The Lensbury Club

After approximately six years and thousands of pounds as a member of The Lensbury, I have cancelled my membership because of the lack of meaningful flexibility I experienced while dealing with cancer and serious health complications. For the past five months, I have had very little certainty about my health. I have faced hospitalisation, treatment, complications and recovery, while repeatedly encountering rigid membership deadlines at a time when I simply could not predict how well I would be from one month to the next. This is precisely why I paid more for a Flexible Membership. Yet for five months I found myself trying to fit an unpredictable and serious illness around The Lensbury’s administrative deadlines. When I actually needed flexibility, I found very little. During that time, I continued paying £210 per month despite being medically unable to use the club. An acknowledged administrative error also resulted in £452 being taken instead of £210, requiring a formal complaint and refund. The same inflexibility continued when I eventually cancelled. I had been in hospital and dealing with my cancer and did not have the capacity to ensure my cancellation fitted their deadline. Despite acknowledging my circumstances, The Lensbury declined to exercise discretion over the final £210 payment. After six years of membership, five months of rigid deadlines while dealing with serious illness was ultimately enough for me. My experience has left me with the clear impression that retaining membership fees took priority over showing flexibility and consideration when I genuinely needed it. As for value, the grounds are probably The Lensbury’s biggest selling point. Beyond that, I increasingly struggled to justify the cost as membership fees increased year after year and, as my experience above demonstrates, the more expensive “Flexible Membership” proved anything but flexible when I actually needed it. I had also paid a hefty £450 joining fee, which inevitably made me reluctant to walk away and start again elsewhere. In hindsight, I probably stayed longer because of that initial investment than I otherwise would have. It is interesting to now see short-term incentives being offered to attract new members. As someone who remained loyal for around six years, my own experience left me questioning how much value is placed on retaining and supporting existing members once they have joined. I mainly used the relatively small gym during off-peak hours. There is no off-peak membership option or age-related discount, and I found the gym surprisingly hands-off, with little proactive guidance unless you paid additionally for personal training. I eventually stopped attending the included classes because I wasn't particularly impressed and instead paid separately for reformer classes elsewhere, where I found it easier to reserve the times I wanted. I also stopped using the restaurant because my experiences of the food and service were consistently disappointing. The Dunbar - or “Doom Bar”, as I have heard members refer to it - was useful for a coffee and offers a limited food selection, but during school holidays the atmosphere could become extremely noisy and dominated by children. Having now researched other local clubs, I have found alternatives offering better facilities, more membership options, greater flexibility and a considerably more member-focused approach. If you are considering joining The Lensbury, I would strongly recommend looking beyond the grounds and comparing the facilities, membership options, flexibility, ongoing costs and overall value with other local clubs before committing. Having finally done that myself, I only wish I had looked at the alternatives sooner.

Your complete disregard for the surrounding neighbourhood is unacceptable. You allow children to repeatedly kick footballs and basketballs directly against the court fencing, creating relentless, repetitive impact noise exceeding 70 dB. A basketball court is not a licence to cause continuous disturbance to neighbouring residents. Allowing this behaviour to continue without intervention shows a serious lack of consideration and respect for the people who have to live with the noise. Respect your neighbours. Control the unnecessary noise.

Amanda has been truly an amazing swimming instructor for my daughter, Suhani. She looks forward to her sessions with Amanda every Friday! Amanda is kind, caring and has a great warmth about her - keep up the hard work you are truly an asset to Swimming Nature at the Lensbury.

I mean it is overpriced. The food tastes mostly bland. The gym is ok but the steam room has some sort of mucus or mold. I am not sure and the sauna has a pungent smell of cheese. Not to mention my rooms toilet looked like this