OAK Fitness — Attraction in Houston

TLDR: A gym with potential, but missing crucial qualities that would make it viable at its price point.

Pros: Staff seem nice. I can’t speak to the personal trainers, but a group session was happening while I was there and seemed like it was going well. Astroturf patches for more active weighted exercises. 24/7 access.

Cons: Amenities: No locker room (you put your stuff on a shelf with no security), only one shower room, and only two single user restrooms. If you’re planning to hit a morning workout, then shower and go to work, this is unsustainable. For the record, I had no legit concerns about stuff being stolen, but would’ve preferred some way to lock my stuff up.

Equipment quantity: I went at a time with low traffic, and couldn’t get in my planned workout because there was only one inclinable bench by the free weights and it was in use. Equipment felt generally inconsistent in terms of quantity per muscle group/exercise. Again, if you’re at all in a time crunch for your workout, this is not remotely viable.

Equipment quality: Machines are packed together and are in pretty poor condition (some rust, paint chipping etc). Treadmill I used was grindy (iykyk) and loud. It was less than 6 inches away from the nearest cardio equipment on either side. At a premium price, this is really disappointing - I’ve seen similar at a free community gym in a basement. The equipment also reminded me of LA fitness, which I wouldn’t recommend, but is a fraction of the cost. That said, everything appeared to work without any major issues.

Hygiene: Hygiene practice at the gym seems basically nonexistent. Didn’t see any evidence of periodic wipe downs by staff, and there were no obvious cleaning tools available for patrons to clean machines before/after use. Every other gym I’ve been to in Houston has this down.

Membership prices: With all this in mind, the membership prices are insane. The only way the monthly is even close to reasonable is if you accept a 2 year contract ($55 ish per month). Month to month, which is friendlier to most young people who might be moving after a year or something, will run you in the ballpark of $150 ish per month. You can get a membership to a climbing gym 10 min away with a great weight room for under $100/month. I’m sure there are people for whom this gym makes practical sense, but I can’t imagine that it’s a good fit for a vast majority of people. Their whole pricing model seems like it’s designed to get you into a 2 year deal that you’re unlikely to fulfill, but will have to pay for.

In conclusion: There were a few things I liked about the gym and I think it’s worth a free visit to see if it’s right for you. That said, check out other gyms in Houston as well because there are way better, more reasonably priced gyms and they are not hard to find.

EDIT re ownership: Thanks for your reply. A few comments to make sure I'm clear on my feedback.

I'm referring to adjustable benches that can be put in a seated-upright position. I did see multiple incline press machines/fixed incline seating, but only saw one adjustable bench that met this criteria. If there's a photo proving otherwise I apologize for the mistake and l'll remove that critique from the review.

I'm glad to hear there are spray bottles - I'd love to know the policy around cleaning frequency. I mentioned hygiene because I saw no evidence of periodic cleaning, no equipment for patrons to easily access to clean equipment themselves, and felt that the equipment I did use wasn't cleaned prior.

The machines I saw, regardless of price, were not in great condition compared to other gyms I've been to. As I said, they were working perfectly, so it's just a matter of personal taste and expectation given the membership cost.

I trust that the price is fair from a rent/business perspective, but I don't think it's fair in terms of ROI for patrons. That said, I wish the business success and I hope people give the gym a go and decide...

The gym itself is alright - good selection of equipment and 24 hour access is enough is all I really needed. However, trying to cancel my membership was a terrible experience.

I initially signed up for a 12 month membership, since I was moving out of state in a year. After my move, the contract auto-renewed. I should have read the contract terms more carefully, but I never received a copy of my contract, even after calling and requesting an emailed copy.

When I realized Oak Fitness was still charging me, I immediately called to ask if I could cancel my membership. Over the phone, I explained my situation, and the employee canceled my membership, telling me explicitly that I would not be charged again (this turned out to be untrue). He also said that I could ask about a refund through email, so I sent a thorough email to the address he provided.

A month later, I realized Oak Fitness had charged me for another month, despite what they had told me over the phone. They also had not responded to my email sent a month prior. I called the gym, and explained the whole situation again. This employee told me that there was no way to cancel my membership over the phone, and she had no idea why the other employee told me my membership was successfully canceled. Since I now live out of state, she said my only option is to either fly back to Houston or to send somebody else to cancel in person. I even asked if I could cancel through my bank, and she said this would be a breach of contract, and they would have to pursue legal action (reminder that I still have no idea what this contract looks like, since they won't provide a copy). She also explained that the person in charge of emails at Oak Fitness was currently in Florida helping with hurricane relief, so is unlikely to respond to my previous email. She told me to just send another email, which I did, explaining everything once again.

In the end, I was finally able to find a friend who could cancel my membership in person. I have yet to receive a single response to either of my emails, sent over a month and a half ago. I can only assume they have no intention of ever responding to any of my email requests, nor providing a refund for the OVER 300 DOLLARS I was charged without my consent or notice.

A summary of my experience trying to cancel: membership contract auto renewed without notice asked over the phone for an emailed copy of my contract no response called to cancel my membership employee said my membership was canceled and I would never be charged again sent an email asking if a refund would be possible no response charged me another month of membership fees called again was told I have no choice but to find a way to cancel in person was told I would be in legal trouble if I stopped paying was told the person in charge of emails was in Florida and probably wouldn't respond apparently nobody else can access this email was told to just send another email sent another email, 1 month after my first email no response, one and a half months later

Update: the owner has reached out after my review and given me a full refund for the extra months I was charged, which I very much appreciate. He was not aware of the issues I had when trying to cancel. I'm leaving the contents of my original review, since the communication issues I ran into are pretty egregious, but the extra charges I paid have...

I’ll start by saying that I am someone who loves to train in my country of origin. I trained every day. When I arrived here due to time constraints I could not continue. I recently moved here to Heights and I was looking for gyms near me and I found this one that is 2 minutes from me... I live in the "Vic Interpose" apartment complex. Today I decided to arrive to find out about the prices and everything else, but to my surprise I did not receive the attention I expected. To begin with, I think these people who work there are racist. I do not speak English very well, I understand it but I do not speak it fluently and that apparently was a nuisance to them. I say them because the boy at the door was with another dark-skinned man who did not even have the education to approach me when the other boy asked him if there was anyone who spoke Spanish, he just reluctantly answered NO! and continued with what he was doing all that without coming towards me... the guy who was sitting asked him what the prices were and he reluctantly pointed me to the table where there was a post with the prices but with no intention of explaining absolutely anything to me, I turned around and left very disappointed, the truth is with this place... Very disappointed, really, I think they should have more empathetic workers to serve all types of public who do not speak Spanish, I understand but we are in 2024, the technology is there to be used and nothing simpler than getting a translator and that's it, it seems to me that they should fix that if they care about gaining more clients obviously... Finally, saying that I do not speak fluent English does not make me less than anyone else, okay... Greetings and I hope they improve if they want new clients they have to be a little more...