Lloyds is the big boy of private fitness clubs in Belfast - the biggest, the plushest and of course…read morethe most expensive. But it's definitely a case of getting what you pay for as there is a definite air of being upmarket and everything on offer that you could possibly want or need to occupy the whole family. Despite the freakish Northern Ireland spring weather, I went last weekend with my kids with guests of a friend who is a member, and we actually used the outdoor swimming pool. It was a very warm day and the water is nicely heated so it was a lovely experience. The kids loved it and I just wished it was hot enough to lounge on one of the sun beds beside the pool. There was an attentive life guard on duty to satisfy over anxious parents like me. The changing facilities are a treat too - warm and luxurious with great showers and nice toiletries. None of your 20p a time hair dryers here. There is also a shop where we bought swimming goggles and fit flops (I know, I know, I have a problem), a hair and beauty salon and a creche for under 5s. David Lloyds is the most luxurious health club I have used and I loved it. It's the kind of place I was born to use. Now all I have to do is talk the husband into forking out for the family membership fee.

A great gym,although expensive it is worth it for the indoor tennis courts and outdoor swimming…read morepool. David Lloyd's is huge and has more to offer than any other local gym.

Shorts bar and sports club. Cheap drinks and events. Lots of car parking, on a main road easy to…read moreget too. Also serve hot food.

As far as leisure centres go this is one of my favourites especially now that a makeover has…read morehappened and the gym has gone from a broomcloset to a large airy room over looking the pool. The centre has great classes and even has a waterbabies class for babies and parents! The pool is massive and opening hours are great now that it opens at 7am! There are several rooms you can hire - including a dance room with a mirrored wall and A massive sports hall for football etc

This is my local leisure centre about five minutes from my house. I usually go here for the…read moreswimming pool and the squash court. The swimming pool is brilliant. It is pretty big and obviously has a trained attendant there at all times. There is also a cafe near the pool which is great for snacks with the kids. I never use the gym but it does look fantastic now that it has had a makeover. There is some really good equipment in here. There is a large court for football/tennis/volleyball etc and the squash room that I often use. The staff are generally pretty friendly and the price is quite cheap. All in all, a very good leisure centre.

The Shankill Mirror is a free local paper that stands out from the crowd with content that includes…read moreforthright commentary on both national and Northern Ireland affairs by the editor John McVicar. It is also guaranteed to provide comprehensive reportage of the North and West Belfast area's often turbulent news and politics, along with information on events and other items of interest. There are numerous pages of personal greetings for birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations and memorials with lots of pictures which is an interesting reflection of lifein the area even if you don't live there. It is a vibrant paper and in its own way an interesting read. Apparently there is a keen following, though I notice the Shankill Mirror seems to be produced only monthly these days, a reduction of its former output.

For a hyperlocal newspaper, this isn't a bad wee rag at all. It's been going for years, so the…read morepeople of the Shankill seem happy enough. To my knowledge, it's run out of a room in a local community centre, which gives you an idea of the type of operation it is i.e small. It's really what you'd expect a community paper to be: a few pages long at most and full of notices about birthdays and anniversaries. It's nice to see this type of newspaper still surviving despite the rise of the internet.

I was here last night for the first time and I was hugely impressed by the facilities - It's…read moredefinitely had a recent facelift! I was there to play football and having played at a number of different sports facilities I have to say that these were right up there with the best. The have 6 floodlit 3G pitches that are available to hire. There are also two full size 4G floodlit pitches. They have rebranded the sports pitches 'V36' and they have obviously thought about the logistics of the centre as it now comes with a refurbished car park. Great facility all in all and relatively cheap to hire in comparison with other pitches.

Newtownabbey Council has put a lot of time and money into sprucing up the Valley Leisure Centre,…read moreand they've done a great job in my opinion. Back when I was young, the Valley was pretty dark and everything was brown or cream, but now the lighting's a lot better and you don't really feel like this is a place where joy comes to die. The slide in the pool was the main attraction when I was growing up, and it remains to this day. Beyond that, there are squash courts, indoor football pitches and rooms for classes. There's also a gym upstairs, which my brother is a member of and loves. Municipal gyms are some of the cheapest going and I think they're the best option if you're thinking of joining a gym. The Valley is also the location for many a children's birthday party and they provide a bouncy castle, so it's pretty easy for parents to organise.

Ive never been to the swimmers here but i have been at a few kids parties...they do a deal for…read more£68 u get two hours first hour isnin a soft play area were its just ur party no other kids which is great cus u no were everyone is...theres slides a ball pit and loads of other we areas for the kids to play Then the next hour u go upstairs to a room were u have ur party u can bring ur own food which is great means the kids get excatly what they want This is defo worth the money and its that good il b booking my daughters b.day party here

The changing rooms are absolutely disgraceful. The levels of filth are unacceptable. Really don't…read moreknow how they could get in to such a state. Pool is okay, although you're not filled with confidence about its hygiene levels after seeing the state of the changing rooms and watching lifeguard staff eat their lunch at the pool's edge while chatting with each other. Cafe closed down etc. Card machine broken, staff told me 'just go on in anyway' (without paying!). What a shambles. Will not be back.

