MOVATI Windermere — Local services in Windermere

I love this gym! Firstly, the facility is beautiful and reminds me of a spa more than a gym. It’s also very clean thanks to the hard working housekeeping staff. There is a variety of equipment and classes, especially for women, who get access to more through the women’s only portion of the gym (this isn’t important to me but it is to some). I think this gym truly offers something for everyone. I do agree with other comments though that there is a surplus of cardio machines and not enough space for free weight training/mat work/stretching, so maybe that is something they can address in the future.

My experience with the personal trainers and group fitness instructors has been great! A shout out to a few:

Logan G is a fantastic personal trainer. I was first introduced to him through his boxing classes (which are great and I highly recommend them!). After a couple of months, I signed up for personal training with him after wanting to see more specific results that I was not achieving on my own. Firstly I highly recommend PT if you can afford it. It is definitely an investment, but a worthwhile one if you are wanting to invest in yourself and make positive changes to your physical health - I just wish the trainers were better compensated considering the cost of the sessions. And Logan is great! He’s motivational and encouraging but he also knows when and how to push you. I was recently injured, which was a bit of a set back, but we continued to train and he easily worked around my injury. I trust he would be able to offer a program to meet anyone’s needs/goals. He’s also personable and funny, which makes spending so much time together enjoyable. I am normally a fairly reserved person, but he makes it easy to feel comfortable and more open. I genuinely look forward to our sessions and I find the time flies because we spend most of the time in between sets chatting or joking around. If you are looking for someone who can always make you smile/laugh while doing a killer work out, he’s your guy.

Anton is one of my favourite people that works there. He has the BEST energy and he makes any of his classes fun! I enjoy many of his classes, but I particularly like his spin classes. He is by far the best spin instructor. Not only are the classes fun with amazing catchy music, I really appreciate the direction he gives. While I don’t need help with the bike fit anymore, it was very helpful the first time I went to his class after fumbling around with the fit for the first few classes with other instructors without the same direction. He also lets you know how long a track or sprint is so you can prepare and adjust your power accordingly.

Emma is another one of my favourite instructors. Her bootcamp class was the very first class I tried when I joined the gym 8 months ago, and I am still going on a weekly basis because I love it and look forward to it every week! It’s definitely my favourite bootcamp class at the gym and wish she taught more of them throughout the week!

Addendum: All of the above comments still hold true. I have had a few bad experiences with their front desk/management staff which has reduced the rating to 4 stars. I still enjoy being a member of this gym, but I think the customer service for existing clients needs to improve. I find there is a heavy focus on trying to attract new clients, and less of a focus on retaining existing ones, which is...

I love my Movati gym. We’re off to a great start. Love the classes I’ve taken so far and the facility has so many options for your workout. The women’s only area is delightful and has its own pool, studio, workout machines and weights. The co-Ed area is even bigger and accommodating.

Their app is convenient for booking classes and I like that once you scan in at the entrance you have complete access and don’t need to carry around a badge or phone.

Areas for improvement:

I hope to see some of the solely weekday morning/afternoon classes be offered to those who work during the day and can only come 5pm+

Would be great to have guest passes so we can invite our non-member friends sometimes.

it would be nice to be able to exchange or get another towel (they offer you 1 at the entrance if your membership includes it) somehow within the change room. If you go to the showers, pool etc and do multiple workouts, the towel gets pretty wet.

UPDATE 20210903

Great to see some of the daytime classes added to the evenings.

Shout out to my favourite instructors:

Cerina - high energy, funny, great music, and keeps the class content “fresh” and challenging every week. Love any class she teaches that I can make it to. Cardio box is one of my faves. I wish it was offered more often with maybe 5-10 less people (it feels a bit crowded sometimes).

Devon - great yoga instructor. Look forward to my yin practice every week!

Anna - I find weights/strength training tough in general and appreciate Anna’s attention to form in Power barbell. Tough class for me, but I enjoy it!

All aqua instructors - I really enjoy the Aqua classes that I can make it to. I like that it’s low impact and you they give options to increase the intensity

Bungee with Susan - class fills up quick but is super fun

While I know there are some negative reviews, I really cannot relate.

Yes, the popular classes do fill up quickly so you do need to plan ahead. All in all, I’m still very pleased with my Movati experience. Since starting when they opened, I’ve fit back into my pre-pandemic clothes and feel great. Having such a great place to workout nearby takes away all the excuses. Thank you!

UPDATE 20221122

Still very pleased with Movati. By far, my fave classes are bungee, anti-gravity, aqua and yoga, core balance stretch and power barbell.

The greatest asset of Movati is not the beautiful and clean facility (still very much a selling point), but rather the people who keep it running smoothly.

Special thanks to Cerina (love her personality and her classes keep me challenged), Sherry (I appreciate her humour and I always leave smiling), the front desk crew (always friendly and attentive), and all the custodial staff who tirelessly keep Movati clean and tidy.

Suggestions:

adult swim lessons? Would love to improve my swimming technique and confidence

would be great if the benefits (and details) for your membership type are listed self-serve in the app somewhere. We currently can ask about it, but it would be nice to know up front what all the perks are. E.g. is there a vacation option? Do we have guest privileges? What happens when our contract is almost over and we...

Incredibly disappointed and disheartened that Movati is closing the playroom to put in a Pilates studio. With the number of studios and group class rooms they already have (not to mention the personal training room which is RARELY, if ever, actually used for PT) it’s certainly not necessity. They’ve stated that the reason is due to dwindling numbers, though if that were the case they wouldn’t have just hired 4 new staff members for the play room only weeks prior to this VERY casual email going out, nor would we have to plan and book days in advance just to secure a spot. It’s always incredibly busy in the playroom. I could have a lot more respect for their decision, off putting as it is, if we weren’t outright lied to about the reason.

Choosing a space for my son to spend time while I got a little time to myself as a stay at home mom was no easy task. When we toured Movati and decided to take the chance, we quickly fell in love with the staff in the playroom. The way they handle the kids and the activities they do (yoga, arts and crafts, dance parties, etc), it’s unmatched. We felt safe leaving our son there and he’s grown so attached to both the staff and his friends that attend around the same times we do. Staff members from outside the playroom even stop in to say hi to the kiddos. He looks forward to his time there every day and has also been saddened knowing that we won’t be going to “play place” anymore in just a short couple weeks.

100’s of parents, their kids and staff members (who are not being given the option to directly transfer elsewhere within the club and are instead being forced to apply as though they haven’t already been employed there) are being displaced for what seems like a goal to edge towards an “exclusive adults only facility”…. In a heavily family populated sector of suburbia. I would also like to add, the only people who have actually been properly informed (via the email sent out) are parents who have the biweekly childcare membership attached to their accounts - ie: 1 member of a 2 person household, leaving it to the childcare membership holder to inform their spouse so we could both have the opportunity to cancel our memberships. I cancelled my membership today and was informed that they still require 30 days notice, which means they are expecting me to continue paying for memberships a full 2 weeks+ after they’ve closed down the child minding. I don’t have someone to just watch my son while I go to the gym as my husband works out of town and the play room was the only reason we were at this gym, paying the exorbitant fees to begin with. People who purchase punch passes or drop ins also received no such email; I spoke to a parent just 2 days ago who found out in that moment that the playroom was closing. In a society where we are so much more aware of mental health issues and the effects it has on our lives and the lives of those around us, Movati is telling us that parent’s mental and physical health don’t matter as much. So much for that community and commitment. Disgraceful...