A little bit about us
The basics
Paris gym was opened in May 1996 by Peter Gann & Phil Hathaway and was originally well known as London's gay gym. In fact, for the first 11 years, the gym was run as London's only exclusively gay gym. However, times have changed and due to the improved situation for gay people in London, Paris Gym has dropped its "gay only" policy and now operates as a male only gym open to all men who are able to respect eachother; gay or straight.
The 8000 sq ft gym is now fully air-conditioned and has 74 weight training machines, 21 pieces of cardio, a massive free-weights area with dumbells upto 60kgs, a separate studio for various classes such as Pilates & circuit training, sauna, sunbed, therapy room for massage & hypnotherapy, free internet station and a cafe/bar area for protein shakes etc.
If you have never been to the gym before please call in at any time to look around. You do not need to make an appointment.
Please note we also give out FREE sweat towels to use whilst working out and we also provide free shower-gel, shaving-foam, hair-gel and deodorant.
We provide shower towels for a charge of £1.00
Our lockers are free and do NOT require you to bring your own padlock.
We also have cycle racks outside the gym to cater for about 12 bicycles (we do not provide locks). Also, if you take part in the London Cycle Scheme there are 4 cycle stations within a 3 minute walk of the gym
And for those who want to know more.....
As it says within the headline on this page, both Peter and Phil had been training within many different gyms up and down the country for years. Although times have changed, what became apparent in those days was the general lack of care & customer service. Phil says "we were astounded by the things that we saw; poorly maintained equipment, shoddy and often rude customer service and a general lack of interest in members. At the time we promised ourselves that if ever our dream of opening a gym came to fruition then it would be run in a totally different manner...I hope we have achieved that"
So in 1995 Peter & Phil opened Paris Gym. The first few years were a hard slog but eventually Paris Gym drew a dedicated membership and in addition recruited equally dedicated and, more importantly, customer-friendly staff (you can meet them on our staff webpage)
We do not treat members as 'just another member' and do our utmost to provide personal attention to each and everyone who walks through the door. On the whole the staff know the names of almost every member - and that's a rare quality these days
Over the years we have been congratulated for the service that we provide. We do our utmost to create an atmosphere which would appeal to a broad cross-section. We believe we have the equipment to satisfy the most serious heavy-duty trainers to the more casual member who is looking to exercise but perhaps with a bit of socialising and polite banter.
In 1995 we placed an advert in the London gay press. This ad was headlined with the phrase "snotty queens with attitude not welcome". Nowadays we would not choose to use that phrase as we recognise its coarse tone. Having said that it's still definitely something that we aspire to achieve within the gym; a relaxed atmosphere where everyone can feel comfortable, relaxed, safe and at home.