Exurb Fitness Waldorf — Local services in Waldorf

I love this gym. I feel like it's a nice little hidden gem above the ice rink. My only issues with it is that there are limited squat racks and deadlift platforms, the weights are sometimes a struggle to slide on barbells, and the gym etiquette of the goers is lacking. By lacking I mean, equipment all over the place leaving the staff having to clean up after them and not re-racking their weights.

Updating review First, I was a member through Active and Fit Direct and I just found out (August 20th) that they are phasing that out at the end of August, in 2 weeks. How did i find this out? By having my 24hour access revoked. No call, no email, not even a post on their social media. The girl at the front desk, who told me this after I inquired why I wasn't able to access through the side door, wasn't fully aware and said she would check with the owner and get back to me. She read off my contact info to me, which was correct so they can't say they didn't have a way to contact me.

Second, the front desk folks don't really know what's going on. With the previous point, the girl working looked new so I give her grace. But I have gone in and asked someone who was there for a while about things and they had no information. One being about the group classes they have and they couldn't find a schedule.

Third and last, the sanitation. Within the last 2 months they went from providing each goer their own spray bottle and towel to wipe down equipment to having stations around the gym with spray bottles and paper towels, now to just having sanitation wipes. I loved the dedicated bottle and towel. The switch to the paper towel and spray stations was good, just like other commercial gyms. My issue with this tho was that the paper towel dispensers would be empty or just not working. Also there wouldn't be a trash can right next to it, the can would be somewhere else. But the last time I went there were no spray bottles at the dispensers just a couple sanitation wipe bins around the gym but they were all empty except one at the entrance. Idk but I feel like if people can't even re-rack their weights, they aren't going to walk across the gym to a sanitation wipe to clean the equipment...

I first want to point out that the community(which includes fellow patrons and gym staff ) in this gym is amazing. After coming here for 3 months I have yet to meet anyone toxic here! Another big plus is that it's truly 24/7 (9am-10pm staffed then rest of time unstaffed). As someone who primarily works out after midnight I am glad we have a gym that is 24/7 in the area (the only one!!!). For the price of 24.99 a month you cannot beat it. On July 21,2024 we received a email stating that on August 5 Instead of a one time charge a month of 24.99 there will be a biweekly charge of 24.99 practically charging $50 a month. The email stated that the price increase was due to upcoming gym renovations and improvements ( including locker room and new equipment ). The email also stated that this increase was recommended by third party business advisers. In my 30 plus years of living I have never seen or heard of any service doubling their monthly rate in less then a month notice. Not only that but there is no timetable or roadmap when these upgrades will be available. I understand that there is no gym in the area that is 24/7 and I know that the competitors charge a very high amount. But the gyms are double in size compared to this one. The local La Fitness has a pool and sports courts. Its impossible for this gym to get those amenities. These were all points made from fellow gym goers. The mood is not good. If the owner is reading I want to let you know that I will NOT be leaving and I am going to stick around. I am just worried that a community that I just joined and enjoy is in jeopardy. Is it possible to simply gradually increase the price to the target margin while the gym upgrades get completed? Are you able to give a detailed plan or a roadmap of all future enhancements and upgrades with etas to justify the price hike?! Its very hard for me to tell my friends or family to joins this gym for $50 a month with no timetable on improvements or without the same amenities the other gyms provide( referring to the refer a friend program). I hope all avenues were explored and I hope everything turns out for the better. Thank you and...

Let me first say I was a longtime member of Exurb for almost 20yrs. Started when it was originally World Gym. What l liked most was the community vibe of the gym which was something I was looking for after Sport & Health closed down. I've seen the facility go through many changes mainly in personnel. Not so much in equipment but I stuck around because it was my second gym home. As a business owner in the county and another fitness business owner, I do want to see businesses succeed especially as a small business but this last change could have been done better. Way better than it was. Things I felt were missing.

Transparency Communication Survey of the members to get a feel for what they'd like to see in the gym. Basically, what can Exurb do to be better. Timelines for implementation. Tiered memberships. Even premier gyms have these.

The bathrooms were redone which was great but in all honesty a good tradeoff could have been some cosmetic upgrades while acquiring some new pieces of equipment. That could have been a win for the majority of the patrons. Also closing both bathrooms at the same time and relegating folks to Porta potty's when the downstairs was closed and in the dark was not a smart move especially with some of the crime that has happened in the area. I'm sure if the pulse of the members were taken into consideration, most would have provided valuable input that would have assisted in better decision making and implementation overall that would have benefited the gym and members. For many like myself, the cost of the membership isn't the issue. It's the things I've noted above and then some. Create a buy in with the customers by being transparent upfront. We got a shotgun blast to the face at 8pm on a Sunday night with no real explanation and a staff who had no answers either.

I do miss it and hope to return but cannot under the current conditions. I've been a member of the gym the same length of time I've lived in the county. I truly feel patrons deserve better and management needs to lead by example. People don't leave jobs because the jobs are bad. They leave because of...