LA Fitness — Attraction in Phoenix

An absolute disgrace! And quite interesting that LA Fitness "owner" responds only to positive reviews and completely ignores critical ones = yup, that's what I am talking about. They DO NOT CARE!!!!! I live in central/uptown Phoenix and have been an LA Fitness member since the 2077 E. Camelback Road location was built and opened. That is the location I visit most often and over the years I have seen it deteriorate! Sauna, pool and spa are closed for weeks at a time, when they are open, they are beyond filthy: sediment at the bottom of both the pool and jacuzzi, murky water in the pool, dirty changing rooms, unidentified bugs crawling on the sauna floor (which was always brought to the attention of the front desk staff) ... an absolute nightmare to the point that patrons had to call Maricopa County Health Department several times for violations. Now for weeks that location has both the pool and the jacuzzi closed with no date of reopening. So, I go to the 710 W. Camelback location only to find the jacuzzi indefinitely closed by the order of the Maricopa Health Department as a health risk. Sauna barely heats up, and the pool is beyond freezing! Now I am an experienced swimmer and a cooler pool is preferable to the overheated one, but this one is fit for a polar bear swim! I heard from another patron who came to the 710 West Camelback location yesterday that another location that is within relatively reasonable driving distance from my place and is closest to hers, also has had their jacuzzi and pool closed and the sauna hasn't been working for weeks, too. This is absolutely inexcusable! I live in an HOA condo complex and when we have a serious issue like this (and we had several in the past two years), the management company gets things repaired within days, even when there is a need for parts replacement. And your LA Fitness location managers can't do it for weeks and sometimes even months! Additionally, one can never get hold of the location managers, staff is curt, short, and some downright rude when interacting with patrons who dare ask questions. The only years that the 2077 E. Camelback operated as it should, were when Chad (I don't remember the last name) was the general manager at that location. He was efficient and friendly with patrons, he got things done, and he made sure the place was always clean and working properly. Since he was promoted to the regional manager, things went downhill and stayed downhill. Over the years, I tried calling the corporate office many times about issues at the Camelback location and never got anywhere: never got to speak with anyone and calls went to voicemail and were never returned. This is a blatant, complete, utter disregard and disrespect of patrons who pay your dividends and bonuses! It is HIGH TIME that corporate leadership take interest in these locations and make things right. However, I am not holding my breath that anything will be done - after all, all past attempts to get operations improved and facilities brought up to functional condition in central Phoenix were ignored. But, maybe, perhaps, per chance we might see some action from leadership that will make it possible for LA Fitness patrons to have the repairs done efficiently and quickly so they can enjoy the membership benefits they are paying for, rather than having to look for alternate fitness places. I am also not holding my breath that anyone will respond this time, as nobody responded to a myriad of complaints over the years! The ball is in...

Gym is pretty nice. I saw other reviews mentioning that it’s unclean or smells. I didn’t get that impression. I mean, it’s an LA Fitness so it’s not the pinnacle of cleanliness but it’s not some grimy underground gym or anything. I think they have four sets of each dumbell weight, lots of benches (though would be good to have a few more), busy but not excessively so, even when I went at five one time.

That said, skip that assessment thing they do at the start. I thought it was something they do to help people out but instead it’s a curated and purposely confusing/aggressive sales technique to sell their personal training BS. Absolutely hate it.

I could tell the goal was to confuse me. He started with one of the most confusing coverages of muscle and fat gain/loss and the effect of caloric surplus on that process. Drew random arrows and circles and whatnot.

Then transitioned to asking me about my goals. I told him I wanted to start with adding muscle mass and eventually transitioning to strength training. He mentioned nutrition and was like, “so what’s the move?” I didn’t know what he meant and asked what he was asking me. He simply repeated himself. Purpose of this technique is to make you realise you lack a plan and need a trainer/nutritionist to fill that. I told him I’ve counted macros before but am not crazy about it.

Somehow that whole conversation transitioned into a goal of 190lbs 12.5% body fat and how important it is to get my current body fat percentage because if we’re off on body fat percentage I may not lose enough fat. I literally never cared about that percentage lol.

I asked him at one point, “are you selling something?” Because I realised he was trying to push me into a training plan by getting me to create these goals and making it clear that I would never achieve HIS dream physique with my...

I just started going to this LA and I'm happy with all of the amenities; it's a step up from my last gym. Unfortunately, there are a few things that really bother me. 1. It's unclear how often they wipe down the machines. I regularly warm up on a treadmill and they often have dried water (or sweat) drops on them. 2. There's no spray bottles with cleaner to wipe machines down. They do have hand sanitizer which I have seen people use to clean things, but I really don't believe that had the same effect, and it's a foam which means it doesn't wipe or spread well when cleaning down benches, etc. 3. They play too much Fox news. It might seem silly to some, but it seems like they're pushing an agenda inside the gym. They also play CNN which is equally trash media. 4. And this is is my BIGGEST PEEVE. They have a separate area specified for personal training sessions. Gym goers are not allowed to use the equipment inside the personal training area (and that's fine by me) but then why do the trainers use the space outside of their allotted area? They are taking away equipment that they already have in their room, and also have equipment I never have access to. Example, I want to use boxes but they're locked away in the training room. What really pushed me over the edge was when I was working out in my corner of the gym and a trainer and a gym member came over to work on the trx bands directly next to me, and in between us, there were ropes. Not only does the trainer enter my bubble of personal workout space, he has not issue doing it and acts like I'm the one who's in the way. When I got up to put away some dumbbells he kicked the ropes into the area I was STILL working out in. Utilize the personal training room because IT'S THERE FORA REASON. Next time, I will say something instead of ignoring the rude behavior of...