Base — Local services in Jersey City

Been here a full year now. Some fine-tuning occurred since joining 8/2015, thus the five stars. I looked at several clubs and with Base, there was no pressure to sign-up. The membership director, Cesar, even let me come in to see over a few days versus one work out (like other clubs). They also honored a special that had expired the previous day. This integrity put me at over 50% probability of joining.

In terms of pros: gym is indeed one of cleanest, if not THE cleanest I've worked out in. There is a lot of high quality, latest/state-of-the-art equipment. Stations/areas can naturally get crowded at peak times, but manageable. Broken equipment is fixed within the hour, unless a special part is needed. Weights are put back into their areas fairly quickly by staff if members leave about. They have an area for "BaseCamp", which I compare to a CrossFit kind of training area, and is very useful if you are training for ToughMudder or Spartan Race kind of stuff. I've not taken every class, but the ones I have are excellent. I've never felt uncomfortable for not knowing a yoga pose or how to adjust the spin bike; the instructors actually go out and show you how to do it (as opposed to shaming you). The owner is frequently on site and listens to feedback from members, no matter how asinine it could be. He increased amount of equipment and created more space based upon member input; he also put in teakwood showers and lockless lockers based on feedback. As for personal training, want to mention I was skeptical of my trainer when I signed up for it, and when I showed up, BASE had fired him before I'd started, assigning me to another. I mention this fact because they were 100% transparent, which is important in terms of ever feeling screwed. Training itself? I had an excellent trainer named James who gradually made me stronger and faster. There is an excellent juice bar/snack bar, as well as on-site BaseBody Spa and a doctor/nutrition consultant office on-site. Base also provides for two free hours of validated parking in the garage next door. Finally, Base has an app that sends notifications about class cancellations, hours, etc.--which is actually quite useful.

The cons: Mostly 1st World problems....no more sliced lemons or cucumbers in the ice water dispenser. Does make a difference between and upscale and meh atmosphere. Fewer towel racks, thus fewer towels available. Removal of one counter in locker room makes the remaining two more crowded. Wifi needs to be re-calibrated or upgraded to meet peak club usage demand. More cognizance of people spending A LOT of time on phones while at a machine whilst others are waiting. I can take care of that myself, but would be useful to enforce as a policy and not let it escalate between members. I've had a couple of problems with the garage staff and validation, security, etc., but that's not really a club problem. Just beware if you park there--like anywhere else.

Overall, I recommend Base without...

I have been a member for approximately 18 months and lately the quality of this gym has gone down enough that it doesn't justify the exorbitant membership fee. I would give it 2.5 stars if I could. So many new members have joined that the gym is crowded even on weekends. Forget about coming on weekdays at peak times unless you want to wait at least 15-20 minutes for some equipment. What they don't tell you when you sign up is that the people who live in the apartment building upstairs get some sort of discounted/free membership to the place while everyone else pays at least $160 per month. For the amount of money you are paying, the space of the gym is pretty small and there is oftentimes only one machine of a particular type. They only have one free weight leg press machine for example so it is almost always occupied at peak times. And don't get me started on how crowded the free weight/dumbbell area is most times of the day. Most LA fitness clubs I've been to are bigger than this place and have more machines which should tell you something.

My biggest gripe with this place however has to be the hours that it is open. The gym closes at 6 PM on weekends and will use any and every holiday as an excuse to open late and close early. How are you going to call yourself a luxury gym and charge such high membership fees yet close earlier than Blink fitness? A lot of us have plans on weekends but aren't able to make it to the gym before it closes at 6 PM.

In terms of the good aspects, the amenities are adequate but it's nothing to call home about. The steam room has a constant dingy smell and there was a hole in the ceiling that was there when I last went. There are shaving supplies and other toiletries in the men's locker room. The locker room and the gym in general seems to have a humid atmosphere at certain times especially in the summer and you are often hard pressed to find a free locker at peak times. Unfortunately, lately equipment has been breaking down and the water system seems to be constantly needing maintenance. The smoothie bar is actually something I love about this place although their prices are also a bit on the higher side. And almost everyone else working out at the gym is courteous and cleans up after themselves. All in all though, I don't think I'll be able to continue my membership here in the long term simply because the membership fee doesn't justify the current quality of this gym. I would say that this is a pseudo-luxury gym if anything and certainly not up to the likes of places like Lifetime Fitness or Equinox which is unfortunate because it would be nice to have a place like that in...

If I can give this place 2.5 stars, I would. Base needs to cap their memberships already. The gym is too CROWDED. I would visit the facilities at various hours throughout the day and I cannot find a good time to arrive. I would try coming between 5:30-9AM, still crowded. Anytime after 4pm till close, even more crowded. Expect the weekends to be more of the same no matter the time.

If this gym were to solve the crowding issue, it'll be a 4 star gym in my opinion, given the price. The $150/month price tag is much higher than gyms I've subscribed to in the past, but you need to realize that this facility is located right above the Grove Street PATH station in DTJC and they have absolutely no competitors.. I was appalled by the lack of gym options in Jersey City when I moved here.

The equipment & amenities are good. I usually frequent their turf-floored strength training room, which is nice. But of course, just with a dozen people in there you already feel suffocated. They have all the types of equipment you need, but my only wish is that their dumbbell section was a bit larger.

The gym also features two sizable multi-purpose rooms for classes, or if you wish to do your own solo warm-ups or exercise in.

They usually have fresh towels available and the staff is really kind. Finding a locker in the locker rooms is difficult and if you need to shower before heading to work in the mornings, it's borderline impossible. I would say, even though the locker rooms get a lot of traffic, the staff does a really good job of keeping it clean.

In conclusion, as someone who only really has an hour per day to exercise, I have found myself not visiting the gym as often and opting for other forms of exercise due to the overcrowding of this gym. I would give it a higher rating if it were to...