By Kate Goodhart
Illustration by Nicola Streeten

More and more families are joining health clubs. While all of them cost money – some more, some less – an increasing number of us are signing up and adding our names to waiting lists. But what do these clubs really have to offer London mums, dads and children?

We all lack outside space at home in London, making us look for alternatives to the back garden for long, sunny summer days. Our parks are great and offer huge spaces and, often, recent playgrounds and activities. But sometimes we want somewhere we can take our eyes off our children for a moment; somewhere the whole family can relax and enjoy a day without the cooking and clearing up, with tennis and swimming thrown in. We asked around and visited the most popular choices, with three children in tow, to give you a real picture of each place. Location will probably end up being a deciding factor for your choice of club – after all, who wants to drive across London traffic just to relax?

Harbour Club
Water Meadow Lane, London SW6 2RR
website
020 7371 7700

This is the fanciest club we visited. The lighting is low and the atmosphere is calm and cool. It is tough to get into the car park (and you’ll feel out of place without a 4x4), but pay and display parking is available just outside the club.

There are extensive facilities, including four studios, thirteen tennis courts, a Real tennis court, and two swimming pools. Four of the tennis courts are on the roof, under a big bubble, which comes off in the summer. The studios are impressive – one is set aside for Pilates, with some great machines; the others hold classes ranging from spinning and kickboxing to gentle yoga and t’ai chi. Some classes are included; others are course-based, for which you pay extra. Tennis court hire is included; group sessions are available at extra cost. Social tennis is popular as are other social events including quiz nights and the annual barbeque.

The children’s programme is extensive and includes dance, karate, gymnastics, yoga, fencing, and ballet. Football, cricket and rugby classes are run in Hurlingham Park. There are swimming lessons for all levels, from babies up to ‘platinum’ level. Tennis lessons after school are particularly popular. Holiday programmes and day camps are available. There is a crèche for children aged three months–five years, which is free of charge for a maximum of two hours a day.

You can host children’s parties with swimming, tennis and even belly dancing and dance themes.

The restaurant is large and serves delicious coffee and croissants and a healthy menu. A small patio area has tables and chairs in the summer. A separate area of the restaurant is set aside for families, with a large, fenced-off ball pit alongside – George and Sarah disappeared inside and reappeared with much coaxing, hot and sweaty, about half an hour later. Even in the family area, there are signs on the tables asking parents to make sure their children are under control at all times; equivalent signs are posted in the changing rooms. Children are asked to leave the club by 6.30pm on weekdays – this is definitely a club for singles as well as families and they are anxious to accommodate all.

At the Harbour Club you can have a haircut, a beauty treatment or massage; visit an osteopath or GP; buy flowers and drop off your dry cleaning. There regular sales of knitwear, jewellery and other goodies. There is also a well-stocked sports equipment shop.

What the club lacks is outside space and in the summer I think this would be a disappointment. But in the winter months, the club is a great resource, with ample space and activities for the whole family.

It’s expensive. A full membership for two people costs £299 per month, plus a membership fee of £2900 each. The membership can be sold back to the club after a minimum period of one year. Restricted time memberships are available, but you will need to be a full member to register your children. Children’s membership ranges from £28 to £98 per month depending on age. Nannies may accompany children to activities free of charge. Guests are permitted and a fee is payable.

Park Club
East Acton Lane, London W3 7HB
website
020 8743 4321

The Park Club is now so popular that I was surprised when we visited on a Sunday morning that it didn’t feel completely overrun.

Inside, the club is light and bright and facilities include a large swimming pool and a smaller one just for tots, three studios and a spa. The studios offer 80 classes a week, most of which are included in the membership, including Aikdo, Hatha Yoga, Body Pump and Stretchworks.

The spa offers massages, facials and beauty treatments and is available to non-members. The café is airy, with a view of the grounds. We were disappointed by lunch but probably hit an unlucky day as I hear good reports from members.

