King Alfred Leisure Center

I take my children for swimming classes as they do offer a great class for kids… HOWEVER… The place is worn down and tired. You go through automatic doors that do not work. Get to the lift that is out of order go down stairs to be told NO shoes beyond this point. No shoe covers. so a member of staff takes a handful out of the bin all torn, ragged and inside out. Putting these on not knowing where the last persons shoes have been and the dirt from the shoe now on the inside out shoe protectors is on the floor.
The first 2 family changing rooms I go to. The first, the baby unit out of order the second has a swimmer nappy on the floor and smells of urine. The third ok. Bit grubby but ok.
As the lesson was coming to an end the whistle blows… EVERYONE OUT OF THE POOL!!! the life guard goes in with his fishing net. Scooping up POO (how can you not realise that you child is having a poo in the pool???). Disgusting!!! Go to the changing room where you can still smell a faint whiff of urine next door, the baby change bit is on lay down position only (so technically out of order) as we go to leave my husband just glances up to notice on the racks above your
no looking over. A not so WHITE SANITARY TOWLE!!! And on telling a member of staff we get the dirty look.
After nearly 2 years of classes (which are good) the going down hill King Alfred and lack of hygiene I am considering taking her else where it just a shame I have just paid for another course!

Since I recently got a membership to all of the leisure centres in Brighton and Hove, I thought I would try out a couple of classes at the King Alfred as it’s only 5 minutes away from my house.
On first impressions, I thought it looked a little grotty. Lots of condensation running down the walls! However, the changing room facilities are much nicer than the ones at the Prince Regent, and a lot more spacious too.
I was disappointed to see there was no flexi-​pool at the King Alfred, which meant the water aerobics classes were held in the main pool, in a cordoned off area by the swimming lanes. This meant there wasn’t a lot of room for exercise at all, and I found myself being pushed towards the deep end of the pool which wasn’t really conducive to doing water aerobics. There also seemed to be a lot of chlorine in the pool, to the point where my eyes really stung!
The classes were a little more lacklustre than those of the Prince Regent too –I shall continue to going to the Tuesday classes for convenience, I don’t have to walk/​bus in to Brighton so it saves me time and money. The King Alfred also does Zumba/​Yoga/​Pilates etc classes which the Prince Regent doesn’t offer so I will be looking into going to some of those in the near future.

Despite recent speculation about its imminent demolition, the King Alfred is still open and going strong. Its large pool and children’s slide continue to make it the best place for mothers and schools to let their kids blow off some steam. In light of that I’d visit early in the morning or during weekdays to avoid being overawed by screaming kids.
As far as I know there weren’t any gymnasium facilities until recently and this was my biggest issue with the place. I can’t vouch for the quality of the gymnasium personally but if what my friends say is true, there are much better gyms in Brighton. Its other facilities, however, are on a par with any other. The large hall is a flexible space that can be used for 5-​a-​side footy, basketball and badminton and the other rooms can be hired for any number of functions and events. In terms of membership I’d go elsewhere because you don’t get that many perks for your money. Included in most other gyms’ membership packages you get free access to facilities but with King Alfred you only get a small discount. To summarise, the King Alfred is a place for entertainment rather than fitness.

King Alfred also has 3 flumes that vary in scaryness. The black flume has blenty of big dips and as you can’t see very much they tend to come out of nowhere. However, my favourite is the blue as it feels the fastest of the 3.
There are actually 3 pools as one is mainly for birthday parties etc. and is seperated from the other 2, so this place is good for kids birthday parties. I myself have had a birthday party and had a cracking time. Although, my mate lost his locker key and all his clothes got stolen, very funny!
I to hope that they improve it slightly in the refurb but they shouldn’t mess with it too much. I like having diving boards as they are always a good way to break up swim sessions.

Swim, swim, swim. Gym, gym, gym. Jim, Jim, Jim.
— «Jim, what are you doing here?»
— «Using the gym then going for a swim!»
Ah that Jim guy, he’s so crazy. But he had the right idea. If you want to get fit, what are better ways than hitting the gym, or going for a swim? What? You can do more than just than just gym and swim?!
Badminton, 5-​A-​Side football, volleyball, basketball, and table tennis are all «dry sports» that you can also participate in at the King Alfred.
The main attraction here is the pool. Actually, there are two pools — one small, one larger. Unlike the Prince Regent however, the King Alfred is not for the accomplished swimmer. And by that I mean the set-​up of the pool (s) is more aimed for what I would call «leisure» or «pleasure» swimmers (slide included) than budding Olympians. This doesn’t mean the facilities are poor, but it is sometimes difficult to build up a steady momentum in the lanes due to the varying ability of the other swimmers. There are swimming and aqua-​aerobics lessons on offer, as well as those awesome «dry» sports I previously mentioned.
The leisure centre is also undergoing massive renovation work, so I am looking forward to seeing the improvement. I have been to much better pools in my life, but the King Alfred is far from the worst.
Swim, swim, swim. Gym, gym, gym. And some «dry» sport action will do me nicely!

I made one trip to this pool while staying with family in Sussex earlier this year. But I shall not be repeating this experience!
I used to go there as a child and remember it being really exciting. However, it seems that instead of keeping up with the times the whole place appears to be a bit dilapidated. The changing rooms were a bit smelly and dirty which was off-​putting for a start. The pool water was really cold. My toddler spent half the time with her teeth chattering. There was a small slide in the children’s pool and a larger one for older children and adults, but the whole place seemed to lack any atmosphere. The staff around the pool seemed uninterested in what was going on in the pool and more focussed on their own conversations. We decided to leave at the point in which a child decided to relieve himself into the pool — no one blinked an eye! I’m sure this happens quite often under the water anyway but that was too much for me! I should wait until this place has a facelift before going!