‘World first' Virgin Active wellness gym lands in Bondi
One of Australia's most boujee gym chains has just taken things a step further, with the opening of its first ever global wellness club.
Virgin Active Bondi Westfield opened its doors on Monday, marking a new era of wellness, with the club being the first of its type from the brand.
About the club
The facility boasts high-end machinery, as well as a cafe that serves wraps, salads, pancakes, smoothies and juices made to order. There are spaces to work on your laptop, before heading into the cardio and weights room.
One of the biggest drawcards to the facility is its recovery zones, which includes a hydrotherapy spa, cold plunge, heated recovery slab, Finnish sauna and an infra-red sauna. Another zone features compression boots and trigger point therapy tools.
Health services include massage therapy, physiotherapy and personal training. But, the big winner for me was the fact the gym offers tower pilates — not something that is widely offered in Sydney. It has five different types of reformer tower classes — align, foundation, athletic, recovery and reformer mat. Other classes on offer are the lunch time Lift Club and Run Club.
The gym's Run Club sees members meet at the facility, warm up together and then run three, five or seven kilometres alongside some of Bondi's best routes. The class is open to all abilities.
Members of Virgin Active Bondi Westfield are also welcome to visit other clubs to take part in Cycle, Boxing, HIIT, Yoga and other classes.
'We're thrilled to officially open our doors and welcome Sydneysiders into a new era of
wellness,' said Dean Kowarski, CEO of Virgin Active.
'This is not just a gym – it's a destination where people can work out, unwind, refuel, work, connect with others, and take care of their full wellbeing in a truly beautiful and uplifting space.'
Road test
I was lucky enough to be invited to a media event at the club, offered to trial the gym's facilities — including a class. If you've paid any attention to this column, you'll know how much I love my reformer pilates so it was of to Tower I went. It's a style of pilates I've only done a handful of times. Walking into the space, there were a fair amount of reformer beds, meaning it was a bit of a bigger class. However you were a smidge closer to the person next to you. The beds and towers were all new, and super easy to use. It's always awkward when you're scrambling to figure out the spring system if it's a machine you're unfamiliar with.
The class was fabulous — there were challenges but parts that make you feel good about yourself. It was probably one of my favourite classes I have done in the name of this column.
I don't always feel the best when I step into the gym — I feel like I don't look like a person that can handle the gym. I can never run as fast or kick my leg as high.
But, the instructor was so beyond kind and welcoming to every single person there — including myself. It just made the whole experience that much better. She remembered everyone's names, after only meeting them for a moment, and was super encouraging. There was no shame around needing to take a break or needing to find an alternative moment if you were struggling. I feel like that is still relatively rare in the fitness industry, and so this automatically made it a positive visit for me.
I didn't get a chance to try out the recovery zones, just because of timings, but the entire facility was beautiful, calm and peaceful. I couldn't fault a single thing and it's definitely a space I'd like to come back to.
What's the price tag?
There are two memberships on offer — a one-month member ship or a 12-month membership. Both cost $99 a week. There is a casual visit option available, that will set you back $75 and can just be organised through the front desk. Only Virgin Active Bondi Westfield members have access to the club, with members from other clubs needing to upgrade their membership to attend. However Virgin Active Bondi Westfield members can attend other clubs.
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