Life Time — Local services in Atlanta

I’ve been a member of lifetime for almost a decade now and have never been compelled to write a negative review until my encounter today at the Buckhead (Phipps Plaza) Life Time Fitness location. For a gym that claims be a top-tier “country club” level gym and charges premium pricing (currently $299+ monthly) it does not offer the same level of equipment upkeep, service to members or managerial experience & professionalism. In a little over a year since opening, the equipment is deteriorating, accessory bands, jump ropes, etc are always missing and slow to replace, has a roof that will be leaking without any sign around to notify you, showers and steam rooms that have been closed for months at a time due to poor construction (had to be properly water proofed and re-tiled and instead of issuing apologies & some form of credits they instead increased rates - even for founding members!) and more often than not, towels are nowhere to be found and bath areas a mess due to the hardworking operations team always being grossly understaffed and all this in an already small locker room space due to management overselling memberships far beyond what was promised to founding members as “exclusively capped” so we would not suffer the daily overcrowding that is the current state of affairs and worst of all, management allows staff to stay on that will be outrageously disrespectful towards you! Just yesterday, their trainer Kelly that was teaching an alpha class scheduled during peak hours, where 8-10 members of the alpha class will occupy 80% of the main lifting platforms, while the rest of the members are forced to share the remaining 20% (4 platforms! at peak gym hours) decided to go out of her way to rudely yell at me and aggressively demand my name when I tried to use an open platform in the corner that was NOT being utilized, AFTER class had already started. When I tried to speak to management, they were no where to be found and staff did not know where they were either (often commenting that they leave early on the daily). I found this to be unacceptable and proceeded to call the head manager Mishkat to inform him of this outrageous incident and how I’ve never experienced such a disrespect in my life let alone at an establishment I pay top dollar at and understandably expect a top level environment & behavior from all - I’ve been a member for far too long and have such a supportive community of members and employees that can vouch for my respectful behavior and etiquette. Yet, not only did he not provide anything close to an apology, he was very dismissive of my complaint and advised me “to not even bother calling corporate as they would just in turn call him back to handle it”, I was blown away to say the least. So I asked Mishkat if he could at the very least ensure that the trainer who harassed me would never approach me or speak to me again, but instead was quickly told “he can’t promise that either”! I was extremely dissatisfied with the local management and their seemingly lack of care for such outrageous behavior within the very club they are supposedly “managing” but in reality rarely ever physically present when the bulk of their members are on-site.

Have now spoke to corporate and awaiting their response. Will update this review with the...

EDIT: After being a member for several months, it has become increasingly frustrating when I come for a workout to find that an ALPHA class has taken over a large portion of the weight area. They blast awful remixes of hip hop songs like it's a college frat party, and the trainers (pridefully) kick you off of any racks or benches or anything in their "area" whether it's being used or not. You might be wondering, don't they have an entire floor of studios for group exercise classes? Why are they taking over the general workout space, blocking normal members from using it? I'm wondering the same thing.

Original review: This place is pretty legit. Obviously everything is new, but they really have some top notch equipment, and a large variety of it too. Whether you want dumbbells with half-pound increments or 4 different type of elliptical machines, this place has it all. Not that I'm any kind of fitness club aficionado, but I like it. Lots of benches and barbells and stuff. I've never had to wait for a machine, even during peak times, even the week after New Year's. I expect it will get even better once the lazy losers realize their resolution to get in shape isn't happening and they quit lol. Locker rooms are big with DIY combo lockers. Never used the showers but they look nice too. The cafe is real convenient, though I wish they had a bigger selection of protein and sports drinks. I guess they want you to buy their freshly made smoothies. That's just fine but I'm a busy guy and don't always have time to wait for all that! I did overhear some guy in line telling the woman behind him that the chicken salad they make at the cafe is the only reason he joined this gym, so I guess...

I have a love-hate relationship with this place. It’s walking distance from my office so it’s super convenient/the only reason why I go nowadays.

Over the past few months I’ve had minor inconveniences and issues which I’ve overlooked including trainers showing up late to appointments, instructors canceling appointments last minute/same day, class instructors arguing with LTPT trainers during sessions, and even drunk texts from a trainer (nothing inappropriate but just weird and awkward).

I’m writing a review today because someone went into my locked locker and stole credit cards out of my wallet yesterday. Lifetime has a horrible and lax locker lock-out policy and basically anyone can go to the front desk and ask for any locker to be opened claiming it is theirs. I reported it to the front desk in which I was greeted with an attitude of inconvenience.

I know there’s not much staff can do about stolen property but I at least wanted them to acknowledge their flawed locker lock-out policy and take ownership of committing to do better with security and safety.

With lifetime fitness, you’re paying for a “nice” facility and that’s it. Cleanliness is subpar (though this is more on the members, I see staff cleaning all the time but a lot of the members who go here have zero respect for the space and just throw their trash and towels on the floor), staff is unprofessional (not all staff but personal training, front desk and dynamic stretch teams could be greatly improved), security is a joke, and management doesn’t seem to care about or take any...