City Fitness

I have been a member of this gym for nearly 2 years. It's the worst gym I have ever been a member at. The only reason I have stayed is the location and my favorite cycle class (shoutout to Abbey for being the entire reason I'm still a member at this gym). The space is cramped and they are always moving things around and doing renovation. They have a lot of space not used throughout the week in their Thrive studio, but they want to push everyone to be thrive members so you can't use it. Machines and equipment broken for weeks on end with 0 repair timelines. One of the two seated row machines has been out of service for a month. Assisted pull up machine down for over two weeks now. I've asked the front desk twice for a repair timelines and they don't have one. I assume they wait until enough equipment breaks to pay for repair. During this past summer, the sauna was down for nearly 3 months. Previously I had used the sauna 4x per week, and there was no discount for not having that amenity during that time. They are terrible at keeping gym members updated about hours on holidays. They won't post it on their social media for some reason. I've walked there when they were closed and ran into multiple members doing the same. It's not hard to post a story when you're closed, every other business in this city does that. Lastly this gym is filthy because they are cheap and won't outsource their cleaning. The sinks in the women's bathrooms are always grimy, and the water fountain has looked like this upstairs for two months. It's the most disgusting gym I have ever been a member at and it's definitely not the cheapest gym. If your New Year's resolution is to work out, go anywhere else.

My first day there. Place was spotless, staff was so nice and helpful. The locker room and sauna were beautiful! Honestly, just for those two amenities alone, makes the membership cost worth it! I enjoyed some weight machines and treadmill as well as looking in on a small group training class which I intend to join. I’m looking forward to my time at this gym! It’s also nice to leave with a caffeinated protein shake!

Pros: Good hours (open from 5AM weekdays), friendly staff, WiFi works, option to do classes Cons: Overcrowded in morning/evenings, could use more squat racks/bench presses/cable machines. If coming during these hours be ready to wait for equipment or adjust routine. Compounded by fact that multiple equipment is “under repair” for months with no updates/visible progress. They need to improve their maintenance workflow or be more transparent Seems like more emphasis is put into the premium services like the training classes than the actual gym user experience Overall: a convenient option for those living in Grad hospital who want flexible hours. But could be much improved especially considering the cost

City Fitness is a great gym. However, the Graduate Hospital location is not my favorite for a few reasons. First off, the positives; It has very friendly staff, very clean facilities, and a nice amount of amenities. They offer a full selection of classes and group/solo training, albeit smaller scale due to the lack of square footage of this location. I also really love the City Shakes protein shake bar. They have a wide selection of flavors and even protein coffee. This brings me to the negatives, the size, overcrowding, no full size towel service, and lack of weight room organization. Granted the smaller size I understand overcrowding is inevitable however during these times staff should be more present to ensure weights and equipment are being properly put away and stocked as people are moving items all over the weight room floor to find space to complete their workouts. My next major concern is again about weights/equipment not being in place. It seems regardless of crowdedness the weight room seems to be very unorganized and weights, mainly plates, are often not where they should be. The barbell benches are constantly in disarray with plates being in wrong slots or having only one of each size plate causing the user to have to constantly reshuffle plates and search the floor for the plates they need. The main concerns on this issue is Olympic squat rack plates and normal plates being mix matched, missing barbell clips (safety concern), and lack of properly stocked bench press plates (there seems to be less plates in general). Last issue with this location is the lack of full size towel service. Their excuse for this is that it is not a “full service” club. This seems unfair to the members because we pay the same monthly dues as a full service club and should at least receive this basic amenity. Overall a great place to workout in the neighborhood that just has a few key issues that need to be addressed to be a 5 star gym, even at its smaller stature.

Pros: 1. they have a good variety of free weights and machines, peloton bikes, squat racks, etc. 2. When I go at lunch, I largely can use what I want without waiting for it to become available 3. They have a sauna (when it’s not out of order) Cons 1. There have been many times where equipment is out of order. Sometimes weeks and sometimes months (the sauna was broken for literally 3 months in the summer of 2024). When things are out of order there is next to no communication on a repair timeline. If you ask the front desk staff, they will tell you they have no idea. Also membership fees are not reduced if a key amenity such as the sauna is not usable. 2. The place is not very clean. Whether it’s the bathrooms, the water fountain, etc. it feels like the cleaners are doing the bare minimum. They really need to outsource their cleaning. 3. Not good value for money. I pay like $70 a month. I don’t have access to any of the classes (that’s only for premium members), there is no pool, basketball court, the equipment is just basic equipment, and sometimes it feels like there’s just not a lot of attention to detail (for example the weights on the bench presses are always in random spots and all switched around). There have been a couple times where the bench press I am using does not have any 45lb plates on it, because they’ve been moved to the leg press machine and not returned. This is curious to me considering there’s always like 3-5 staff members hanging out behind the counter. Surely one of them can walk through once every couple hours and make sure things are in the right place. TLDR: City Fitness is not worth the price and there are better options (YMCA). I’d consider the ymca on Christian st. I recently switched and I’m enjoying it much more. They have enough equipment that allows me to do an identical workout that I do at city fitness. I get access to basketball courts, pickleball courts, a pool, a sauna, a variety of different classes every week - all for almost $10 less a month. The staff is also much more attentive. In the off chance a weight or two is out of place, a staff member moves it back as they do periodic walk throughs. The space feels much cleaner, and overall it’s just a better overall experience and I get way more amenities for less.