Crunch Fitness - Maple Grove — Local services in Maple Grove

Increasing my rating by one star for the much-needed new equipment—thank you for that.

However, the gym’s cleanliness remains a major issue. Personal trainers still don’t wipe down equipment after sessions, and gym patrons fall into two camps: those who wipe and those who don’t. Unfortunately, the latter outnumber the former. Despite the owner’s previous response promising action, there’s been no improvement in communication, wipe availability, or policy enforcement. The floor gets a casual vacuum, but look under the free weight racks, and it’s a dust bunny graveyard—when was the last time this place was actually deep-cleaned? I’m convinced it never has been. And I wish I could attach photos because the water bottle/drinking fountain situation is flat-out disgusting.

Staff attentiveness and friendliness are still nonexistent. One woman at the front is friendly, but the rest? Indifferent at best. No effort has been made to change this.

Aside from the new machines, nothing has improved since my original review.

At least it’s cheap. I guess you really do get what you pay for.

I’ve been a member of this gym for a while now, and while it technically serves its purpose, there’s a lot that could be better. I mainly stick to free weights, which works for me, but the machines? Not so much. They feel old and clunky—there’s definitely better equipment out there. A second Smith machine would be a game-changer since there’s always a wait, and the one seated leg curl machine has been broken for months. How long does it take to fix one machine?

More concerning, though, is that the gym seems to be hitting critical mass. Even the benches are constantly in use, meaning more waiting, less actual working out. It’s great that the gym is clearly making a ton of money, but it’s getting crowded to the point where it’s becoming a problem for the people who actually want to work out.

Cleanliness is another issue. At first glance, things look fine, but take a closer look, and it’s clear no one’s paying attention. A mud spot sat on the locker room floor for four days. Four. That’s not an oversight—that’s just a lack of cleaning. And don’t even get me started on the inside of the lockers. There also seems to be just one guy responsible for all the cleaning. He’s friendly and always smiling, which is great, but a gym this size needs constant upkeep—not one person doing his best to hold the place together. The gym provides cleaning towelettes, but they’re used maybe 40% of the time. The dispensers are inconveniently placed, so the free weights rarely get wiped down. Most members don’t bother cleaning up after themselves, and I’ve even seen staff, including trainers, skipping it. Not exactly setting a good example.

Then there’s the staff. I don’t expect much—just basic professionalism—but even that seems to be a stretch. In all the time I’ve been a member, I’ve been greeted at the front desk maybe five times. Usually, there are three to five employees back there, glued to their phones or chatting with each other, completely ignoring members. The trainers, apart from one guy who actually seems friendly, generally act like they’re too cool to acknowledge anyone. And then there’s the bearded guy—his entire job seems to be wandering around at a leisurely pace, chatting up women on the machines. I have no idea what his actual role is, but it’s definitely not helping members.

Oh, and I found out on the website that I was supposed to get a free gift when I signed up. Never got it. And honestly, given how disengaged the staff is, I don’t feel like interrupting their social hour just to ask.

At the end of the day, the gym technically meets my needs, but it could be so much better. A little attention to equipment, cleanliness, and staffing could turn it from a place I tolerate into a place I actually enjoy working out.

And before anyone says, "Why not just tell the gym directly?"—I did. I sent all of this in an email a month ago....

I have been a member since April 2022. The club opened in January of 2022. If I were writing this in the first couple of months, i would have given a 5-star rating. Unfortunately, the newness is beginning to wear off and has moved to a generous 2-star. I

The Good: Lots of equipment and it is rare that you have to wait to use something. And if you do, the wait is short or there are alternatives available. The equipment seems to be very high quality. I've taken several classes and they were all great. From what I can tell people really enjoy them, easy to sign up for and scheduled throughout the day.

