Open On A Holiday Time-Out?
A few weeks back, I joined a class at long-established boutique indoor cycling studio in London, at a brand which does things a bit differently on the bike than others do in that market, so naturally, I was curious.
I always observe something fantastic or terrible wherever I am in the world when I take a class of any format…and let me tell you…sadly, this experience was the latter: terrible experience from start to finish.
I will not tell you the name of the studio…it honestly does not matter, nor does the class type, so if your studio offers Pilates, barre or HIIT, keep reading!
What DOES matter, IMO, is that it was a master-class in what not to do at your studio.
Please feel free to use my observations as a checklist of sorts, Noel for simple excellence (or a lack thereof) at your studio.
All of this + more = what I evaluate when I'm hired to mystery-shop boutique studios (I'll be opening up my calendar for that for 2026 in the next month or so, stay tuned!)
& in the meantime, a “report card” of items for you to consider for yours:
Entrance was ground-level, studio was below. WHY were there boxes & bags of deliveries, haphazardly strewn next to the clients' path to the stairs?!
Person at the front desk did not greet me when I entered…and there were no other clients to help…so we can't use the oh was it a huge check-in, though?! "excuse"
They knew it was my first class; that was the one thing the desk bothered to confirm with me. There was no tour of the space nor was I greeted again before I left, to see how I liked class & a graceful share of what packages were available. Could. Have. Cared. Less. That. I. Was. There. (And a 1-class drop-in was the equivalent of USD $35…HELLOOOOOOOOO?!?!?)
Zero engagement from the instructor. Ample space & time for them to come over to anyone new. Chose not to as they were glued to the bike the whole time. Again…I don't pay an a la carte premium for a generic Les Mills-type class which are included at my big box gym…(+ not one single song I recognized in ANY genre, which was shocking given I worked in the music industry then transitioned into the SoulCycle world circa 2007…nothing even remotely familiar to bring joy to the music-piece of class!)
And finally….uhh….class was Saturday morning, November 1st, day after Halloween & a public holiday. If riders were bold enough to turn up, hungover, then let's be on time to start the class, yes?……door to the room opened 5 minutes before class was slated to begin and class started nearly 10 minutes late.
Anything resonate with you in this (irritating) share? Click reply & let me know!
If you celebrate, have a lovely Thanksgiving & if you do not, a great rest of your week!
Noël
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