A true treasure! Don't be alarmed when you rock up to this leisure centre on a weekend morning and it looks like a que for a nightclub snaking outside. If that nightclub were a leisure centre, and those waiting were bleary eyed parents and wide-awake children and other small people strapped in prams. Just like that. It'll move (sort of) fast and mainly it's because the entrance isn't really built for the mass number of buggies being jammed through all at once. It's also because the people that work at the desk are at the best unhelpful and at the worst an impediment to general progress. But do not fret -- If you have a kid (like everyone else in Stokey) -- Clissold Leisure Centre is going to be a lifesaver. I even trek from "way down south N1" for my fix at Clissold 1-2x per week when I can make it. Why? *Clean, bright and newly refurbished. It's got updated facilities, lots of classes, smart equipment, a huge pool and viewing area, etc. It's ultra kid-friendly. It has a cafe! It has coffee! It has everything you might ever want. *Toddler World: huge soft play are they run in the Sports Hall several mornings per week. (extra charge of about 5 quid per kid) *Toddler Pool: self-explanatory. Warm, shallow, toys included. and really, most importantly... *THE CRECHE. Free childcare (members benefit) for your child, up to 2 hours while you get some non-toddler time in. I use it to hit a yoga class or just, ya know, workout and clear my brain after TODDLER WORLD/TODDLER POOL overload. Location is excellent, very near Clissold Park which is 5-stars in its own right. Transit options are a bit limited (sigh, Stoke Newington's only downside?) but I typically take the bus to Newington Green and walk 10 minutes. The only downside is the staff -- which is pretty basic and perfunctory at all of the Better Leisure Centres, but I deal with them more often at Clissold and it is usually painful. But if you've got your member card and aren't booking in for anything special (when you book the creche online you STILL have to wait in a que to get a printed receipt to show you've paid to take the creche - MEH, annoying), otherwise you can skip along and get to your workout. The top floor workout is pretty kid-free, so don't be too worried. I'm a month-to-month member with Better with access to all the clubs. My husband also has this so we get a slight discount and it comes to about £54/month each. If you ever need to sign up or change anything its a huge pain in the ass...so overall I'll give the bureaucracy and staff (and rude parents in the cafe) a low score here but everything else i've been really happy with. So, 4 stars! read more

This place is only busy because there are so few other options in the area. Unfortunately, the business makes the management arrogant and they offer zero customer service. If they bother to get back to you about any concern you might have about the facilities they will be completely inflexible and unhelpful. They know if you leave they have plenty of other users with little to no other choices. The recent refurbishment has been badly managed with a much smaller choice of equipment spread over 4 floors in 6 different spaces! Even at off-peak times there are queues for equipment because much of it does not even work. Complaints fall on deaf ears and management will not even entertain reducing fees due to the reduction in services. Their only suggestion they can offer is to cancel! They really do not care about the community or their members despite the headlines on their website. read more

This is a great place to come swimming. After a ridiculous saga, it was finally reopened a couple of years ago and it is this relative newness that makes it so shiny and nice. You don't worry about verrucas and kids weeing in the pool here, unlike at North London's other, older and therefore grimier public pools. I like to come early on a Saturday morning (provided I haven't been out too heavily the night before) as it's usually pretty quiet and you can get a good pace in the fast lane without hitting too many people's heels. The changing rooms are also big and clean although my favourite thing about the pool is that it's near enough to my house that I can stroll home for a post-swim shower. read more

Clissold Leisure Centre - Swimming Pools Near Me - London, XGL

The Clissold Leisure Center offers fantastic sport facilities which are greatly subsidized by the council. It has a large swimming pool, a gym, squash and tennis courts, basketball and a full range of exercise classes. There is even a Spa in basement, where you can pamper yourself for an afternoon in the sauna and steam rooms, or get a beauty treatment done. Its great for kids as well, with a little toddler's pool, and exercise classes with only children. I usually use the gym here, and I like the light and spacious area which looks out over the pool and into the street outside. The music is pretty good, and you can follow the news or watch TV while you work out. There is a Costa Coffee inside as well, where you can replenish your spent energy. This massive leisure center has some great packages, especially for students, which allow entry to six other gyms in the Borough of Hackney. read more

