Prince Regent Swimming Complex

What a really terrible place. Dirty, cramped and expensive. Nearly £5 for an adult swim in a pool which is really small and very crowded. Poolside is dirty and the staff really don’t seem to care. It’s such a shame because with the space they could do so much more.

I have recently decided that now is the time I really need to start focussing on getting fit and healthy. I’m not one for going to the gym but I really enjoy swimming and going to fitness classes so I thought I would enquire about signing up here.
The staff were really friendly and didn’t try and push me in to signing a contract at the gym. Instead I was given a free pass to try a water aerobics class, and was told that if I enjoyed it I could get another pass to try out the swimming pool, sauna and steam room for free, which was great as both of those passes saved me around £14.
I will definitely be going back here to sign up. During the day it is really quiet until about 3.30pm when the kids start to finish school.
I intend to make the most of my membership which includes membership to 4 other council run leisure centres in Brighton and Hove.

The Prince Regents swimming complex is a-​okay, in my book.
The pool is huge, which is amazing in comparison to the smaller pools about (LA Fitness, I’m looking at you, bud) but the issue is that it gets insanely busy! Even when I was coming here as a student, during the off-​peak times it was almost impossible to get a swim in without having to either queue up at each end or be that moron who skips ahead of everyone else. It would get to the point where I would be politely swimming behind someone at a ridiculous pace, just to keep to the pool etiquette and so it was rare to reach the end of the pool feeling out of breath and well exercised. God only knows what the pool is like pre or post working hours too — I can only imagine.
That being said, the actual facilities are good! The changing rooms are big and I could always find somewhere to get ready and a locker for my things. The staff are friendly enough at the reception and the pool itself was always clean and well staffed. There’s nothing particularly special about the complex, but it certainly does its purpose well enough from this point of view.
There are some classes that go on in a separate pool and are priced at around £5-£6 I believe. These always looked pretty good but I must say I never tried on myself!
The location is good and they have hours portioned out for just kids or just females etc, so if you’re looking for this sort of thing, then try the Prince Regents! It’s a very ordinary but reliable pool. Other than the busy lanes, there’s not a great deal to complain about, but then, there’s not all that much to rave about either!

I don’t feel like giving the Prince Regent more than 2 stars, it’s useable, that’s the best I can say for it. Maybe I was spoilt by the municipal pools I grew up near, one beautiful victorian pool with a glass ceiling and the other a vast pool with wave machine various slides and helterskelters and extensive shallow end (good for little ones). The prince regent had neither beauty or fun going for it. It’s rather grubby, often crowded. Occasionally one or two rather battered floats are chucked into the teaching pool. Last week only one of the ladies loos was working. I suppose it’s better than nothing.

Have normally used this pool in the past, and as already reviewed by fellow Qypers, it has not had the most favourable of opinions. However, I feel that this has changed with the refurb. I don’t normally bother with the parking, as I am fortunate with other means of transport. Staff are great and attentive to their job. I find the place leisurely. but I would as I’m retired!

Nice central place to go swimming, with free parking (as long as you use the facilities) and fairly friendly staff.
The swimming pool is well-​manned and there are lanes during most sessions. There are adult-​only and women-​only swimming sessions available (check their website for times), but even during the open-​swimming times, providing you go before the schools are out, it’s never that busy.
There is a good baby pool for those with young ones, a smaller one that isn’t too deep which is suitable for less confident swimmers or children and a larger pool that can be used by anyone. There is a pool for aqua aerobics and other classes too, although I have never attended any of those classes so can’t comment on how good they are.
Price isn’t too bad either (around £3.60 for a general swim), and it is the nicer of the two main public pools in Brighton & Hove as this is the cleaner of them.
Changing rooms are fairly basic, but lockers (bring a £1 coin to use!), showers, toilets, mirrors and hairdryers are all you really need!

This swimming pool complex is in a convenient location right next to Starbucks and Pizza Express (Not the best places to go right after a swim but what can you do?!) nearby the north laines — and it has a car park, a fairly small car park but it’s great for the nightmare that is Brighton. Plus it’s free after 6. Bonus! This pool itself is fairly average — it’s good if it’s not busy and it has 2 other seperate pools for swimming lessons and aqua aerobics (which by the way I must say looks rather fun!)
The gym part of the complex is situated right above the pool so you can look up at those on the treadmills — just as they can look down at you which I guess it adds a little amusement! The changing rooms are OK, there is a fair selection of sizes including family rooms (I know I shouldn’t use these but it’s so much nicer to have space!). The thing is it does smell a little, as do the toilets… If you live in Brighton and enjoy swimming, there’s no reason not to go here, it’s just not the cleanest of complexes.

A brand new year and a brand new start. For many of us this means a new strict and uncompromising health routine, or régime as I’ve found with some people. What better way to exercise than a semi submerged thrash around in a pool? The Prince Regent has three separate pools. The main pool is 25m long and should be noted, isn’t suitable for non-​swimmers. But the flexi pool can accommodate those there just wishing to have a splash. It’s always quite busy and the swimming team practice on Wednesday so you may want to avoid them. And don’t try to join in with the synchronized swimmers, as they have a structured routine that would be ruined by somebody not in the know.

