The City Baths, Newcastle

Booked online for a lane swim using the Fusion app - easy enough, although at £9 for an hour with the option to use the sauna, this is a fairly premium price. Nevertheless, it's worth it for the experience of swimming in this historic pool. Reception staff were friendly and helpful, showing us the way to the changing rooms. Changing rooms were modern, clean, and plenty of cubicles. Lockers are £1 (refundable). The pool was lush - good temperature, clean & attentive lifeguard. The session wasn't busy - I think about 6 others in the pool, so a nice, relaxing lane swim, with a super-wide slow lane. Bliss! Hot showers, but only a limited number of toilets. The price of the swim + city centre parking makes this an occasional treat, but definitely worth it!

This has been a terrible experience - I feel completely misled. I joined this gym through a referral from my friend. Before signing up, the staff clearly told us that we would both receive one month of free membership as part of the referral program. However, after joining, they completely denied the existence of the promotion - even though the poster advertising it was still up on the wall. This is completely dishonest. On top of that, I was told I had the free personal training sessions, but when I tried to book this, I was refused and told I had to wait one month between sessions. This was never mentioned when I signed up, and it feels like they’re deliberately withholding information to make things difficult. To make matters worse, booking a PT session is unnecessarily complicated. You can only book via email, and I was told it would take two business days just to receive a response - this is simply not practical for anyone trying to plan a consistent workout schedule. And classes are frequently cancelled at the last minute, forcing me to rearrange my schedule with no notice. It’s incredibly frustrating and shows a total lack of consideration for members’ time. Overall, this place feels like a scam with poor communication, misleading promises, and terrible service. I strongly advise anyone considering joining to double-check everything in writing and be very cautious.

I’ve been a member for nearly a year now, mainly because it’s close to work. The gym itself is decent - plenty of free weights, enough benches, and a moderate number of machines. There are also plenty of pull-up bars, which I like. It’s not the most equipped gym (no Smith machines, for example), but it’s good enough for my training. Staff are always around and seem friendly. The sauna is honestly the main reason I stay - if it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn’t be here. The gym floor is never crowded, which is a huge plus compared to most city-centre gyms. The sauna, though, can get busy at certain times, especially evenings and weekends. A few things could be improved: • The water fountains are poor - barely any pressure, takes ages to fill a bottle. Not a huge issue, but still annoying. •. The changing rooms can smell pretty bad at times - a mix of warm urine, faeces, and strong cleaning chemicals. It’s improved recently, but still unpleasant some days. • Broken equipment takes too long to get fixed. One of the cable machines has been out of order for weeks now, and one time the cold plunge bucket was out of order for a month plus. • The weekend hours are too short. The gym and sauna close early on Saturdays and Sundays, which is frustrating if you work weekends and want to use the sauna after your shift. I pay £47/month for a corporate membership, which gives access to all Fusion gyms across the country. Honestly, I’m mainly paying for the location, the sauna, the pool, and the fact it’s not crowded. If another gym nearby offered those same perks, I’d switch in a heartbeat.