York Hall Leisure Centre

When I went to the Turkish Baths there a few years ago it was filthy and unhygienic - I asked for my money back and walked out. After a multi-million pound makeover it is still - filthy and unhygienic. Indeed the smell is rank especially in the steam room and showers. 

It used to have a vibrant atmosphere of a multi-cultural clientele - it is in the East End after all. Now few of the old regulars go there and the clientele is mainly white females who can't afford the higher prices of more upmarket spas. 

The price was £20+ for me as a visitor and that did not even include any treatments.

The problem is that it is owned by the infamous Tower Hamlets Council who have contracted it out to a private organisation 'Greenwich Leisure Ltd [GLL]' trade marked 'Better.' 

They have in turn imposed draconian rules that have completely spoiled the ambiance of the Turkish Bath suite. 

Importantly there was no more free of charge traditional Yiddish schmeis. The draconian 'etiquette' rules on the website state: "Treatments will only be provided by GLL trained therapists, or qualified third parties who are in possession of an appropriate license and insurance." And the treatments are so expensive that they have priced the previous multi-cultural clientele well out of using the place. 

For single gender sessions bathing costumes are now mandatory. This is HIGHLY unhygienic due to bacteria and chemical dyes leaching from these onto the seating surfaces in the heat and steam. It is also impossible to soap up and scrub clean with a bathing costume on. On the Continent bathing costumes are banned and naturism is mandatory in almost every spa due to the need for good hygiene.

And the stroppy female staff wandered into the men's changing area; (I understand that male staff also wander into the female changing area). 

When I was there in November 2012 even the floors were scummy with dirt from people's shoes (it was raining outside). 

If you value your health avoid this place. Its not a patch on more professionally run Turkish Baths and spas on the Continent.

P.S. Ironmonger Row TBs in Islington has also gone swanky and over-priced and bans naturism even for single gender sessions. Its run by GLL too. Avoid.

Best yoga place in the city. Even it is far from home, I often go there for training. Really good instructor

Great historic location. The staff are very nice and the gym facilities are great. This place is special to me though as i love boxing and York Hall is the boxing mecca.

Just a 5 min walk from Bethnal Green station, the York Hall is a great part of East London history. The Affordable Vintage Fair is held here at least 4 times a year and I always go for a good time.

went here to watch the boxing on saturday here, an ok venue saw a friend knock his component out on the 4th round so was a great event the staff were friendly.

The beauty treatment at this place are too expensive!

If it wasn't just 5-minute-walk from my house, I would probably choose some other centre. The swimming pool looks a bit old and not being cleaned. The the changing rooms and toilets are usually dirty - but that's probably due to high number of school kids coming to this place. And it's impossible to plug your own hair dryer, you have to use the ones fixed to the wall for 20 p.

But probably I shouldn't complain, as they offer free swim Fridays for the residents of Tower Hamlets and it's usually OK, not overcroded (the small swimming pool fopr mothers with children is usually full, though). Plus the Mon-Fri free swim Schweppes promotion has been extended till next year (all you have to do is to bring the cap from Schweppes mineral water), which means you actually swim there for free all week long!

Not my cuppa tea i'm afraid. Good teachers, environment was less than yogi.

Best place to swim in east London, the 33 m pool is most of the time empty at the week-end so no wonder its closure was at stake! Ladies swim on Tuesdays, therefore the place gets super busy on this day and you annoyingly need to queue to enter the pool! (2 slots: 6.30-7.30 or 7.30-8.30). Also difficut to join at the middle of a session... So forget about Tuesdays!

Free swims every Friday ( never been there though), guess it is packed as well!

Gym is also nice with plenty of equipment, but never tried their classes.

Staff not welcoming at all but, hey, you're there to swim, it's not a 4-star hotel!

Not a bad place for a swim, don’t know about the gym.
The changing rooms are in need of a tidy.
Shame the place doesn’t have cafe, but you can get a good coffee at the Museum of Childhood or all day breakfast at Hulya’s cafe

York Hall in Betnal Green is a health and leisure centre primarily known for being a boxing venue. I enjoy watching boxing but most big fights are on late to cater for American audiences. For those of you who have often wondered what it would be like to be ringside at a fight York Hall is a must. I was there last night to watch Danny Williams and Junior Witter (among others) and the atmosphere is one of friendly excitement. Sadly Brixton boy Danny Williams lost, but even if you turn up to a boxing event for one person you still have a whole undercard of fights to watch making a trip to York Hall excellent value.

Just a hop, skip and a jump from Bethnal Green tube, this leisure centre is part of a group of such in Tower Hamlets, where membership allows you to use any of the centres.
In York Hall, there’s a swimming pool and gym plus a programme of classes ie. yoga, pilates and kid’s clubs, teams, etc. There’s quite a community feel to much of the activities here - with pictures of local teams recieving trophies from Eastender stars on the walls. How cute. The staff are quite friendly. It’s not luxury, but it does the trick fine for the price it is. Some good membership deals for different situations. Recommend it to people who live in the area.

York hall was on the verge of being closed a couple of years ago, but thankfully it has been saved and money put back into it.

Hosting, boxing, swimming, spa and a gymnasium, as well as badminton, yoga too, this is truly a diverse leisure centre. I have often had an issue with the politeness of the reception staff, although it seems to have improved and in any case if I get annoyed, it makes me swim more lengths.

The gym is very up-to-date and the swimming pool is a substantial 33 metres long, so if you want to get fit, then this place is as good as any, thank goodness it was not closed.