The Academy Health Club

So much more than ‘just a gym’. This place is great. I went to have a visit as a guest (they seem to restrict their guest passes which I thought was good for hte members) and enjoyed it so much I have since joined. We can actually spend a day there as a family. The kids love the crèche, my wife enjoys the gym and has enjoyed the odd treatmetn in the spa too. For me, I get to go to the gym knowing hte kids are safe and happy, my wife is having some time to herself and then I can go to the bar and read the papers with my coffee. Yes it’s a little more expensive than other clubs in town but there is nowhere else you would get all these facilities (and more i.e. tennis, PT, classes etc) all in one spot with such good staff! ¹⁰⁄₁₀.

My friend goes here and when she first joined she was given some guest passes (alongside a free massage and various other one off ‘perks’…she enjoyed her massage too apparently by a Mr. tall dark and handsome!)
There is a nursery!!! I have yet to find another gym (i’m sure their are loads somewhere but they are hiding from me) it looks a good nursery too i was tempted to join the little one in the ball pool
it’s got everything…
pool
jacuzzi
sauna
NURSERY
café
free parking
and it come with all the quirks e.g. they supply towels and free GHD hair straighteners for after you’ve showered in blissful hot water (i have to say it took me awhile to figure out how the shower actually worked… but then again I have been known to have my ‘blonde’ moments)
The staff are lovely and the gym is air conditioned
I muse quickly put though if you wish to stop your membership at the academy they require that you inform them that you are stopping THREE whole months in advance… you have to pay for those three months too which i think is unfair
it’s not cheap either but my friend keeps getting these complimentary guest passes so i get my 5 star visit to the gym every so often!

Enjoyable spa day, lots to offer, gym, pool, treatments, café bar, sauna, steam room.

My mum’s been a member at what is, arguably, the best gym in Yorkshire, for years now. And I get to go along quite often on the guest passes she gets for her birthday and at Christmas time.
Tellies in the machines was the main attraction for me when I was younger. I can watch This Morning while running? Surrounded by yummy mummies? Perfect.
There’s a beautiful swimming pool (not big, but big enough), a sauna and a jacuzzi for the perfect cool down after a heavy workout and the tennis centre is up there with stand-​alone centres. As it’s not a chain like Total Fitness/​Bannatynes etc; the Academy is able to tailor what it offers to each and every customer.
It’s not cheap, but for my money/​free guest passes — it’s very good value.

My sister in-​law is a member here and was nice enough to give me some guest passes while I was visiting. This place is much more than a gym. They have a very nice spa, crèche and quite a café. It is almost more of a social place and community center that also has a gym.
Having only been here three times, here are my observations:
1) The people at the crèche are very nice and the kids seem to have a great time there
2) The pedicure at the spa is of very good quality and my feet were incredibly soft. I would love to know what scrub they used on my heels because it was fantastic.
3) The key thing that they make you use so that gym equipment will work is a bit weird although I am sure it helps some people keep track of what they are doing.
4) All treadmills and ellipticals have their own TV. Nice!
5) The locker rooms are VERY nice and clean.
6) My sister in-​law really like her personal trainer here and he has really helped her reach her fitness goals.
7) The only thing I have a problem with here is the lack of basic weights. It seems that they have a lot of fancy newfangled machines but they are incredibly lacking in basic weights. There are no proper power racks, the dumbbells don’t go very heavy and no bench press benches. There are also no decline benches. So, if you are at all into weight training and power lifting, you will be disappointed. I was pretty surprised by this since it is a very expensive gym.
Overall it is a great place for certain lifestyles. However, not a great place for serious lifters.

The Academy membership is not cheap, but then again, what health club is?
It is a lovely place to go, but you would have to use it fairly often to get good value out of your membership.
The gym is very big and well equipped, and also has a mirrored studio, where there are lots of fabulous classes to take part in (including aerobics, yoga, dance etc). These often need to be pre-​booked, but most (all?) are free to members! (They also offer some of these specifically for kids.)
There is also a decent size swimming area, with one main pool, a baby pool, a Jacuzzi and a steam room, which is lovely and really makes a change from a normal swimming pool! The changing rooms are communal (obviously separate for female and male) but are lovely, with lots of lockers (these require a £1 deposit, which you do get back), a playpen and nappy changing table for young children, and a hairdrying mirrored area. The changing rooms are next to the showers, which are individual cubicles with shampoo and conditioner provided. The Academy also provide the towels.
The restaurant is also good, with a good choice of food at decent prices, and a great kids menu,(and a play area outside).
The Academy also has a pamper/​beauty section, which I have found to be very good, and ideal for a spa day, a children’s crèche with a large playarea that I believe can be hired for parties, a private function room for hire and both indoor and outdoor tennis courts.
So all in all, not cheap, but if you’ll use it definitely worth the value.
(Also, Daniel Craig has recently become a member, so you may catch a glimpse of him whilst you’re there!)

If you want to be pampered this is the best place in Harrogate to do it. Massage, yoga, sauna, steam room, tennis, swimming, floatation tanks It’s a real pleasure to go here. The pool is lovely with a smaller and hotter whirlpool tub and a separate kids area too. To the side of the pool is the steam room which is an amazing experience — how long can you last in here before nedding a shower’s rinse and pool plunge?
The yoga classes are well instructed (I went to one I promise!) and massage and floatation tank therapy very rewarding. It’s also worth noting that the restaurant provides quite delicious food, from salads to burgers — and there’s a kids area too.
Not terribly cheap to be a member but these days any sort of leisure facility is not cheap these days. I went as a guest and loved it. If I lived in Harrogate I’d find it hard to resist the temptation to join.