I've been working out at Planet Fitness for about a year now. It's a smaller gym, not a whole lot of free weights but I think that's part of their image. As a company they've made it a point to try and make the gym a more user friendly environment without the huge muscle heads walking around grunting and slamming weights down.
The gym itself as I said is smaller but still has a large amount of cardio machines and an area for stretching, an area for an "express workout", and an area that is dedicated to weight lifting. However, should you or anyone else drop a weight be sure that the staff will alarm the "lunk" alarm that sounds and is kind of your signal to keep it down.
I've only had a few negative experiences at this gym though. One of those being the personal trainer that used to work there. While she was effective (that's an understatement, she kicked me ass) she unknowingly offended me by blatantly stating in front of other members by saying "you just really need to get in shape!". Another instance was in the men's bathroom when I was using the showers and one of the curtains looked as though it hasn't been cleaned in months and for that reason was covered in mold. I did tell the front desk worker at the time and she looked alarmed, apologized and the next time I used the showers there were all new curtains.
I really enjoy the gym over-all. I pay roughly $23 a month to use the gym itself as well as the use of tanning, massage chairs and red light therapy. The cost per month also gets me half off any drinks they have in their cooler and unlimited use of a personal trainer.
My only hangup is the actual business model or I suppose, motto, of the gym. While they propose a judgement free area, they make it obvious that they don't want the stereotypical meat heads in the gym. So in theory, they're using what they try and market to be a judgement free atmosphere to judge against a certain type of clientele. Doesn't really make a lot of sense when you stop and think about it..