Life Time — Local services in New York

For my first time at a Lifetime Gym, I'm not particularly impressed. Long story short, the building/machines are nice and well-maintained (for the most part), but the little details aren't being kept up. Hoping that the Wall Street and Midtown locations are a bit nicer.

Cons:

Little things like the quality and finish of the hair dryer. I don't expect a Dyson, but this is a hair dryer you'd find in a $99/night hotel. Both of the units in the men's locker room also had very visible wear, and the speed settings were completely worn off.

The "cleaning station" at the incline bench press was a bottle of hand sanitizer and paper towels, no sanitizer bottle to be found. At another part of the gym, there was the standard "wet nap" style of wipes, but I didn't bother trying those.

Towels are visibly old and pretty thin. They're either so old they've started to yellow, or they're being dried on too high of a heat by whoever cleans the towels. (I didn't see an in-house laundry for them, but I didn't check too hard.)

There was a lot of random empty space. The #/type of machines they had was above average for a normal gym, I'd say similar or better than an average Equinox. That said, I feel like they could be using the space they have more efficiently, with a potentially even greater variety of machines.

The locker room is decorated nicely, but it has lots of little nooks and crannies, I'd imagine it's not fun to clean. That said, when I came today around 230pm, there was a not insignificant amount of hair in the little nook I selected. The locker itself was pretty clean, and the vanities were a bit messy/hairy when I arrived but were cleaned by the time I was finished with my workout.

Pretty small hot tub, no cold plunge or ice bath. I didn't bother testing it today, but my initial impressions of it were middling.

Beautiful stairwell leading up to the gym, but the color/style of the marble and lack of friction tape made it a bit precarious going down it. I assume it’s ADA, but visually was a bit hard to tell as I was going down where each step ended.

Pros:

All of the staff were/looked friendly. The woman at the front desk was professional and very smartly dressed. We had to wait ~10 minutes for a membership advisor to get my membership activated because I'm signed up to be a founding member of their midtown location, though that wasn't her fault and she handled it well.

Once I was in contact with the membership advisor, he was very knowledgeable and helpful, was able to answer my questions about this and other locations, and got me processed quickly.

Being able to use the InBody any time I want will be very nice; TMPL/Equinox had them available for a price/with personal training.

Lockers were large enough and deep, combo-style, no issues.

Men's steam and sauna were large and got hot. Steam room needed to be cleaned when I used it around 3pm, but it wasn't dirty enough for me to not want to use it. (I'm not sure if it had been cleaned that day yet.) I wasn't convinced about the "press for steam" style vs the timer initially, but it eventually filled the room with steam nicely, so I'm a fan.

All of the plate-loaded machines in the weight training area had plenty of plates. It was obvious that someone took the time to load/sort the weights on each machine, which I really appreciated.

This was just my initial impression of the gym, I’ll give an update after a few weeks to see how...

I have been coming to this location for the last month and have had a positive experience every time. There was enough cardio equipment for everyone to go around. But the weight section needs to be included.

PROS: There is space to move around and put a mat on the floor for dumbbell work. The music is not unbearably loud I have never had to wait for a cardio machine Normal people (not everyone is a supermodel) The place has been well-kept, and I wonder why everyone complains about unkept locker rooms. When I am there, there is always an attendant cleaning, and I've had no complaints.

I am not even going to put this in PROS because this is the main reason why I keep coming back every time, and that is the Pilates with Julie. Pilates is not for the weak, and I took my very first Pilates class here, and it has changed my life. It is an experience that is worth every penny. The classes are reasonably priced, and Julie (the instructor) makes the class worth even more. Pilates is only as great as the instructor; Julie has been doing this for over 40 years. I feel welcomed, unjudged, and supported. If you are already a Lifetime member, I'd highly suggest taking a Pilates class with Julie, which will ultimately elevate your experience.

CONS: Even though Lifetime is a nice gym, and I've been enjoying my time there, I would say the "gym bros" at this location are brutal. Every weight machine is taken by a 20-something-year-old guy who does a set of one, sits there for 20 minutes, and repeats for an hour. This definitely takes away from the experience since you are left waiting for something to open up. I am not huge on weight machines, but I'm waiting for someone to leave when I want to...

I feel it is important for others to be warned about using Lifetime in the city. I do not recommend in the slightest.

I didn't mind the sauna being down every other week, or the hot water in the shower not working. Or even the gym being closed the entire day for cleaning and needing to walk across the city to find a different location.

But, what really upset me is having to pay more money to this company, even after giving them a 30 day notice that I will be moving out of the city. It is chaotic and expensive enough to navigate a move, even 30 days in advance but needing to be on back and forth phone calls with customer service representatives who badger me to renew and not help me terminate my account adds to the fuel. Before the 30 days began, they sold me on freezing my account for $15 a month instead of terminating despite telling them I was moving out of the city and needed termination. This, of course, made me spend even more money because now I could not terminate my membership without a $200 fee being applied since it would no longer qualify for the 30 day notice cancelation. When I called in to resolve this, they were incredibly rude and offered no resolution.

Lifetime Fitness works to scam people for more money. Use my experiences to educate yourself not to choose this as your gym membership. For the same price, even less, you can go to Equinox. They are friendly and care about their customers,...