• Promotions – Every now and then, the club has promotions to encourage new members. This causes chaos for a few weeks, where the car park is full, classes are fully booked etc. I’m sure there are ways that these promotions could be better managed so that the club isn’t swamped.
  
  
• Some Areas Look Tired – Some parts of the club could do with a lick of paint to freshen the place up. Especially some areas of the gym which has very dated yellow walls and speckled floor.
  
  Update November 2025: The club is having a major refurb (apparently £5 million), which should hopefully make the club much fresher and more modern. 
  
  
• Poor Customer Service – This isn’t at the local club level, where I’ve always found customer service to be very good. However, there are some things that can’t be done at the local club level, like membership. This means having to contact the central David Lloyds customer service team, which, in my experience, is slow and they make things much more difficult than they need to be.
  
  Examples of poor customer service I have experienced
  
  
  • Money has been taken out of my bank account on two occasions for no reason. Getting this resolved on both occasions required way more effort than it should have
  • I was incorrectly logged as accessing other David Lloyd’s clubs, which triggered their fraud prevention to kick in and block my access.
    Fortunately, my local club reception let me in, but getting my access officially reinstated took weeks.
    
    
  • I had a battle trying to get a corporate discount applied to my membership. 
    
    
  • When I tried to add my son to my membership, I was given two different answers about the contract length, both of which were different to the terms and conditions document I was sent.

If you do speak with David Lloyd customer services, make sure you get everything written down in an email.

• Towel Theft – With some David Lloyd memberships, you get a towel each time you visit. The David Lloyd towels all look the same, white with a couple of stripes. If it is a busy day in the pool area, nearly all the towels hanging up are the same white towels and it is very easy to take the wrong towel.

  One of my many suggestions to the club has been to put a number above the pegs in the pool area to make it easy for people to know which towel is theirs. 

  Tip: Keep a backup towel in your bag. But don’t keep a David Lloyds towel as a backup towel, as they trigger an alarm when you leave.
  

Conclusion: David Lloyd Review

If you’re looking to join a gym, David Lloyd’s should definitely be on your shortlist. Although they are considerably more expensive than most other gyms, you get a lot more for your money. If you just want a gym then I would recommend looking elsewhere as the gym alone is not worth the membership money

Since joining David Lloyd, I’ve been going to the gym regularly. This is because I enjoy going there. It’s not a chore I found at other gyms in the past.

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