Glass Mill Leisure Centre image

Glass Mill Leisure Centre

Cafe Gym Sports complex Swimming pool Leisurecentre

🫤 This would have been an alright facility based on the location. I'm not a member but go swimming there sometimes. The changing rooms, as well as the bathrooms are nasty, just filthy. Pool in itself is alright when it comes to the depth and so on, although would also do with a good scrub around. Let... People often mention pool, changing, swimming, rooms, good, staff, room, time, swim, clean,


Address

41 Loampit Vale, London SE13 7FT, United Kingdom

Website

www.better.org.uk

Contact

+44 20 8037 2527

Rating on Google Maps

3.50 (864 reviews)

Open on Google Maps

Working Hours

  • Saturday: 7 am to 5 pm
  • Sunday: 7 am to 5 pm
  • Monday: 6:30 am to 10 pm
  • Tuesday: 6:30 am to 10 pm
  • Wednesday: 6:30 am to 10 pm
  • Thursday: 6:30 am to 10 pm
  • Friday: 6:30 am to 10 pm

Featured Reviews


Frequently mentioned in reviews: pool (26) changing (20) swimming (15) rooms (15) good (12) staff (12) room (10) time (9) swim (9) clean (6)
Reviews are sorted by relevance, prioritizing the most helpful and insightful feedback at the top for easier reference.
  • 2/5 Magda W. 1 year ago on Google
    This would have been an alright facility based on the location. I'm not a member but go swimming there sometimes. The changing rooms, as well as the bathrooms are nasty, just filthy. Pool in itself is alright when it comes to the depth and so on, although would also do with a good scrub around. Let's put it this way, it looks very clean when you walk in to the centre, the gym looks good too, new equipment. But the pool area - it needs a good clean. Toilets look like they have not been cleaned for weeks, changing rooms are dirty, lockers aren't much better, and the showers in ladies changing rooms-you wouldn't want to touch the walls as they may have been slimey. Used up shampoo and shower gel containers on the floors, just nasty. And I was there between 9 and 10am on a Saturday so you'd expect to still see the results of overnight cleaning. Wasn't impressed at all. BETTER sort it out!
    5 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 2/5 Sergejs C. 1 year ago on Google
    Subscribe only if you want 50% of a gym. The rest has been broken for months (photos taken on same day).
    5 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Jodie T. 2 years ago on Google
    I would be weary of this pool. I went once and a few days later had both warts and athlete’s foot… the only place I have been where I could have picked these up is this pool. Next time (if I go again), I will take photos of the hair balls and mud stains all over the floor and post them for others to nauseate over. I appreciate it is a council pool, but if the one way system isn’t preventing the spread viral conditions like warts or fungal infections like athelete’s foot, then I very much doubt it’s doing much for covid!! If they charged a bit more per person (£3 is incredibly cheap) they I’m sure they could afford an additional cleaner!!
    4 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 andy c. 2 years ago on Google
    Everything in one place , swimming, spa , gym, learning pool and swimmers pool and rock climbing too , hope glassmill leisure get back to normal soon after pandemic eases away .
    4 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 2/5 katie i. 6 months ago on Google
    It has very good facilities, including a good pool to swim, although sometimes the changing room is a bit smelly. But the main reason I gave such a low score is the disrespect I can feel from the staff. It is not the first time a male staff working in a female toilet or changing room, without any notice or asking if anyone is inside. I'm really angry about the arrangement. And the staff did not think any wrong at all, and blamed me back.
    3 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Annie C. 1 year ago on Google
    Pre schooler swimming classes: - Lovely teachers who engage well with the children. - Terribly disorganised service with no consideration of a parent or child's needs. Sometimes you are supposed to drop your child off. Sometimes you have to stay. Sometimes you have to get in the pool. Sometimes the class is cancelled. Sometimes you have to go in a different pool. (You will not have prior warning about any of this). - Rude and unkind customer services. If your child misses a class due to being hospitalised, don't expect a refund. Yet expect to pay for any cancelled classes. - The water is often freezing. Even the teachers get in and say "brrrr it's so cold". Expect your child to come out blue!
    3 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 3/5 K S. 5 months ago on Google
    It's not bad for a local leisure centre. Unfortunately the wet changing rooms feel dirty and there are often lots of flies. The room for classes and gym are cleaner, the pool is typically ok and there is a new steam room and sauna opening up. It has got a cafe/warm space in the foyer.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 enrico c. 1 year ago on Google
    The gym has so many problems. Not enough free lanes in the swimming pool, toilets are often broken, and the worst is the Wi-Fi has been down for months. Do you call this a good customer service?
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Anne C. 2 years ago on Google
