Soho Gym

Soho has done a ton of work to shape up the space and make it both nicer and more functional for members. From opening a heavy weights room in the basement to opening up the weights area on the main floor and improving the bathrooms markedly, there is a bit improvement in the facilities here. It’s also priced better than nearby competitors like Gym Box, which is great.
The Good:
–Consistently improving and clean facilities
–During the hours I attend (probably described as «off-​peak», it’s nice and quiet there and easy to move through the gym to get things done.
–Reasonable pricing for the area. I haven’t found a gym in Farringdon that’s cheaper, although with City Uni opening up a huge facility on Goswell Road at half the price there may be additional price competition for Soho and others. (One can hope, right?)
The Not-​As-​Good:
–All I really want in life is more/​better classes. The times are focused on the 9 – 5 working hours crowd, with very limited classes on the weekend and it drives me crazy because I simply can never go. They’ve recently moved to making you sign up for classes in advance, which is not a system I’m a big fan of either.
–They use the space well, but it’s not spacious. During peak hours, it quickly feels like the basement that it is. But if you’re an off-​peak hours kind of person like I am, this is your place (unless too many of you take advantage of this obviously useful tip, in which case we’ll all suffer…) ;)
Overall, I like it. It’s A-​OK.

Gyms in Farringdon tend to be really expensive, so I was really glad to stumble across the newly re-​opened Soho Gyms. This used to be a Vie gym with fairly grim insides, but Soho Gyms refurbished the whole thing, put in new equipment, and upgraded the showers (woo-​hoo!). 60 pounds a month gets you a full membership with access during peak hours and 4 of the other gym locations. Not bad considering other gyms in the area are 80+ per month before the joining fee.
The equipment is new Matrix gear, and includes free weights as well as plenty of cardio machines. I go at 6pm on a weekday and have yet to wait to use a cross-​trainer. They also do a range of classes, I particularly like the Wednesday night intensive Pilates and the Friday evening Hatha Yoga ones. There’s a 2 lane swimming pool as well, and it’s rarely busy. Showers have serious power, but aren’t always hot. You will need to pay extra for towel service and bring your own lock. There is a tanning booth if you’re into that sort of thing, but you need to pay at the desk for a credit to use it. And in the changing room, you’ll find a sauna tucked away if you fancy a bit of heat in the dead of winter. There are little vanity tables with hair dryers and mirrors in the ladies changing rooms (out of the way, even!) for post-​workout shower touch-​ups. A+.
The drawbacks for me are the charges for the tiny towels and lack of consistent hot water in the showers. They said they’re working on it, but we shall see. Better hot water and nicer towels (if I have to pay for it, I’d like it to be nice, thanks) would take this to five stars for me. This place doesn’t have bells or whistles, but it’s quite good value for money and I’ll take it over an overcrowded Virgin gym any day.