Virgin Active Gym Old Eds — Local services in Gauteng

This gym is spacious and open plan. I used to love it, since it has great facilities that are well looked after. It just lacks a place to lie down for a few minutes to cool off after the sauna / steam room.

I don't know if this gym is now under new management, but things are definitely taking a turn for the worse. It used to be clean here, now it isn't. There is gunk and sand at the bottom of the pool.

But more importantly, the building itself is not safe.

The ladies' changing room, which has no natural light, is pitch black during load shedding: there is no generator, and no reliable emergency lighting. If you have been in the pool, and your phone is inside a locker, this poses a real challenge.

Also, no power backup means that all the security cameras go off during load shedding. I had two items stolen in full view of a security camera, which - alas! - did not record anything.

The fire alarm goes off every now and then, for no apparent reason. Therefore none of the staff take it seriously anymore. They say, "Someone probably pushed the button by mistake", and carry on with their business. I believe to be a real safety hazard.

When maintenance has to be done, business carries on as normal. Tread mills and spinning bikes remain in position and in use right underneath the builders' scaffolding, while sparks are flying down from the ceiling, as a circular saw cuts metal overhead. Maybe this triggered the fire alarm today?

It appears you are trying to cut costs at the expense of your clients' safety. We will take our...

It’s disappointing to see how far Virgin Active’s standards have dropped over the years, especially at the Old Ed’s branch.

The sauna, in particular, is a serious concern. Members regularly sit completely naked, using nothing but thin scarves instead of proper towels. This means their private parts come into direct contact with the wooden benches — making the sauna potentially less hygienic than a public toilet. Despite this “flashing”, staff take no action.

Yet when a member covers their body with wet costume material, they’re told they’re a “fire hazard.” The inconsistency is staggering, and the situation feels discriminatory and poorly managed.

The equipment is pretty outdated too considering the membership fees, you’d expect machines to be updated and not tattered the way they are. The club definitely needs an upgrade. The condensation that falls on you while training is also not great.

That said, I want to acknowledge that the floor staff are generally friendly and a pleasure to deal with. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make up for the lack of consistent hygiene enforcement and questionable policies.

Virgin Active used to be a brand associated with high standards. Sadly, that reputation is fading...

The manager of old eds virgin active was very rude to me and my friends when we went there I’ve never had someone be so rude to a group of people her name is Liezl she had a problem with us and we understood and apologised for the misunderstanding and when we asked questions so there wouldn’t be another misunderstanding she got very angry and told us we weren’t allowed in just because we were trying to clarify things she told us we weren’t allowed in we pay for our membership and it was a misunderstanding and we were just asking questions so it wouldn’t happen again and instead of answering our questions she kicked us out before we even entered the gym The staff is rude and disrespectful I didn’t appreciate at all how Liezl spoke to me and my friends when we simply wanted to prevent any further misunderstandings instead we got a rude manager who was stuck up and being very...