Update: LA Fitness closed this location on short notice on 01/31/11.
One employee indicated that it would re-open in May after rennovations.
In calls to another LA Fitness, I was unable to confirm this.. or that a decision had been made by management. I am dissapointed at the lack of communication to their members... nothing even posted on their website.
They are honoring membership at other locations. Expect the location at Gainey Village to be packed!
This is now LA Fitness (all valley Pure Fitness clubs were bought out recently... 1-2 locations were closed).
As Pure Fitness, the rates varied from $10 to $19 per month (an upfront payment was required to get the $10 rate). LA Fitness has honored these rates for existing members, but I do not know what new member rates will be. LA Fitness has not made any major changes yet (hopefully they will improve things).
The Good:
- Low monthly rates are the main attraction here
- A good selection of both free weights and machines
- Paper towels and spray bottles are usually provided to wipe down equipment
- A wide variety of people workout here, so newbies might be less intimidated than a place with more muscleheads (ie: Golds, etc).
- About 4 fans are available in the cardio area - great for heavy sweaters (just make their placement doesn't bother others).
The Bad:
- All the machines are now packed way too closedly together in order to create spaces for group training. Awkward and potentially dangerous. The cardio machines need some maintenance... especially the ellipticals; belts need flipping on treadmills.
- If you like to pass the boring time doing cardio by watching TV, good luck. No individual TVs (cardio theatre) or even shared widescreens.About 6 suspended, small tube TVs that are difficult to see all typically stuck on 1-2 channels (this would be an inexpensive upgrade).
- As others point, the push/hard sell for personal training can get obnoxious at times. It hasn't been bad recently... don't know what to expect once LA Fitness gets ramped up... especially with the New Year coming up. Some of the group classes look OK... the quality of the 1-on-1 training really varies.
Overall: This is a good gym if you just want the basics and an inexpensive monthly rate. I'll try to provide an update if LA Fitness changes things dramatically...