As a student this was the best location to go for a weekly swim to get the cardio working and to…read morenurse my aches from my rigorous sporting week. A good swim really relaxes the muscles and leaves you feeling invigorated, it's just a shame Maindy pool isn't like a health spa like Esporta, as I missed having the steam room sauna. The prices are very good, less than £3 last time I checked. The pool is a 25m six-lane pool that gets segregated into fun, slow lapse and fast lapse, depending on your goals. The changing rooms are clean and there are cubicles if you need them. Lockers need 50p coins, which are refunded when finished. There is always ample parking and easy access from the centre of town. I really enjoy the exercise element of Maindy but if you're looking for fun and slide you need to head to the swimming pool down the bay. There's a small café that's for parents to sit poolside or have a quick snack before heading off, but if you want to avoid the families get there during the day. This centre also boasts a cycle velodrome and a large gym with prices much lower than any other gym or health spa, the only exception being the university gyms.

It's easy to think you are simply faster, better, and less splashy than you actually are. In Maindy…read morepool they have this great system of three lanes - fast, medium and slow. But the definition seems to be a matter of personal opinion. Which doesn't seem to be mine. I was once in a pool in London where they defined it by how fast you swim a length. I expect people cheated there too. It's Cardiff council owned and if you have ever lived most other cities you'll know how fantastic our facilities are. In Maindy, not only do they have three lanes of indefinite definition in the pool, they have an amazing cycle track outside. There's also a gym and some hard-core yoga classes.

This place should be better than 2 stars as it is and could be even more so such a good facility…read more The building is good and the facilities are great. The staff are in the main very helpful. However .... The signs asking people remove their shoes before going in to the changing rooms are ignored by many people so the cubicle floors of the changing rooms end up filthy. The staff walk back and forth ignoring the point and I have never seen them ask a shoe wearer to remove their shoes. So expect to come out of there with dirty feet. The pool is rarely at 50m and when it is it is often very busy. Monday and Thursday nights can be quieter if you aren't too tired to train at 10pm ... In the mornings and now at weekends many of the lanes are taken by the swimming club. Not an issue but expect the other lanes to be crowded and have people of varying ability in each lane. If you are a quick swimmer expect to be frustrated as you dawdle behind a breast stroker waiting for a safe moment to overtake them. The pool is regularly booked out for galas and swim events at weekends and the information/warnings about these events is very discrete or difficult to find so be prepared for Saturday / Sunday morning disappointment and wasted trips. The pleasure pool is mayhem. The lifeguards do a good job but expect to be kicked by other swimmers, by bumped into, swam over/into and come out feeling the most unrelaxed you ever will. As a venue for promoting healthy lifestyle this place surpasses itself. Not!!! For those who bother to use the benches to remove or put on shoes, there is a glittering array of chocolates and sugary drinks in four vending machines, ideally located opposite you. If you or your children manage to get passed them, there are more sugary calorie dispensers by the exit turnstiles and just in case you haven't managed to give in to the sugar, there are 4 more vending machines on the way out. Only the British would fill a "healthy" sports venue with obesity causing, tooth rotting filled vending machines. So, while you are trudging home in the dirty foot rot of other people from the changing rooms, you can comfort yourself with chocolate and fizzy pop to remind yourself what a healthy life you live!

I love this pool and the centre itself. It looks fantastic and its great inside too. Whether your…read morethere to relax and have fun with the kids or to do a serious bit of swimming there is a place for you. Its easy to access and has lots of parking too. There is a gym, sauna, jacuzzi and do all sorts of fitness classes too for quite a reasonable monthly fee. Swimming for adults is £3.70 and no time limit. Family tickets also available. The only downsides are that the changing rooms can be a bit chaotic and its always worth checking out whats going on before you head down because they often have events on at the weekend so you might not get in.

I travel quite regularly with work, and since the Novotel is the hotel of choice for my business,…read moreI'm lucky enough to get to use the facilities here whenever I come down to Cardiff. In all honesty, I've used the pool facilities more often than the gym (forcing myself to get on an elliptical trainer when there's a spa pool I can relax in instead just never goes well!) but the gym facilities - while not the largest around - seem adequate for the clientele. A few treadmills, a few ellipticals as well as some stationary bikes in one side for the cardio junkies, while the other side of the gym is filled with free and static weights for the more buff of us (not me!). The pool is a reasonable size for a hotel swimming pool, with a beautiful spa pool (I love this thing!), a steam room and a sauna. I've also had a couple of times where I've been lucky enough to be the only person in there which is just bliss. Not sure how adequate it'd be if I were a paying member, but as a hotel perk it's pretty great.

