next generation health clubs review

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By dazb223 on 26th Jun 2007

dazb223's Ratings

Value for money	8/10
Overall value	9/10
dazb223's recommendation

Good Points

Excellent facilities. Huge gym. Wide ranging and accessible class timetable.

Bad Points

More expensive than your average 'standard' gym - but then the facilities are much better too. The yearly inflation of membership fees is too high. Expensive to take guests (£15/guest/day). Sometimes too many kids running around - Next Generation sell the club as a family health club.

General Comments

Contrary to other reviews here, my experiences of Next Generation Health Clubs have been very good. I am a student at York University and have been a member of the York Next Gen Club for 3 years now. During that time I have also used other gyms and have a membership at Fitness First during the vacations.

For the first year I had the standard varsity membership, on a student deal (£39/month). This base package gave me full access to all of the facilities, classes and events. During the second year I went on a work placement, and planned to be away from York for 12 months. On talking to the membership team and explaining my situation, they happily put my account on freeze for the 12 months, and wavered the monthly freeze cost (normally £5/month). I have been so impressed with the gym, staff and facilities, that on returning to York this year, I have increased my membership to the Celsius package, and used some of the spare money from my placement to pay my membership up until the end of my degree. In return, the club were able to offer me a substantial discount, including free 'membership freeze' during vacation periods and a discounted upgrade to Celsius membership. Over the two years I have paid for membership, prices for me have gone up £6/month. Even taking inflation into account, this amount (approx. 7% per year) seems a little steep.

Taking guests to the club can prove costly. However if you are organized, you can go to the Next Gen website and order a complimentary visit.

At the club, I regularly attend the exercise classes, and find the instructors very friendly and approachable. The instructors can often be found in the bar enjoying a drink with people after the class, which is always nice to see and shows that they enjoy being there as much as the customers. The gym itself is much bigger than any of the Fitness First facilities I have ever used, and I have never had to wait for equipment to come free. :-)

The only quarrel I would have with the gym is a select minority of the customers and users, rather than the gym itself. Several times I have seen customers acting with an attitude towards the staff or towards other users. Such customers give the impression that because they pay a lot of money for the use of the facilities, that gives them the right to be rude towards staff or to expect problems to be fixed before they have happened. In reality, the facilities are top rate. Anywhere you go in life you can find faults. The staff at Next Gen are only human and cannot always instantaneously fix problems, but if you are willing to talk to them and give feedback, they are always open to suggestions and willing to help.

In summary, it pays to talk to the staff and ensure that you are getting the best package they can offer you. If in doubt, shop around and check out the competition before committing to a 12 month contract. Many other health clubs are cheaper, but few offer such complete facilities all under one roof.

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