I stopped going here many months ago and haven t m...

I stopped going here many months ago and haven t missed it.
Overall this place tries to be too many things all at once. A council gym, a business gym, a sauna, a kids pool...

As a full time worker I used it mostly in the evenings and weekends so: Saturday evening it s closed; the rest of the weekend it s free for all southwark residents, only southwark despite being at the border of two boroughs. So much to foster a sense of community around the elephant and castle uh!
in weekends you end up sharing the place with a flood of people who don t pay (and don t care) for it leaving a trail of rubbish behind them.
On weekdays at least one evening a week the wet area was subrented to an unspecified club so despite paying the full rate you don t get access to it.

That leaves 4 evenings a week to relax in the sauna right?
Nope
The sauna is way too small, always crowded and people are allowed to enter with swimsuits and without towel so the wood is always soaked in sweat. Sometimes i just stood in there rather than sit on other people sweat but the melting plastic of some guests swimsuits made it rather unhealthy.

Also the location of the sauna next to the swimming pool doesn't really help with relaxation since you can hear all the noise coming from the pool.

The changing room is overcrowded and dirty.
The showers are often littered with empty soap packages and other rubbish.
Also, it may be a small thing but i find annoying that the lockers can't stay open while you change clothes since they have a spring to keep them closed at all times.

The gym part is ok although too many cardio machines and not much space for free weights.
They have Lifefitness which is ok although i prefer technogym.
Would be nice to also have a roman chair. such a simple tool and yet so hard to find...

The classes are the best part: fun and effective with good equipment, nice staff and nice people attending.