I like Gold's Gym and I am a member. But not really by choice.
I know that if I have to go out of my way to get to the gym, I won't go. This Gold's is on the way home from my work, and the only one downtown, so it fits my criteria & gets me in the door.
I joined after a one-week trial where they were more than accommodating and not pushy. I signed up for the $40 month-to-month option so that I can cancel whenever I want, no matter what. There are cheaper options but I wanted the flexibility.
The gym is always clean and I've never waited for equipment, even at it's busiest. I love the idea of the Cardio Cinema workout room, but haven't seen a movie in there that piqued my interest. Every equipment has it's own TV (but how about having a station guide on each one so we know where to tune?) & some charge iPods.
Here's what I don't like about it:
- Cityscape is not the easiest to get to and the parking garage sucks. To get to the parking garage you have to navigate downtown Phx's one way streets- I'm good with this because I work downtown and know my way. But others do not & it's confusing. The parking garage is mostly reserved spaces so you have to go to P3 to even find an open one. Also, people drive like maniacs in the garage & I'm so afraid I'm going to get hit one day.
- Tanning. I'm sorry- but if you think you can get the same tan in 15 minutes that would take 3 hours in natural light and not think it's dangerous you're insane. We join Gold's Gym to better ourselves, to get healthy. There's no sugar coating this: ultraviolet light causes skin cancer. It's not healthy and I think it's deplorable that they have this at the gym. I would much prefer a hot tub to soak my tired muscles or maybe a masseuse (for extra charge). Get with the program Gold's- tanning is dangerous and it's a horrible business practice.
- The classes are great, but there's no way of knowing which is best suited for a beginner like me. I took one Zumba class that was awesome and another where the instructor didn't instruct anything- just took off & I was left very far behind looking like an epileptic walrus.
Hoping my 2x daily workouts do what I need them to!