Curl Fitness — Attraction in Newport Beach

Curl fitness is the Balboa Peninsula area's most ideal gym. I've been a member here for about a year and a half now, and I can easily say this place has totally transformed my life.

The location is super convenient with ample free onsite parking at the Lido garage (they validate for members) and easy bike access for Peninsula residents. The upstairs cardio machines have a beautiful harbor view, making it a little easier to trudge through an half-hour on an elliptical. Plus the area surrounding the gym is undergoing some major renovations which should be done soon and will make the location even more inviting.

Curl's greatest asset however is its staff. From the front desk, to the owners, and all the trainers, this gym is run by an awesome team. Starting on my first day, every single employee made me feel incredibly welcome and comfortable. I definitely wasn't a typical "gym person" (whatever that means) before I joined Curl, but now I can't imagine NOT going to the gym regularly. The Curl staff have been a big part of that being so authentically encouraging and helpful. Within a couple weeks of going here, they all knew me by my first name, and I now consider the Curl team to be my friends.

The Curl trainers are also excellent. All of them seem very knowledgable and work with dedicated professionalism. I really encourage anyone joining this gym to look into training in at least some capacity here. I've been working with Jeff, who's one of Curl's longtime trainers, and he's done so much for me. I will be forever grateful to him. He's basically rehabbed me to complete health following a 2012 back injury (T12 compression fracture) that had me sidelined for over a year. Jeff, like the other Curl trainers, knows his stuff and has specialized certifications/education that make these guys top of the line trainers. They're also really fun and friendly, which has been huge for me and has kept me coming back for more.

Curl has plenty of equipment spread out over two floors of workout space. The gym is a perfect size. You will never have to wait to get onto a machine, and it never feels crowded (but definitely doesn't have that abandoned failing-gym vibe either).

If you're looking for a gym in Newport, you've got to give Curl a shot. Joining was among the best things that's ever happened to...

Jury isn’t out yet. After previous owners scammed members out of monthly fees and prepaid trainer sessions before sheepishly and unsuspectedly closing their doors, gym reopens under new ownership (and keeps the same gym name to continue recurring monthly charges - even though I blocked “Curl Fitness” from auto charging my Visa - new company bills the credit card under "Curl Fitness *" -with an asterisk) Feels shady to me. I called my credit card again and the new gym letting them know I did not authorize the charge. They said they’d credit it. Husband went in to check out the supposedly remodeled gym but he said it looks the same - just told they would remodel in 2 mos. It was explained that new owners are a national chain however kept the name Curl to “keep it local and small” why not change the name? I’ll give it another shot - maybe, once their remodels actually happen. It’s a shame, Diana and Dione ran the gym into the ground once they took over from Jill. It was such a cool gym. Booooo! UPDATE: After a bit of time, the new owners have rectified all wrongfully posted charges and that was all it took to come back to Curl. I hear my trainers are back and even my fav, Spencer, is back! Maybe my old (yet new) Curl is back!!! I’ll be joining again, everything looks clean, well organized and back to normal! No remodels yet but I honestly feel Curl is great as is! Yay!...

Please note: I only went to this gym on one occasion so my review might not be indicative of what's normal. You should give more weight to the reviews of people who attended regularly over a long period of time. I wanted to love it but in the end, I didn't. I paid the $20 drop-in as a visitor from out of town. The staff working at the front desk were really awesome. Friendly, engaging, sincere and helpful. This gym had some really cool machines that I had never used before and it has really good lighting. I was disappointed by how small it was. By the biggest problem was the enormous amount of weight room douchbaggery I've ever seen. Imagine all the worst weight room etiquette you've ever seen, I experienced all of it in an hour. I know as a business no one wants to police people, but at a gym you kinda have to. I had to wait so long to get to the machines I needed because groups of guys were standing around them talking forever pretending to finish their sets. They leave towels on machines as a way to save them when they aren't around. Many machines were left with multiple 45lb plates on them. There were people doing dumbbell stuff right up in front of the racks so you couldn't get what you needed. I spent most of time waiting to get what I needed and hovering...