Overview

Down an oddly long and tree lined  single lane road on the edge of London lies David Lloyd Sudbury Hill, set next to a golf course this David Lloyd the last time I visited was feeling a bit tired, a little rusty and all together not like a David Lloyd, but I knew that back in 2016 when I finished my last set that they were due a re-furb and now I have been back.

The gym itself is split over 2 floors in an impressive and large unit, with the changing rooms, swimming pools and normal downstairs amenities we are seeing such as café and then the main gym area upstairs. This is another of the David Lloyd's where we find that swimming pool is the centre point of the gym with everything else in a large ring around it. One minor difference here is that the area with everything else on is open over the pool, this gives a nice open feel but the obvious downside is the humidity and the resulting impact on the equipment, I will come back to this.

The gym area circling the pool has a new layout, retaining the free weights section at one end of the rectangle/oval (shorter side) with cardio equipment down one side and  a synergy/functional area down the other long side and the cable setup at the other short end this looks really attractive. But sadly once again any change between using a bench press and a press machine results in a minor quest to Narnia to be achieved.  There is a small selection of cable equipment down by the free weights/plate machines but not the full selection as it used to be or I have found in other David Lloyds.

The weights section is reasonably supplied with one of everything you would expect, along with this there are 2 squat racks with cages/platforms and one without along with a couple of slightly different lat pulldown/row machines than I have found else where. To one side you also have the full free weights/dumbells with about 4 benches and the dumbells go up to 50kg but are in this gym unlike any other I have yet trained at incremented in2.5kg not 2kg… This is a minor bug bear but threw me right off!

The plate loading machines are what we see in a lot of David Lloyd this one with a decline chest press and a normal selection of pull down, row which are all the newer refurb setup.
The cable machines at the other end of the gym have an ample selection with peck deck, leg extension, row and a few others to boot.

The main challenge this gym has with all of this kit which isn't nearly as bad now as it was is damp and chlorine, with the pool being open the last time I came here I could see the rust puffing out of the bars I used as I re-racked them, the open top to the pool while attractive had left everything covered in rust. This is vastly improved now and everything felt a lot cleaner but I do worry a little for the future…

The cardio equipment is ample here with a normal selection of steppers, cross trainers, treadmills and a few TVs in front of those who don't have screens which has been missing in the last couple of places.

The synergy section here has gone all out with sled, steps, punch bags and looks really fun and was one of the busiest areas with the gym clearly making the most of this.

As ever with David Lloyd the rest of the facilities are ample with a  café, wifi which is very good, plenty of rooms for classes here, the pool along with outdoor tennis and indoor squash courts. The changing rooms had been picked up a bit in the refurb and were nice to start so felt really good to get in and I felt clean coming out which didn’t always quite feel the case.
The refurb here was possibly one of the most needed of any David Lloyd I have been to and they have really hit the nail on the head with what needed doing to make this place feel fantastic again.

All up this is a good, solid selection of equipment with only minor annoyance in layout. The main challenge you may find here in summer is the humidity and over time I do worry about the impact this will have on the machines but if the club is committed as I know the staff are to maintaining a great experience I know this will be looked after.



How busy?

For a David Lloyd at 6am pretty busy! I was impressed at the number of people who were in/out, the large space doesn't make it feel crowded but potentially expect to wait for bits of kit

Could be worth checking in an evening ahead of time given this as if the morning is anything to go by it could be a slow evening.



Equipment
Free weights area
3 squat racks (2 with deadlift platforms)
1 flat bench, 1 incline, 1 decline
4 free benches
Dumbells up to 50kg
Set of plate machines including
Chest
Row
Shoulder press
Cable machines including
Low row
Cable cross over



Facilities
Parking
Café
Swimming pool
Steam room/sauna
Changing/showers
Studios (inc spin)
Free weights area
Weights machines
Cable machines
Cardio area
Synergy 360
Indoor squash
Outdoor tennis courts


Pricing
As ever David Lloyd can vary by location on where your base is, recently talking to a friend they got a starting rate of
£90 for standard
£70 per person for couples
I have as other reviews had between £60-90 as the range and worth a haggle


Other bits
Plenty of parking and feels amazingly peaceful for where you are in London here which I always found odd, very out of the way which is nice
Not a bad place to stop off on a journey into London to break it as I often did given that you can drop off the M4 to get here


https://www.davidlloyd.co.uk/clubs/sudbury-hill
https://www.facebook.com/DavidLloydSudburyHill/?ref=br_rs

Overview
Set a little way into Dartford slightly out from the postcode on their website and up a slope I can only assume is designed to warm up those calves is David Lloyd Dartford.

