So you may or may not have read about my great David Lloyd tour, and the fact that after trying the Southend and Basildon clubs, I was going to be visiting the Chigwell one. Don’t ask why we plucked that one out as our next adventure, but it was probably because I love Chigwell, especially the King William and Sheesh.

This is the only club that we have visited so far that has full on finished its refurb, and we were not disappointed by it. It’s probably the best gym I’ve been to so far, although seeing as most gyms don’t sell wine or have cats, I haven’t visited many.

The Gym

You know when you are on a treadmill, and you are slightly sweaty and look like you are either going to pass out or cry? Well imagine that, and then you come face to face with the hot guy using one of the weights machines. Yeah. Hashtag awkward. Most gyms don’t take into consideration how grateful the uglier of us would be for a bit of privacy while we are working out, but David Lloyd Chigwell actually has tried to actively do something about it.

The gym is set out with a walkway in the middle, then all of the machines/weights branching off, with small partitions between them. We were especially impressed by the high tech treadmills. For a start, you can access Facebook and check yourself in, which is great, because realistically, if you don’t check in at the gym why bother going?

They also had an option to hike on the treadmill, with a TV screen that makes it look like you are hiking through various places such as the Grand Canyon, and the incline changes to appear as if you are tackling rough terrain. Hopefully, they will roll out this high tech equipment in the other gyms as well.

The Swimming pool/Spa

David Lloyd Chigwell is one of the many clubs blessed with an outdoor pool. It was a little chilly to use it, so we opted for the Jacuzzi, then sat wondering where this all singing, all dancing spa was that we had heard about.

The new spa, is literally amazing. I’ve visited quite a few spas in my time, and this is every bit as good as an actual spa hotel. The spa area is sectioned off and not available for children, so you swipe through with your card to be face with a massive Jacuzzi the size of a small swimming pool.

Intelligently, the jets can be turned on for each section, so you haven’t got to infringe on a strangers personal space if their section has more bubbles than yours. Unless you like that sort of thing, in which case a spa probably isn’t the most appropriate place for you.

Just behind the Jacuzzi, there are three, heated stone beds. The only way I can describe laying on these is like imagine if you were laying on a combination of heaven, chocolate and prosecco and then you would be pretty much envisaging how good they are. People think I am absolutely crazy (they are correct) and hyper (and correct), but only a few people get to see how utterly utterly exceptional I am at chilling out. On the stone beds, I chilled out so much, I actually ended up asleep, waking up to a noisy couple having a row next to me which is a good thing otherwise I’d still be there, and my work would of realised how quiet the office was without me.

There are two saunas, one for the diehard sauna fans, and one that is a little bit cooler for people like me, who like the idea of a sauna but can’t actually handle it, then sit making themselves feel incredibly unwell because they don’t want to look stupid in front of the burly sauna enthusiasts.

The steam room is large, probably the same size as the Southend one, and there are two large showers that do hot for normal people or freezing cold if you are a psycho. There are also indoor, and OUTDOOR sunbeds. The great thing is, the outdoor area is sectioned off from the pool, so you can still enjoy the tranquillity of the spa in the sunshine.

I couldn’t get any pictures of actually inside the spa because I would of looked like a lurker, but I’m sure you get the picture.

The DLicious Bar

I LOVE that most of the David Lloyd’s have bars, and the one in Basildon does great food. To be honest, if you are going to advertise something as ‘delicious’ (or DLicious in this case) and it’s not actually delicious, it can all get a bit awkward. There’s a café near me called the ‘Delicious Café’ and I’m telling you now that’s the biggest loads of false advertising I’ve seen since I used ‘Eaz-e clingfilm’.

The DLicious bar in Chigwell has a large outdoor bit, so me and my Mum ventured out there. I do love being British and playing the ‘when the suns out it’s almost warm but when it’s in I will sit shivering to make a point’ game. I had the salmon, which was really healthy (I went home and ate four bags of twiglets but let’s have this right the salmon was healthy), and Mum had the falafel burger. One thing I love about the food at David Lloyd, is that most of its healthy but not pushy. I’ve been to unmentioned spa’s before where I have paid a lot extra for the lunch only to be faced with a selection of leaves, one tomato and some avocado. You can still get all the home comforts, but you can eat healthy if you want, your choice.

In general, Chigwell is probably the best club we have been to so far. Next time, we are going to try Gidea Park. Watch this space!