Better - Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre Anmeldelser 

Haven't actually used the facilities yet but the staff have been very prompt and helpful in sorting out the correct membership for me. There are lots of different types of membership so it was very good to have their input.

I am extremely satisfied with this sports facility. The staff are very polite, responsible, and professional. Whenever I needed help with anything, they assisted me in a very friendly and caring manner. The facility is clean, peaceful, and well-maintained. It has everything I would expect from a sports facility, and I have found everything I need here without any problems or shortcomings.

I’ve had a very positive experience with Better. The facilities are well maintained, the staff are friendly and helpful, and there is a good range of equipment and facilities available.
I particularly appreciate how clean and welcoming the gym is. It’s a great place to work out, and I would definitely recommend Better to anyone looking for a good-quality gym and leisure centre.

Our experience with this leisure centre has been consistently disappointing, and unfortunately this latest visit was the final straw.

Even before my son joined one of the more competitive swim squads with CSCSC in the fall, another mother at our school warned us that her child—and other children—had been called names by the very coach who would later be coaching my son’s session. We hoped those incidents were in the past. Unfortunately, after my son’s very first session with that coach, he too was called names.

When we raised this through the welfare process, we felt the concerns were minimized rather than taken seriously. Being told that the coaches are “just old and set in their ways” is not an appropriate response to concerns about a child’s welfare or how children are spoken to. (In the end, we’ve found a much more welcoming and competitive squad where my son is thriving without a toxic, abusive coaching environment.)

Our most recent visit to the “Swim for All” session at Swiss Cottage Leisure on a random Wednesday afternoon in the teaching pool, only reinforced our concerns.

From the moment we arrived, we encountered unnecessary confrontation. One member of staff incorrectly insisted our children were too young to use the teaching pool without asking their ages or checking the booking. Another member of staff then had to correct her, confirming that we were, in fact, allowed to attend.

After scanning our prepaid passes to enter, another member of staff stopped us to insist we also needed wristbands. It left us wondering what the purpose of the electronic passes is if everyone must also wear wristbands.

As we walked our boys through an empty changing area so they wouldn’t have to navigate the men’s changing rooms alone, the same staff member again stopped us without listening to the fact that we were passing through despite there being an issue.

Once in the pool, the atmosphere only became more frustrating. One of the mothers, who was standing in the water with the children, was asked whether she was supervising them—even though she was clearly in the pool with them. She was then told the children shouldn’t be throwing a soft ball around during a “Swim for All” session.

I was then approached and told I shouldn’t be using my phone. I wasn’t taking photographs or videos—my phone was pointed at the floor while I briefly checked my emails, standing in close proximity to my son, who swims competitively. I fully understand policies around photography and safeguarding, but this felt like staff actively looking for reasons to challenge parents rather than using common sense.

The one bright spot was the duty manager, who listened carefully, agreed the phone issue had been handled poorly, and apologised for the way several of the situations had been managed. I appreciated their professionalism.

Unfortunately, however, the wider culture seems to be one where staff are quick to police families over trivial matters while much more significant issues—such as poor coaching behaviour and inadequate welfare responses—are not addressed with the same seriousness.

A leisure centre should feel welcoming and enjoyable for families. Instead, this visit felt unnecessarily confrontational from beginning to end. As a result, our group of mums has decided we won’t be returning, and we certainly wouldn’t consider booking children’s parties or recommending the centre to other families.

Friendly staff,varius staf of exersize eqipment,nice clean enviroment

It is always clean and available.

There are a wide range of fabulous classes on everyday, friendly and helpful staff, and great facilities. I’m really enjoying my membership so far.

Friendly, kind, patient and knowledgeable staff, who made me feel at ease and supported.

Better Gym is great for the community however I have noticed pricing increasing and the only improvement that gives value is the quality of staff. I visit a few BETTER gyms over the summer to use the pools...not once have I found anyone rude . The only issue I find with all but one BETTER is the cleanliness in the changing rooms. They need to have staff there all the time. I do frequent the one at Swiss cottage and the changing rooms by the pool are vile. They always smell of urine, very cold in the winter, and do not have cleaners attending to maintain the bathrooms. They used to have cleaners all day long but since they increased prices they have seem to cut staff..We have a lot of elderly people who use the pool and I think incontinence might cause this but the gym really needs to address this. Very lastly...the jnr gym is only from 3pm and then the weekends. Its discriminatory service as some kids have gaps in class works and want to work out during the day and also some like to work out in the morning. Why are there restrictions on time if they only use one area in the gym.

I had to set up a new account because, I hadn’t realised that, my account was up for an annual review. The staff at the Swiss Cottage branch of ‘Better’ were very helpful and set me up with a new swim and gym account. I do wish that, I had received a text from ‘Better’ telling me that, my account was due for renewal though as, this would have prevented my account from being ‘suspended’, thus causing me to have to open a new account. I have the Better app but, there was no mention of this renewal in my account section of the app either? Renewals really should be made more apparent to the customer than, they are currently. Once, my account was verified, I booked a swimming session but, unfortunately the digital entry/code recognition system was refusing to let me gain access to the facilities (even the staff couldn’t get it to work). The reception staff are really good but, some of them really do need to learn to be ‘polite but, firm when customers come in and make enquiries and ask the customers to queue patiently until they have finished helping the customer that they are currently assisting as, a few of them will stop midway of helping you and switch to helping a different customer before resolving the problem that they were addressing with you. I do recommend the Swiss Cottage branch and find it to be very clean and pleasant with very good facilities too. Hope this helps.

