2023-09-21 17:47:00
The new David Lloyd club will have two swimming pools, one of which is outdoor and will be open all year round. ©JC Guillaume
After Uccle and Antwerp, it is the turn of Sterrebeek, in the eastern suburbs of Brussels and a stone’s throw from Zaventem airport, to welcome a sports and leisure club with the David Lloyd logo. It is in fact an entire district of the municipality of Flemish Brabant, the former site of the racecourse, which will change. The Steria project is gigantic. In addition to the new 11,000 m2 club, nearly 250 new accommodations are under construction, as well as a luxury hotel. With a view of the golf course, please. “Some of these villas are worth more than 3 million euros,” shows us Niels Van den Steen, the new manager of Lloyd Sterrebeek.
The club will be the third of the British brand in Belgium, following Uccle and Antwerp. ©JC Guillaume
British personnel to the rescue
Le Brabançon takes a last look at the club’s outdoor swimming pool, which will be open all year round, with water heated to 27 degrees. “It feels like we’re in the countryside,” smiles the young man. Normally there isn’t a sound. However, we are right next to the Brussels Ring”. Normally yes. Because this Thursday, the future club is a veritable anthill where workers and future fitness instructors meet. “We brought in employees from the UK. This is the procedure when David Lloyd opens a club abroad. We have to ensure that everything goes well, according to Lloyd’s standards and values”.
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Suddenly, a message sounds. Same as a call at an airport. A code name is announced in English. “It’s a test to explain to the staff that there is a problem at the swimming pool,” explains Niels Van den Steen. The idea is not to panic our members. In terms of safety standards, we are above Belgian requirements.”
Fitness rooms, sauna, hammam, restaurant, lounge, Padel courts on the roof and work spaces: the David Lloyd Sterrebekois has nothing to envy of its big brother in Uccle. “Our building is smaller, but more modern. We were inspired by a Lloyd club in Madrid”. In a few weeks, the club affiliated 2,000 members. “We can still welcome 500 new members, but no more. We want to keep this club spirit.” A club that mainly targets families, with almost a quarter of the members being children. And the little ones will find themselves there between the activities of the crèche, the mini football pitches, the swimming lessons or the evenings with specific themes, “like popcorn television”. Even the changing rooms have been designed for children. “We want this club to be a second home. Everyone must come according to their desires, simply read their newspaper in the lounge, work out in the fitness rooms or relax in the saunas. The idea is to be able to do everything in one place, without having to run left and right to look following your children, for example.”
Sports and wellness clubs are booming in Belgium. ©JC Guillaume
“We want to remain a prestigious club”
Between instructors and catering services, nearly seventy people (including 35 employees) will work in this new Lloyd. At more than 200 euros for membership, in platinum mode and adult rate, per month, to which must be added an entry fee which will increase, the club is not open to all budgets. . “We want to remain a prestigious club, we assume on the Lloyd side. It is true that for a family, this can amount to 500 euros per month and you have to be able to pay them. But when you see the services we offer, we can say that our members get what they pay for. We want to keep them for life. In Uccle, we have members who have been there for almost 20 years.”
Aspria, Mix or Animo,… new clubs are springing up like little mushrooms in Brussels and its suburbs. La Libre will soon return to this phenomenon. “Covid has changed a lot of things,” explains Niels Van den Steen. People realized that their physical and mental health were fundamental. There is also the social aspect that comes into play”. David Lloyd has, for the moment, no other club projects in Belgium.
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