A first look inside a new gym and health centre shows the high-end facilities and perks on offer at the \u00a3174-per-month club – as members insist it\u2019s worth the money.<\/p>\n
After 18 months of development, the David Lloyd in Herne Bay welcomed members for the first time on Friday, ahead of its official opening on December 2.<\/p>\n
Members and dignitaries were welcomed with Champagne and hors d\u2019oeuvres before the ceremonial ribbon-cutting by Canterbury\u2019s Lord Mayor, Keji Moses, and a tour of the vast facilities.<\/p>\n
The site at Altira Park features a state-of-the-art gym, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, padel and tennis courts and a mini football pitch.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the centre\u2019s \u2018spa retreat\u2019 boasts a Himalayan Salt sauna, steam room, ice cave, plunge pool, hydrotherapy pool and outdoor spa garden.<\/p>\n
David Lloyd\u2019s membership fees are more than triple those of other gyms in the area.<\/p>\n
But asked for his first impressions, subscriber and Herne Bay resident, Ian Robb, told KentOnline the opportunities available at David Lloyd mean it is a price worth paying.<\/p>\n
Herne Bay resident Ian Robb says the facilities and services available at David Lloyd are well worth the high monthly fees<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a bit of class about it,\u201d said Mr Robb, 41.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just a gym and a swimming pool, it\u2019s a way of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy kids are so excited, because they\u2019ve got Lego club and scooter club here, so I can come and use the gym and spa while the kids are kept entertained. It\u2019s great!\u201d<\/p>\n
The new David Lloyd Herne Bay Club has been in development for 18 months, with a total cost of about \u00a322 million.<\/p>\n
In addition to the health, fitness, and wellness amenities, it also features a clubroom with a business lounge, family zone and indoor soft play area for children.<\/p>\n
The \u00a322-million project to build the new David Lloyd gym and health club in Herne Bay has been 18 months in the making
David Lloyd is the UK’s largest provider of padel ball facilities
The new David Lloyd gym and health club in Herne Bay has a soft play area and activities for children<\/p>\n
In between bites of smoked salmon, Herne Bay residents Jan and Steve Claridge said they were enticed into signing up after hearing rave reviews from relatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother and sister are both members at another David Lloyd, and when we heard there was going to be one opening here in Herne Bay, we couldn\u2019t believe our luck,\u201d said Mrs Claridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe facilities here are of a better standard compared to other gyms around here and there\u2019s more of a social aspect to it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jan and Steve Claridge say the facilities at David Lloyd are of a better standard compared to the gyms they had previously used
The new David Lloyd gym and health club in Herne Bay features multiple swimming pools inside and outside
Plush leather sofas look out onto indoor tennis courts at the new David Lloyd gym and health club in Herne Bay
The outdoor swimming pool at David Lloyd gym and health club in Herne Bay<\/p>\n
The new facilities have resulted in 75 local jobs and a partnership with Herne Bay Football Club.<\/p>\n
General manager Michel van Heerden says community involvement is absolutely critical for David Lloyd.<\/p>\n
“We want to be involved,\u201d said Mr van Heerden.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we’ve already made partnerships with various institutions – we\u2019ve got the Herne Bay Football Club, we’ve entered into a two-year partnership with them, we want to do something nice for the fire department.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Lloyd Herne Bay general manager Michel van Heerden
The new David Lloyd gym and health club in Herne Bay features a 100+ station gym
The yoga studio at David Lloyd gym and health club at Altira Business Park in Herne Bay, near Sainsbury\u2019s<\/p>\n
Asked about the costly membership fees, he added: \u201cWhen a member walks through the club and sees the state-of-the-art club that this is – in terms of the studios, the level of technology that’s used, the facilities – they\u2019ll understand this is not a gym\u2026 this is David Lloyd.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A first look inside a new gym and health centre shows the high-end facilities and perks on offer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[29937,1312,499,103,29938,1901,61,60,18846,29939],"class_list":{"0":"post-167593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-canterbury","9":"tag-consumer","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-herne-bay","13":"tag-human-interest","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-kent","17":"tag-whitstable"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}