Clissold Leisure Centre - Swimming Pools Near Me - London, XGL

Superb centre has lots of new equipment I think the monthly fee is a bit expensive Nice coffee shop with free internet read more

Clissold Leisure Centre - Swimming Pools Near Me - London, XGL

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Since the pandemic, the operator Better has clearly upped the amount of chlorine in the water, even though the manager has denied this. This is not necessary - the normal amount of chlorine is enough to kill Covid-19 or any other viruses, as was reported during the pandemic. Sadly, I have developed a serious allergy to chlorine because of this (I never had any problems before) and have stopped going swimming. I used to go several times a week. My eyes and nose become red and itchy (despite goggles) and my nose gets completely blocked which means I can't breathe properly and am unable to sleep the night after I've been swimming. know of several other people who also have issues, e.g. bad rashes. The area around the training pool and the changing rooms are never clean as some people walk in in their street shoes and no one says anything. Plus there are bits of food left around the pool, disgusting. Both against the rules but they are not enforced. read more

I couldn't make my appointment as the weather was horrible and tried to rebook another slot with no luck. After emailing customer service, they replied after 3 weeks saying I am not entitled to re-book my session. Such an easy thing to correct but they rather have bad customer service. read more

The pool and gym here are great and this is really as good as it gets for municipal facilities as far as ive seen so far. However, the lines can be so long its really frustrating, its been te case for ages now,, what makes it worse is there are often staff milling around. Prices are very reasonable and its kept in 'good nick'. read more

This is a great centre for lane swimming (the only facility I use). It's run by GLL (not Hackney Council) which means that most memberships are transferable to centres outside the borough and I'm really impressed by their price for swim only membership at £27.95/month. Lane swimming sessions are often too busy at other pools but I've never experienced this at Clissold. Lockers are 20p which is pretty standard. The staff are helpful. The bike racks outside are normally quite full but I've always been able to find a spot. My only complaint is that the tiles are far too slippery, both in the changing rooms and going out on to the poolside. read more

Coming from a poor Midlands city with more than its fair share of, hmm, what can I call them, scumbags, it was with some trepidation that I made my first visit in years to a council run leisure centre. I was more than pleasantly surprised here though. Clissold Leisure Centre is a relatively new centre run by Hackney council. It's big and clean and fortunately not blighted by some designer trying to have their wicked way with interior fittings. There's a time and place, ladies and gents. However, it still looked a little like it'd take me a while to work out where all the bits of the building go and how to get around. Turns out I was right about that. The staff are very pleasant indeed. I asked which way I was supposed to go and almost got it completely right. But in fact what I did was go to the wrong changing rooms. A changing room full of screaming children (more on these later) with each cubicle taken and no communal changing space. Hmm, I thought, and just changed in the aisle instead, got showered and went out to the pool area. More children here, no sign of the lovely lane swimming I had been promised at the front desk. I asked the lifeguard - turns out I'd managed to get into the wrong changing room and then the wrong pool. Now, I'm not a thickie. This was easy to do and so probably a sign saying 'HALT SILLY WOMAN, UR DOIN IT RONG' would have helped. Never mind, another nice person led be through a locked door to a very lovely quiet pool, no children, lots of lovely straight lanes and no talking. I had a great swim, but then of course had to re-find the wrong changing room. This wasn't so hard, but I did have to walk across the main sports centre concourse all wet to get there. I left the child-full changing room immediately and stepped into my child-free oasis, only to be followed by two mothers with grumpy kids in tow, chatting about 'how it was so much better and quieter in the adult one'. No no no, I shouted in my head. Get out of my oasis! I readied myself quickly and left so as to protect my lug'oles. So, I suppose, we have plus points going to the nice people, decent pool and lack of chavscum, but minus points for the high density of preschoolers and the baffling layout. read more

