Club Studio — Local services in Irvine

STOP BLAMING AND EDUCATING CUSTOMERS I’m writing this review here to remind every members here that the front desk may failed check you in and their operation manager Tess will blame it on the customers not double checking properly. Here is the story if you’d be interested reading. Complaint 1: ClubStudio app was broken earlier that members can not cancel classes freely which resulted in miss charges in late cancel and no shows. App having some defects are totally acceptable, but here I’m complaining about the attitude that their Operation manager Tess, she is the only one who seems not knowing or understanding what happened and what the app defects mean, she is putting the blames on the my side, like: you SHOULD HAVE double check the app to see if it got canceled properly, you SHOULD HAVE done this, oh DO YOU NEED MY GUIDE ON how cancelation works? The app issue resulted in the mis charges are 100% non-customer’s fault, fix the problems for customer like refund ASAP is your job, while blaming and educating customers are not.

Complaint 2: The front desk crew seems have some new faces added in recently, they are both friendly and amazing! but for my own experience, I have encountered 3+ miss-checkins in the past 2 month, it means: they scanned you, but failed check you into classes, even though they said you are “all set”, but NO, you will be charged a no show fee even you participated in the classes properly. Today, I had a very unpleasant conversation with the same person TESS again. When I stated that last Sunday 02/22, the frontdesk crew failed check me into classes, though I did joined the classes, still got charged 2 No Shows, which is $15 per no show, $30 in total. After I closeout the statement politly, this person TESS immediately started her Blaming Educational speech on me again, she went: Well we checkin thousands of people a day, you SHOULD HAVE double checked if you are checked in properly, like confirming with the crew, and this time I will refund you, but from now on, you will NOT be HONORED with any refund. I admire her mindset that whatever happened even though it’s not due to customers problem, she could always pickup that “it’s always the customers fault” mode. She has that strong mentality that “I will always blame on others no matter what” with a confident and above on others attitude, pretty much gaslighting. and she kept talking fast not allowing me to speak, then I have to ask her to stop educating me and cut her speech and listen to me maybe 5 seconds, I told her that she made me feel uncomfortable by showing this attitude and the wordings she was using, and she has to understand that the gym members are paying a fee to get service from ClubStudio, we customers don’t get paid to help them checkin us properly in order not to be charged by them wrongly. IT IS ClubStudio’s responsibility to make sure everyone got checked in properly and we understand mistake may happen sometimes, then IT IS the OPERATION MANGER’s job to fix the problems in a proper manner. I believe Blaming and Educating customers to do the jobs for ClubStudio is not on our Purchase Agreement nor on your job description. As a loyal members with this gym 2 years+, I have brought so many friends into this community, I would expect a gentle, friendly problem solving attitude when it comes to issues, like failed checkin properly resulted in misscharging customers, it’s 100% Club Studio's fault not me. The customers not only got NO APOLOGIES but also had to be blamed and educated by a rude person like this one? This is kinda frustrated cause I’ve also heard other members complaining about this same person, similar situation here and there in the gym. What this person is doing is breaking the community. I am confident to say that I’m responsible for the fees if it’s totally on me, I have no problems paying the fee as I always do, but I refuse to take blames with privileged and arrogant attitudes over ClubStudio’s responsibility continuously. TESS, looking for your apology cause you shall be feel sorry by...

First of all Club Studio can never be categorized as a luxury gym or even compared to gyms such as LifeTime, simply because Club Studio is owned by the La Fitness. Club Studio is guilty by association. If you offer a LA FITNESS package then you should lower your prices to match what you are offering us. Prices should match what is being given. It appears that anyone with $ can join this gym, it is not exclusive to the classy crowd. The hours are terrible. They close at 6 pm on weekends (even worse than LA FITNESS). You are paying the same prices as you would for LifeTime/ Equinox, HOWEVER, you are not entitled to as much space as LTF or Equinox provide their customers. Club Studio is maybe 1/4 of the size of other luxury gyms.

Secondly. The "eucalyptus" towels are soaked in plain water. There's barely a scent of eucalyptus. Another thing Club Studio needs to take note of are spin studios that graciously hand every member a eucalyptus towel at the end of class (cs does NOT hand towels when you most need it) + at the start of each class ALL bikes DO NOT have clean towels hung across the arm rest. (Club Studio staff should leave a clean towel on all bikes prior to class starting) You need to remember to grab yourself a towel at the front desk.

