any thoughts on the watershed

countryliving

hello, i was thinking of joining the watershed again but i find they are so 'uncustomer focused' for a community leisure centre and expensive.
i did a class tonight and i paid 7euro - the class was very good but it is expensive i think. then i tried going for a swim - the pool was closed! there was water safety on and i could not even use the sauna, steam room.
now in fairness i agree with giving teenagers the opportunity to do all these classes but i find the watershed is just focused on making money, cutting cutting and nobody listens to me as a customer! in my humble opinion a swim lane should be made available whilst the classes are going on. plus they close at 6.30pm on a saturday and sunday night...talk about trying to chase customers away..............sorry for the rant but do any of ye feel the same?

catbear

I remember doing the sums before and in the end I opted for the Ormonde was a lot cheaper in off peak hours which suited me fine. I don't know what the other hotels are offering but it may be worth ringing around.

stampydmonkey

Depends what your looking for.

Can't fault the place for tidiness and the gym seems alright although I mainly use the pool and mainly use the place in the mornings. It does look crazy busy in the evenings but id say most gyms are the same.

Watersheds pool and facilities in general are excellent however their schedule for classes isn't great. Would love a 15-20 station circuit class early a few mornings or later on in the evenings (ie outside of normal working hours). They have a big hall so could be an excellent class. They have nothing on early on a Tuesday or Thursday and nothing on a Saturday at all which considering the price of the membership is a joke!

Captain Havoc

Funny enough, I was doing the maths on rejoining last night. I mostly do classes but there's a €3 charge for members, so I don't know if I want to pay €7 a pop, €49 for 8 or gym only membership. The classes are good though. I'm gonna shop around and see what else is out there.

misterdeeds

In the Watershed myself and have been for a few years (gym only)
Always paid around the €400 mark never over it ,got my renewal notice during the summer and it was €450 ,no way was I paying that
I told the lady on reception this and............... walla €380
The mad thing is I can and have on many occasions walked straight into the pool so why do they charge more for pool and gym membership ?
Seems unfair to the people who pay the extra to use the pool when they can just join the gym and use the pool anyway (have never seen any member of staff checking if the people going into the pool are entitled to )

catbear

misterdeeds wrote: »

Seems unfair to the people who pay the extra to use the pool when they can just join the gym and use the pool anyway (have never seen any member of staff checking if the people going into the pool are entitled to )

It was the same in the Ormond, I'd go there outside of non peak and no one would say anything. I think it's that no one wants to turn away repeat business.

Makes a change from the septic tiger days when they'd charge an arm and a leg, I remember the Ormonde had a ludicrous registration fee (I think it actually as much if not more than annual membership) but that's gone along with the stupidly lax credit of that rather silly time.

Sky King

How much is it to just use the gym only, if you are not a member?

Their website helpfully doesn't have that fairly basic information.

Captain Havoc

They have affiliate clubs and workplaces so it'd be worth asking if your club/ workplace is one. My gym only membership is €370.

Sky King

It's not unfortunately.

I didn't know about that though - interesting. That's good value.

stampydmonkey

I joined one of the clubs to get the discounted rate. You effectively get two memberships for the reduced price of one! As captain havoc mentioned its worth looking into.

Follow the Plan

I agree with the OP. Very poor website with poor info on it. Basically leading you to another website and leave you at it. Also when asking for info on clubs from reception I find very little help forthcoming.I know we shouldn't have to be spoon-fed but jaysus a little help wouldn't go astray.