LA Fitness — Local services in Columbus

Do not join this gym. The only reason I joined is because it is in close proximity to my house. I've been a member now for approx. 7-8 months since I moved to Columbus. I usually work out 5 am (when the gym opens) until ~6 am. This morning, however, there was no one there to open the doors. Keep in mind there is usually a crowd of people waiting to work out first thing. 5:01, nothing. 5:05, nothing, 5:15, nothing. Folks started to call other LA Fitness locations to inquire whether someone would come and open the doors. Others, like me, eventually gave up and left. This also appears to be a repeat issue as another review on FB, from 2017, mentions a similar incident.

Now, at this point you may say "Well, there could have been an emergency or some other external factor that prevented an employee from being there." Perhaps, but the counter to that is to have multiple people employed for the morning to hedge that risk. And there usually are, so why not this morning? I can't even say I would blame someone for oversleeping because I suspect LA fitness pays the employees poorly thus there is lacking motivation to get to work.

Additionally, this gym is not clean. As you enter in the morning you will almost always get a lovely view of an overflowing trash can out front. The trash inside is often not emptied before opening. The locker rooms (which I refuse to use) are equally disgusting. Inside the gym, it is clear the people who close the gym at night do nothing. I have repeatedly walked in to free weights and plates strewn all over the floor and misplaced both on the racks and in other locations. Many other patrons are also oblivious to cleanliness and gym etiquette - my wife and I have seen far too many people not wipe machines or mats down after using them. (That is if the paper towel dispensers are filled. They're far too often not.) If machines need repaired it can take weeks before the repairs happen.

Even before we joined I knew LA Fitness has a bad rap, but we did it anyway because - again - of the gym's close proximity to my house. If you're willing to see past clear poor management, what I could only speculate are potential health risks from the lack of cleanliness, and other patrons who seemingly could not care less about anyone but themselves then by all means join this location.

Edit/Update: I drove by the location around 7:15 this morning - the building still looks closed. It would seem calling other locations failed to find someone who could open the facility over 2 hours after it was...

Continually disappointing. I've been going here for years and it's been consistently sub par. There a few key staff here that are amazing, but after that there's not much left to like other than the proximity to my house. If they weren't so close I'd have stop coming years ago. I enjoy the early morning staff and patrons, there's a nice community really early. But as it gets later in the day things just get worse. There's constant problems in the basketball courts which typically results in a revolving set of ridiculous rules that only punish the responsible patrons. Numerous machines and equipment are always broken or missing. There aren't enough bars or clamps for all of the benches and various racks to be used simultaneously. There are literally only like 3 clamps remaining for the entire gym, creating safety hazards as people are forced to lift with no clamps securing the weights. The sauna, which is one of the main things I continue to come for, is always broken. Most of these issues are sadly the result of a minority of terrible patrons who steal and seemingly intentionally break things. The problem is the location does nothing to fix or mitigate things, other than again making rules that only impact/punish the responsible patrons. They make promises that they're addressing it and then months/ years go by with no change. It's very frustrating. I think most staff in the building are really trying and the problem lies with upper/corporate management, but it's becoming increasingly harder to remain a paying customer with such subpar service. I'm slowly building my home gym and may eventually give up. If I had a home sauna (working on that), I'd already have left. This is sad because there is a great community here in the mornings and a few super star staff members. They've really got to do better overall though for the patrons and the staff who are trying to hold...

UPDATED Review 12/26/2018 - Well, my rating is slowly getting lower and lower for this gym as it just keeps getting dirtier and dirtier. I gringe every time I walk into the bathrooms and showers... I just can't help but think if the bathrooms are this unsanitary, the gym equipment can't be any better.

UPDATED Review 07/10/2018 - I still stand by my original review about the "fully equipped , clean gym to work out at", but wanted to add that I recently started using the showers and I find them not so clean.

Bottom line. If you have your routine down and just want a fully equipped , clean gym to work out at, this gym will be good for you. Class offering is fair.

My only feedback is related to the personal trainer I got for my first "free with new membership" training session. I totally recognize my experience was with only one of their many trainers and I might have a different trainer experience with someone else. That said, my issues...1.) The trainer I worked with calculated my ideal weight for my 5'7" frame to be 110 lbs (there is not a medical professional in the US that would not say that would be underweight) 2.) I got called 3 times in one day to confirm my appointment (I called back twice) 3.) The trainer was late and not even in the building when I arrived for our appointment 4.) The trainer had on so much cologne it was bothering my asthma and gave me a headache 5.) The workout was in no way related to what I had indicated I was looking for 6.) The trainer didn't seem to want to be bothered by me. Three times during our short 1/2 hour session, he walked away from me without instruction on what to be doing next to chat with other members of the gym; there was a 4th time, but he at least asked another trainer to step in...