Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, Works Family Health & Fitness Center — Local services in Somersworth

I recently signed up again after having left the club for a few months (due to unemployment). After getting a new job, I looked around at all the clubs in the area, including in Portsmouth. I wanted to make sure we joined the club that worked the best for us. For our family of two working adults and three young children (ages 4, 6 & 8), I'm convinced The Works is definitely the best choice.

It's certainly not the least expensive choice. But you get what you pay for in this case. The Works has the most options for us to fit exercising into our busy schedule. Child Care runs most evenings until 8pm and on the weekends. It costs about $3 for 2 hours. All other places end child care at 6 or 6:30 - not very helpful if you get off work at 5:30 pm...

The two indoor pools are great. One pools for laps and the other for open swim, which includes a waterslide. During the summer there is a wonderful outside pool & water slide that the kids love playing in. It's great to bring a picnic dinner for early evening swims after work.

They have a parent's night out a few times each month. And during holidays and school breaks when my wife & I have to work, they have vacation camp.

My 8 year old loves the Kids Fitspot. They have a wii, and other Nautilus-type & electronic exercise items for kids older than 8. He's enjoying Dance Dance Revolution and the wii sports the best.

There are a few family bathrooms near the indoor pool which help keep our youngest ones under control a bit better and not running out the locker room in their underwear...rolls eyes

There are also swim lessons, other classes including Mr. B's martial arts but we haven't participated in them yet. Surf the web site for more info - it's mostly accurate. Always call to confirm though.

And for when you're at the gym by yourself, they have nice, quality facilities. Steam room, sauna, whirlpool, showers with complementary soap, hair dryers, swim suit dryers, healthy snacks & juice drinks (you pay for), etc.

And of course, they have all the cardio & weight machines you could ask for along with seasonal tennis, racquetball, sports trainers, etc. But from my point of view, every gym has that stuff or similar. It's the services geared towards kids & families that we need.

The other club that would have worked, although not quite as well, is the YMCA in Portsmouth. They also have good childcare and a pool and their rates are...

I started a membership, very impressed with the appearance of the gym. I became dissatisfied with several things. Especially with the "preschool" which is really a glorified utility closet. It is in a very small room, containing several mops and full mop buckets, a couple of mats (seated next to the mops) for children to play on, and a small table for kids to have snack. I decided that I was spending too much money on a membership I wasn't happy with and wrote to inform them that I wished to cancel my membership. I was given a sales pitch to "suspend" my membership for four months. During those four months I would be billed $15 instead of $94 and then after those four months, my membership would resume along with the $94/month payments. I reminded Doug Eason that I wasn't interested in maintaining my membership and that it wasn't about the money, but if it was, that $15 to not use the gym is more than an active membership with full personal training at Planet Fitness. At this point, he stopped responding altogether. I clearly stated that I was withdrawing my consent to automatically withdraw money from my account and, again, got no response. Normally fees are withdrawn on the fifth. So, I was surprised when I saw that the fees were withdrawn on the first of the next month. I emailed Doug again and told him that if the money was not returned to my account, I would file a complaint with my bank and with the BBB. Again, I got no response. I waited one week and then filed a complaint with my bank. On the eighth, I found that The Works had withdrawn the membership dues for a second time in one week. Totaling $188 for one month after I withdrew consent to automatically withdraw funds. I have now filed a second complaint with my bank and a complaint with the BBB. My advice is to look elsewhere. The pools are beautiful, but no one is ever on duty and the slides are almost never open. The rooms are massive and often house very little workout equipment. The childcare room is okay, but directly beneath the big weights room. The "preschool" is not a...

I’ve been a customer of the Works for years off and on. The only reason I’ve ever gone there is to use their pool and I’ve never had issues – I always made sure I went swimming during a not busy time so I can get a lane. The reservation system was fine as well – now the Works has been changing the rules and today I learned they are now requiring 2 people swim in the lanes and that you don’t have a choice anymore to have a lane to yourself. This makes me very angry – I pay $800/year to go to the Works to swim. I go to swim because it brings me comfort – it’s like therapy to me. I like to swim on my back sometimes and I can’t share a lane and swim on my back. Also, it gives me anxiety to share a lane because the lane is not big enough for two people to swim comfortably. Having two random people assigned to a lane will not work because some people swim fast laps, some swim slow laps, some swim back stroke, breast stroke which require more space and some bounce up and down and walk. Two random people getting matched up using the reservation system is unfair and won't work or else people will have to change the way they use the lanes. I believe a lot of people feel the same way as me because for years people took turns in the lanes because a lot of people prefer to have the lane to themselves. I spoke with the manager and told him this is like requiring two people to share a treadmill – he defended their new policy and said that this was always required and was the “etiquette” that we were always supposed to share the lanes. Well, a lot of your customers don’t want to share a lane because the lanes ARE too small for two people especially if they like swimming backstroke. Your customers should have a choice to say no to someone sharing a lane. It’s not their fault that you don’t have enough pools to meet the demand. I will never go back. Swimming to me was therapy and this isn’t...