Since some of these reviews have been written, Clissold Park Leisure Centre has had a massive revamp and now it is a beautiful leisure centre that is an East London fitness-freak hotspot without a doubt. On weekdays, there is a queue out the door which just goes to show! The changing rooms are always clean, the pool is lovely and they always keep it 'lanes only' during peak times (before and after work hours). If you live in East or North London, this pool is definitely worth the trek (it's a little bit out of the way) and beats its easier to reach counterpart York Hall in Bethnal Green hands down read more

I'm the opposite of the member who reviewed previously,I have never used the swimming facilities but only the gym..for a council run gym,it's pretty good.The machines are plentiful and always in good working order and it's always clean and tidy with no apparent danger spots. The gym staff that I have spoken to have all been very polite and helpful and quite up on the fitness scene. There is a a big selection of weight machines and also medicine balls and some free weights. There are kiddie gym sessions I think on Thursday so that might put some people off or encourage parents to get the children into fitness. On the whole it's pretty good..the cafe is a bit sterile though could have a better selection of healthy snacks. read more

It's such a shame this place doesn't really live up to its looks. The main pool and the training pool are always cold (they always deny it), the default setting of most of the staff is rude or off-hand and vaguely incompetent. The upsides- it's refurbished, not overpriced and the cafe is excellent. read more

Being very local, I've been a member of this gym in its various incarnations for more than a decade. It is currently run by Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL). It's ok as gyms go, but in no way is worth what they're charging given similar if not better alternatives are nearly half the price. The profiteering is extremely palpable given that GLL are evidently a non-profit distributing entity. I suspect it's probably to do with spiv execs somewhere on £200k pa, simply for their ability to get away with it. Full GLL accounts are not readily available online as far as I can see. Otherwise the gym is decent enough although very overcrowded and has inconvenient closing times at weekends, with staff absolutely hysterical and paranoid about possible revenue losses I wouldn't bother. read more

I've been coming here for almost two years (but I've only ever used the fitness centre, so I can't say anything about the rest of the facilities). Basically, it's a gym. It's got all the worst stereotypes you'd expect to find (preening bench hoarders, grunters, etc.) but also plenty of normal folks interested in staying healthy. My feelings alternate between thinking it's a perfectly adequate gym to feeling infuriated about something or other. The staff range from brusque and uninterested to friendly to overly solicitous, and it's not uncommon to encounter all in the same visit. The equipment manages to be both plentiful and inadequate (although I was told that some of the latter is due to theft). The water fountains sometimes don't work, but the exercise machines are maintained well. The changing room for the gym is stuffy and the showers are camp style. But I was delighted to find that they've installed Dyson Airblades recently. Good hand dryers count for a lot in my book. The building strikes me as an example of architects having fun designing an impressive looking structure without really thinking about how it would be used. The main hall was given the most attention while the fitness centre almost feels like an afterthought; most of it crammed into a corner of the building, with a bit of bleed-through into other areas. I obviously have my problems with the place, but I plan to continue going. The convenience, cost, and familiarity are good enough to outweigh the annoyances. Plus, if I keep going, maybe someday I'll be strong enough to use the free weights that are beyond the strength of those *very* petty criminals. Now there's a goal. read more

This swimming pool rocks! I'm so happy that I finally found it. God only knows why it took me so long, as it is hardly off the beaten track. Its clean, shiny brand new clean looking, well run, light, spacious and with great facilities. The main pool is great for serious swimmers. With no shallow end it makes you really swim laps, so you feel good about yourself and all those calories you are burning off. Its only 25metres, but is much wider than your average pool, so there are so many different lanes to choose from, so you never feel like you are swimming round and round in a queue of people who are always just that little bit too slow or too fast. There is also a "training pool", which i have yet to see as I only have eyes for the new love of my life, the "main pool". They got a kids pool too, with a cool looking magic mushroom water fountain thing. There is a cafe on site and lots of vending machines so you can fill up after you swim / work out. Cafe advertises fresh made healthy juices so you can keep feeling vertious. Only two tiny negatives. Small changing rooms (there are bigger ones dotted round, if you are lucky enough to nab one) and kinda cold water in the pool, so its a bit of a shock to the system when you first jump in. Other than that its great. Good enough for me to walk out of my way to get here anyway. I'm sorry Kings Hall Leisure Centre but Clissold is my new bestfriend now. I may pop in and see you from time to time when I need to swim on my way to work, but I'll be honest...I'm using you. My heart belongs to Clissold. read more

