I have been a client of everyone active at elephan...

I have been a client of everyone active at elephant and castle for a year now and have used gym, personal trainer, classes and swimming pool. I have a general appreciation of the place.

It is modern and newly opened with good equipment and qualified PTs.

The place serves as a community centre for local residents and brings in fitness and health focus into daily lives of my family and neighbours.

That is why it is a shame that the current management stops this place from serving its purpose by subjecting the members to the hygiene standards and customer service that are no longer customary at Eastern European train stations that I witnessed coming from Poland leave alone sport facilities in a developed country.

I always overlooked the fact that stuff are unhelpful and unfriendly thinking it might change over time but it is clear now that this is how this place is ran.

I am not the one to write damning reviews without trying to talk to the management first.
I did it last week when I pointed out that equipment in the gym is covered in dust and sweat while mirrors have been smudgy for days and there is no blue roll available to wipe equipment after use. All this shows that lack of interest in general cleanliness is systemic and structural.

For a place like this it is worrying as I would not want to catch something by stepping in a paddle in the showers because no one thought to address a blocked drain as it happened last week.

I did mention all the above to the management and hoped I was mistaken about the caliber of people working at the place.

I walk in today, a few days later, to find that a disabled toilet in the foyer has a paddle of urine in the middle of it and the stench tells me it has been there a while.

I did not feel comfortable talking to managent about it anymore and thought I would look around for a gym I can trust and leave but then an alarm goes off in an adjacent bathroom indicating that a disabled person needs assistance. 5 minutes later I decided to check it out myself as the alarm keeps going and once I see there is no emergency I went to ask Shanine at the reception how come the alarm has been going off in her earshot and she would not switch it off. Surprised as she was she explained that she hasn't noticed, but since it hasn't been switched off by someone else it must be a glitch so nothing to worry about. Interesting approach. Once she kindly agreed to ask someone to switch off the alarm as a goodbye she throws my way that next time 'I should just say something' objecting my complaining about her not noticing an alarm and then ignoring it once pointed out to her.

That forced me to write this down hoping someone that is a decision maker reads it and realises that planning, designing and building this beautiful facility for everyone to be active does not accomplish or serves what it meant too as the current management does not share the beautiful sentiment of giving to the community and puts the whole project in jeopardy of becoming a rundown second class gym for those that have no other choice.