Outside is where the Park Club comes into its own. There are 27 acres – plenty of space for a running track, cricket and football pitches, tennis courts, mini-tennis courts, tarmac multi-sports areas available for basketball, netball and five-a-side football. There is a lovely outside pool, which is heated all year round – we saw a few hardy souls swimming laps on a chilly April morning. The grassy area next to the swimming pool is being extended this summer to include more space, outdoor changing rooms and a drinks kiosk. Tennis is sociable, including club nights and ladies coffee morning drills.

The crèche aims to stimulate the children as well as look after them. They take babies from 6 weeks old. At the Ark in the Park, children can join in ballet, yoga and cookery classes. Older children’s activities include cricket, football, gymnastics, karate, touch rugby, street dance, tennis and swimming. The club is planning Urban Parx, an exclusive area for 11–16-year-old members. Holiday courses for 4–15-year-olds are popular and competitively priced.

In the summer, the children’s activities are seemingly endless – pony rides, water slides, tennis camps, bouncy castles and giant slides. There is a big climbing frame area, which our children loved – we wished there was a bench, but suspect that regulars relax from slightly further afield, from the café’s terrace.

There is a good programme of events from swimming galas to family fun runs and a fireworks extravaganza in November.

Parties are available to members’ children and grown ups can be catered for too. This is a very family oriented club. Family membership of £286 per month includes membership for all children up to 16 years of age. Joining fees vary.

Bank of England Sports Centre
Priory Lane, Roehampton, London SW15 5JQ
website
020 8876 8417

This was originally the Bank of England Sports Club, which in 1993 opened its doors to people not affiliated to the Bank. It is set in 42 acres, which are beautifully kept. Part of the large site has been sold to the Lawn Tennis Association. The qualifying rounds to Wimbledon have long been played here, which is quite a spectacle every June.

This is an ever so slightly old-fashioned place and that is part of its appeal. The atmosphere is informal and inclusive. There is a good mix of old rugby players in the bar and children tearing about on the grass outside. There are many social events, including BBQs, quiz nights, a Summer Ball and a Christmas Panto.

The pool is indoor with big glass doors which open in the summer onto a terrace. There are 25 tennis courts of various surfaces; cricket, football, rugby and hockey pitches; fives, squash and netball courts; an athletics track; a gym with all the right equipment and good advice on how to use it; and a beautiful studio, where Pilates, yoga, boxercize and aerobics are among the classes on offer.

Swimming lessons are brilliant and over-subscribed; tennis, football, cricket, karate and fencing courses run through term time and holidays. As you’d expect, tennis is important at championship and social level. There is a big play area for children with new climbing frames and swings and a little splash pool – picnics here on the grass in summer are perfect.

There isn’t a crèche, making the club less easy to use with babies in tow. But as a family experience, it is a great place to spend a day. Membership is open to all who are affiliated with the Bank of England. For non-Bank membership, apply direct to the centre. The waiting list is up to four years – but worth the wait.

Holmes Place
Fulham Pools, Lillie Road SW6 7ST
website
020 7471 0450

Holmes Place run health clubs all over London but this one seemed particularly child-friendly. With limited outside space it isn’t somewhere to come for the whole day but there is a lot on offer here for children and a popular crèche.

The centre is run in conjunction with Hammersmith and Fulham council – the facilities are shared, but the experience is different if you are a member of Holmes Place. The club changing rooms are lovely, with towels, lockers for hire and beauty products on hand. There is a separate café/club room.

Parking can be an issue, as the car park costs £1 for 2 hours for regular users (free to members) and is therefore seen as inexpensive parking for anyone visiting the local area, not just those using the centre.

My four-year-olds thought the children’s pool was among the best we tested – it is a square infinity pool of an even depth that they could stand up in – they flung themselves into the water for almost an hour before exhaustion set in. There are two large lap pools – one of which is exclusively for members.

There are three studios and a swish gym. The Natural Space health & beauty centre is available to non-members and offers reflexology, nutrition advice and acupuncture as well as waxing, manicures and facials.

