The Club at Prairie Stone — Local services in Barrington Township

Update 5/24/2021 When I originally signed up they said most things closed for covid should open around August. That was well before the CDC ripped off the Band-Aid with their new no mask required for vaccinated people policy. I asked again today if this was going to move faster now that the new policy was in place. They said no, still hoping for August but they had no idea or any concept of what it was going to look like. This gym is becoming like the titanic. It's great, but no one is steering the ship and it's eventually going to sink. When I brought up the fact that lifetime in Schaumburg was fully open 100% kids club and everything else, the other lady behind the front desk got kind of defensive. Compete or die off - welcome to the fitness business. Suffice to say, I gave my 30-day notice today and recommend you avoid paying for this empty promise until you're getting what you pay for.

Original review March 2021 I can only review the club as it currently stands.The TLDR of it all, is that for $115 a month (for 2x people), at least a third of the amenities they usually offer are still missing due to covid. And while it does have some great positives, missing these amenities makes it a hard place to recommend for the price.

Staff - 6/10 Friendly, but they REALLY like to gather around the front entrance to chit-chat. Also, since they're Parks district and not a for-profit corporation I noticed the staff is a bit mouthy especially the older ones and upper management.

Cleanliness - 10/10 The equipment is always very clean, the self clean wipes are very accessible, and every single person I've seen get off a machine or switch cardio machines has wiped down their equipment. The rest of the gym is equally clean.

Amenities - 4/10 So much missing. For example: the play pool area/lap pool is reservation only, steam room gone, whirlpool spa gone, rock wall gone, towel service gone, classes severely reduced, kids club gone, shower/locker amenities gone. The fact is you're still paying full price for the monthly membership and missing a good amount.

Equipment - 8/10 This is something I have to give them credit for. Every room is packed with equipment. I think they have it all in triplicate. The downside to this is that some of it is just kind of thrown together to fill space and varying in age. But you should always be able to find something you need.

Pools 7/10 The lap pool is exactly what you would expect, and there's plenty of room for water aerobics, swimming laps, etc. The water is very warm and very conducive to swimming laps.

The kids play pool area is okay. It's a shallow play area graded to a 4ft depth with a sine water feature. The gym cuts costs by NOT heating this water - which is ashame.

This area contains the whirlpool spa, but it is not currently operational due to covid.

Locker rooms 7/10 Clean, poorly laid out, small, but the lockers contain built in combo locks, so no need to bring your own. There is also a family locker area which is also very sparse.

Overall 6/10 I don't think this gym is ready for prime time yet, nor would I currently recommend it to somebody. If this gym were firing on all cylinders, I think it is completely worth the membership fee and would recommend it without hesitation. There's just too much competition offering a lot more (Lifetime) or similar cardio/weights for much less...

UPDATE - * A prime example of how horribly this place is run based on their response. Multiple complaints made (all of which are reoccurring issues) and they are handled by saying “we have no issues at our gym and we disagree with your complaints” even though they repeatedly get the same complaints from multiple different sources, both in person and online. Not 1 attempt to fix any of the facts and issues listed below. *

I have been a member here for about 20 years. This facility is going to waste due to management issues and incompetent trainers. Equipment and weight room is always dirty and broken. There are red and black bug infestations outside and inside of the facility. During prime time gym hours ( 5 AM, 9 AM, 5 PM), the weight room is cut in half while trainers run cardio classes in open spaces, not even using the weights or equipment that they are keeping from those not in classes. **Trainers hook up microphones to a PA system and proceed to scream into that microphone during their classes with no regard for the disturbance caused to members that are simply there to workout, regardless of multiple customer complaints. The volume is so loud that the noise can not be drowned out even with the use of noise cancelling headphones. Imagine trying to workout with someone screaming “Woo” into a microphone and blasting personal music through a PA system while classes do cardio (cycling, jogging, etc) and a made up version of crossfit called HIIT. Trainers and management have harassed and ignored multiple members whenever complaints are issued. Most of the positive reviews posted on the site are not by regular members. Longstanding staff and members are treated poorly, unless you pay extra money to join classes. Trainers are mostly out of shape and run cyclical training group programs that essentially are a marketing ploy to make sure members make enough progress to keep paying for classes but never make actual progress due to no progressive increase/load in training. Trainers will watch and allow people to workout with improper form (arched back, spine misalignment, neck misalignment, etc). There is no regard for technique or form during training which is dangerous and unfortunate for those paying extra for training group classes. It’s a shame because the facility has a large space and high potential, with limited competing gyms in the area, and the front desk and some office staff is extremely nice and accommodating. Hopefully they are able to resolve these major issues and take advantage of the space...

ALSO: It’s pretty sad that the gym disagrees with all complaints and doesn’t take the members opinion seriously. Hopefully the gym changes their priorities in the future :(. This gym tends to kick out people who work hard and are confident. The owners of the gym kick out people that they dislike and if they don’t kick them out, they give them dirty looks or make little annoying comments if the member forgets to put their weight back, forgets to wipe a machine, or even if the member speaks too loud. This gym favors older white people with a lot of money and butters them up so they give their money to the gym for personal training that gives members improper information about how to workout and diet as they don’t progressive overload or even teach proper form. When I see the workouts that the personal trainers have their trainees do, I feel bad for the people that are being trained as their is so much information on the internet that is available for free rather than the hundreds of dollars they are paying for personal training. The fitness classes happen during the time that the most members are at the gym and it clearly annoys members. Imagine going to work all day and then looking forward to the gym but when you get there you see a bunch of middle aged women screaming and following a lady that doesn’t have a clue what she is doing when she is teaching the class. The gym could be way better if the management had consideration for all members and not just the ones who give them...