From the owner: Exclusive, 4 Star Hotel-based Health & Fitness Club…read more InBalance Wellness by Novotel Cardiff offers contemporary and state-of-the-art facilities in a relaxing environment. Our highly trained and friendly staff offer a professional and motivational experience to help members achieve their personal goals. We offer complementary Lifestyle Consultations with tailor-made exercise programming to support you every step of the way. Whether your aim is to improve your fitness, tone up or to enhance general wellbeing, our facility caters for your needs and with a range of flexible membership tariffs, we will help you to achieve your goals. We offer quality service with the reassuring committment to every individual that we intend for you to make the most out of your membership. Facilities include: Resistance Gym Cardio Gym 15m Indoor Heated swimming pool Jacuzzi Steam Room Sauna Male & Female changing rooms Exercise Classes Personal Training Massage Treatments

Apparently, Splott Swimming Pool was originally an open air pool, but opened in 1976 as an indoor…read morepool. It's also Cardiff Council's oldest pool, but it did undergo refurbishment back in 2003 to introduce disabled changing facilities and specialised listing hoists and cradles. This means the pool can cater for special needs, and to complement this they've introduced a programme of specific sessions aimed at groups of physically and mentally disabled people. The pool itself is 25 metres long, and while it's not Cardiff's most beautiful pool at least it does offer some of the disabled facilities that other pools don't. There are also free swimming lessons for the over 60s, and women-only and men-only swim sessions. Make sure you phone for swimming times between 9am and 12 noon and 1.30-3.30pm on weekdays during school term time because they sometimes close the pool for school swimming lessons and times change frequently.

This is a swimmers swimming pool. No frills or gyms or yoga classes. Ok, there is a fitness suite…read more Most of the day there are swimming lessons in here and in the evening there are some very good swimming lessons and clubs. Top points to Splott for its disabled facilities and free over 60s swimming. Recently refurbished so not as grotty as it used to be. If you haven't been for a few years it's worth a revisit. If you are taking some kids to swim there's a nice little playground in the park that the pool is set in (well, more of a grassy scrubland than a park). Check with the pool about when what activities are on when because events seem to overtake them sometimes.

Splashland is an indoor swimming pool situated inside the Trecco Bay holiday park…read more This is a fun pool, with most of the features mainly suiting children and families. It is very busy during the school holidays and summer. The pool operates on a timed slot basis, and you are given a coloured band which indicates the start and end time of your session. The pool has a decent waterslide, a children's pirate ship play area and a separate toddlers area. There is a jacuzzi type bubble area where you can sit/lie which is joined to the main pool. There are two swimming lanes - sometimes roped off and sometimes not - which are fine for some relaxing swimming - but due to the size and temparature (Very warm) of the pool they are not really suited to serious swimmers. You can sit and watch the swimmers in a seated area, and there is a good size changing village, including family size changing rooms. There are aqua aerobic classes available during the week.

a fantastic place to take the children,very reasonably priced,well maintained,plenty of lifeguard…read moresupervision,a very comfortable changing village. Great water slide and fun pool that includes a toddler end including slides, a pirate ship area for babies and toddlers,set seperate from the main pool. Main pool includes two swimming lanes for those keeping fit. reccomend to all!

The park plaza certainly is a jack of all trades. From the fabulous hotel itself to the excellent…read moreLaguna bar and this, the spa and gym smack bang in the middle of Cardiff. A friend of mine was a member there and so suggested I come and try it out for the day. Of course we bypassed the gym and went straight for the equally taxing pool/steam room/jacuzzi. The pool area is an oasis of calm in the middle of a very busy city. The walls are tranquil blue and it's has the feeling of being pure indulgence. The water is treated with a combination of UV and chlorine which means you don't get that OTT feeling of dry horrible skin that you get in other pools that just use chlorine. People watching is great here, for some reason the most beautiful men in Cardiff chose to swim at this establishment. Great if you're a bit of a perve like me but it's advisable to keep your wits about you to avoid drowning.

