I decided to wait a day or two to write this review. Aside from the fact that my body has stopped…read moreaching enough to pick up a pen ;-), I wanted to think about my experience here properly and rate it accordingly.
The reason I wanted to take care is that this is the first Bikram studio in Ireland I have visited, and originally thought that perhaps my comparisons with other countries may not be fair. However, upon reflection, I think my initial reaction was right.
The studio is based all the way out the back of Maynooth Business Campus. It's quite difficult to find, so if you are on your way there, just keep on going all the way to the back.
This facility however, is my major gripe. It is a business park, so most of the spaces have obviously been designed as offices etc. I have seen spaces like this converted before into fantastic studios, however, this is most certainly not one of them. There is a nice reception area with fresh towels, yoga mats etc, but things go downhill from here.
The changing room reminded me of one you'd see in public pools or school gyms. Hooks on the walls and long benches are all that is provided to store your stuff, so everyone just leaves their bags / clothes / shoes strewn on the benches. There is only one toilet inside, despite there being at least 30 women in there at one time last night. There is a second toilet, however you have to literally walk outside of the studio and reception area into the external building to get to it. There are three showers I think, but again, don't look particularly inviting.
Onto the main gripe - the studio. It's carpeted. So wrong in a hot yoga facility in my opinion. The carpet means that the place absolutely stinks when you go into it. In fairness, you forget about the smell pretty quickly, but it really hits you when you go in first. There doesn't seem to be any air circulation, just huge fan heaters blasting out sickly smelling air. Yes, Bikram is all about heat, but the air also needs to circulate so as to ensure bad air isn't constantly being kept inside. I'm not sure on the technical aspects of how this is done, but I have never seen space heaters like this in a yoga space.
Good points were the markings on the carpet making it easy to get aligned and completely mirrored walls. The teacher was also great (which is most of the battle).
Overall, because of the facilities in which the practice occurs, the general vibe in here was far from relaxed, and to be honest, I couldn't wait to get out.
