LA Fitness — Attraction in Los Angeles

I moved to Santa Monica from NC, where I had been a member of a Planet Fitness workout center. My workout needs are simple (plenty of weight and cardio machines), and I was fortunate to find this L.A. Fitness facility within reasonable driving distance. (I was surprised to find so few workout places like this in this area; most are wellness centers with a few racks of free weights and several workout mats, with personal trainers being standard.) This L.A. Fitness is a good facility but had some radical differences from what I’d been used to, and I wanted to give a few notes for similar people coming from Planet Fitness.

The first thing you’ll notice is that they have an exclusive parking lot, which is very convenient. But be aware, it’s a pay lot. If you normally work out five days a week, be sure to add at least an extra $20/month when considering the fitness membership monthly fee.

It’s an older facility in a building that’s smaller than most places I’ve seen which provide this many workout options. This leads to a number of, primarily health, concerns. All the machines, cardio and weight, are by necessity pretty close together. If you have concerns about distancing, be aware of this. A related concern, while I saw several large ceiling vents, I’ve never heard any kind of climate control running and have never felt any air movement. While it may or may not be a health concern, it’s also noticeably warmer here than at previous workout centers I’ve been to. If you prefer cooling during your workout, be aware.

As I said, the facility and machines are old, which I don’t normally consider a problem, though some might. I haven’t yet seen any machines that were out of order, though many are worn and in disrepair. The elliptical machines have chargers for first generation iPods. Many of the machine pads are worn or loose. The floor of the weight room (on the third floor) shakes noticeably whenever anyone sets their weights down hard. (I don’t believe it’s a concern, and I’m sure it’s not something they can fix.)

Related to overall health and cleanliness, it doesn’t seem to be something either the staff nor members are concerned about. There are no rules about wiping down the machines after use, and there are no products in place to do so. No one wears masks (except for one lone janitor I saw). It’s simply not an issue here. Whether that is a concern or not is up to the individual. The men’s locker room has several sinks but only two old blowing hand dryers. There are no paper towels, though that might be a result of recycling/conservation practices in California.

Unrelated to the facility itself, L.A. Fitness has a pretty hard-sell business practice, similar in feel to car salesmen. After being shown around for the first time, I was literally asked, "is there anything stopping you from signing up today?" They also offer a number of features, such as trainers and dietary planning, which are initially free but then come at an additional fee. When I signed up, I was clear that I didn’t need those options, but was still called later that day by someone who told me they were aware I’d refused them, but tried to sell them to me again. I understand that this is their business model, so I can’t really complain.

In conclusion, coming to L.A. Fitness from Planet Fitness was a pretty big change. As I said, I’m glad to have found a facility like this, which has the things I need for daily workout, within easy driving distance from my house. But if I had another option, I don’t think I would be a...

I was harassed at this gym.

I walked in with a free guest pass and told staff that I only had a limited time to work out. I was sat down at a table with multiple suited men, who asked me increasingly intrusive questions like where am I from, where do I live now, what’s my motivation to work out, my fitness goals, my job, my exact field of work, etc etc. I was giving them monosyllabic answers because I was not interested in engaging with them, but with each passing minute, they seemed to grow more desperate and became even pushier.

I told them again that I was short on time and wanted to work out. Activating a guest pass should only take a minute, and explaining the layout of the gym another minute (very simple - cardio first floor, weights second). However it was incredible the way they kept drawing it out. Eventually, they told me to my face: “you would save a lot more money if you signed up for a membership today” which is blatantly untrue. I refused and stated I wanted to try my guest pass first. They said “what’s stopping you from signing up today?” Again I said I wanted to try my pass. Which is the whole point of a pass. “Have you had negative experiences with gyms in the past?” “It seems like you’ve had negative experiences in the past. I’d love to hear about them.”

Eventually I got so angry my whole body started shaking. I again reiterated that the whole point of a free guest pass is that you try first before deciding to sign up. They then hit me with “clearly you are not serious about joining the gym or your health. You should know better.” And then went on a tirade on why physical health is important.

I left the almost 30 min experience feeling wildly shaken.

Besides getting harassed, their membership prices are very strange. They have a monthly, annual, initiation, AND first and last month. It was also very crowded to the degree of seeming unsanitary.

I’ve since done some research into LA fitness - it seems they get paid by how many memberships they sell and are a corrupt business in general, which explains my experience. I am but one of many who have been their targets...

I recently moved to LA, and I do like this gym. The equipment is newer than what some of the other reviewers said a year ago, so I think it's been renovated. I like the variety of the equipment, could use more leg weights equipment though, only a couple machines for legs outside of the free weight ones. I actually have only been going for about 4 mos from date of this review. The staff overall has been nice, I saw one woman who was glued to her phone, didn't acknowledge when I came in and she had no business at the front "greeting" anyone, but in general overall nice staff, and most will greet you with a smile.

A couple things would make it 5 stars...

1. WHY do they charge .50 cents to park, that is really ridiculous. You have a membership, it should be included as part of the membership. AND if you accidentally go in you can't turn around, you have to park, go in to pay even if there for 1 minute... Not well thought through and sad, but they say this is LA, $$$$ greed before people??

2. At peak times there has been NO paper towels in the dispensers on several occasions... Hmm, Management and Cleaning team, pay attention c'mon, how do you wipe equipment down without paper towels??... Please check all the dispensers and do a sign-off when supplies were replenished last.

3. People should NOT be allowed to fill their bottle water at the water fountains. WHY? First of all some of them have nasty hygiene and accidentally touch the spout with the bottles when filling up, just gross, and there is NO ultra light to kill bacteria, so guess what... Yeah just nasty. Also, standing there waiting for them to fill the water bottle is like, okay, c'mon.

Other than that, overall I don't tend to go peak hours anymore because of my work schedule. One more thing, I also feel comfortable going as a woman, it doesn't feel like a meat market place and I don't feel anyone is oogling. BUT some of the guys when they lift weights grunt and make stupid noises, I say if that is the case go to more like a overtly manly gym where testosterone can befriend each other grunting to their...