In many ways I feel lousy and hypocritical for even mentioning the bad points about a gym of which…read moreI have maintained membership, at a consistently low price, for the last 5 years. However, there are few issues.
First I'll say what's GOOD about Carlisle. It's massive and it has more cardio and weight machines than any other gym I've ever visited. It offers a full range of fitness and well-being services: a swimming pool, sauna and steam room, yoga and spinning classes, a supplement store, sandwich bar and lounge, spa treatments and hair styling for both men and women.
Its prices are the most affordable on the market. Annual membership for one person is about €235, waaay below what other less equipped clubs are offering. Which basically explains my first problem:
Carlisle is full of scangers.....hard-faced, foul-mouthed, macho-swaggering, tattooed, Fred Perry-wearing SCANGERS. You might think I'm a bit of a snob, but until you've witnessed a knife fight in a changing room (I kid you not) or listened to their bovine banter reverberating through the showers, you might want to hold that criticism. The knife incident aside, mostly it's just annoying and lowers the tone somewhat, but that's what happens when prices are this low. Haha...I AM a snob :P.
The other point I wanted to raise is about the staff, specifically the male staff, discounting one or two. Their attitude can be apathetic, cold and abrasive; they have a smarmy cliquishness about them, much like high school jocks and aren't very approachable. I also don't appreciate their obvious resentment of people who train late. I often go at 9pm and leave at 10pm closing, simply to avoid the rush hour. They stomp around the place banging weights down on racks as if to say "get the hell out already!" which I don't appreciate. However, these are only a specific few.
The last thing is a more recent issue. The new spinning classes are held in the middle of the gym floor and are obnoxiously loud. Saturday morning training is almost unbearable now thanks to the overwhelming cacophony of blaring dance music and Nazi-like yelling. Sometimes it's so loud I can't even hear my iPod. I've just learned to go at different times to try and avoid it, but it's still really annoying and inconsiderate.
Those gripes aside, you won't find facilities like this for such good value! Just maybe wear a knife-vest (:P) j/k