The Xcel Leisure Centre – coventry

Friendly staff. Great place to work out and swim. Good size pool and a great place to relax after a workout is the sauna and jucoovie and steam room, plus the cafe and the many other classes they offer.

Off to a good start since being allowed to reopen. Everything looks clean and well set out. Looking forward to going for a swim again after over a year of waiting! Before the pandemic it was a great venue, nice facilities, friendly helpful staff. The gym is a bit small, but well equipped with an emphasis on free weights and CV. The Village Hotel nearby has a bigger and better gym, but it's also very expensive and the pool isn't as good for exercise. Also if you get a Lifestyles membership you can use all of the connected facilities across Coventry, including the Alan Higgs Centre and The Wave, as well as others. Top tip- sign up to Go CV and you get discounts on all sessions and on membership, as well as discounted entry to other places like the Transport Museum

This is my regular, local gym. I chose it because it has a huge swimming pool, and loads of classes. I love the yoga and Pilates sessions. Also, should be of interest, in a hired room there is a church service upstairs on Sunday mornings. The gym itself is good, a lot of the cardio equipment has a built-in TV which makes running fly by much faster! However, the one thing I did not like was the fact that when you come in and out of the swimming pool, there are shared showers. I have been weirded out by men following me into the showers. I never go swimming without a friend.

Didnt have the best 1st experience of this place. My 5 year old son had his 1st swimming lesson here today. The sour-faced receptionist that was wearing far too much make-up could do with a bit of training on her customer service skills. The instructors stared their lessons without even introducing themselves or checking to see if all of their pupils were there. My lad and another chaps lad were just left standing there not knowing where they were supposed to go to. I had to ask the lifeguard, who spent the half hour lesson just walking back an forth saying "oh, what a day" every 2 minutes, as tho he had a more important place to be. Finally found out which group my lad was in, the instructor didnt seem to find it strange that she only had one pupil out of four that was supposed to be in her lesson when she started. My lad did enjoy his lesson though and his instructor engaged with the kids quite well. Hopefully next week will go better now we know whats what and who is who.

Cancelled my son's swimming lessons without informing us beforehand and left him bewildered by the poolside. No response to any emailed complaints from my wife about the situation and the money taken for the cancelled sessions.