Ace Club is a multi-activity club open to all at a very reasonable cost (some sessions are included in HP membership) for 2–11-year-olds. Activities include karate, yoga, art, team games. Parents must stay on the site but are free to exercise, swim, play tennis or relax in the café while their children are kept busy. There is a separate crèche area for babies. Ace Club also run parties of which Shark Attack swimming parties are most popular.

Joint Membership costs £122 per month; children’s membership costs £10–£22 per month depending on age. This is a great local resource – a one-stop for swimming lessons and other children’s activities.

The Riverside Health and Racquets Club
Duke’s Meadows, Chiswick, London W4 2SX
website
020 8987 1800

This club is really tucked away down by the river, which probably contributes to its exclusive feel.

The main pool is lovely, perfect for quiet laps, with doors opening out on to the gardens in the summer; a good-sized children’s pool and a very shallow paddling pool are just alongside. I decided here that televisions in changing rooms are a mixed blessing – they are in most of the clubs and are great for when you have got your children dressed, but it is hard to get them to that stage while they peer up at the wall. The two studios and separate spinning studio host 95 classes a week, many of which are included in the membership. Adult ballet and pilates are available at extra cost.

Tennis is the main focus here – adult and children’s courses are extremely popular and there are ladders and tournaments. Courses and clinics are available to improve your game. The Young Riverside team organise activities for children and offer tennis and swimming courses, as well as karate, ballet, dance and gymnastics. A crèche with a ball zone is available for under 5s and is charged at £4.50 per hour. There is a branch of Teddies Nurseries in the club, which is open to non-members.

The café and restaurant area is being redesigned but is already a light and appealing space, again opening on to the gardens with a very good menu, including a Sunday roast. The outdoor tennis courts are beautifully landscaped and the overall impression is one of great space outside, even though most of it is given over to the courts. There are two separate play areas for children, lots of trees and shrubs and little pathways between courts.

There is ample parking both in the club and outside.

The Tranquillity Spa is attached to the club, and is also open to non-members, with very stylish rooms decorated in a delicious chocolate brown. Espa facials, body treatments as well as the usual beauty therapies. Social events are organised every month, with a Summer Ball with live music held after the Club Championships.

Joining fees vary; two adults pay £242 per month, and children over 3 and under 16 pay £12–£40 per month.

Virgin Active Acton
36 Bromyard Avenue, London W3 7AU
website
0208 600 9600

This was a big success with my three children. The combination of the children’s pool with great water features including jets, sprays, mini slides and a squirting toothpaste tube, with the fantastic indoor play space they stayed in while I toured the club, was just irresistible.

There are more Virgin clubs due to open across London, with sites already in Wandsworth, Islington and Heathrow, but so far this is the one with the most appeal for families. Club V provides entertainment and care for children from 6 weeks to 15 years. There is a colourful crèche, a great ball pit/climbing frame, an indoor sports hall and computer rooms and games terminals. Fun exercise classes are on offer for children, alongside football, circuits and basketball. As well as the children’s pool, there is a lap pool where swimming lessons are held. Tennis is popular, with floodlit courts and lots of courses and clubs to join. There is some outside space with a climbing frame and picnic tables. The Crunch Café serves Starbucks coffee and a mix of healthy salads and a slightly less healthy but popular children’s menu costs £2.99 for a meal with ice cream and a drink.

For grown ups, there is an incredibly high-tech gym – all the machines are electronically controlled and, worryingly, remember who you are and what you should be doing. The studios offer over 80 classes a week ranging from yoga to spinning, pilates to fight club. The Virgin Spa offers treatments at a reasonable price (including a two-and-a-half hour Prepare to Bare for summer treatment). By the swimming pools there is a peaceful adult-only jacuzzi.

The changing rooms are clean, bright and spacious, with a stand-in suntanning machine.

Membership costs £75 per month per adult, with no contract. Children over three are charged £12 per month; crèche charges for under 3s are £4 per hour. Guests cost £10.

