Club Pilates — Local services in New York

I am in the very unfortunate situation of writing my personal experience with Club Pilates Upper West side, which was rather disappointing. Ι have been a member of Club Pilates for 1.5 year. I have just been back from my vacations and, as usual, I tried to register again for classes since I had it paused for the month I was on holidays. I could not do that online, so I called customer service. To my great astonishment, I was informed that I was no longer a member of Club Pilates. They told me that they had sent me an email informing me about their decision to delete me as a member, but I never found that email either in my inbox or my spam. I asked to speak to the manager directly asking for further information, but they refused to do so.

Customer service let me know that it was because of a matter of personal conflict with an instructor. I asked for the phone to reach the manager. Instead they gave me an email address. I wrote everything in the email asking for a phone meeting with the manager or at least an email explaining me the situation but there was absolutely no response.

Going back to the incident with the instructor, it was late June when I had one of my usual Saturday's classes with Lilly. I am a scientist in profession, I am always very meticulous when planning an experiment and that is something that follows me in everyday life. I always make sure to plan, thus, I book my courses most of the time 3 to 4 weeks in advance and I check them again a couple of days before I join the class. Knowing thatI leave on vacation at the end of July, I made sure to book all my classes till then (I pay for the classes month by month). Going to the class that Saturday, we were one person more than the actual reformers were. The front desk took our presence, and my name was not on the list. Lilly came to me and without asking any questions at all about the whole situation asked me to leave the class because I was unregistered. She also gave me these looks of strong disapproval as if I was participating in the class illegally or something. At this point, I would like to point out again that Lilly is one of the instructors of Club Pilates. I do not know whether the instructors are authorized to ask someone to leave the class. For sure, they are not allowed to judge anyone or show an attitude. Strongly confused as I was, I went straight to the front desk. The front desk apologized to me and as we discovered a couple of minutes later that they had confused the days of my vacations and they had frozen my account starting in late June instead of late July. After the communication I had with the front desk, I waited for Lilly to finish the class and then asked her the reason she behaved so rudely. To be honest, I never had a similar experience with this person before. She did not admit anything and told me that since the front desk did not take any action, she had to take action. I asked her to apologize, and she refused. I explained to her that her behavior and looks of strong disapproval were very insulting to me. At the end, she did apologize and told me that I was a very positive person with very good vibes and that she hoped that this misunderstanding would not stop me from participating in her class again. I accepted the apology and I left.

As I mentioned above, that happened in late June. Till the end of my classes in July no one ever told me anything about the incident or asked me to learn more about it. Going to present, I learn from a call to customer service on September that my registration with Club Pilates is no longer valid because of that incident. No other explanation, no email, no phone call, not even a personal discussion all this time that I was still having classes. I am truly disappointed by the management of Club Pilates Upper West and deeply offended by the way I was treated. I think that no one deserves such a behavior. As for instructor Lilly, I let all of you that will read these lines think if you would ever trust a person that shows such a deceiving and...

Bear with me, this will be a long review!

I’ve been going to this studio since April (just started level 1.5) and honestly can’t say enough good things about it. From the front desk to the instructors, everyone is outstanding. The instructors here are consistently better than at other CP studios I’ve tried on both the east and west coasts. Personally, I think Lilli (my absolute favorite!), Bailey, and Caroline are the best. They bring such variety to their classes, constantly remind us about proper breathing, and keep students motivated throughout. They also make the effort to remember your name, which may not seem like a big deal, but it truly makes you feel seen and valued. That said, all the instructors are highly skilled, and it’s really about finding whose style fits you best. I’ve had a couple of classes where I realized the instructor wasn’t my preference, but then saw other students asking about their schedule to come back again. It’s definitely worth trying everyone out to see what works for you.

The front desk team also deserves a shout-out. They are kind, welcoming, and accommodating every single time, and they remember your name too. The studio overall has such an inclusive and supportive atmosphere that makes it easy to feel comfortable no matter your background, body type, or experience level. Having worked in a similar role before, I know how challenging it can be to show up with positivity day after day, but they really do put their best foot forward.

I started with the 4-classes-per-month package, then upgraded to 8, and now I’m on the destination package. That progression alone shows how much I’ve enjoyed being here. I can’t wait to continue my Pilates journey at...

I joined Club Pilates UWS in August 2022 -- I had never done Pilates before, but since then I’ve become addicted. I used to be way more into HIIT and high intensity workouts, but my body feels better than ever now that I’m doing Pilates regularly and my arms have never looked better!

The first few weeks I had no idea what I was doing, but all of the instructors are phenomenal and I’ve learned so much in the past 5 months. I’ve especially loved taking classes with Lilli who makes every class challenging and fun and has been working with me to develop my form so I get more out of every class. She starts each class with breathing exercises which is a very helpful tool to keep your core engaged and get the most out of every move. I also regularly take classes with Kylie, Zoe and Jake who are awesome and have helped me build strength and consistently challenge me to keep learning more.

Also, the front desk staff is amazing and super friendly and helpful! I love seeing them and chatting every time I come in! I would 10/10 recommend going to Club Pilates UWS - it’s been life changing both mentally and physically and I am so...