    Glass Mill has reopened as a vibrant, attractive building, carefully & skillfully revamped to fully meet covid requirements! Never seen it's environs so pristine & clean. Separate entrance & exit with excellent front of house staff to support, inform & direct. All unfailingly helpful, patient & yet discreet in their dealings with us daft Jane/Joe public. Poolside staff likewise are both professional & kind. Strictly timed slots for number control reassure. This reads like a publicity plug but I'm merely an impressed swimmer in awe of Better's management strategies & plans that have restored this tired, indeed failing, business into a valuable public asset. The most welcome spin off of such all round professionalism is the warm, happy interactions of us users. Well done, Better. Get swimming, get fit, have fun!
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Aaron Jacob J. 5 months ago on Google
    Pool: Not seen the gyms but absolutely love the pool, the daylight and vibe in there is gorgeous. The swim teachers are great, it’s only £10 and you get loads of helpful drills and guidance. This makes for much more interesting solo swim workouts, as you can focus on pointers to improve instead of just doing lengths. It’s not immaculate but it’s not filthy, I’ve definitely seen worse. The pool is sometimes crowded early evenings but if you go after 9pm it’s really quiet! Changing rooms: the floors need sweeping and mopping more, I’ve never seen them clean. Also, the showers don’t have soap. I bring soap and flip flops because of this but new visitors wouldn’t know this in advance and might well be put off! Also I *hate* the better app for searching for and switching pools (I travel a lot) - it’s buggy but tbf it usually works fine for booking a slot.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Almuth M. 1 year ago on Google
    I love my regular swims here with my husband. If you pick swim times carefully never seems overly busy. Sunday one to avoid! Cleanliness ok rather than brilliant but staff try hard. Ladies changing room cold in winter.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Clare B. 1 year ago on Google
    It’s just a total mess since Better took over & neither the company nor the staff care. The booking app only works 20% of the time & reception is hardly ever staffed. It’s so sad that this company is allowed to profit while the community loses out.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 2/5 Clarke 9 months ago on Google
    Changing room bathrooms haven't had soap in for months, gym machines are rarely cleaned and people seem to behave like feral animals as they leave their sweaty towelettes stuffed into the machines. For a premium gym, this place feels like I'm in pound stretcher. Really needs some work to fix this place, not a pleasant experience.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 3/5 Natz N. 1 year ago on Google
    First time attending with my children to swim this 6 weeks. I have to say a little disappointed. Its pretty dirty. Down the edges of the stairs as you enter theres dirt. The corners of the shallow end by the stairs their's dirt. Totally visible through goggles when underwater. Between the swim entrance and changing rooms the floor is disgusting. Although signs say no outdoor footwear I still see parents walking though with shoes to attend swimming lessons with their children. My children attend more than I do they say life guards are friendly. Changing rooms, I feel need some sort of once over a few times a day. They are not very nice. Not a fault of the pool but i have found people wrists bands thrown on the floor in a changing room where there is a bin 3 steps away.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Simon B. 1 year ago on Google
    Overly complicated booking system. Called ahead to check there was an appropriate session for me and my 2 year old daughter as I hadn't been since pre pandemic. Reassured that the "Swim for all" sessions included the warmer learner pool. Arrived at learner pool changed and ready to go and was told that it was closed for "lessons" and that I couldn't join a lesson even if I paid (even though she was the appropriate age).
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 tracy p. 2 years ago on Google
    Really nicely kept now. You have to book so your not bumping into people as you swim.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Boel O. 2 years ago on Google
    Had I posted this review a month ago I would have given more stars but after visiting last week for swimming lessons we were disgusted to see a fly infestation in the changing rooms. The flies were everywhere in the group changing rooms and after leaving for a family changing room instead we saw that they were there too. Am so disappointed as I left a similar review for Wavelengths Leisure Centre a couple of years ago so it seems to be a "swimming pool problem"? I had a video too which shows the wider problem but I can't seem to upload it.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 2/5 Олена �. 2 years ago on Google
    Cancelled my membership. Even the place is not too bad, also affordable the issue is with the customer service. If 70% of the reception staff is OK you have a few rude, unpleasant, unprofessional people. Not good place for foreigners (their excuse not to understand your english when you asked them about time of your session and not only that). Calling is a challenge, cleanliness are wished to be better......
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Sonia W. 4 months ago on Google
    Not the cleanest but overall good staff, fitness teachers are great and lessons still represent value for money.

