Planet Fitness — Local services in Kingsport

So I quickly just gave 5 stars & nothing more but after reading some of these reviews, I had to come edit mine. I have worked out, in a gym, off and on for the last 30 yrs. In that time, I have been a member at many many gyms, both small owner, operator gyms and national chain gyms. To be honest, it took me a long while to join PF because it was a national chain (much like restaurants the small ones are usually always better). However, in January, I found myself needing to get back into a gym routine desperately. I was also working out of state at the time, in Louisville, KY. I needed something that I was going to be able to go to when home and when traveling. My 1st 3 months of membership was in Louisville. So, to be honest, I was terrified at the thought of having to use a small town PF after getting accustomed to a big city gym. In the past, (and not with PF) the small town ones are not maintained, cleaned, or as helpful as the big city gyms. After reading these reviews, I am beginning to understand that it's more the members than it is the staff. I mean how are you going to give a gym a bad review because they "clean too much"? That is a perfect example of why people had to be told to wash their hands and cover their mouth when they cough back during 2020. Sir, that is someone else's bodily fluids...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE allow them to clean as much as they wish. I also noticed quite a few reviews stating the equipment is always tore up. Yesterday 5/8 was the 1st time I have been in the Kingsport location & something not working. It was just a treadmill & only 1 treadmill out of probably 30 that they have. This gym has acceded my expectations. It's always clean, the employees greet me every single time I walk in the door. They also always tell me to have a good day/evening/whatever it is at the time I am in there. If I had any complaints at all, it would be complaints about members. I use the circuit machines. I use them as they were intended, in a circuit. In the last 2 months not a single person I have seen come into the circuit area are using them in that manner. It's very aggravating to have someone walk up, see that you are on machine #5 and they go over and get on machine #7. In case you don't know, that would be your next machine, after a 60 second cardio. And then they don't even use it with the lights, so they are never on it for just 60 or 90 seconds. They want to set there for 5 minutes in between their reps. For those of us that use the circuit machines in the way they are intended, we do it to save time on our workout. If you see someone halfway through the circuit, please do NOT run to jump on the machine in front of them. We will literally only be on it for a Max of 90 seconds then you can have it to make your phone calls, or take a nap between reps or whatever your heart desires. Just please let those of us that have a life outside of the gym get our workout in. And folks we are grown arse humans, WIPE YOUR SWEAT OFF OF MACHINES AND ESPECIALLY TANNING BEDS

So people please look past the reviews that talk about broke equipment or anything negative and give this place a chance to conclude your own opinion. Cause I couldn't ask for a better gym. Not to mention, you are NOT going to get unlimited tanning for 25 a month, much less the rest of the spa membership stuff and the gym membership. All those things together, anywhere else or if you had to purchase separately (cause not all gyms have tanning or massage) it would cost you 50 or more a month. So you can't beat the deal. Added brownie points for the fact that I can go anywhere in the country and won't miss a workout or a tanning visit.

Basically, I absolutely 💯 💯💯 💚💚💚 Planet Fitness and would give them more stars if I could.

Planet Fitness and PF employees...y'all are awesomesauce and amazeballs. You keep doing you!!!!

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to workout and tan. So off to...

I have a membership at a different planet fitness, but i have moved recently and i'm right in between this location and the one in johnson city..i have tried both out to see which one i want to make my new home gym. This location is definitely larger and more spacious and even "brighter" than the johnson city gym. However, I will not be choosing this location. For one, the couple of times i have visited this location, it seems like there is always something that is messed up. it's my understanding that this location hasn't been open long, but i see out of order signs on the equipment already and the major issues are the black card perks. Everytime i go to sign up for one, i can almost guarantee at least one black card perk isn't working. When i ask staff when it will be fixed they just shrug it off or give an excuse. I work for my money and even though $20 something a month isn't much, i still choose to give you all more money so i can have extra perks, and to have them not working as much as they do is a disappointment. My second issue is, although the staff i have interacted with haven't been UNfriendly, i can't really call them professional. One day when i was putting my name down for the 2 hydro massage chairs that were working that day, i overheard the staff having a conversation about other employees and even heard one tell the other that their "boss had asked multiple employees if they knew where she could buy weed because she was new to town"...now i don't know if that's true or just staff gossip, but it's not a very professional thing to do especially when a customer is around? I've never had quite as much trouble in johnson city as I have with this kingsport location. For now i will be transferring to the johnson city location, i still may try to come to kingsport once in a while if i'm out and about because i do enjoy the total body enhancement...but then again, how will i know if it's working or not? Hopefully this new location will fix the kinks and get going as it should soon. I'm not totally ruling them out just yet, but i think some improvements need to be made before I spend my hard earned...

Update 10/23/25: Nearly half the gym contains broken equipment. This is reported to staff regularly and there are no repairs. More than half the cardio equipment doesn't work. Nearly none of the treadmills with TVs work. The hydromassages are down weekly. Both of the coin chairs are broken. What was once a nice gym is barely functional.

Pros Conveniently located, great hours, cheap monthly rate, and decent selection of equipment.

Cons The equipment on property is poorly maintained. The equipment stays broken for months on end. Every day, I discover something new that is broken. The seats on the equipment are repeat offenders, with many seats inoperable the entire time I've been a member (since 2019). Some equipment is borderline dangerous due to the poor maintenance. Once day a leg machine broke while I used it (bolts and screws flew out of it.) The inability to properly position seats is likewise dangerous, as it places you at risk for injury due to poor positioning. In the women's bathroom, a sink remained out of order for 14 months. The water bottle filter is rarely changed. These complaints fall on deaf ears. One single person is responsible for cleaning. If that person is not at work, nothing gets cleaned and the trash piles up for days. She works very hard to maintain the cleanliness of the facilities and takes great pride in her job, but she has little to no assistance from the other employees. The other employees stand at the check in desk glued to devices with little guest interaction. Rules are not consistently enforced. See above, the majority of employees remain glued to devices all day and often permit inappropriate activities to occur within the facilities.

Bottom line: This is a potentially great gym, it's just poorly managed and...