Thirdly. Club Studio is cramped & feels like everyone is always on top of each other. We come here to de-stress, have some privacy, spread out, but sadly there is no place to do that. The locker room space is tight and you have to wait in line to get to your locker while your dripping wet after the showers, waiting to change your clothes. THE lines to take a shower are insane! At least 3-4 people in line waiting to take a shower after 3 pm every day. God forbid you are in a rush, there is no way of getting your belongings to leave. Adults do not close their lockers, and you need to be cautious where you are going because one of these lockers can smack you right in the face or legs. Lockers that are unused need to be closed at all times. It is a safety hazard to have open wooden lockers and large benches taking up space between the walking aisles. It is like WAR fighting for a spot to sit at the mirror to get ready.

Club Studio staff (not the instructors or sales team) but the females near the studio concierge/floor staff DO NOT WORK. They stand around chatting, giggling and overall wasting time. It seems as if they have no job responsibility so they take strolls patrolling the very small gym. Upper management are extremely unprofessional and slide the ongoing issues members face under the rug. Managers are suppose to handle situations with grace, but sadly, they are not well equipped to deal with difficult customers... the managers are cowards and do not express proper communication skills by confronting the problems head on.

At one point there were several women drinking alcohol in the jacuzzi, obnoxiously laughing throughout the locker rooms, acting like foolish teenagers; although many members complained, unfortunately upper management ignored the complaints since they did not want to loose $ if they revoked these women's memberships.

We cannot forget the disgusting shower area! These showers are rarely cleaned (maybe 1x a week). SEE PHOTOS ATTACHED. This is a daily representation of the locker room. The shampoo, conditioner, body wash are all watered down; meaning they do not refill these bottle with proper soap, instead mix the solutions with water.

Please do yourself a favor and do not waste your money at Club Studio neither Irvine or Long Beach. Upper management are simply cutting corners at the expense of their customers. No ONE wants to make La Fitness any richer than they already are. If La Fitness has ever wronged you, stolen more $ from you than you anticipated or singed up for, then please do not $support$ Club Studio for...

Extremely Unprofessional and Discriminatory Treatment by PT Mike

If I could give zero stars, I would. My friend and I were filming our workout in an empty gym, ensuring that no one was in the background. Suddenly, personal trainer Michael (Mike) Alexander aggressively approached us. Without a greeting or any polite explanation, he immediately said: “You’re going to erase that video. It’s illegal to film in the gym. Google it.” (FYI—it’s NOT illegal).

When we asked for clarification, he claimed that filming isn’t allowed if people are in the background. We pointed out that the gym was empty and that many members regularly film or even livestream their workouts without any issue. His response? “But I only see you!” We questioned why we were being singled out when others do the same, and his answer? “I don’t care, but I only see you guys!” At that point, it was clear—this was 100% discrimination.

He continued to demand we delete our video and even THREATENED us, saying, “If I catch you again, your membership will be revoked.” His behavior was aggressive, unprofessional, and completely inappropriate—especially toward two women in an empty gym. There was no acknowledgment, no polite explanation, and no reason for his hostility. Also, does he even have the authority to revoke memberships? Or was he just on a power trip?

What makes this even worse is that Club Studio itself has posted numerous videos featuring customers working out—with people clearly in the background. So why were we treated differently? The hypocrisy is ridiculous.

This isn’t even the first time I’ve seen Mike unfairly single out women in the gym. I once saw him kick a girl out of the stretch area just because she was using a barbell there. Meanwhile, other people break gym etiquette all the time, yet he says nothing to them. Does he hate women? Or does he just think he owns this gym? Because his attitude sure makes it seem that way.

After this incident, we were scheduled for a follow-up meeting, expecting a professional response or an apology for the mistreatment and clear discrimination. Instead, the Operations Manager, Tess, gaslighted us, saying we “don’t need an apology” because we are “strong.” Yes, we are strong—but that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve respect and accountability.

This gym’s handling of the situation was beyond unprofessional—irresponsible, dismissive, and blatantly rude. It’s even more concerning that many other gym members, including content creators, regularly record their workouts—even in Mike’s presence—without any issues. Yet, we were singled out and harassed.

It’s obvious that Mike is a discriminatory person and that this gym allows unfair treatment toward certain members. I truly hope both Mike and Tess are held accountable for their behavior. No paying member deserves to be...