At first glance an impressive, shiny, modern sports centre that has it all under one roof. I joined because I was told by someone that the crèche was for members only (it isn't) and was hoping to get some exercise while my son was cared-for. I'm afraid I only lasted two weeks before cancelling the membership. I have to agree with one of the reviewers regarding the building - it's bonkers, it's as if the architect's computer crashed but no-one noticed until it had been built. First experience in the gym sets the tone - I get on a treadmill and aim for 5k - 20 minutes later it stops and I'm not finished - oops, must have pressed the wrong button - I speak to a sympathetic staff member who informs me they are set to switch off after 20 mins - as it gets busy in the evening, but it's OK because at the other end of the building are some more machines that are not limited. Next time I use another machine and all is forgiven, then on the third visit that room is closed because a class is on - so I'm told to use the ones outside - which I find are also set to stop after 20 minutes - aah! It wouldn't be so bad if there was a notice stating this. The pool is great, but charging 20p each time you want to lock up your stuff feels really tight when you're paying £50 a month to be there and the lockers upstairs for the gym give you your pound back - I can't imagine any private gym daring to be so... grabbing. I took my baby son to the baby pool - which is way too cold, I stuck it until we were both shivering. The water fountains in the gym were mostly not working (I notice someone else pointed this out last summer). Men's changing room has way too few changing benches for the number of lockers and because the lockers open at the same level as the bench you have to keep moving your stuff each time the person next to you wants to open their locker - would be comedy if it wasn't for the fact that someone actually got paid to design this - and we have to use it. Sauna and steam room - only used it once and then I had to get someone to enter the code because the receptionist scribbled it down in such a hurry that it was un-readable. Having men and women-only periods makes a lottery out of whether I can use the facility and the way that is time-tabled is more customer-unfriendly craziness. Please - hire a general manager who has worked in a competitive customer-focussed business, survey those who use your facility - listen even more closely to those who left and work to make this a great centre. Shame you can't do much about the building. read more

I lived very close to the clissold leisure centre for a year without even knowing of its existence, surprising given it is a pretty imposing structure located on a quiet side street. I first learned about it only when Private Eye magazine reported on the many planning and construction problems that delayed its opening and made it run over budget to the tune of gazillions. Now it's finally open, and I have a Hackney GLL leisure membership, I can enjoy what must be one of London's best and most modern such facilities. There is a fully-equipped gym, sauna and steam-room, fitness classes of all types, a lebanese cafe, a large sports hall which has different activities on every night (futsal, badminton, basketball - you name it), plus, of course, two 25m swimming pools. I wonder if the building problems contribute to the slightly pricey entrance fees? How and ever, you can't argue with the quality of the product you get. read more

Clissold Leisure Centre - Swimming Pools Near Me - London, XGL

Took my 4 month old baby swimming here last week. The toddler pool gets busy, we had to wait for a space, which didn't take long as babies don't tend to stay in the water for long and meant it wasn't overcrowded in there. There's plenty of family changing and the facilities were clean. The toddler pool was shallow and clean, lots of toys too. Had a sloped floor nice for toddlers. I found the water too cold for the baby, we lasted about 10 minutes. The coldness is the only reason I haven't given a higher rating. I will definitely take my daughter there swimming when she is older. read more

