Latest reviews for Sports & Leisure in Somerstown, London, United Kingdom

All Star Lanes - Puts the fun back in to bowling by sharon77

sharon77 — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:59:10 +0000

Review by sharon77

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 7025 2676

Website: http://www.allstarlanes.co.uk

I recently took at party of 20 people here for a work's sports & social club event and I can say nothing but good things about this bowling venue. We took advantage of one of its many offers, this time it was Eat, Drink & Bowl for £30(including 1 cocktail, 2 courses and 1 game of bowling).

Quietly nestled in a side street in Holborn, you'd be forgiven for walking passed the All Start Lanes without giving it a second glance. Once inside you're transported back in time thanks to it's 50s style decor, the fun music and matching 50s Ed's Diner style uniforms.

It has a great bar tucked away at the rear, and a restaurant which offers more than the usual soggy burgers, limp fries and basket of scampi.

The service I received was excellent. All the staff were very friendly and couldn't do more to help.

If you're going in a large group I would definitely recommend you pre-book as their "walk in" lanes get very busy. If you don't/can't pre-book, you are able to put your group's name down for one of their four walk in lanes, but this has to be done in person from 5pm onwards on the day. The only downside to this is that as the walk in lanes are only available to play on from 7pm onwards, and you are expected to stay at the venue from when you put your name down, which could mean a lengthy wait. If you're with a smaller group however, you should find it much easier to literally just walk in and play.

My only improvement would be to add more lanes, but if you're looking for a fun night, at one of London's self billed "luxury bowling" lanes, then this is the place to go!I recently took at party of 20 people here for a work's sports & social club event and I can say nothing but good things about this bowling venue. We took advantage of one of its many offers, this time it was Eat, Drink & Bowl for £30(including 1 cocktail, 2 courses and 1 game of bowling).

Quietly nestled in a side street in Holborn, you'd be forgiven for walking passed the All Start Lanes without giving it a second glance. Once inside you're transported back in time thanks to it's 50s style decor, the fun music and matching 50s Ed's Diner style uniforms.

It has a great bar tucked away at the rear, and a restaurant which offers more than the usual soggy burgers, limp fries and basket of scampi.

The service I received was excellent. All the staff were very friendly and couldn't do more to help.

If you're going in a large group I would definitely recommend you pre-book as their "walk in" lanes get very busy. If you don't/can't pre-book, you are able to put your group's name down for one of their four walk in lanes, but this has to be done in person from 5pm onwards on the day. The only downside to this is that as the walk in lanes are only available to play on from 7pm onwards, and you are expected to stay at the venue from when you put your name down, which could mean a lengthy wait. If you're with a smaller group however, you should find it much easier to literally just walk in and play.

My only improvement would be to add more lanes, but if you're looking for a fun night, at one of London's self billed "luxury bowling" lanes, then this is the place to go!

GymBox - BAD BAD GYM! by anonclub

anonclub — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:55:56 +0000

Review by anonclub

Rating: 1.00

Phone: 020 7400 1919

Website: http://www.gymbox.co.uk

Tags: massage therapy, sauna, bar / cafe

I joined Gymbox a few weeks ago on the basis my membership should start on the 1st Dec. I attended my induction a few days after my membership started and was deeply disappointed. Reception staff were rude, I was left waiting 15 minutes for my appointment and they had to ask several tiems who I was and what I was there for, the ladies changing room was dirty â¬ mud and rubbish everywhere, and certain male members of staff were extremely intimidating whilst I was waiting for my appointment. I voiced my concerns that afternoon via email and was told I cannot cancel my membership even due to an unsatisfactory service and being intimidated by staff.

Having been a member of several central London gyms before, I can honestly say Gymbox is by far the worst in terms of customer service. And whatâ¬"s the Â£1 per towel about?!I joined Gymbox a few weeks ago on the basis my membership should start on the 1st Dec. I attended my induction a few days after my membership started and was deeply disappointed. Reception staff were rude, I was left waiting 15 minutes for my appointment and they had to ask several tiems who I was and what I was there for, the ladies changing room was dirty â¬ mud and rubbish everywhere, and certain male members of staff were extremely intimidating whilst I was waiting for my appointment. I voiced my concerns that afternoon via email and was told I cannot cancel my membership even due to an unsatisfactory service and being intimidated by staff.

Having been a member of several central London gyms before, I can honestly say Gymbox is by far the worst in terms of customer service. And whatâ¬"s the Â£1 per towel about?!

