The 24 Hour Ultra Sport in Irvine, Ca. is a great facility. I was once a member of the Bodies in Motion, Irvine, located at the Irvine Spectrum. Great gym, but they filed for Chapter 11 after 1 year of business. I assume it was because the rent was so high at Spectrum. In any event, I was on a search for some high end health clubs and this is my review of the 24 Hour Ultra Sport.

From what I found out, this Ultra Sport is the only and will be the only Ultra Sport that 24 Hour fitness will own and operate. My information says that since this location used to be owned by another gym and was bought out by 24 Hour to directly compete with Sports Club LA which is 150,000 sqft.

I personally, think that 24 hour is too commercialized and that, yes they have a lot of locations (like McDonalds), but they lack the quality of service. To me this is very important as I work out during lunch and then head back into the office. Having a clean locker room environment is key and ample shower facilities is a must. This 24 Hour Ultra Sport is better then any other 24 hour fitness as they have executive lockers available which will give you access to your own personal 7ft locker with personal combination. This location has towel services, a rock climbing wall and an indoor track along with their volleyball courts... which makes them different from other 24 hour fitness locations.

So the amenities are there, but the level of service and cleanliness of the club? Sub par at best... even the staff was somewhat carefree. For the money ($65 mo. no down, corporate discount/ Regular: $150 down $105 mo.) I would expect more from this club. Yes, the location is big and nice... however that only goes so far. Equipment is up to date - yet you won't find your own personal TV screen for your cardio machine - if that kind of stuff is important to you, but at the price you pay monthly... I kinda expected to have that available to me, even if I don't use it. There is a small cafe which serves food, but nothing to write home about.

The biggest knock I have about this location is the lack of classes. They only have one studio in the entire 130,000 sqft. Facility. And they only offer classes early AM and after 5pm - Rarely do they have noon classes. Overall, I believe they have about 50 classes going on during the week. Other clubs similar to the Ultra Sport offer 125 classes.

Valet parking is not included in the standard monthly package... an executive package includes valet and drycleaning services. Parking is an issue depending on what time of day you work out. Lunch is hard as the parking structure gets full and you have to obtain a ticket to enter. The garage is a bit of a walk from the gym so if you are in a hurry... it might be an issue. If you go after work or early AM I think you should be ok.

I think this club is great for most people that are used to the 24 hour environment as it is the biggest and nicest of all the 24 hour clubs. However, once you get a taste of other luxury clubs, you realized that the clientele and atmosphere and attention to detail/quality of trainers is not level with the rest of the playing field. But then again the 24 hour motto is to get as many people in at different price points... case in point, I can get into the club with no money down and $65 a mo. - month to month. Not as exclusive as other clubs. I'm not trying to be snooty, but the club can be priced right which means that the millions of 24 hour members out there can upgrade and gain access to this club which leads to overcrowding.

Depending on what you are looking for in a club - price and equipment vs. quality of environment and professional health services... 24 hour could be a good club. For me, I am going to pass on this club. I worked out at the club for 3 weeks and found that the amenities and price were not enough for me to overlook the overall initial impression this wanna be resort club left with me. At the price point and target market they are trying to attract, I just needed more service from an Ultra Sport... I'd rather pay $20 and go to a 24 hour sport which offers almost all the same features except no rock climbing wall.

Hope that was helpful guys...

SinatraX5



Recommended: No