Are premium gyms worth it? What £100 buys that £22 doesn't

A large, well-equipped gym floor, usually 24 hours, with classes included and no contract. For anyone whose plan is "lift, run, go home", this is not a compromise. The kit at a new PureGym or Gym Group is as good as the kit at most premium clubs, and there is more of it.

• Water and heat: a pool, sauna, steam and often a hydro pool. The most-used premium facility, and the one budget gyms never have.
• Courts: padel, tennis and squash, with coaching and leagues. Only David Lloyd and Virgin Active offer this at scale.
• Space and time: fewer members per square metre, cafés, lounges, somewhere to work. A premium club is a place to spend an afternoon; a budget gym is a place to spend an hour.
• Family: crèche, kids’ clubs, swimming lessons, family changing. This alone decides it for many parents.
• Health services: Nuffield in particular bundles health assessments, physio and GP-adjacent services.

Count the things in that list you would use every week. One or none: join the budget gym and spend the difference on a coach or a monthly spa day. Two or more, and one of them is the pool or the courts: the premium club is fair value, because you would otherwise be paying for those separately.

The trap is joining premium for the atmosphere and using it like a budget gym. At two visits a week, £100 a month is £11.50 a session. Run your own numbers (not yet available).

Council leisure centres (Better, Everyone Active) and mid-market chains give you a pool and classes for £25 to £45, usually with no contract. They are less polished, but for "I want to swim and lift" they are the best value in the country.

Past £200 a month the question changes again: Third Space, Equinox and the members' clubs sell time, space and a room to sit in afterwards, not more equipment. We run the same cost-per-visit test on the luxury tier (not yet available).

Pay premium for water, courts or children. Not for the sofa.