Roehampton Club
Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5LR
website
020 8480 4200

Amazing - a country club near the heart of London. The facilities are incredibly impressive. The grounds are extensive and beautiful; there are 35 tennis courts; 5 squash courts; 4 croquet lawns; indoor and outdoor pools; a modern gym and an unusual oval studio; and an 18 hole, 71 par golf course. Oh, and a crèche and a treatment centre (open to non-members) offering beauty therapies, physio, osteopathy and acupuncture. There are tennis ladders and golf tournaments, a personal trainer in the gym and a good programme in the studio. The indoor pool is 25 metres long and all the changing rooms are clean and spacious – the pool one has a separate area for families.

The outdoor pool is great with a grassy area around it and a barbeque hut serving lunch. Children can also have swimming lessons, play tennis, follow a course in yoga or karate and learn squash and golf. There is a Juniors building, housing the crèche, with a large room undergoing renovation, which will be used for children’s parties and indoor sports. Upstairs is a Junior Room, for children over eight. It is unsupervised (though there is a CCTV camera linked to Reception) and furnished with sofas, table football, a large television and a pool table.

There is a formal restaurant and adult-only bar, as well as the Club Café, which serves coffee and snacks alongside more substantial food, including risottos, soups and burgers. There is also a Juice Bar, down by the indoor pool. Much thought has gone into the planning of the inside spaces – most have large picture windows taking in views across the club, of gardens, croquet lawns and tennis courts.

Membership is almost ruinous. There is a steep entrance fee, a requirement to buy shares in the club (which can be sold back on termination of membership), and a yearly subscription. Children pay a nominal fee depending on age. You must have two members to refer you and then meet a director of the club. Then you join the waiting list, which at the moment is around two years. There are some hoops to go through, and some costs to bear, but this really is a lifestyle choice – if you make it, you will enjoy it.

David Lloyd Club
Leisure Way, High Road, Finchley, London N12 0QZ
website
020 8492 2250

This club goes way back, opening 17 years ago, with its main focus on tennis. Renovations are on-going, but it does have a slightly tired look in places. The reception area is dark and the ceilings are low, but in this case, don't be put off by first impressions. The club is, in fact, a great place for families. This is now a sports club, not just a tennis club, and David Lloyd is making a real effort to accommodate everyone. There are a few restricted hours in the pool and one area of the restaurant is set aside for adults (another is just for families, with a soft play area alongside), but otherwise children are free to roam. The facilities are extensive: 2 pools (indoor and outdoor), 2 studios (over 70 classes a week, including ballet fusion and crew rowing), a large and modern gym, and 9 outdoor and 11 indoor tennis courts. You can get all the usual health and beauty treatments and there is an osteopath on site.

Tennis is big here, with ladders, leagues and club ratings. The indoor pool is warm and plenty big enough for children to leap into while adults are swimming lengths. There are froggy floats and noodles to play with – great fun. There is a jacuzzi and a splash paddling pool set alongside, and there are single sex saunas and steam rooms in the changing rooms. I really felt that the lifeguard had a careful eye on us – swimming alone with two brave just-swimming four-year-olds can be a challenge.

The large sunny terrace is great for lunch with tennis views. The café serves a mix of salads, sandwiches and hot food; the children's menu features noodles with vegetable as well as pizza and chips (which my two inevitably chose).

There is a good mix of children's activities, many of which are included in the membership. The High 5 timetable includes an after-school art club and courses in ballet, karate and football skills. Swimming and tennis lessons are oversubscribed. The crèche is bright and well-equipped with a wooden kitchen and lots of toys, and costs just £3 per hour (maximum 2 hours a day). Children's parties are popular here – the club will organize everything for you from an entertainer to food.

There is a social evening once a month, with different themes – Turkish night was a big success. There are also Family Fun Days – bouncy castles, face painters, clowns and barbecues make a fun day out for the whole family. This club is well used by the community – it does seem to be able to cater for everyone.

Membership is reasonable – it costs a couple £300 to join and then £141 a month for full membership. Children between 6 and 18 cost £24 a month; under 6s are included in their parent's membership.