Better - Kensington Leisure Centre Reviews 

Great helpful staff! Cool!

We recently held my daughter's birthday party at Kensington Leisure Centre's pool, and it was a huge success! The pool party was incredibly well-organised and easy to navigate from start to finish. We had the training pool for an hour, followed by an hour in the birthday room, and everything ran smoothly.

We were provided with a dedicated group changing locker, which was very convenient, and plenty of pool noodles for the kids to enjoy. The training pool itself is very child-friendly, perfect for kids of all ages, with clear guidelines about adult supervision for younger or weaker swimmers. It's great that they accommodate up to 20 children, with the option to add a few more for an extra fee.

The party package included pizza, fries, squash, and water. We only had to bring our own cake. The only minor issue we encountered was that the pizza portions were a little on the small side for the hungry swimmers, but this didn't dampen the overall experience.

The kids had an absolute blast, and we were thrilled with how smoothly everything went. A big thank you to Charles for his excellent coordination and help throughout the process. We would definitely recommend Kensington Leisure Centre for a fun and stress-free birthday party, and we'd happily book again!

I loooove the Kensington Leisure Center! It is accessible, affordable, spacious and complete. Everything that I'm looking for in a gym to keep me inspired to be a BETTER me is here in KLC. Jeff who conducted my orientation was very understanding of my fitness needs and opportunities. Can't wait to take my fitness journey with this community.

Kensington Leisure Centre is a very nice gym to go for a workout in.

The instructors and staff are very friendly and approachable.

My only concern is that there appears to be a lack of free weights. I enjoy doing reverse lunges and walking lunges, but I couldn't find a pair of 12kg kettlebells.

If they had 2 or 3 sets of each weight, it would be a perfect place to visit.

Firstly, the lift has been out of order for more than a year, almost 2 now from what I recall, which would’ve been fine if the stairs aren’t a spiral and I didn’t have vertigo. I discussed this with 2 members of staff who were very friendly & told us about the fire exit stairs as they’re normal. The problem is, when I come up those stairs, I get questioned & then given a lecture on how I shouldn’t be using those stairs by a man who isn’t in uniform but claims he is the general manager? But when I asked reception, I was given a completely different description of the general manager, so not even sure who that guys was. it can be very humiliating to spend 5 mins every so often justifying my reasons for not being able to use the spiral stairs & then STILL being told to try and use them. This really needs to be addressed or Atleast have something in place for those of us who cannot use those spiral stairs.

On a better note, Piia & Jeff are amazing instructors! So kind & motivating. The boxfit class is incredible but it’s only once a week, when it used to be twice. I spoke to the rest of the attendees and they all agreed that this class needs to have more sessions like the rest of them! So please take this into consideration. This is hugely improve some of our experiences with classes.

The place is very clean, well organized. Has everything we need for swimming. Excellent environment.

I was very disappointed and upset today at my child's swimming lesson. He was told by the woman instructor to go to the next level. However, when he got there, he was left alone in the pool with no instruction. The younger man instructor was just standing at the other end of the pool looking at him and I could see my son was visibly upset. He is only 4 years old. I can see on other side wondering what’s happening then the woman instructor called my son to just go back to her.
At the end of the session, I tried to ask another young man instructors, but she was very rude and abrupt.
I trust the safety and well-being of my child to them, and they don't care at all.
All this newbee or younger staff to this center has no care and they’re just there to show off and gossip during swimming time not friendly,rude and not helpful at all,they think it’s just joke to teach children plus More shower is not working looks like no one care of this leisure center.

Although we paid for a 50 mins booking, they allowed us into the pool at 13.20 and around 13.45 they said they are closing it. When brought to their attention, a very rude staff member said we can stay on the premise for longer, as he doesn’t care, but the booking was made for the swimming pool specifically. The little one was very disappointed! Bad experience, wouldn’t recommend!