The Odyssey Pavilion many moons ago used to be THE place to go, but it has become the last word in…read morefaded glory as it has died a long slow death by a thousand cuts (or small disappointments) which date back to shortly after it originally opened. The first sign of this that always springs to mind (and maybe those who remember it opening) was the big installation piece right beside the escalators that take you up to the foyer of the cinema. For those who done remember it there was/is 3 cosentric rings, made of a similar tarpaulin material as the roof that looked like donught/smoke signals that were raised and lowered through each other. I recall it only working for about 3 months after the pavilion originally opened, when it broke after such a short time, it was never repaired. Now, if you can see it at al the big donught structures are lying at the bottom, deflated and covered by several cms of dust. This theme then read over the years as place after place sprung up to replace the previous, act as short lived as the one before. This wasn't great in and of itself but it seems now that for the last few years potential investors who may have thought that they could make something work in the pavilion have given up. Now, virtually the whole place is vacant, leaving the frontage of the last of each of the restaurants and bars to inhabit the units. As you go up the escalator to the cinema, the frontage of the last place to be in the unit under the foyer is still up despite its closing some 5 or so years ago! I go here for the cinema, they have good deals and there is oddly, a feeling of an event to going here for a movie. But really, without this, I can't see that I would ever come back here any more. The feeling of sadness around here is almost tangible now!!!! I hope someone comes up with a plan to turn this place around, I'll keep going for the cinema, but my interest in the Odyssey is now hanging by that 1 thread.

There are a few things on offer around the pavilion, restaurants, bar etc but the atmosphere (when…read morethere is nothing on in the arena) is non existent and some of the restaurants don't even open mid week. There is also a couple of random bouncy castles which make it feel like s deserted area of Portrush! The place could do with a revamp (which I here is in the pipeline) so watch this space!

The Antrim Forum offers a good range of leisure activities ranging from a large swimming pool, ten…read morepin bowling, football, running, squash, a gym, a spa and even a soft play centre at the back for children. It has been part of the Antrim skyline for as long as I can remember and it wouldn't really be he same without it. It is a rather ugly plastic building but the facilities it offers is excellent. For some reason, there are security gates at the entrance. The receptionists do open them if you want to use the public toilets but otherwise you will have to insert the card given to you for your session to open them. It is about a ten minute walk from the Masserene Golf Club, five minutes from Clotworthy and fifteen minutes from the Lough Shore via Deerpark Bridge. The close proximity to Antrim's main leisure and tourist destinations is good. I can't really find anything wrong with it - the only thing is that the bowling alley is quite small so everyone goes to the big one at Dundonald Ice Bowl if they want a serious game of bowling.

This is a great leisure centre and teh swimming pool is great for our little girl and her cousins…read morelearning to swim the pool is warm enough and its not overly crowded so they arent getting pushes around by bigger kids. There are also swimming lessons for babys through the week that mums or dads or grandparents can take their child too to help them learn to swim get used to the water and mix with other children in the pool. Antrim forum also has lots of other activities to take part in and all reasonably priced and it is much larger than you might expect from a relitivly small town leisure centre. There is also a soft play area which is ideal to take little ones too they love it and burn off lots of energy. Also easy to get to by bus or walking or car.

I can't speak for the tennis courts (maybe one day...), the fitness suite (not a chance) or the…read moreclimbing wall (eeek), but the Ozone laser quest is incredibly fun, and just my sort of thing - no frantic exercise / running, competitive and a heck of a laugh. Recently updated and using the latest laser technology, the Ozone has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. I remember being about ten and being really excited about going to a party here, only to discover that the backpacks weighed an absolute ton and I wasn't going to have as much fun as I initially thought. These days, the packs are much lighter, much more compact and generally easier to use. The last time I was at the Ozone was about a year ago, and there was a quite a big group of us (fifteen or so). We spilt into two teams (you can play this way or individually), girls vs boys, and had a rundown of the game by one of the staff. After this, we selected our packs, which light up either green, blue or red (red and green it was for this game, in order to identify your team members and avoid shooting them), and has a cartoon / superhero / character name which will be used to record your score at the end. It's pretty funny when the most masculine guy in your group gets Barbie. The game lasts half and hour, and the labyrinth comprises of different levels and hiding places. The aim is to shoot your opponents on the back, front, shoulder or gun (the last option is really easier said than done), without getting shot yourself. The stats all appear at the end of the game, so you can see how your shooting was, and how many times you were shot. It's always amusing to see what place everyone came in, and there are definitely a lot of laughs at this stage. At £4.60 per person per game, it's not a bad price for birthday parties / youth events / general banter. Oooh, when can I go again?

This is a top notch establishment boasting a gym, squash and tennis courts, laser quest and a…read moreclimbing wall, not to mention outdoor pitches tennis and basketball courts. My favorite activities of these is the climbing wall. I never knew how much fun and addictive climbing walls could be. A great way to spend an afternoon and is decently priced. The ropes and harness's are provided free of charge. If you don't fancy going so high there are smaller walls with huge safety crash mats were you can learn the ropes!!! (excuse the pun). Another great activity to do here is the laser quest, for young and old I can't think of a funnier thing to do for a birthday or something. Absolutely fantastic.

T13 is a multi functional sports and events facility in the heart of the Titanic Quarter. Basically…read moreit's an old H & W warehous that has been converted to host some of Belfast's most unique events and a whole range of extreme sports. Sports include BMX, Skateboard and Scooter clubs. I visited T13 as part of Enter Conf yesterday and this was my first time in the warehouse. I was shocked about it's size and it's versatility. The organisers used the space excellently and the contrast between cutting edge enterprise and technology and Belfast's industrial roots was fantastic. The whole place is covered in artistic graffiti that depicts Belfast's heritage - it's worth going to T13 just to see the art. I read yesterday that T13 is going through a minor refurbishment at the moment and will re-open with a new schedule in July so keep your eyes peeled for upcoming events in one of Belfast's most interesting and exciting spaces.

Intriguing venue, I was there for the Northern Ireland Coffee Festival. It's basically a huge old…read morewarehouse but it's a great industrial space that could add character to any event.