OK, so it’s not Fitness First, or David Lloyd, there’s no 50 inch plasma screens, it’s not the biggest or most conventionally shaped gym in the world (it’s a bit triangular), but it does the job.
It’s got all the usual equipment needed to sweat out the day’s sins: treadmills, cross trainers, bikes, and a couple of dodgily placed rowing machines, resistance equipment, free weights, a stretching area and a couple of swiss balls.
Prince Regent boasts not one, not two or three, but four swimming pools, one with lanes, one for classes, a kids pool and a casual pool too, overlooked by a row of sticky fitness freaks battling it out upstairs in the gym.
They’ve tried their best with a water flume but it’s just not the one out of the Barclays advert, and if you feel like sitting in a shed I mean steam room and sauna to wind down after all your hard work, they’ve got that too.
For just £42.50 per month, (£36 selected corporate discounts, and £33 if you’re a student), you get unlimited access to all this plus four other sports complexes in and around Brighton.
The only downside is that the only classes Prince Regent hosts are aqua aerobics and yoga, so if you’re up for body pump, circuit training, dance classes, or normal aerobics, you’ll have to trek up to Withdean Sports Complex, which has got tennis and squash courts, and all sorts of other lovely things.
Luckily, your membership covers everything!

I went to this swimming centre at 1am on Saturday night as part of Cine City’s event during White Night festival. There was about 80 people splashing around in their bikinis and costumes whilst behind them a gigantic screen played film footage all centred around swimming and swimming pools. There were ushers selling popcorn and people queing to sit down and watch from the raised spectator seats.
It was a quietly magical experience that definitely encouraged me to go back to Prince Regent and actually swim there. As well as having a proper pool with different swimming lanes for professionals and sports fanatics, there’s a shallow pool for kids and beginners and a warm teaching pool for toddlers. There’s also a sauna, steam room and gym apparently — all at extra cost on a daily or weekly basis.
Will post photos of the Cine City /​White Night event in a few hours for swimming movie fans!

I use this pool sometimes when I get to the point that my sitting in front of a laptop and not moving my lower limbs has reached critical mass and I decide to drag myself out for some cheap and honest hard exercise. I used to pay a monthly gym membership until I realised that it was extortionate and that I could get much cheaper exercising by taking advantage of the facilities provided by the Council. One session in the pool is around £2 for students and a little more for non-​concessions– not too bad really (it would be nice if it was even less but hohum life isn’t fair) and you can stay as long as you can keep afloat. The changing rooms are mixed with large cabins and a generous number of lockers that cost nothing. The pool and the changing rooms are generally clean– the toilets are sometimes frustratingly lacking toilet paper but otherwise good. The pool itself is Olympic size with different lanes for different speeds. It can get very busy but if you go during the day between 10am and 1pm or in the afternoon before 5pm it is usually fairly quiet. There is also a sauna that you can pay extra to use.

Swimming is great. It exercises almost every muscle in your body at the same time and also gives you that liberating feeling of floating. You get to pose in your Speedos, or feel so ashamed of your body that you work harder to burn off those extra calories and shed some pounds. What’s not to love?! Self-​loving/​loathing aside, swimming really is a fantastic form of exercise and makes you feel great when you come out of the pool. Brighton has a couple of swimming baths, but The Prince Regent is the most central and if you’re swimming for exercise rather than splashing about in the shallow end, it’s the best choice. It’s neither the most inspired design, nor the cleanest of pools I have visited, but it’s far from unbearable. The programme includes adult-​only swim sessions at night, which mean you’re not interrupted by a gaggle of unruly kids «bombing» into the pool, and can get on with a serious swim session. Prices are very reasonable and there is, at extra cost, access to gym and sauna facilities. Another negative is that the pool can get quite busy, especially when lanes are closed for lessons, which is a little frustrating, but a little trial and error can help you decipher the best time to go for you.

Swimming pools can be a bit gross, and this pool in the past has not been great. However it has recently had a refurbishment and the changing rooms are now very comfortable — mixed sex with private cubicles and good ventilation so it all dries out quickly. Note that the lockers take pounds to lock them, so save one when you go in. There is plenty of space in lockers and cubicles, and there are also cubicle showers. There are also free hairdryers! The new changing rooms make the whole experience much more pleasant.
The Pool itself is good, with the main pool being 25 meters long. It can get busy at peak times, but early mornings and evenings tend to have quite a bit of space, with the adults only swimming times being generally less hectic! There is also a smaller shallow pool, and a flexi pool, which I think has things like water aerobics classes in.
I can recommend the over all experience, and it is fairly cheap to swim. Student’s get a discount, and if you go more than three times a week, you can buy a pass which gets you even more money off.