Thank you so much Zoya for clarification and great support, you are a 🌟 feeling much better:)))

After transferring from Finchley in the expectation that conditions would improve, I was disappointed to find that the standards at Kensington are even lower, with cleanliness well below acceptable levels.

The hygiene and upkeep of the changing rooms and showers at both locations are far from the standards members expect and are led to believe they will experience. Such conditions are unacceptable and raise serious concerns about the basic level of care provided to members.

I have complained about the swimming lessons, which we awful (eye rolling and shouting from the teacher), and have yet to receive a response to my email or a refund

I would avoid. Twice our swimming lessons were cancelled with zero notice and we were only told after I arrived at the pool having travelled across London with a one year old. No refund was offered, instead they offered me a replacement lesson on a different time, on a different day and two months out - totally preposterous. The app and website have 1990s user experience.

The sauna is skyrocketed price - even more than Virgin Actxx (VA). Shame for this community gym as a charitable organization. For a gym membership for a single gym with sauna it cost £130 a month, which I checked pricier than most private gym with better facilities and sauna ( Fitness Fxxxt is £85, VA £109.9 (£93 off peak)). I cannot make sense out of it at all.
Note: the gym replied with other information with other memberships ( concessionary etc), but these are comparing apples to oranges - the only membership that Better provides with sauna at the specific Better gym is £130, which I compare against other private profitable gyms in the area this is whopping over-priced by up to 52%). All the other memberships listed from the reply DO NOT allow for sauna at this specific gym ( the Kensington leisure center). The thermal spa, which is what Virgin Active is offering if not more. Again as a charitable organization, I found the price unacceptable - and from your reply that you regret that “it is not within my budget”, I find it amusing from a staff of a charitable organization, for a whopping £130. I could not find any comparable expansive gym membership that is not in the extreme posh end to compare with. Your reply reflect on the organization, and it shows here how charitable and understanding it is to normal people who cannot afford a £130 membership and you are sorry that it is not within my budget - then what group BETTER targeting exactly?

While I appreciate the second on second reply from Charmaine, it does not help on the fact that this only membership allows for sauna alike in this specific gym. I would prefer to leave it here, if the management of the gym would like to do something about it as a charity organization then that’s great, if not then I am just merely pointing out a fact, it’s all I have to express on this matter. I don’t see how it could improve with a offline discussion further.

I feel happy with the service and people in the centre.

More space, equipments, more classes in the evenings for those that work 9-5

The customer service representative who was dealing with my inquiry was very helpful and solved my issue very quickly, and I am very grateful for the support I received from Better Customer Service.

The pool evenings are all booked by swimming clubs, with screaming girls in the changing room who leave their bags , and paying customers do not even have space to dress. The changing rooms are dirty all the time. Accessing the main pool around 7 p.m. is impossible because the paying customers are put in three lines. Could you try to work out with 7  people in the line? Kids are allowed from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the gym; no one supervises them; they run and have no respect for anyone. The gym is run by 20-year-olds who have no idea how to run it.  I understand kids need to exercise, but please supervise them, give them rules, and not run like they own the  gym. This gym was so good in the past, but now it is so bad. Cleanliness is so dreadful. The only things that still keep me going are trainers, Debbie, Pia, Dagmara, and Aisha. They are amazing professionals. My family spends more than  £100 a month on the gym and kids' activities, but it looks like we will go to another gym. They don't need money and they don't value any paying customer, we are last in the line. 

Is the team working in Kensington Sport Centre, nothing is too much for them, they go the extra mile beyond any customer imagination - I will mention couple of names: Debbie Hudson, Lauren & Simone at the reception, they are great credit to Better/GLL.

Great. Easy to navigate the App. If you have any questions, Reception are happy to help. And the classes are great!

I only go there for swimming. Great venue and pool. Friendly staff.
However, more should be done about hygiene in the changing area. I have been observing behaviours and on average one in ten visitors wear overshoes or remove their shoes upon entry. This is not enforced seriously enough when it is known that most ear and other infections contracted in public pools come from germs on shoes’ soles.