Dolphin Fitness Clubs — Local services in New York

Been going here for 1.5 years now. Overall this gym has the main essentials for a solid workout with a reasonable price and amazing hours.

Sharing some detailed insights below to help you determine if it's the right fit for you:

It's a retro gym with a good deal of heavy lifters. This gym has loads of free weights (including extremely heavy weights), squat racks, cables, and cardio machines.

It has a small mat section for abs and stretching, and an open space for boxing and HIIT workouts, but this gym is not made for cross fit training or any training that requires a lot of open space. The mat section has medicine balls, and you can get kettlebells by asking the front desk. People also occasionally ask for ropes, but the space isn't really meant for it.

It can get crowded after 4pm so I recommend coming in the morning if you like more space. The good news is that it rarely gets crowded to the point where you'd have to ask someone to share a machine because there's endless weights/machine to go around.

The staff are very kind and welcoming and keep the place clean. It is an old-school Brooklyn gym, so don't expect to see the modern/colorful interior that big gym chains have. This doesn't bother me but I figured it's important to note in case it matters to you. I use to go to Planet Fitness before and although this gym looks older, the abundance of equipment makes up for it 100x.

There seems to be a strong community between the members at the gym, so if you like staying motivated with others, this gym is an easy place to meet like-minded individuals. But if you're anything like me, I'm quite independent when it comes to working out so I never engage with the people. 😅

NOTES FOR THE WOMEN:

1. Most of the members at this gym are men. I see MAYBE 1-2 other females around me. Generally, the men are nice, but some of them can't help but look at the women. 😪 I recommend visiting during morning/early afternoon if you prefer to avoid that as there's way less people earlier in the day.

2. I find that some machines are not petite friendly so sometimes I have to stretch to reach the handle or push the leg press further to put it back in place. If you're short and find that it's hard to adjust the machine to your size, don't worry–it's not you, it's the machine. Just be aware of this so you don't break your back trying. I recommend trying another machine or opt for free weights and cables to avoid the problem altogether.

Hopefully, my insights are helpful! Feel free to visit the gym to see for yourself. The place is bigger than what it feels like in...

I made the mistake of rejoining this club for a yearly membership last month even though my membership was not over yet. The petty monitors at the front will screech @ you and beg you to rejoin months before your time is up. Yes they are that desperate and pathetic. Due to a number of reasons, I would like a full refund. I will no longer be attending Dolphin Fitness for my workouts.

I am no longer comfortable working out there and each year I find my workouts at this club less and less enjoyable. My decision is based on a number of reasons.

I am tired of dealing with the minefield of overly crowded equipment on the workout floor from Dolphin's other previously closed down clubs. It's not only an eyesore but it's also probably a fire hazard and increasingly more dangerous. My bruised up shins are the proof.

The men's locker room is just as filthy, gross, unappealing and inconvenient as it's always been there are always gnats flying all over the one urinal in the entire gym. It's tiny, crammed and uncomfortable. Given the fact that it hasn't changed at all in the 15 years that I've been a member, other than a couple of new lightbulbs that have recently been installed. Bravo.

The consistently abysmal attitude from half of the cleaning staff is annoying. I shouldn't pay to deal with attitudes from miserable people.

The increasingly inept decision making from the management is concerning. There have also been more and more instances of management siding with increasingly troublemaking personal trainers who are always starting fights with members over equipment. The gym is overcrowded and inconvenient but the management will always side with the trainers because it brings money to the club.

Dolphin fitness clubs is clearly a dying brand. All other DF clubs are closed down, probably for good reason. This last ditch effort to renovate the last DFC to try to make it look like something other than an old bowling alley with decades old weight equipment strewn all over the floor is laughable. They will most likely be out of business entirely soon as all their other locations are long gone. You really take your chances joining.

Stay far away from this garbage club. There are plenty of options better than this terrible...

Okay so i can really say that the latest review by Steven is pretty accurate. I too entered this fitness gym around 3 months ago. Everything needed is there; sufficient number of treadmills and etc. I mean, i go there for a work out, not a massage, so i don't expect the staff to greet you with free coffee every morning. But there management is very poor.

Tom is the manager as far as i know. When i joined with my friend and brother, Tom was amazing welcoming. We joined without hesitation. But after pursuing us to extend our membership for an additional year and we declined his "kind" offer, things begin to look bad. (They have this special payment plan thing where extending your membership before a certain deadline will make the plan cheaper; but forcing you to spend over 300 within the first 3 months for an approximately 2 year membership) Basically, after they realize that you are not going to continue your membership, they immediately ignore you as a customer. They gave me attitudes ever since, and bug me every single time they have the chance to. This old man that works there takes the effort to walk to me almost every time im on the free weights to "remind" me about placing my weights back when i am finished. I soon came to realize that this "friendly reminder" that he does to maintain the gym only applies to me and nobody else. He would always accuse me of things that i didnt do and the attitude he gives me is absolutely disgusting. He told me to say "yes i understand" to his "reminder". With absolute respect to the gyms equipment, i never once leave the weights that i used laying around; and his accusations makes me wonder if it is because of my age. There are two staffs however, that are very nice and would treat you with full respect; a lady and a guy who are always at the front desk. Overall, I can put up with this terrible staff for now, but i honestly recommend people to spend their money on somewhere else where you can be treated like a customer; especially if you are below...