Brixton Recreation Centre — Local services in London

The worst gym I ever been to in my life . So many reasons ! 1-To join they lie to u about what is included and add things which is not included till you join and find out those things such as sauna , pool , classes .. etc is not included and u need to pay higher to get it .

2- they never pick up the phone if u wanna book a class or inquire about things . You will ring a whole week for them to answer and the funny part I pass by the main reception and I see them chatting to each other and the phone ringing and no body bothers about it . And if they pick up it's a long wait . And they never answer the inquiry, they just put u on hold and complain there is long queue at the reception. 3-Bad customer service and flirty staff . I got asked for my number by 4 members within days after I joined. 4-cold swimming pool and gym . Not much equipment and choices . I got bored at the gym . They close early & by the time u waited on the queue ( as people taking ages in each machine ) to use the machine it's time to go home . It's small gym area . 5- I asked for refund and they took around 6 months to refund my money and that's after giving me nightmare as I been ringing them every week & everyone passing me to the second person and endlsss emails . 6- no body apologise for the lateness of refund ! Manager is rude and every manger passing my issue to the second manager and not taking responsibility of lateness . They don't bother about customers at all . Ladies Changing room was freezing and the showers are cold . How do they expect people to shower in the cold water . I kept checking it every time I go there and still it's cold . Even when I go try use a machine i will get some ghetto men coming to me asking to share and complaining if I don't . Not the best crowd u like to have in a gym as people on benefits go there.. endless emails and phone calls to get a refund and I was very disappointed at the manager whom kept lying that I will get it that day ( when I was talking to him ) and never happens then every time I talk to him he says the same And so on it carries on for nearly 6 months . They kept making excuses not to refund my money . The worst part is going to the reception and the lady working there hid money from the till in her pocket & was scared as me & my friend saw her stealing . Unprofessional staff . Waste of time & money . If u want peace of mind save your money and pay it to any other gym. Worst customer service ever and the majority giving wrong...

Held my son’s 6th birthday here so I thought it might be helpful to others to have the information because I found the communication poor and I didn’t really know what to expect. There is very little information online about the parties which is a shame because the kids had a great time.

I had to email several times to get confirmation of the party. Lots of silences & I had to chase a lot of information that you’d think they would just email out.

There are a few places to park around the area on a Saturday but it’s not cheap for the whole day. Because you need to provide your own drinks and food it’s not really an option to get the bus/train.

We got there around 25 minutes before the party. The front desk was super helpful. The person who was helping us came up around 10 mins before the party which was not enough time for us to organise ourselves really.

We booked for 22 children and were given a ‘party room’ and the children could go in the soft play for an hour. We then had the ‘party room’ for an hour.

I call it the ‘party room’ because it’s a room where they run exercise classes which is just off the soft play area. It was the end of summer but it was absolutely humming. My daughter commented ‘it stinks of feet in here’ when she walked in and I could not disagree.

The party room is huge. It was set up with tables and chairs which was sufficient for what we needed. We had space to do games but I didn’t know that so I didn’t plan for it. I was imaging the usual small soft play party room and it was not communicated to me by the people who booked the party that it was big enough for games.

The soft play is great. The staff on the gate of the soft play were diligent and helpful.

Overall, it’s a good place to have a party (provided you can get past the smell of the room!) but the communication really needs improving. If you live close enough I would recommend you pop in to see...

Known locally as the "Rec", Brixton Recreation Centre offers a huge range of activities for all ages, interests and abilities.Having 6 floors from bowling and fencing on the lower ground level , you can wend your way up through the squash courts,children's play zone and further up to level 4 where the huge swimming pool is heavily used by local people, including school groups and swimming club members. As there are 3 pools it enables lane swimming at all times . On the 5th level is the well equipped gym with all the machines and a separate "spin room".The vast sports hall is used for basketball, wheelchair basket ball, badminton, table tennis and woman's roller derby! Dance studios have salsa classes for seniors,pilates, martial arts and other activities. There are 2 football clubs and the pitch is available for group hire as well. On Friday the a mosque is open in the football hall and on Sunday Christian church groups meet upstairs. Sometimes the changing rooms need more attention - keeping toilets up to scratch and with paper. however the staff are almost uniformly helpful and friendly ( even though some customers can be rather rude and impolite!) Now that Lambeth Council have guaranteed that the Rec is secure and will be investing millions into developing the building and activities,I would recommend it for everyone. It's a friendly place where you can meet and get to know people from all corners of the world.The more people who regularly use the Rec ,then the more vibrant it will be. There's also a lively users group (Brixton Recreation User's Group -BRUG- which has a web site and Facebook site. The prices are very competitive ,the facilities excellent. Check it out...