LA Fitness — Attraction in Seattle

Oct 2025 update: Basketball gym has been removed or converted into some other cardio space during a recent remodel. This is sad, as I had great memories playing ball here and found it a way to build friendships with others. There wasn't much reasoning provided about why they eliminated the gym. I changed my 5 star review to 1 star for poor facility decisions. The remodel took away about the only feature I loved, without clear reasons, and made bball players feel discarded. If you're not into basketball, the facility is pretty good otherwise. BTW, I found it easy to cancel my membership, surprisingly. Just told the facility mgr at the front desk and in under a minute, it was canceled. Switching to Seattle Athletic Club instead.

Previous review: My review strictly focuses on the basketball scene here, which is great for an older player like me (I'm 46). Every day at lunchtime (e.g., 11:45am to 2:00pm), you can find the basketball court full of adults playing 5x5 games. So if you're looking for a place to hoop at lunchtime, this is it. (There are also early morning games at 6am with a slightly older crowd, and a late afternoon game scene at around 4:30pm, but I only play during lunchtime.) The average age of players is probably 25-50 years old (almost no high school kids). Skill level is typical of these gyms, with some great players and some less-great players (rarely any dunking). Games are played to 21 points, with scoring using 2's and 3's (rather than 1's and 2's, which would inappropriately weight the game for distance shooting).

"Next game" is based on order of waiting (e.g., who's been waiting the longest). In other words, the guy who has the next game can't hand-pick the other 4 players he wants (as sometimes happens with streetball courts). On the days I've played, there are typically 1-2 teams waiting for next game. The winning team stays on the court. On-court attitudes are mostly sportsmanlike, without much chippiness (arguing). Games don't stop while people argue about the score. Not everyone knows each other by name, though. Just the regulars know each other's names.

The only problem with this court is that it's a junior-sized court (same with all basketball courts at LA Fitness facilities), so you're not running as much, and there's almost no ability to play a post-up game because the court is so compressed -- too many bodies clog the middle. As a result, the game becomes more of a shooter's game. But this compressed size isn't as bad as it sounds. I think it results in fewer injuries (maybe a debatable point), and the games get over a bit faster. I still end up tired and sore after 3-4 games.

Also, finding the facility is challenging the first time. It's the 5th story up in a larger building within a shopping square (kind of above Ross for Less or something). I ride my bicycle here. If you bike, park in the LA Fitness ground-floor lobby (which has bike indoor bike racks) just west of the UPS Store along NW 46th St here: 47.66228640869702, -122.37546139566255. Then take the elevator up to the 5th floor. You can easily get to this lobby location from the Burke-Gilman trail. Cross at the crosswalk on NW 46th St and 15th Ave NW (47.66217628278471, -122.37591710912127), as this is safer than crossing at the busier NW 46th St and 14th Ave NW intersection because cars don't seem to stop for bikes there.

As with most gyms, be sure to bring your own ball. There are plenty of basketballs if you need one, but they're lopsided, flat, frayed, etc., so won't be as nice as the...

Crowded, rundown, and predatory!

To start, the gym itself is not designed to accommodate demand; there’s an empty kids club, a racketball court that’s never used, a Pilates studio that’s never busy, studios for classes that are subpar, an entire private 3rd-party physical therapy facility, and random equipment that no one uses. Meanwhile forget getting time on a stairstepper, or cables, or on a bench. And forget about room to stretch or do floor exercises.

Secondly, the equipment is garbage. It has not been maintained well nor replaced when needed. My last visit, 50% of the stairsteppers were broken. A leg press machine has been broken for 6 months. Pads are cracked, machines are missing pins, everything squeaks, and I honestly question the safety of some of the machinery. Not to mention the cleanliness; there’s one lovely woman who is always working hard cleaning machines but she’s just one person and the sanitizing wipes are stationed so far apart that most are just too lazy to wipe their machines down after use.

Finally, their entire personal training sales pitch is the biggest predatory practice ever. Obviously I fell for it and I accept the consequences but I hope others see this and learn from my mistakes. I was given so much attention in my initial 1 hour session. I was promised that I would could not only just the training sessions but training plans. That I would get nutrition coaching, and monthly check-in’s with the fitness manager, and I was led to believe I was receiving hour long sessions only to receive my contract for 25 minute sessions. I have received none of this in the 6 months I’ve been under contract. Additionally, my very first trainer was nothing more than a very expensive workout partner as I’d arrive and she would have nothing prepared and I’d spend more time reminder her what my fitness goals were. She then quit with little notice and I scheduled with other trainers twice and they never showed. The front desk staff were clueless and unhelpful. I had to jump through hoops and talk to 5 different people to identify a new trainer who would actually show up, meanwhile excuses were made for the 2 weeks of training I missed due to incompetence. The only grace I will give is the new trainer I met with, Michelle, was AMAZING! Truly, I loved working out with her. She brought so much variety to our workouts; and mixed things up so I could progress will also not getting bored. I am so upset and disappointed, but mot surprised in the least for all the reasons above, that Michelle has now moved on from LA Fitness. I only wish I could too. I cannot wait for my contract to end. I simply hope that I can enjoy my next trainer; Michelle recommended him and I’ve seen him around so I think...

Update 4/22/19: About a month ago, I started receiving calls from LA Fitness asking if I'd like to renew my yearly membership. I indicated that for a number of reasons I wasn't happy at the club and would prefer to wait. The calls continued, sometimes as often as twice daily. Eventually they began offering incentives, first 4 guest passes and a free fitness assessment (pretty worthless, IMO), and then unlimited guest passes and the assessment. Still, I reiterated that I was disastisfied with the quality of the gym and their management. THEN, I received a call this afternoon asking me yet again to renew. I asked very simply: do you have notes on any of the prior conversations I've had with your colleagues? The person on the phone said "one moment, let me look at your notes...ah yes, I see you're having some financial difficulty and cannot afford the membership right now." To be clear, this was never an objection I have had or articulated to them. I cannot urge you enough: stay away from this organization. I'm tempted to file a complaint with the BBB.

Update 11/20/18: Called to see if this LA Fitness was reopen for business after their remodel. They are not (original reopen date was supposed to be today). They pushed the date back by 3 days which means we all have to continue finding alternatives until after the Thanksgiving holiday. I expected some level of sympathy from the person who shared this over the phone but she couldn't have cared less.

Update 10/24/18: This place sucks. I paid for a year membership ahead of time, only to learn they are shutting down the whole gym for 3 weeks next month (November). Their solution? Drive to West Seattle. Thanks LA Fitness, but I'd rather choose another gym and pay double the fee than allow you to treat me like garbage (see comments below related to management and lack of competition).

The gym itself is fine. They have racquetball, basketball, pool, free weights, etc. It's almost always too crowded--to the point where you have to amend your workout based on what's available. More than anything, I dislike their management and corporate structure. I was already an LA member for a decade when I joined the "signature club" but still had to pay $150 "initiation fee" in addition to the higher monthly rate. If you want to cancel your membership, you have to do so in person during the hours the club manager is working (or else snail mail your cancellation to HQ in Los Angeles). I've been to numerous other LA clubs in the Seattle area that aren't "Signature" but have all the same amenities and often time better facilities. In my opinion, they take advantage of the relatively minimal competition in the area to promote aggressive, borderline unethical...