Onelife Fitness - Falls Church — Attraction in Falls Church

UPDATED REVIEW 6/14/24

I had to drop my review to 1 star from my previous 4 stars.

I cancelled my membership during the pandemic in 2020, then moved to Atlanta a year and a half ago. I'm in town for a few days and bought a 3-day pass to visit my old stomping grounds, but I won't be returning.

To put it simply, this gym is old and dirty. Period.

The locker rooms are disgusting. I literally didn't even want to touch anything (though at least the shower water pressure is much better than I remember). The shower drains seem clogged, so the showers kind of flood a bit. The gym equipment is just old, and so many machines just don't seem to be working right. I like to start with my cardio. I can't do impact exercises because of my sciatica, so I usually do the elliptical machine for cardio. After trying out about six different ellipticals that ranged from being creaky to outright not working, I tried a row machine, but the chain tension was weird and don't feel right. I finally just did 5 minutes of the ski trainer before starting my lifting.

The gym is definitely moldy, the equipment is probably the same equipment that was there when they first moved in. A couple cable machines were definitely broken. Not nearly enough barbell clamps, I have to assume people are probably just stealing them for themselves.

The parking lot wasn't too busy at all, and I can definitely see why. I hate saying this, but it definitely feels like there are better gym options around. I mean, the Planet Fitness a couple minutes away in Seven Corners seems like a better option than this gym, which is really sad and embarrassing to say. I used to love 24 Hour so much, so this was really disappointing. Maybe it has to do with 24 going bankrupt during the pandemic and closing a bunch of locations, but honestly, this is just sad.

I love 24 Hour Fitness. I've been a member with 24 Hour Fitness for about a year and a half. I'm a huge fan of the location in Tyson's Corner. The Falls Church location... not quite as much. It's nice and serviceable, but I definitely have a few issues which knock off a star or two.

For starters, I know people say parking is limited. It's Falls Church, so I can see that. But I've never had an issue finding parking, even as it starts to get busier.

The gym itself has a lot of space to work out. Not quite as much open space as the Tyson's location, but they do have more equipment there, so it's much more justified. The bench/weights setup feels kind of weird to me, but I guess that's more personal preference. If you're looking for a location with a lot of space to push weights across the floor or the like, this isn't the location for you. They really do fill the space with plenty of machines. It never feels claustrophobic, but when it's busier, you can definitely tell. They use to have two rope trainer machines, as I recall, but it seems that they only have one now. But I rarely see others on it, so that's not a huge issue.

The staff doesn't seem quite as friendly and welcoming as other locations. They're quite friendly when trying to get people to sign up, which I completely understand, but if you're already a member, it feels like a kind of cold reception. But I only ever see them when I enter and leave, so I can take it or leave it, and I understand.

Another con is the locker rooms. The men's locker room showers have virtually no water pressure (I've literally tried them all), and I've never experienced that at any other gym that I work out at. It feels like it takes forever to wash off because the pressure is just so weak. The locker rooms have also seemed a bit dirtier than other locations I've been to.

Overall, a solid place to workout. It's just the little extraneous things, like the locker room and the courteousness of the staff that knocks off a few points for me. But I'd still recommend 24 as a great place...

Concerns Regarding Your Falls Church Location I'm writing to express my significant concerns about the current state of your Falls Church OneLife gym location.

As a four-year member, I was initially delighted when this location opened closer to my home. However, over the past three months, my experience has deteriorated considerably, leading me to seriously consider other options despite being a long-standing member.

Deteriorating Service and Equipment Issues

The recent reviews I've seen perfectly echo my own experiences. From the front desk customer service to issues with the equipment, it feels as though your team is completely disconnected from the customer experience. I've encountered faulty equipment lacking proper labeling or warnings, and a multitude of machines that constantly require a "reset" with the promise that someone will "look into it"—a promise that has yet to be fulfilled.

While I understand the importance of equipment maintenance and temperature control, experiencing an 84 degree Fahrenheit temperature on a 101°F day is unacceptable. This feels like either a severe lapse in planning or outright negligence.

Lack of Staff Engagement

My attempts to communicate with your staff have been met with very simplistic answers and a general sense of being disregarded, sometimes even in front of other patrons. This significantly detracts from the experience I expect when paying for a membership, not to mention an almost doubling of the monthly membership cost. It would be greatly appreciated to simply be greeted upon entering, rather than being met with blank stares while several employees stand in a circle talking, seemingly oblivious to my presence.

Management Transition and Its Impact

I understand that the location is undergoing a management transition. However, the decline in service and overall atmosphere over the past three months is stark. What began as a positive experience with everything working properly has, in my perception, transformed into an environment where there's a clear lack of care from management and leadership.

I sincerely hope that these concerns are swiftly addressed with your staff at the new Falls Church location. As I am currently on a month-to-month membership, I am actively considering other fitness options.

In conclusion, I do hope to spare the time of continuing to post on other platforms, such as Google, yelp, Facebook, and he continued effort to communicate the dissatisfaction of service. I continue to receive at this one life, false church location.

Thank you,...

Walked in and it smelled like urine. The Client-facing-Staff was stand off-ish, and overall terrible rude behavior with no intention for client assistance at all. This is not an over-exaggeration. It is as if the staff was trained to be gatekeepers and not welcome potential new guests/members. The gatekeepers endless confusing rebuttals went against the instructions that were on via 24Hr Fitness’s own website. They even told me the automatic messages that were sent to my phone don’t mean anything, and that they can’t do anything with the website confirmation page. (Then why does 24 Hr Fitness have these marketing campaigns up?) Then the stand-off staff created a photocopy of my ID and just left it in the printer out in the open (did not place in safe drawer) without me even being a welcomed guest yet lol. I asked what the purpose was and they say “security purposes”. Now im getting rude vibes from the staff, and confused because i am just following the directions of the website guest pass!

Since i was not a welcomed guest, i kindly asked for the photocopy of my ID, that was laying out in the open, and left.

I went to 24 Hr Fitness Fairfax, and it was 180 degree experience. They accepted me with open arms, offered to give me a tour. Took down my information online, instead of taking a photocopy of my ID, and held my physical ID in a safe drawer with other guest IDs. The whole process was simple, safe, and was what i expected from Falls Church, but did not get.

If the client-facing-staff had started off with “we dont accept the website pass at our location” then that wouldve been understandable, but the fact that they kept giving me rebuttals that were inconsistent in their argument (i.e., having to wait for a phonecall first or showing the original confirmation email) goes against what is said on their own website and trying to make me feel like im the dumb one… staff needs re-training.

I like the machines they have at Fairfax location but due to the unacceptable staff experience and smell at Falls Church, I wont be joining the yearly membership.

TLDR; 24Hour Fitness FallsChurch stand-off staff with no client assistance + urine smell, but Fairfax Location is 180 degrees difference in staff, smell, & upkeep...