Virgin Active

It is a very nice gym. Close to where I work and therefore very convenient. They offer a fair amount of class options and I really enjoy that (liked the yoga, Pilates, xs worx, and barre especially). The changing rooms could be bigger though. It gets pretty crowded at lunch time (I had to get in line to use the shower). I like that there is a lot of sun light inside the gym. I’m enjoying the experience so far!
Remember to sign up for classes a bit in advance.

Stopped in to check out the club as my husband and I are thinking of moving to the area. Our «home» Virgin Active gym is Chiswick Park which in the same tier as Virgin Active Moorgate but don’t let that fool you. These two gyms are worlds apart even though both have recently undergone renovation work.
Chiswick Park underwent a full 6-​month renovation from top to bottom. They removed the unused spa and reorganized the areas to use the space better. Chiswick Park is a fabulous gym now — light and airy with light colored tile (light grey) and white lockers in the changing rooms. The gym floor has light grey flooring and a lot of new equipment in addition to a brush-​up of some existing equipment. It’s wonderful.
I expected the same level of renovation to have taken place at Virgin Active Moorgate. I mean, the website boasts that the club is undergoing renovation work and since these two clubs are in the same tier, surely, one would expect the end result of renovations to be similar. WRONG.
The renovation work that Virgin Active Moorgate underwent was half-​a**. They renovated the studios and a portion of the gym floor but the changing rooms and everything else stayed as is, circa 1995. It’s also a small gym compared to Chiswick Park and arranged over three floors which is, simply put, strange. The ground floor houses a giant seating area/​café and spa. It’s an utter waste of space in my opinion. This is a gym, after all, not a café or spa. If people want a café or spa, they should go to — you guessed it — a café or spa. Virgin should remove these features entirely and focus on the purpose at hand — gym.
I will not be making Virgin Active Moorgate my home-​gym much less my sometimes-​gym or even I’m-desperate-and-need-a-gym gym.
So very disappointing.

First and worst experience in spa.(you doing manicure in front of all swimming pool like a fish in aquarium. Choosing the colours ONLY near casher. Member s of stuff not the most generous and nice (crabby and intolerant). Work — definitely not at the level you would expect (v low-​disapointed).
As a gym nice place! Amazing trainers!
But spa… khem…NO thanks!

— cold water in locker room showers
— cool hot tub
— bathrooms showers smell like a sewer
— half the main floor is a coffee shop with terrible nutrition options
— personal trainers take up valuable stretching/​machine space during peak hours.
— soap/​shampoo runs out
— hard towels
Otherwise a decent gym, though staff — not just here — are completely missing when it comes to putting weights away/​enforcing rules.
It’s clean and covers the basics, but it’s not as premium as they think (and charge).

Nice gym, quiet in the mornings, and there is the added bonus of being above ground level so you get some daylight, a real rarity in a City gym. As a bit of trivia, this is the gym they use on The Apprentice when they have the fitness related episodes.
Rough guide to weights equipment:
Power rack
Squat rack
2 x dip chin machine
dip/​chin/​captains chair station
T-​Bar mounting
Flat bench
Incline Bench
Preacher station
2 x pulldown station
2 x leg press machine
1 x leg press plate loaded
1 x chest press plate loaded
Chest, incline press, shoulder press, flye machines by Technogym (though I don’t use those).
Dumbells go up to 40 kg
Cardio equipment isn’t too bad a selection, I’d guess about 20 or so machines. They don’t have the programmable treadmills (which I use to program intervals), which is a shame. There is a pool as well, but I haven’t usd it so can’t comment.
Of the City Virgin Active barnches, this is my favourite to go to on a sunny morning. The people are friendly too. If it had the lying leg curl or calf press machines it would be a permanent home for me.

Not to pile on with the virgin-can’t-compete-with-equinox chatter, but it can’t. If you’re an American looking for a gym in London that can compare with a beloved equinox club (EQX92 in NYC, in my case), you won’t find one. Virgin Classic (virgin’s premium gyms) gets close, but still isn’t quite there.
Despite having a virgin classic membership, I actually use this (moorgate — non classic) gym fairly regularly, mostly because it’s (1) above ground, (2) has a nice steam room, and (3) is dead on the weekend and near my flat.
The spin instructors are quite simply bad. 45 mintues of non stop techno in a room full of people who’ve clearly never had the pleasure of having a serious spin instructor scream at them about form and the relationship between resistance and pace headed by instructors that seem well intentioned but not terribly capable of teaching.
The weight floor is fine, but they have a silly amount of space dedicated to basically useless cable-​weight machines. The pool is reasonably sized, but smaller than the Virgin Broadgate (at exchange square) pool.

When I first moved to London I checked out a few gyms and was shocked by the price of all of them.
I almost joined a few times at different ones, but I thought for the [small] difference in price between an OK gym and a fantastic health club, I would be daft to go for the former.
I can honestly say I love it here, the place is bright and airy, with modern equipment and friendly staff and gym-​goers alike.
The PT staff and health advisors, or whatever they are branded, are very knowledgable and supportive with no pretense or small-​mindedness.
The price, to put it simply, is high, but as I said… All gyms in the area are.
I also get access to the vast majority of VA health clubs in London and the UK which is good when I travel.

Much better than the nearby «black label» City Virgin. The gym space is big and like Acton and Mayfair there is a good balance between cardio equipment and free weights

I am a HUGE gym snob. I was a member of Equinox in LA, SF, and NYC and I am a die-​hard believer in investing in a nice gym. If it is nice, I go, if its gross, I don’t, that simple.
That being said, there is nothing in London (at least among the big chains… I wanted something I could go to near work/​school and home) that comes even close to Equinox in the US.
Virgin Moorgate is the closest I have seen thus far. I’ve also been to the Strand Virgin, but the Moorgate one is MUCH nicer (and costs more, apparently… but I got a membership where I could use any of the gyms). It is above ground, which makes it less stinky and more spacious. The equipment is fine, the staff are really nice, and the locker rooms are fine. Not spa-​like in any way… and not NEARLY as clean as Equinox… but much less smelly than the Strand Virgin (which is underground… no windows… smaller…etc.)
My classes have been fun and the instructors I’ve had have been nice. They give you more of a hard sell here (more like 24 hour fitness in the US), but they aren’t assholes about it.
SO yea, comparable to a Super Sport 24 Hour Fitness and not my beloved Equinox, but it will do (and I will appreciate it) for my 1 year stint in London.

I have been a member here for a year and I have to say it has helped me shed 2.5 stone! I love the space, facilities and the fact that the staff are friendly but not in your face and the gym is modern, airy and spacious.
I prefer to go in anti sociable times so love that I have the place to myself for the most part ad find that it is well equipped so there is never a massive wait for equipment.
Even when busy there isn’t long to wait for anything.
I also love the fact that they have squash courts in the gym too as I like to play that regularly too.
It isn’t cheap but I feel you get lots of access to stuff for your money.

This is a very nice gym! Mind you, you pay for it, but at least people are friendly. And since there’s towel service, people do wipe off the equipment when they’re done. Fun classes, including hula hooping and power plate. 25 metre pool with three lanes. I like the view from the elliptical trainers, lots of trees. Lots of aerobic machines, though still it does get busy during lunch or after work. Squash courts too.

This is my gym. A place that I go most days. Virgin Active and in particular the one at Bunhill Row is a fantastic health club with lots of space, plenty of equipment, and a friendly staff. Virgin Active offers an array of classes from yoga to spinning to boxing. They also have a small day spa, café, and pool. Though I can’t say I really enjoy going to the gym, it’s necessary and no better place to work up a sweat than at this spot.