Inside the Hilton Hotel is a LivingWell fitness centre and health club, shared by hotel guests and…read moreprivate gym members, with genuinely friendly staff who can offer induction, exercise plans, and other expert advice. It has a gym, pool and therapy rooms for massage and other spa treatments.
The gym room itself is well-equipped with cardio vascular stations, cross-trainers, running and rowing machines, weights, inflatable pilates balls, and more - but does get busy during peak times, such as after work (about 5pm until about 6.45 is the busiest).
The spa area has a lovely, warm 20-metre pool (which is suspended upstairs, above the reception and bars on ground level), a jacuzzi, a sauna, and a steam room. It's a really nice little space to relax, with a couple of loungers where people sit and read magazines.
Because the gym gets so busy during peak hours, when I was a member here I used to use give the gym itself a miss and swim in the pool, followed by some time relaxing in the jacuzzi, sauna and steam room - the perfect after-work wind down. You get very few posers in this place because it's really not big or butch enough to attract those types, which is refreshing - although I have seen a couple of international rugby teams descend on the gym from their hotel rooms, much to the delight of the female gym members!
There are water dispensers available, and they provide you with towels, so you don't even need to remember to take those along with you!
My only criticism of this place is that the showers could be checked more regularly (it's gross to come across someone else's soggy plaster in the plug hole) and also, due to lack of space, they don't have any group classes (such as yoga or pilates) so you really need to be self-motivated to get the most out of it - or pay to hire a personal trainer (which are available there).