The Bad: Overall, the gym is not being maintained. Several months ago, wet wipes were installed. This was appreciated but often times the dispensers are empty and equipment is inconsistently wiped down. There is no instructions or expectations set for members to use. My recommendation would be to wipe down before use rather than assume someone has wiped after using. Little things like missing knobs on equipment or torn padding are starting to appear. The staff seems content to sit at the front-desk rather than monitor the gym, encourage wiping of equipment, enforcing the "no bags in the gym" policy or clean up spills that result. As a result, the gym can at times get very cluttered. Staff does not seem to care. One day, someone spilled their workout drink. I watched it for the hour and a half I was there as staff walked right by it. No one did anything about it. I finally, on my way out, told the guy sitting at the front-desk he should clean it up. He looked at me like I had asked him to do the impossible.

The Ugly: The gym and in particular the locker rooms are getting filthy! There does not seem to be any scheduled cleaning. The floor in the gym is dirty as many individuals wear the same shoes from outside into the gym. There is nothing preventing people from doing that, but it does introduce a lot of dirt. No big deal if the floor was cleaned nightly. The locker room is a whole other story. Shortly before Christmas, one of the showers had clumps of hair in it. Not sure what someone was trimming but it was nasty. You might think it would get cleaned up as part of the on-going maintenance, but it sat in the shower for at least a week and a half before it disappeared. That proves how infrequently the showers are being cleaned. When stepping into the showers, you get a whiff of mildew. The locker room floor has not been cleaned in at least 3 weeks as evidenced by 2 dirt clods that remain on the floor. This demonstrates how infrequently the locker rooms are being cleaned. If you choose to use the locker room, be warned!

I do not share this review to be an a$$hole. I share this in hopes that management takes note and implements steps to ensure the club and in particular the floor and locker room are maintained and cleaned on a regular basis. This should be a club that all members can be proud of. I've referred several friends over but in the current state, I would be less inclined to make a referral without first giving a warning. Once they get their cleaning protocols in place, this would easily be back to a...

I have no complaints about the facility itself but being a mom of 2, the main reason why I joined was for their kids club and it is their kids club that I have so many complaints about. For starters, the first time I walked in, the kids club team members had their friends visiting them and were too busy talking to them to even notice that I walked in. Waited a few minutes till one of their friends noticed I was just standing there and then they finally moved out of the way and decided to leave. This already in my eyes was not professional because they are getting paid to watch our kids not talk and visit with friends. Everytime I walk in, at least one of the kids club team members is always on their phone. How should I feel safe leaving my child if they’re not even going to be paying attention to the kids and be on their phones ? They also have a rule that your child needs to be potty trained which I completely understand but most of the time I drop my daughter off and come to pick her up it seems she would be waiting for me to come to use the bathroom. After getting to the root of the problem of why she is doing this, I come to find she does not feel comfortable with the team members and feel they are not approachable because they are on their phones and don’t engage with her. In addition, I’ve escorted her to their bathroom inside kids club a few times and that bathroom is always a mess and not very child friendly so how do you expect a toddler to use it ? When I walked into the kids club bathroom the first time, the toilet paper roll wasn’t on the toilet paper holder it was loose on the floor.. my daughter isn’t potty trained to grab toilet paper off the floor she’s trained to get it off the holder so I can see why she would feel confused and intimidated using their restroom. It is also always wet on the bathroom floor (don’t know if it’s another kids pee or water) and since they aren’t able to wear shoes and only socks, my daughter stepped in it not realizing it was wet on the floor and her socks were soaked. Again, I’m hoping she didn’t step in someone else’s pee. I was disgusted. Also there was poop and pee already in the toilet from someone else’s child who forgot to flush. Im just confused why they don’t check the bathroom and clean it after every child uses it…? Anyway, I thought this was as good as it’s going to get and I’m desperate for childcare to be able to exercise but then I tried the Blaine location and let me tell you, their kids club is so much better ! Their kids club staff actually engages well with the children and they have treats to give the kids at the end. Their bathroom is also not intimidating for my daughter to use because it’s kept clean and my daughter seems very comfortable asking the staff to escort her to the bathroom so that I don’t have to. What I’m trying to get at is if you mainly have a membership at crunch for the perk of their kids club I’d highly advise to not use maple grove and instead switch to the...