I’m very disappointed with the experience at Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre and feel this needs urgent attention from management.

The biggest issue is the inconsistency and lack of clarity in enforcing rules. Previously, we were informed that each court allows 4 players, with an additional £3 charge per extra participant. However, during our recent visit, this suddenly changed to a strict maximum of 6 players per court—without any clear prior notice or explanation.

Even more frustrating was how this rule was enforced. Staff repeatedly checked like police to check player numbers—at least three different staff members came over multiple times. This level of monitoring felt excessive and disruptive, taking away from the overall playing experience.

What’s most concerning is that some players had travelled from outside London specifically to play, only to be denied entry due to these abruptly enforced rules. That reflects poorly on customer consideration and planning.

Rules are understandable, but they must be:
• Clearly communicated in advance
• Consistent
• Applied with professionalism and respect for customers’ time and experience

Right now, the approach feels reactive, poorly managed, and overly restrictive.

I strongly urge management to review how policies are communicated and enforced. Customers should not feel confused, interrupted, or turned away after making the effort to attend.

This experience does not meet the standard expected from a leisure facility. So disappointing!

We experienced rude behaviour from staff and manager. They recently implemented rules for badminton courts and the number of players allowed to queue. No rest for players in between sets, no substitution if one gets cramps or gets minor injury. The new rules are very inconsiderate. It is supposed to be a charity leisure centre but it seems they want to earn more money by implenting these unreasonable rules they invented. I hope that the head of Better Living UK will call the attention of this management in Swiss Cottage. It's not very supportive to community anymore like before. Please be more considerate to badminton players.

BetterUk swiss cottage has been our home for nearly a year now. We are a badminton players / enthusiast who would love to gather friends and play together. It has been great experience until they ( new management ?) have implemented this 4 pax per court. We always book 3 courts for 3 hours a total of 9 hours for 3 courts. If only 4 players are allowed to play per court then we’ll get knackered for 3 hours. Then this comes the £3 charge per extra player.

Today’s experience was terrible. From the reception where we were asked if how many people were booked and how many we have to pay which we paid the extra. When we arrived downstairs court number 2 was not ready. It was 2:10/2:15 already and we had to set it up rather than waiting for the staff. Which we have been doing for months.

If your goal is for us to have good experience do you think by sending 3 staff
Receptionist, a person who does the set up
And a cleaner. 3 of them came to us side by side like police officers. Receptionist mentioning that we have to pay extra as we were over the recommended players and kept coming back every minute that only 6 can stay that she will be back in 5 mins and she gets back only 6 has to be there. A cleaner who was concerned about the food that we brought as there was a birthday. A lady who does the set up who has been grumpy from the beginning. We do understand that you are trying to make the centre as organise as possible. But with the experience today it felt like you were concentrating with making profit which doesn’t match your vision and mission.

‘ Its vision and mission are rooted in improving community health and well-being rather than MAXIMISING PROFIT’

I would like to advise the centre to train your staff on how to greet the members with smile. As majority of them doesn't smile. There is no harm in showing empathy nor showing kindness to the members. Majority of them are there but don’t want to be there. I can count with my 1 hand who are dedicated with what they are doing.

As much as we wanted to enjoy today’s session we were irritated by the staff who kept coming back and fort.

This is a fantastic gym centre, the steam room, the pool, and the staff are all fantastic because pretty much everyone is from the area, and that gives a very strong family vibe, you feel safe and supported.

They are so good and I love because is clean

The service and cleanliness is great, swimming pools are clean and warm.
The only downside is the app. It’s very confusing, the type of contract is not visible, it doesn’t send confirmation emails. It needs good investment as it hasn’t been changed for many years

Good equipment overall.. however the hygiene in mens showers is awful. Constant smell of piss and the showers have been out of order ( no notice!). The sauna and steam room were not very relaxing, and the hygiene standards were noticeably poor.

I telephoned today to re-new my annual membership with Better and I was attended to by Aaiasa she slowly help me decide on the best membership for me to upgrade to , and it was the best decision I made this month ; so I could enjoy continue using ALL Better gymnasium's across the UK allowing me great freedom ,choice and flexibility in my exercise regime ; this felt like the exact course of action for me at the moment and with a little extra on top I could enjoy this membership this year. So thank you to Aaiasa for supporting me through this process - Well Done to you and all the staff at membership Better who are working behind the scenes who don't usually acknowledged ! Warmest Wishes Parimal

Not the most professionally trained bunch and super annoying when you want to cancel lessons or course, they still want to charge you and have the cheek to ask you for proof of over payment, isn’t that your job “customer service” ?