Club Pilates — Local services in Jacksonville

I recently visited Club Pilates for an intro class, and while the equipment was in great condition and the instructor, Hanna, was friendly and knowledgeable, my overall experience left a lot to be desired.

Red Flags Before Arrival: Two days before my class, I received an email asking me to confirm my attendance due to a waitlist. While I understand the need to manage class sizes, I’ve never experienced this at other studios, and it felt unnecessary. If I had planned to cancel, I would have done so myself. When class began I was the only person attending.

Check-In Confusion: The studio's instructions state to arrive 15 minutes early for check-in, a tour, and to complete a waiver. I arrived 10 minutes before class, only to find the door locked. After some confusion, Jan opened the door and asked if I was there for the intro class. After confirming my name and ClassPass reservation, I was handed a waiver but received no further instructions.

After completing the form, I went back to a reformer to stretch while waiting. When I went to put my sunglasses away, Jan stopped me and insisted I stay up front until the instructor was ready, even though the instructor had already greeted me. The interaction felt uncomfortable, so I decided to wait in my car until class began.

Class Experience: Once class started, I had a great experience with Hanna—until another participant arrived 10 minutes late, causing a disruption as Hanna had to stop and get her set up. I found this unprofessional, especially since the studio’s policy states the doors lock at the start of class.

Post-Class Sales Pitch & Hidden Costs: At the end of class, Jan aggressively pitched memberships, going into far more detail than necessary. A simple introduction to pricing would have been sufficient.

Another major frustration was that I was required to take the intro class before attending regular classes, despite having over a year of experience on reformers, Cadillacs, and Xformers. This cost me two ClassPass credits, only to later discover that the intro class could have been taken for free.

While the equipment and instruction were good, the poor communication, rigid policies, and uncomfortable interactions left a bad impression. If you're a total beginner, this studio may be a good fit. However, experienced Pilates practitioners may find the mandatory intro class frustrating, especially if booking...

If you're considering this location, be prepared to pay $240 every month for the unlimited membership. I joined the Beach Blvd location from late August to early November. I want to give a huge shoutout to Linda, who was incredibly kind and helpful in getting me signed up. She was so friendly and even hugged me the first time we met after a couple of phone conversations. She's the best and one of the only positive aspects for me at Club Pilates.

To start off, after my first trial 30-minute introduction class with Savannah Heideman (where you learn the basic terminology of Pilates and get used to the Reformer machine), she announced in front of the other women in the trial, "Did anyone tell you that you may have scoliosis?" I was caught off guard, and I didn't know how to respond to such an abrupt insult from someone I didn't even know. I kept trying to justify it in my head as concern, but as an instructor, any comments about a paying customer or any person's body should be made in a private conversation.

In another incident, I could be standing right in front of the desk with a question, and she would just ignore me, talking to the ladies taking their belongings out of the cubby and rambling about her pets. I had to attend many of her classes because they were the only ones that fit my schedule. Some of the other instructors would sound like they were yelling at you if you were doing the exercise wrong. Pardon me, but I don't know how to do the "Pilates two inwards frog leg alternate" on the Reformer in my second class?

The workout itself is underwhelming, and for $200+, it's not worth it at all. I highly suggest going to YogaDen on the same road as Club Pilates for instructors who are much kinder and a more liberating...

The lady at the front desk was nice,

Now as soon I went in there I smiled at the instructor she didn't even smiled back which is fine. I still gave her the benefit of the doubt because she probably didn't noticed me smiling at her three different times.

Furthermore, THERE IS A REASON WHY IS CALLED AN "INTRO PILATES CLASS" because you are a beginner with no experience!

For an INTRO instructor you have to be mindful and patient with people that doesn't know anything about PILATES. CALLING OUT THE PERSON doesn't help instead they should be wiser and help the person if they didn't hear you.

YOU ALSO DONT KNOW IF THAT PERSON HAS ANY HEARING DISABILITIES OR ANY DISABILITY. Disability or not you MUST BE PATIENT TO BE AN INTRO INSTRUCTOR!

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. I was ready to sign up for the unlimited subscription, but the instructor...