  • 5/5 Valentina J. 7 months ago on Google
    I’ve been swimming a few times and despite the pool being quite small, it has never been too crowded. The changing rooms are clean and well equipped with lockers and hair driers.

  • 2/5 Martin H. 3 months ago on Google New
    The mens changing rooms are closed and have been for over a week. Effectively this means there are no men's lockers so you have to put things by the poolside. Your guess is as good as mine when the changing rooms will be open again.

  • 1/5 Katie C. 6 months ago on Google
    Worst pool i have ever been to for a swimming gala. No parking. Electronic timing facilities poor and timing board not working, then to top it off every toilet in the building blocked as they would not flush. This was toilets and both sets of changing rooms. Apparently another family said it was the same last time they came.

  • 3/5 robert h. 3 months ago on Google New
    Nice pool in town centre...however a the moment the changing rooms are being repaired

  • 5/5 Alexander Avila C. 4 months ago on Google
    Really nice, clean swimming pool. The staff are very helpful and friendly. Love swimming there.

  • 2/5 Stephen L. 9 months ago on Google
    I have been attending Xyla healthy living and diabetes prevention classes at the centre. The building is OK but the room allocated is far too small - windowless, claustrophobic and poky. Exactly what you don't want as an environment for motivating people to change their lifestyle. A supply of drinking water would be good, too, as course participants are encouraged to stay hydrated

  • 4/5 Nick G. 1 year ago on Google
    A big complex but perhaps overly so? A huge amount of space is devoted to the lobby and you can’t get in all the doors. There are two main swimming pools, though you have to book via the ‘better’ app (hard than it sounds to setup). The main pool is a good size, albeit you have to be content with the huge public-facing windows and raked seating. The main issue is that (in this cold December weather) it is just a little too cold. The water temperature is ok once you start moving but the air temperature is so low you’ll start to get goose pimples. Changing is fine, as are the showers and toilets. There aren’t a lot of family changing rooms but they are a good size. If I had to choose, I’d go with Wavelengths in Deptford (also managed by Better), for the warmth alone.

  • 2/5 Maria N. 1 year ago on Google
    We have been going swimming here for a year. The lockers are absolutely disgusting all the time, but the main pool is ok. We tried to come with our baby in the learning pool, only to find out that the temperature wasn’t the promised 30 degrees (which a baby absolutely needs), but rather 26-27. Wouldn’t have been told if we did not notice ourselves that the water was cold and asked. Ended up paying just for 10 mins in the water as baby was cold. I don’t think we’ll be going back, nor do I recommend it to families with young children if you can go somewhere else.

  • 1/5 Amelia g. 1 year ago on Google
    While the fitness staff are doing great work, on the other hand the female shower area is so disgusting, some showers not working and the drainage is blocked so when people think they're showering their feet is in a pool of dirty disgusting hair fill, soapy water. I over heard a female saying its been like that over a year now fix the bloody issues

  • 4/5 Cathryn 2 years ago on Google
    Although you need to be quick to book a swimming session, to get the date and time you want, as they get booked up quickly on the Better app, it is well worth it, to be able to have a swim is very refreshing and the Covid precautions are in place.

  • 5/5 Marco P. 2 years ago on Google
    Great place, great swim teachers, my kids love it

  • 2/5 Jordan T. 2 years ago on Google
    Gym changing rooms weren't open when website said they were.. don't have time to go back home to shower before work plus it means everyone is using outdoor shoes on the equipment. The lights and TV weren't on, there was no music until about 7 when staff arrived, and as I overheard someone ask, the AC is barely on if at all so it feels airless. This gym is not cheap, was hoping it would be worth the extra money on top of the pool but will be looking elsewhere. The lack of a changing room is really a killer for me. Regulars seemed nice however.


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