The facility is a little odd with a reception on the ground floor but I only found facilities on the first and second floor which threw me a little, really not sure what exists on the mystery ground level (this does mean you go through a barrier and climb a small Everest of stairs!). But fear not I found my way around as I found signs in this David Lloyd, this has been a recent bug bear for me so very glad that this one made my life a little easier after the stairs!

On the first floor of the building you have the pools, tennis courts and the changing rooms along with the standard David Lloyd restaurant. The gym itself along with the studios are up another set of stairs on the second floor, this includes a range of studios as ever which I didn't dive into along with a small dedicate boxing area.

The weights section as you come up the stairs was to the left for some of it, there was a selection of plate equipment but again a single set of each, a range of dumbells up to 50kg with a couple of some weights but for the first time I have seen the 1-20 were in one area and the 20kg above were in another small section, not far apart but enough that if you happen to be training between these ranges it was an utter ball ache. I see no reason to have split these up at all and it doesn’t really add anything other than lost dumbells between the two areas…
The cable machines are once again in a slightly different section at the other end of the gym around the synergy machine, I do  get this but again we have another gym where the equipment is oddly spread out and doesn’t work fantastically for moving between them.
There are 2 squat racks with deadlift pads and enough cable cross overs to go around though not enough clips? Again another risk of having your cable machines spread out means that this equipment gets spread around and becomes hard to get hold of if its at the other end.

The cable machines at the other end are a fantastic selection of kit here, mostly one of each but the full range is present and quite nicely presented around a synergy setup. Round the back of this is a slightly more secluded stretching area which I do like as it is set away with some boxing equipment and having this with a small wall to separate was a nice touch.

The cardio equipment is spread around the gym and we have a wide range of kit with water rowers, spin bikes with screens, steppers and more, whatever your poison is for cardio the odds are you will be able to find  something to keep you occupied here. With the new kit having TVs built in there isn't a need to have screens up and they are few and far between. One pattern I haven't highlighted but is present here again is that the equipment always has TV cables plugged in but never are connected to the internet limiting the apps a bit which is always a shame.

All of the equipment in the gym appears to be refresh equipment so pretty new and fresh in working order. As ever with David Lloyd this kit is clean and well maintained  which is always nice and there is a good amount of equipment between them all so nothing feels too crowded.

Beyond this, apparently this gym has another celicus spa (maybe the mystery ground floor?) and indoor along with outdoor pools. This along with tennis and squash courts mean this David Lloyd has the full range of offerings  a DL can provide and in quite a neat little package at this facility.

As ever these  is Wifi available but I did find it reached quite as well as other David Lloyds I had been too which was slightly annoying as the building at least for me was pretty phone signal proof so I had to quest around a bit to get enough signal for Spotify to download some bits! (a minor grumble) There was plenty of parking again around more stairs (notice a pattern!).
The changing rooms were very well re-furbished  and were clean, the general vibe was pretty good and the music was if anything a little quiet in this David Lloyd which made a change from the last couple. This is another DL that is a 6am opening on a week day as a note so no waiting in the car park for me!

Overall this gym has a good selection of kit but some rather dubious layout choices let down the gyms functionality for the sake of aesthetic or "clever layout". If you are after the other facilities this place definitely has them though and you can certainly smash a good heavy workout here any day of the week.



How busy?
Very quiet this one first thing, not many people in but those that were there appeared to all be using the plate equipment which was slightly annoying…


Equipment
Free weights area
2 squat racks (2 with deadlift platforms)
1 flat bench, 1 incline, 1 decline
3 free benches
Dumbells up to 50kg
Set of plate machines including
Chest
Row
Shoulder press
Cable machines including
Low row
Cable cross over



Facilities
Indoor Tennis courts
Outdoor Tennis courts
Badminton courts
Squash courts
Indoor Pool
Outdoor pool
Café
Steam room/sauna
Changing/showers
Studios (inc spin)
Free weights area
Weights machines
Cable machines
Cardio area
Synergy 360
Celcius spa


Pricing
As ever David Lloyd can vary by location on where your base is, recently talking to a friend they got a starting rate of
£90 for standard
£70 per person for couples
I have as other reviews had between £60-90 as the range and worth a haggle
Remember there is a premium over this for tennis/squash etc
I will go and investigate the spa price and get back to you on this one…


Other bits
Did I mention the stairs?! I actively swapped to back day after finally getting from car -> reception -> changing -> gym, there was no way I would have survived coming back down after doing legs…
Staff as ever awesome friendly and there to help, lovely team here the guys who spoke to me



https://www.davidlloyd.co.uk/clubs/dartford
https://www.facebook.com/DavidLloydDartford/