Where do I start?! The staff only want to help u when u ask for it. They give off an air of indifference and they are totally unapproachable. The only time they take the opportunity to speak to members is when spoken to first, otherwise they just stand around chatting to each other. The general level of cleanliness is also a major concern. The changing rooms, or at least the male changing rooms are inexcusably dirty and the gym equipment looks like it hasn't been cleaned since this place opened. This place is a great example of Left wing waste! They Over spent millions building the place and then fill it with incompetents which have no clue what they are doing yet have so many employee rights that they are practically unsackable. Only once have I been approached by a member of staff and that was to ask where my wrist band was. It so happens that the fast track machine didn't dispense one when I entered the gym. My fault or problem? I think not! On a more disturbing note my partner is a personal trainer and has been for the last 11 years. He has heard so many of the staff members giving totally inaccurate and wrong information to people asking for help. This is not just concerning because these people are supposed to be professionals but also because at least these people are going to be exercising in the wrong way and at worst people are going to cause themselves damage! We have both made comments about the cleanliness and staff attitudes in the comment box provided which has a box that we both ticked to ask for a response from the centre manager and, we have still heard nothing. My partner asked a receptionist about it and was told "oh yeah he (the manager) is busy with another issue oh, a few other issues....but he will get back to you' three weeks later and nothing. The only 2 positives about this place are the price for membership and the gym equipment. The options now are wait for a private gym to open and join it because u can guarantee this place will be as quiet as the surface of the moon or just sell it off to a private company and let them get this place running how it should. GLL who run this place are a joke how the hell did they get the contract to run it!!!!! Well thats the end of this short message on the real clissold leisure centre but, it's better that you read this than join up and waste your time, money and just increase your stress levels! read more

A beautiful leisure centre marred by, for swimmers, poor design and difficult parking. Hackney's flagship leisure centre, built at great expense and fanfare. I've only used swimming (extensively) and the badminto courts and cafe. The pools are great - there are three: toddlers (up to your shoulders sitting on your bum so therefore perfect for 1-4 year olds, full of toys and limited people), the training pool (great for a 'proper' bit of swimming practice after the excitement of the toddlers pool), and the laned pool (proper swimming for those who don't rely on armbands). My gripes are mainly with its design. Namely: a) if you want to go from toddler's pool to training pool, or vice versa, you effectively have to drip across a main thoroughfare in the swimming centre - which is both cold, and dangerous (constantly wet). b) the changing room lockers open up in to the narrow corridor between the changing area (for the training pool) and the training pool itself. Silly, silly, oversight. c) the tiles in the same place are lethally slippery! If you like swimming, try Clissold. You probably won't be disappointed. But go there by bus parking is metered opposite and expensive. The traffic wardens are many and vigilant (more than once swimming has incurred me the price of a parking ticket). read more

I had my purse stolen from this gym, and the management barely cared. I suggested signage that thieves operate in the area, and was rebuffed...It's just signage! The app to book the classes is not really very functional, and you get charged a non attendance fee for classes you attended. There are never enough staff on reception to answer phones and/or help customers, so there's always a queue at the door. It's basically just really bad management - the facilities themselves are ok. read more

Great group exercise classes and toddlers world is good fun for children. The staff are polite and professional and the pilates tutor, Myriam, is EXCELLENT so is the lovely supervisor in Toddler's World. BUT the Centre is let down by poor management. The floors are filthy - often piles of dust and hair in corners (yuk!) in, eg Studio one, and always dirty floors and windows. Once you have a membership, it's good value for money but only if you can get a slot. Since New Year (and new app?) it is increasingly difficult to get a place on the Pilates classes and forget it if you haven't book between midnight and 9 am for the next available lesson. In other words, increasing membership has not lead to increase in class provision, which is a great shame as they have some good people on board. Wake up Management and stop being so stingy! read more

READ THIS REVIEW FIRST!!! If you read the reviews below you'll clearly see a lot of them have been written by staff members because nobody who pays for that gym would ever say it's clean. The whole place is filthy throughout. There is always rubbish lying around the changing room by the gym. The changing rooms by the pool stick of mildew and rot. The ground is always dirty and I've never seen anyone cleaning it during the day. I go there 3 times a week, just because it's the closest to my house, but I'm really considering sucking it up and going somewhere further afield. The health suit is GROSS. There's a drain on one side of the suit that always smells bad and seems to infect the whole place. The steam room always smells bad too. The staff and service, arguable the worst part of the my whole experience with the place. Reception staff leave me standing there without so much as brief eye contact to let me know they know I'm waiting, while they chat and laugh together. Good things are the cafe, really nice cafe and the sports courts are nice and so is the gym but don't bother asking any of the guys in there for help or info, they're always too busy perving on the girls working out and flexing at each other. I did eventually get through to one of them and ask about classes and he had no idea, I know this because his response was a vacant look and said "no idea". read more

