Life Time — Local services in Tampa

Last Sunday, on 07/07/2024, my family and I were excited to visit the club for a tour. We had received a personal invitation along with our club membership account numbers attached. However, our experience turned out to be quite disheartening. Despite having been loyal members since 2015 & 2021, we were treated disrespectfully and turned away. This was especially surprising considering the club's previous abrupt closure and the delayed opening of the new location for a year. We had expected to be welcomed back warmly, but instead, we were told that we couldn't tour the club unless we signed a contract on the spot prior to the tour. To make matters worse, we were scolded for not upgrading our membership earlier, despite the club's delayed opening dates and operational uncertainties. This entire experience left us feeling disappointed and undervalued. As a result, I feel compelled to share this experience publicly to caution my family and friends to steer clear of this place. It's unfortunate that this new club treats its former members more like a collection agency, rather than a so-called high-end athletic country club. We have decided to continue commuting to Saddlebrook Resort for our weekly training, where we receive respect and wonderful customer service.

Please note the following text: * You are receiving this email because you are a Member of Life Time. Your member ID is 11199**.

We simply wanted to tour the club before committing to a contract, and we felt reassured about our current membership status because of the invitation to tour the club. When we visited, the club was not open to the public, and there were only about 10 cars or fewer in the parking lot at that time. Therefore, anyone claiming that the building is not large enough to accommodate all the people who wish to have a membership is mistaken. We were invited guests, as stated in our welcome email.

Email Received from Jamie Greene membership consultant on 07/08/2024 :

Tours were available only to current members of the Harbour Island club and those members needed to have signed their usage and terms agreement BEFORE actually receiving a physical tour of the club. With the extremely high demand for this location (11,000+ people originally on the waitlist), the availability was limited and we have reached our initial capacity for membership. The building itself is not large enough to house all of the people that wish to have a membership and it is top priority to ensure we provide the exclusive experience we promise to our current members. That experience includes exclusive tours that cater only to our current members of Harbour Island, not allowing guests, one-day passes, or out-of-club members for the foreseeable future, and increasing the dues rates and joining fees to slow membership enrollment throughout the preopening period. We had stopped selling memberships to the waitlist on June 12 due to rate of sales and membership is now on a waitlist.

As a reminder, the following rates will apply: $269 per month for 1 person, $369 for 2 people, $449 for 3 people, or $499 for 4 people, plus $100 per Junior member. Please note, the club will remain on a membership waitlist post opening to manage capacity and deliver on the best possible member experience. New members will also be subject to a $1,000 enrollment fee, by upgrading now you will bypass the waitlist and not be subject...

To the owner(s) of Lifetime Fitness Harbour Island . This is a long review .

I will start by saying that the janitorial/maintenance/operations team’s are amazing. I’ve never seen a group of people work harder than these staff members. They are diligent and mindful in their work and that shows in their craft of maintaining the facilities to the best of their abilities with what they’re given.

That being said… I don’t know if the treatment of the people who work for this Lifetime location matter but what I’ve witnessed isn’t ok. I’ve been a member for a few years and I remember the old club that was in the mall. It was exciting , energetic and every team member was beaming and truly seemed like they mattered. The Harbour island location seems as if it’s more of COMPOUND than a Lifetime and RULED over instead of having managers who might actually care about their employees instead of just their pockets.

One of the oddest and most concerning things I’ve witnessed lately is the pool attendants. Why do the they have to stand the entire time? It gets hot and very humid in Tampa, so why have I never seen the pool attendants ( I come at peak times /different times) sit or even have a chair to sit in at times? I don’t mean sit there for the entirety of their shift but give them a break. It gets HOT in Florida. They need proper shade and a fan or something for a little air circulation.

Why does every one on management (upper management) come off as rude and just focused on themselves ? Upper management is supposed to make money for the club, yes, but do the team members who are out in the heat, getting dirty and the ones on the inside making sure the club is immaculate and the way it’s supposed to be, matter ? The energy is different here. Not in a good way. There needs to be a shift in management in my opinion. Never seen or met any management that always comes off as so rude.

Again, I’ve been to numerous lifetimes and this is not it. There is a way to treat the people who actually make LIFETIME… LIFETIME… I really hope a change is made and some things are put in order . Hopefully the team members that make the place what it is are getting paid WELL and I’m not talking about upper management. Faculty and team members and whoever works for a brand should not be treated as a number but treated as an important part of the brand and like they matter because without the team members/faculty holding up the standards, Lifetime wouldn’t be the nationally recognized and AMAZING...

I have been going here since 1998 when it was the harbor island athletic club. It is so oversold and crowded now, you must show your card to a poor employee that stands in the parking lot to park (if there is a spot from 4-6 good freakin’ luck). Then, you scan in again to get inside. Then, you enter the horribly overcrowded mens locker (2 Toilets, really?) where the benches each hold 1-2 people while everyone stands around to get a locker and change. Then, you go to workout and there are NEVER any open benches or dip machine. And, God help you if you want to use a leg press on leg day. I have left the last 5 times without finishing my leg workout. I started going at 4 and it makes a little difference. Oh, and if you want to sit in the steam room, it holds 8, uncomfortably, but there are 708 rules on what you can do in there (like talk) And you end up standing in a corner. It sucks if you just want to go to a place to workout. But, if you want to pay x dollars more for a class on the treadmills or the workout stations, there is plenty of room for that if you like. And, working out, unmolested by extra charges or solicitation, by yourself? Good luck. You will never finish a workout here. If you want to stretch or roll out on a mat. You can, if you want to inconveniently lay out a mat where everyone walks around or in between the massage tables where trainers, for a small fee I’m sure, will stretch you. The front desk and cleaning folks are very nice and helpful. The “trainers” not so much. There are about 70 of them with whiteboards and other b.s. assessments to sell you stuff. Putting a “How long can you hang from a bar?” whiteboard right in the middle of the entrance to the workout floor and having “trainers” solicit you? Hell, I’d pay $15.00 Extra on leg day to book 6 minutes on the leg press, but I guess that’s what they want. Definitely not worth the $400 a month for my 18 year old kid and me. Which reminds me, if your kid likes to workout in crocs or slides, they ask him to leave. I guess next they will charge 15 bucks extra to wear slides. This place is like a miami south beach bar now. Horribly Overcrowded, expensive, and not worth it if you just want to work out solo before or after work...