Evanston Athletic Club

I’m actually appalled. I signed up for this place to swim over the summer. I signed up for a one month membership, get a second month free. I went TWICE, thinking that the pool would be available for swimming after work. Not the case. They have swimming lessons that clog the lanes and I was booted from the lap lanes both times I was there. Hands down the worst experience I have had at a gym. Thank goodness I don’t live there anymore and have better options.

Nice little gym! I really only joined to swim, so I can say with confidence that the pool and the women's locker room are well-maintained and comfortable, but I can't comment on much else. I'll agree with the general consensus that the folks working there can be weirdly grouchy and don't seem super interested in providing good customer service. Maybe it's a terrible place to work, who knows? My biggest issue is that they have those great-looking climbing walls completely closed off, and won't even say why. Are they dangerous and in need of repair? Do they just like the discount they get on insurance for not offering climbing? No matter what, if it's not coming back, you should remove them and stop claiming the walls as a facility on the website.

This gym is excellent – it's well-equipped, meticulously maintained, and has a dedicated staff member who regularly checks the equipment to ensure everything is in top condition. Some of the front desk folks are a delight. The only downside is the behavior of some members who occupy machines for long periods, glued to their phones instead of using the equipment. It is frustrating when you're planning to use some of those equipments. Additionally, there's a noticeable lack of consideration from some individuals who leave machine attachments, weights, and plates scattered around the floor. It wouldn't take much to return them to their proper places, yet they’re often left lying around, creating unnecessary clutter.

Tl;dr good gym with sketchy practices regarding cancellation. Okay, I’ve been waiting a while to make this review. For reference, I’ve been attending this gym for over a year and I’m an NU student. I chose to go here over SPAC because it is significantly closer and I was told the gym is significantly less crowded. Pros: I think the weight room is great and had everything I needed as someone who works out mostly for health reasons. I like that everyone minds their own business here. I think they have a great variety on their machines and weights in general. You can do pretty much everything. I even did some PT exercises there! It’s also cool that they offer a wide range of classes and the locker rooms are very nice and convenient. As a student, you can get an off-peak deal for significantly cheaper than the usual membership and since I like to workout in the morning, it worked great for me. Cons: This is not the gym’s fault, but be ready to be around people who have very poor etiquette. There are times when it’s fine, but other times some people do everything that it is considered rude to do at the gym. Also, I wish they had a better mechanism to prevent the gym from smelling foul… it’s been an issue a couple times. Now, here is the reason why I removed one star and I’m not sure I can recommend it over SPAC. This was originally going to be a five star review until last week. Even with the discount, it is still on the pricy side considering we can have SPAC for free and there are other cheaper options in the area. I was okay with the price just for having a peaceful workout session, however last week I had an interaction that really pissed me off. Here’s the deal: I got a year membership for my senior year. After graduation, I stayed in Evanston for two months and moved out. The yearly membership happened to end around graduation, so I emailed to ask about cancellation in advance. They told me that after the year, it became a monthly membership and it will renew month to month until I cancel. That worked perfectly! So, three weeks before renewal of my third month after the yearly membership ended, I ask them to cancel my membership. They tell me my service will end a few days after I move out, which is great. However, then I receive an email saying that I needed to give a 30 day notice (???) if not I will get charged for the next month. Well, I thought that was insane because: 1. My access to the gym was going to be terminated 2. I literally asked about this two months ago and NO ONE told me about this policy. So, I went to the front desk and the lady working there is basically like: “It was in your contract, you will get charged”. Well, yeah of course it was in the fineprint, why did you hide it when I explicitly asked two months ago? She rolled her eyes and basically told me that I should have read my contract and to deal with it and she was so rude. Then, she called the membership people telling me it wouldn’t be helpful. Well, the membership guy was nice and told me I wouldn’t be charged because the grace period was until ten days before renewal. Honestly, that’s the only reason this is getting four stars instead of one because; again, NO ONE told me about the grace period when I explicitly asked, and also the front desk employer was just so rude. Don’t you guys realize how scammy this is? Regular membership is like 90 dollars a month and do you really feel the need to try overcharge your customers with sketchy cancellations policies, esp people who have been going there for over a year?? Absolutely not. You need to be more clear about this. I signed my contract over a year ago, I don’t remember the fineprint! Also, was it that hard to include in the email when I asked TWO months ago “cancel 10 days before renewal please”?? Honestly, that just completely ruined the vibe for me. It’s just weird behaviour.

I can see why the reviews here are so poor. I tried booking personal training. Bought a package. And then they couldn’t find trainers to support hours. I asked for money back for package and they denied my request. I then asked to cancel my membership and they IGNORED my email for weeks.