Don't bother with kids swimming classes (Stages 2 and 3 ... esp 2). Overcrowded classes, teachers barely paying attention, classes always starting late. We referred to Stage 2 as "goofing off in the pool for 30 minutes" because there is little actual teaching going on. Take your money elsewhere read more

Are all the staff here incapable of saying please, thanks and having manners. Why are there so many staff working here who clearly have no standards of customer service what so ever, and clearly hate what they do. I have been visiting the Clissold centre for around a week now. The staff all look tired and are very blunt. The pool is really unhygienic- I have found everything from broken glass to plasters and ear plugs on the floor. Today in the pool, I was rudely and embarrassingly shouted at again my a member of staff. The first instance was by a female swimming instructor who bluntly told me to "go back into the other lanes" because there is a lesson going on. The last time I checked I am a fully grown, paying member and adult. If you want me to move have the decency to say it politely as I was unaware of the lesson going on. Shortly after that a young woman who also worked at the pool, rudely started to un-tye the pool separator where I was swimming without saying excuse me, stopping me from swimming completely, and then another instructor shouted at me to move. By this point my work out is completely ruined, and I am humiliated. The last straw that has lead to me cancelling my membership, was a young male swimming instructor with glasses, who was unbelievably rude and I am going to make a formal complaint against him. He said he didn't mind me swimming in this lane ( there were no other lanes since the separator had been removed) and told me to swim closer to the rope, which I was. I then proceeded to ask him where I can twin, and he replied rudely with "I just told you where". The rest of the staff were equally rude and useless so I got up and left. I would not reccomend this Leisure Centre to anyone and I am cancelling my membership ASAP. I will no longer be reccomending this place to any friends, and will urge existing friends who attend Clissold Leisure Centre to change gyms with me. read more

My partner and i was a member at crissold location better gym since january and my partner had gotten water in his knee from work which meant no exercise or over working his knee. Doctors didnt prescribe anything as we were instructed to let the swelling go down on its own, only prescribed paracetamol for being inflammed. We gave the gym more then enough times notice before month of june, we spoke beginning second week of may and were then asked for proof which we gave and then were granted a freeze on my partners membership as we had joint memberships i was charged in full but as i am a student i gave proof of my id card which i was then charged the full amount but my partners was frozen month of june. Error 1, as we go into month 2 his knee was still inflammed with water and we did give notice once again for july. We had to move suddenly so therefor no longer going to crissold but i did give enough notice both at gym and called into customer service which i was told no problem. We go into July 1 and we are both charged. As i brought this to customer service attention they contacted both gyms crissold and now my current location and finally after some time the manager gets in touch and tells me it cannot be approved as we need more proof. I respect and understand protocol but how is it that the professional gym employee who is a manager? Approves our request and then tells us its not possible. This is the employees error who did not do their job in the first place. If we needed more proof we would have done so not sit on my partners butt and expect what we were told and already granted then told its forbidden. I have been treated so poorly. No the customer is not always right as i have worked and still am over 20 years in customer service but this is something else, the employee goes against protocol and what they are contracted to do and 'should ' know their own terms and conditions yet here we are they mess up and now my partner and i the customer get the blame. This isnt even about money which we ahould get reimbursed but the principal of how poorly crissold better gym is run, not to mention how their staff are on leave every 2 days. Work on your employees and management because they either havent got a clue how to do their job or they have no respect for their job and fellow employees to act this way!!! read more

Best facilities for a municipality pool / gym. The building is well-maintained and the pools are excellent. There are a wide range of activities to choose from. Lots of classes etc. I have been a member of various private gyms but now joined this one due to its proximity to my house. What a good decision it turned out to be. read more

I had a good experience with better leisure until they made a mistake by cancelling my access to facilities a month early, and still charging me for it. I have sent countless emails and made numerous phone calls and have been back and forth between the centre manager and head office customer service: this is truly the worst experience of customer service I have ever had. They should be really embarrassed about the fact that they are such a large organisation and yet have not been able to master the basics of customer service. This was in March 2014 and 5 months later I am still waiting for my refund. Appalling. read more