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| - I had to try it really, especially considering the fanfare around the recent opening. The hot weather and the lack of air conditioning in my home gym (McCaul-I swear it was hotter inside than outside) provided the perfect excuse to give this gym a trial run.
It really is lovely. The front desk staff are friendly and the first impression is one of openness-the ceilings are high and the main floor is wide. The locker rooms are a quick escalator ride downstairs and are very pleasant indeed-plenty of lockers, a few mirrors with areas to do make-up etc and showers. The showers are actually clean with real doors. I wouldn't even feel like I should probably be using antibacterial soap in them!
Downstairs also houses a hot yoga studio, aerobics studio, boxing studio, massage/chiropractor clinic and the turf zone. I loved the idea of the turf zone and it's got lots of shiny toys to play with (including ropes, kettlebells)...but only if you've hired one of their trainers. Sigh.
The main gym floor upstairs is expansive and crammed full of machines. They have their GoodLife Fit Fix set of machines in one corner-I wonder if anyone will use them here? Cardio machines are plentiful and have individual TVs. They also have a nice selection of brands-Precor and Octane ellipticals, Cybex arc trainers, Stairmaster stairmills, Life Fitness steppers, Precor AMTs, spinning bikes, exercise bikes with games, rowers, Life Fitness treadmills. Lots and lots!
Strength-wise they have many many machines as usual. The free weights section is rather cramped and full of benches. I was glad to see they'd included a glute ham raise though. That could be fun! I also saw a rope trainer which I need to try. There's a separate stretching area which has lots of mats and is home to the stability balls and foam rollers. A sizeable central portion of the floor is taken up by a TRX multimount station, weights and kettlebells. This is cordoned off for personal training only.
Fun extras include massage chairs and computers. There is a large selection of trainers so I'm sure you'd find one to suit your needs if you wanted.
*Positives: Clean and spacious
Lovely selection of cardio machines
Fun extras like massage chairs
24 hours Mon-Thurs
*Negatives: -Weights area is too cramped with very little free floor space. It was really difficult to find a free corner to just do my own thing.
-I couldn't find a step to do step-ups so had to put my grubby shoes on a bench instead. It would also make sense to have a selection of stability balls (especially small ones which are in short supply), medicine balls and mats in the strength/free weights section. It's not always either/or. I suspect things will get thrown all over the place as it is.
-Much space is given over to personal training only. I'd love to afford it and I'm sure their clients have great fun-but why take away all that floor? And why keep it blocked off when no training sessions are happening? They must realise that fitness is tending towards functional training, free weights etc...yet they deprive the everyday customer of it.
-Despite the big 24 HOURS splashed all over the place (in lettering that is almost as tall as me on the front), it's only 24 hours Monday through Thursday. It closes at 10pm on Friday and weekend hours are 8-8pm. The hours are decent but not really exceptional, frankly.
In summary:
I really liked it! It's very very good. I'm thinking 4.5 stars maybe. A little tweaking could potentially bring it to 5!
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