Fitness First - by popdog

popdog — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 07:51:01 +0000

Review by popdog

Rating: 2.00

Phone: 020 7833 1887

Website: http://www.fitnessfirst.com

Tags: gym, sauna, steam room

Positives
- While it gets busy there are usually enough spare machines/spaces to complete your workout
- Changing rooms are clean and safe to leave your valuables in

Negatives
- Staff are poor. Once you join they don't seem to care anymore. As part of my joining package I received a free BUPA basic fitness check. The man doing the tests chatted to his mates all the way through and didn't know what any of the results actually meant!
- The gym is entirely underground which means no natural light
- It takes them a while to repair broken machines
Positives
- While it gets busy there are usually enough spare machines/spaces to complete your workout
- Changing rooms are clean and safe to leave your valuables in

Negatives
- Staff are poor. Once you join they don't seem to care anymore. As part of my joining package I received a free BUPA basic fitness check. The man doing the tests chatted to his mates all the way through and didn't know what any of the results actually meant!
- The gym is entirely underground which means no natural light
- It takes them a while to repair broken machines

Kieser Training - by carl007

carl007 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:40:24 +0000

Review by carl007

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 7391 9980

Website: http://www.kieser-training.com

excellent staff, very compentent - and they fixed my back problem!excellent staff, very compentent - and they fixed my back problem!

Cannons Health Club - let there be light! by mazphd

mazphd — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:42:20 +0000

Review by mazphd

Rating: 2.00

Phone: 020 7813 0555

Website: http://www.cannons.co.uk

Tags: yoga, physiotherapy, massage

I'll confess i am an avid gym goer. So when i am on the move (literally) and out of my main city of York i make sure that i have access to various gym facilities.

Cannons, despite its rather small size from the outside, does indeed have it all: Pool, sauna (his n her's), fitness 'suit', spin classes, squash courts, cool down area, bar and even a very compact cafe.

The staff are super friendly and on the day that i went were nice enough to give me a good 20 minute tour. There's an in house Elemis beauty spa for massages etc.

so this all sounds well and good. Except there is one formidable draw back. Mostly underground the gym floor feels like you are working out in a darkened claustrophobic strobe lit environment. And whilst the equipment is well maintained and facilities clean I can't give more than 2 stars to a fitness centre that deprives me of Vitamin D fuelled daylight and rewards your work out with a sun deprived induced headache.

One of the pool and sauna only. For the rest you would be better off using their lockers and taking a run round the blockk and nearby parks!

:-)
I'll confess i am an avid gym goer. So when i am on the move (literally) and out of my main city of York i make sure that i have access to various gym facilities.

Cannons, despite its rather small size from the outside, does indeed have it all: Pool, sauna (his n her's), fitness 'suit', spin classes, squash courts, cool down area, bar and even a very compact cafe.

The staff are super friendly and on the day that i went were nice enough to give me a good 20 minute tour. There's an in house Elemis beauty spa for massages etc.

so this all sounds well and good. Except there is one formidable draw back. Mostly underground the gym floor feels like you are working out in a darkened claustrophobic strobe lit environment. And whilst the equipment is well maintained and facilities clean I can't give more than 2 stars to a fitness centre that deprives me of Vitamin D fuelled daylight and rewards your work out with a sun deprived induced headache.

One of the pool and sauna only. For the rest you would be better off using their lockers and taking a run round the blockk and nearby parks!

:-)

LA Fitness - Holborn - Not much room to move by Frankie

Frankie — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 22:10:48 +0000

Review by Frankie

Rating: 2.00

Phone: 0845 355 4489

Website: http://www.lafitness.co.uk

Tags: gym, fitness, health

LA Fitness is fairly reliable across it's clubs but the ones on commuter routes are almost as bad as London Underground during the rush hour. In fact most of them are underground but the saving grace of this club is the ground floor location with windows and daylight!

Apart from that I was pretty disappointed. It's very cramped and manic in there with a damp sweaty atmosphere. Stretching mats are laid back-to-back, almost overlapping, the swimming pool is tiny and the showers are appalling. They dribble and you have to keep pushing a button to keep the water 'running'. The temperature goes hot and cold. yuch.

I'll finish with a couple of good points though: the spinning class has a separate room, the mats were new and the weights equipment worked well enough. Good selection of different aerobics machines such as sitting down cycling, running, normal cycling, cycling with your arms, stairs and more. Staff helpful.LA Fitness is fairly reliable across it's clubs but the ones on commuter routes are almost as bad as London Underground during the rush hour. In fact most of them are underground but the saving grace of this club is the ground floor location with windows and daylight!

Apart from that I was pretty disappointed. It's very cramped and manic in there with a damp sweaty atmosphere. Stretching mats are laid back-to-back, almost overlapping, the swimming pool is tiny and the showers are appalling. They dribble and you have to keep pushing a button to keep the water 'running'. The temperature goes hot and cold. yuch.

I'll finish with a couple of good points though: the spinning class has a separate room, the mats were new and the weights equipment worked well enough. Good selection of different aerobics machines such as sitting down cycling, running, normal cycling, cycling with your arms, stairs and more. Staff helpful.