In this area of the city centre there are at least three good gyms all competing for membership:…read morethis, the Laguna Health & Spa at the Park Plaza Hotel; Vitality, around the corner, which is based upstairs above Henry's Bar on Park Place and doesn't have a pool; and the Hilton's small LivingWell gym, which can get busy during peak times. This cluster of gyms in close proximity has created plenty of competition between them to attract membership, so there are usually some promotions on at each of them to try to lure you in. The Laguna is good for those into swimming, and its pool is filtered using UV rather than just chlorine (unlike the Hilton's LivingWell pool), which makes for a less chemical swimming experience. They have a relaxing jacuzzi and a steam room next to the pool, and the changing rooms are very smartly done out. Here you definitely get the feeling you can indulge rather than just exercise hard, and it's a relaxing space to spend some time after work or at the weekend. If you want a real treat, the spa also has a range of beauty and relaxation treatments, most of them fairly expensive (as is the case with most spas). They also have a proper gym, of course, and about 35 exercise classes a week (unlike the Hilton LivingWell, which has no space to hold group classes). The gym has cardio vascular stations including treadmills, rowers, cross-trainers, steppers and walking machines, plus fixed resistance stations, a free weight area, a warm up and stretching area, a Power-Plate® Machine, and screens showing sport, news and music while you work out.

This is as fairly old leisure centre, but just a couple of years ago it had a revamp with lots of…read morenew facilities added. It attracts a lot of regular school and community group visits, so is still a well-used facility. It now has a 72-station gym / fitness suite, cardio theatre, dance studio, spinning room, community room and a smaller teaching pool in addition to its original 25-metre pool. They have a range of classes on offer, from yoga to soft play for little ones - and there's a strong community feel to the place. The on site café serves basic hot and cold snacks such as paninis and jacket potatoes if you're hungry after your swim. If you live in the area, it's worth checking out - but not worth a special trip over to Ely.

If I could give a -5 stars I would. They lie to prospective members, ignore complaints, refuse to…read moreacknowledge mistakes, and fob you off at every turn. It's not worth the money to start with and DEFINITELY isn't worth the hassle. AVOID DAVID LLOYD LIKE THE PLAGUE.

This is the best gym in Cardiff…read more Amongst other things it has a great gym, 2 swimming pools, 1 indoor and one outdoor both heated, squash courts and 14 indoor tennis courts too. It also has a nice social area and plenty of social functions in its diary. So it has the lot and of course you have to pay for it. It is the most expensive gym in Cardiff but hey you've got to expect that what with the facilities it has. If you're thinking of joining then you either have a bit of disposable income or you take your fitness seriously. This is where you will often see well known rugby players working out or more often than not relaxing in the pool. When I was a member here I used ot pay £65 per month and this was just for health and fitness e.g. the gym and swimming pools. It is a bit more expensive if you want access to the tennis courts too. You may see this as expensive but imagine how much a month you spend making your body unhealthy e.g. drinking. So why not spend that amount trying to make it healthy? If you have the money this is the place to join.

Oh, wow. I love…read morestumbling across old childhood memories and getting ridiculously excited about them all over again. Llanishen Leisure Centre is one of those places. As an excited child, I recall this place seeming like it took over an age to get to, so was surprised to drive past it the other day and discover that it wasn't 20,000 miles outside Cardiff like I'd always imagined. In actuality it's an easy 15 minute drive from the centre. Who knew? Llanishen Leisure Centre has the most spectacular of swimming pools. Oh, the fun and jollity I did have there. There is a fountain and hundreds of floats and giant balls the big kids always tried to stand on (I was resolute that I was not tall enough/I was a coward). There is also, majesty of majesty, a wave machine. A giant wave machine! The pool itself has a gradual incline from one end so you can walk in as you might walk into the sea. This means that the pool is great for all ages, and it's easy to keep an eye on the extra small ones with the help of the ever present lifeguard. When the siren for the waves (yay!) goes off, they actually break and roll up the side of the pool, making great sport for active imaginations. Llanishen Leisure Centre also has a whole heap of badminton and squash courts, a gym, yoga, swimming lessons and a pool-side cafe and pool tables. Did I mention the wave machine?

Tried to book a handful of slots on their shockingly slow, clunky and useless website. It only gave…read moreme the option to book one, impossible to book more than that. Thought I'd try phoning the helpline to speak to someone who could talk me through it. Spent ages going through all the options only to be hung up on after requesting to speak to an advisor. Appalling customer service the last time I went there, but thought I'd give it another try. never, ever again. Anyone wanting to go there should look at all the awful reviews online about this place and make their mind up.