Gold's Gym - Dupont Circle — Local services in Washington

Please take CAUTION BEFORE JOINING THIS GOLD’s gym at Dupont Circle ! To Gold’s Gym: Please state on your website, socials and any platform that only local Washington DC Identification is accepted to use the free pass. Please clearly state that a United States ID is not accepted to enter the gym with a free pass and $20 daily pass is required.

I had an extremely frustrating experience with Aaron the manager and Josh at the front desk. Upon presenting my information and ID, the employee at the front desk informed me that I needed a Washington DC ID to access the gym with a free pass. Nowhere during the online sign-up process was this requirement mentioned. I found it incredibly inconvenient and frankly discriminatory that as a resident of DC, I was denied access to a gym I had planned to join.

The employees' refusal (Josh + Aaron) to let me in due to not having a DC ID left a sour taste in my mouth, and it's disheartening that Gold's Gym would impose such a policy without clear written communication to potential members.

Aaron (manager) said the website clearly states that you need a D.C ID. I checked immediately in front of him and found no such policy online on the website or the email with the free pass. He did not seem to understand that it does not state on the website or link about any DC identification policy.

Aaron needs to be trained on customer service as he was rude, disrespectful, dismissive, and he raised his voice, and pointed fingers while he spoke with me. He also mentioned that he didn't care about Gold's gym losing money over one customer who was potentially going to join. He had an attitude towards me and did not even try to fulfil his role/duties as a manager.

In general:

gym is dull grey/black -machines always busy -free pass is not really a free pass if you dont bring your DC ID. Aaron and Josh are rude. Avoid them flooring downstairs in the basement near squat racks is uneven, so it is dangerous. -towels smell bad -homeless are always sleeping outside smells like piss by the entrance of the gym. -very expensive for golds' minimum $100 monthly + all other hidden fees. not as many machines, no pool, and no hot tub. very crowded during rush hour VIDA fitness and much better...

Update - lockers are horrifying Please figure it out 😭😭 Shouldn't take 5 tries to get a locker that actually locks and that's after 9 other lockers already have repair orders on them and another 3-4 are missing doors ................................................. Nice gym overall I'm only reviewing cause google asked me to, but I've been coming here since it opened and never had any memorable issues

Great use of the space - infinitely better than the LA Fatness that was here before + the bathrooms are always clean. I think the previous LA had the dirtiest bathroom in America so maybe I'm easily satisfied 🤷 Usually not too crowded outside of the expected weekday evenings and even those aren't too bad Never really had an issue with gym douchebags, the regular crowd are all decent Staff has always been really nice, minus one person who doesn't seem to greet or even look at guests yet is somehow constantly talking when there's another employee with them Newer weekday lady seems to be a very diligent worker 👍🏼 Cleaning ladies are serious about their work, they'll sweep your feet up if you're standing in dirt Equipment is usually very functional and in good shape which is nice considering the frequency of annoying gymcels slamming weights even when they're not remotely heavy

Only a few complaints - lockers are inferior, they constantly break or are locked in the open position, always takes multiple tries to get one that actually locks Sauna never feels hot, gave up on it like a year ago Wish the punching bag was in the zumba room instead of the middle of the floor, my 👊 👊 are nice but I still got social anxiety, don't like boxing in the middle of a 4 way intersection

Lastly, to the goofies complaining about bums outside, seriously bro, get a life. There's crackheads posted at any metro stop at any given time around here - not...

I was a loyal member of this gym from the day it opened, always providing honest feedback to help improve the facility. However, my recent experience has been nothing short of infuriating and disappointing.

In July 2024, I visited in person to cancel my membership. The sales associate assured me that my membership was cancelled and even mentioned I had two additional weeks of access. I specifically told him I wouldn’t be in the neighborhood, and he encouraged me to watch for a new Gold’s Gym opening near me, which I was excited about.

Fast-forward months later, I’ve now been sent to collections for nearly $300 for a membership I thought was cancelled. It’s clear that either the staff was incompetent or the gym intentionally misled me. This is completely unacceptable and shows a total lack of professionalism and respect for long-term members.

This experience has completely soured any goodwill I had toward this gym, and I would caution anyone considering a membership here. If you do join, be prepared for poor communication and the possibility of being financially penalized for their mistakes. Absolutely unacceptable.

Update as of 2025: I disputed the charges and asked for a copy of my contract. My contract didn’t include start dates, end dates or renewal dates. The outstanding payment was cancelled however through this process, I believe it revealed this locations lack of proper record keeping, accounting and predatory collections process. They could not justify the $300 so they wrote it off. This only occurred because I was knowledgeable about the requirements of collecting a debt and truly believed that the $300 was unjustified. I had to correspond with their collection agency via snail mail because they refused to email or provide anything...