Virgin Active has reopened its Mayfair Club, and calling it a refurb undersells what’s actually changed. This is the brand’s first UK Social Wellness Club – its most ambitious project to date, previously only seen in Milan, Cape Town, Sydney and Doha – and it’s built on a fairly simple idea: a gym doesn’t need to be somewhere you clock in and out of. It can be somewhere you easily and happily spend your whole day in.

Curious what the UK’s first social wellness club looks like in practice? We went behind the scenes ahead of opening, and it’s clear Virgin Active has sweated the small stuff. Every detail has been carefully considered, creating a space you’ll probably find excuses to stay in long after your workout has finished. Here’s a rundown of what’s included:

Everything you get on the gym floor

The gym floor is spacious, stocked with Eleiko free weights, Technogym cardio and resistance kit, Wattbikes, and a dedicated glute area. Beyond that, there are five unique studios:

• Grid Studio for Strength & Conditioning, with Ski-Ergs and Assault Bikes;
• Lift Club, a barbell-focused space built around deadlifts and squats;
• Group Pilates Studio running Tower and Reformer classes;
• Mind & Body Studio covering yoga, Hot Pilates and sound bath sessions.
• Boxing Studio for bag work and coach-led classes.

Every class across the Club is included in membership, with no extra cost. If you want your sessions to be more personalised, you can also opt for private sessions at Virgin’s own 1:1 Pilates Studio (paid for separately).

Beyond the training spaces: spa, recovery and more

There’s much more to the club than its training spaces, and it’s here that the focus on wellbeing really comes into its own.

Recovery zone

The Recovery Zone features Hyperice-powered recovery technology alongside heated hydromassage beds, giving members a chance to ease tired muscles, improve circulation and properly recover after a workout. Compression boots, targeted massage devices and specialist equipment that, until recently, you’d expect to find in the training facilities of elite athletes rather than your local gym.

Contrast spa

There are plenty of ways to unwind after an intensive session. The Contrast spa features a dry Finnish sauna, infrared sauna, cold plunge and vitality pool, alongside a 20-metre indoor swimming pool that’s just as suited to gentle recovery laps as it is to a proper workout. Plus, there’s no timetable dictating how long you stay or where you need to be next, so you can move at your own pace and build your own schedule.

Medical & Longevity Wellness Suites

As if these luxe wellness facilities weren’t enough, there are Medical & Longevity Wellness Suites too, with physiotherapists, osteopaths, sports therapists and performance experts on hand to provide advice and help you improve your body’s function and recovery. Treatment and ongoing monitoring happen within the club itself, in surroundings that feel welcoming and restorative rather than clinical.

Co-working spaces

The Co-Working Lounge offers private meeting rooms and quiet seating for anyone treating the Club as a workspace as much as a training ground, so you can really arrive early in the morning and leave late, after a day’s work and workout. If you want to have some lunch or grab a refreshment, you can head to Kauai, which is right next to the co-working space and offers a selection of coffees, cold drinks, and nourishing foods.

A concierge team manages the front-of-house experience from the moment you arrive, setting a noticeably different tone to the average gym visit. The changing rooms, meanwhile, have been designed with comfort in mind rather than pure functionality. Soft, neutral tones and contemporary finishes create a calm, understated feel, while thoughtful touches such as Grown Alchemist bath products and GHD hairdryers and straighteners at every station elevate the experience. It’s undoubtedly premium, but polished and welcoming.

About Virgin Active and what’s to come

Virgin Active operates 224 Clubs across nine countries, so Mayfair isn’t a one-off experiment – it’s a signal for where the rest of the UK estate is headed, backed by £12.2 million invested across 2024–2025 and a further £55.6 million planned for 2026 and 2027. Rob Lewis, Experience Director at Virgin Active, recognises that people don’t want wellness sitting on the side of their lives – they want it built into how they actually move through the day.

“This is a fundamental shift in what a Club can offer. Virgin Active Mayfair has been built around how our members actually live – bringing together training, recovery, work and community in one place. It’s about removing friction and creating a space people can rely on every day.”

Key details

Where: Hereford House, 64 N Row, London W1K 7DA
When: Reopened 1 July 2026
More info: virginactive.co.uk/clubs/mayfair

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