Abbey Leisure Centre - Barking

Shaheer K.

I’ve been a member for eight months, and it’s truly a fantastic community space! The recent gym refurbishment is impressive, and the new machines are excellent. The classes are great too!

However, it’s the staff who make the real difference! Huge shoutout to the Front Office, Pool Team, Gym, and Spa—your dedication, service and warm energy is outstanding! The list of names is too long, but you know who you are 👏🏽❤️ thank you 🥰

Of course, there’s always room for improvement in certain areas and processes. The center is definitely moving in the right direction, and with a little extra care at all levels—including from us as members—it could be even better!

Iglika T.

I would strongly advise against visiting this spa. The level of cleanliness is beyond unacceptable—it’s a serious health and safety hazard.

The steam rooms are absolutely filthy. Visible mould is covering the walls and the ceiling. The smell of damp and mildew is overwhelming, and the lack of hygiene is impossible to ignore. It’s clear that the place is never properly cleaned, which is shocking for a facility that people visit for relaxation and wellness.

However, the absolute worst part was the jacuzzi. I couldn’t even bring myself to use it. The water looked disgusting—murky, unclean, and clearly not maintained. It was obvious that it hadn’t been changed or cleaned in who knows how long. The thought of stepping into that water was enough to make me walk away.

This isn’t just an unpleasant experience—it’s dangerous. Unfortunately, I am now unwell after visiting, which only confirms my worst fears about the hygiene standards here. It’s clear that these facilities are not properly maintained, and the lack of basic cleaning is shocking.

This could be easily fixed with proper sanitation and regular maintenance, but clearly, cleanliness is not a priority. I paid for a service I couldn’t even use due to how disgusting it was. Until this place undergoes a complete overhaul, I strongly advise avoiding it unless you want to risk your health and waste your money.

Absolutely unacceptable.

Aaliyah A. R.

Simple communication is impossible. They had a holiday from swimming classes but did not tell parents by email or phone and instead had slips of paper at reception. Another time they cancelled a class and claimed to have called me when they did not. We had no idea so came for the first week. When trying to sign my son up for his lessons (as the closest one around) I have called a total of 10 times over 2 days. No answer to the call. The one time I did get through (in the initial call) the woman on the phone clearly didn’t know how to set up the lessons over the phone (which is what I did with my daughter) and told me to do so online but the online form does not allow me to complete the payment and asks me to contact the centre. And they simply do not answer the phone. It’s like they see my number and chose to ignore the call. Even at 10am on a Monday morning when it is said to be very quiet. I think it’s a sign not to bother with his membership. My daughter hasn’t learnt to swim for a full year of lessons anyway. May be time to drive out further for somewhere better.

Chuck D.

Staff are rude only have time to talk amongst themselves
See customers waiting and ignore them. Non existent customer service. If they do get around to you it's like they are doing you a favour.
Everyone active needs to address this we can't all be lying.

In addition the changing rooms stink.. consistently
I would like to add that when the cleaner is there it makes a real difference she does a great job.
But they need to hire more cleaning staff for longer hours
It's disgusting.

Abul B. S.

A huge shout out to Venus here, great service from her while signing my partner up and then myself! She explained the membership very clearly to us. This is a amazing centre and I look forward to using our membership to the fullest.

Irum S.

Although I am a regular at the Mondays Ladies Only Spa at 'Abbey Spa' and I do enjoy it, I want to note that I have experiences disgusting customer service. I can literally never get through to anyone on the phone. Just yesterday from 9:20am until 10am I was constantly ringing them on their contact number and no one was picking up. The automated voice just kept saying 'sorry I am not available'. I think that is absolutely atrocious. I called them 23 times and I even tried to get in touch with someone from the front desk in the leisure centre and the result was the same. I think as a huge leisure centre, your focus is on the customer and to make it as easy for them to reach out to you which they have obviously failed to do. Like I said before, I do enjoy using the sauna. I think the facilities are good for the price we are paying but the customer service is a huge let down.

James H.

POOL PARTY - Abbey Leisure Centre was the only pool within 40 miles of me which still offered parties and didn't use the "Covid excuse" that everything's still on hold.
All the staff were great and very friendly especially the assistant manager, Amelia, who really went above and beyond getting us information and arranging everything.
They were a little un-organised as we were supposed to be on the water for 4 but they didn't start blowing the inflatable up until then and then had to get 20 kids life jackets on.
If your interested, plan to be ready poolside 30 minutes before so the staff can get everyone ready. We lost a good 20 mins this way.
The staff allowed us to use two group changing rooms for the boys and girls to get changed which had secure locks to keep everyone's belongings safe.
They also accommodated an amazing sized studio upstairs which was perfect to host a birthday party. I arranged two ping-pong tables to show size (these were in the room already and they allowed us to use) and even then it was still huge. They also allowed us to use their sound system which had a quality sound with great bass and had already arranged tables and chairs out for us beforehand.
Be warned however, the viewing area upstairs in the swimming pool is unbearably hot so wear light clothing! Everywhere else is nice and cool.

Rai J.

The facilities are very well maintained the highlight of this leisure centre is definitely the spa you have a great spacious sauna hydrotherapy pool. The only negative is like all leisure centres when it gets busy you might find yourself waiting to use equipment and swimming can be an issue because they have lots of classes which means you might not get the opportunity to swim on certain days.