Bannatyne Health & Fitness Club

I’ve been a member of Bannatynes for 2 years now and really like it. Since joining I’ve lost over 20 lbs and 10% bodyfat with the help of a programme designed for me by one of their instructors (not via personal 1−2−1 training). This is a FREE service with an initial fitness screening with all the usual weight, height but also lung capacity, bodyfat, strength and associated parameters. The fitness instructor then designs a programme and you get re-​assessed at the end of each one. As a fledgling runner, I worked on losing fat then building strength and supplemented the programme with fitness classes, including spinning and bodypump. In the last year I have taken 1 hour off my marathon time!
I wanted to write a review as the only other review is from a long time ago and I think that if the club was like that (unwelcoming), it has since changed. I find it very friendly and quite the opposite of snobby. As a rather overweight person when I started, I was very aware of all the other fit people around me but was quite surprised to find lots of help, from fellow users and the attentive staf. I didn’t feel daft trying to use the weights and learned a lot of different stretches and warm-​ups from others. I look forward to dropping in a couple of times a week and would recommend this club over most of the others (I have had day passes and attended classes at all the major independant and chain gyms as well as many of the hotel clubs).
It has a well priced (discount for members) beauty spa which offer really intensive leg and back massages amongst other services and there are some nice trails around the river Don if you want to have a run outside and shower there afterwards. Across the road there is a health shop at the local Tesco’s, which is handy for stocking up on gels, herbal creams etc. It isn’t the cheapest available but I think my health is worth it.

Bannatyne Health and Fitness club got the reputation of being very snobby and expensive soon after opening. I went on a visitors pass and i definately wouldn’t pay the prices to join that they are asking.
There is a large gym and a large swimming pool but there are other places in Aberdeen that have these at a quarter of the price. Yes you pay to be exclusive and have that exclusive membership but if you ask me it’s a waste of money.
When i went i felt very out of place and it’s really because i wasn’t as big a snob as everyone else! It’s a world of who owns what and who can do something better than everyone else — definately not for me.
The staff are friendly and helpful though and the equipment is great. Just a case of money and snobbyness.