Gold's Gym is Golden in My Book!
Written: Jan 07 '07
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great Variety of Equipment, Friendly Staff, No Hassles once you Join, Location
Cons: No Swimming Pool or Hottub(yet), No Towels
The Bottom Line: Gold's Gym is a great place to work out due to the friendly staff, variety of machines and flexible hours!
|
|
|
| supersaiyan23's Full Review: Gold's Gym |
I recently joined Gold's Gym in Sandy Springs, Georgia. I have lived here since September of 2006 and I had been looking for a gym to join since I had moved to Atlanta. The only problem is so far I had been running into ridiculous initiation fees at most gyms in this area. Sure they were nice facilities that had a lot of equipment, basketball courts, pools, etc. but there was no way I was going to pay $250-300 up front to join a gym. I had also read a lot of reviews on here about gyms in my area that were not very shining and I've also heard from several people at work which ones to stay away from due to poor customer service.
Gold's was running a special around Christmas where they were waiving their initiation fees because they had just been bought by a new owner. When I saw the sign out front I did a double take because the initiation fees are what had kept me away from joining a gym for the last few months. I decided I would check it out later that week. I went in one night after work and talked to the sales guy at the gym. He was very friendly but he did not pressure me or hassle me. He showed me around the whole facility and explained to me that they were under new ownership and that they had a lot of plans to expand the current gym. He actually showed me the part of the gym that they had not yet opened, where they were planning on putting in a pool and hottub area for the members.
After about a 20 minute tour I was pretty pleased with what I had seen. They had almost every type of weight machine imaginable. They even had brand new cable machines and a new cardio theatre area that really excited me. The free weight room was more than adequate and they plenty of benches so that they could serve their members in the instance that the gym was busy.
We sat down to discuss the application and I figured it was going to cost me around $50 a month, which is what I had been quoted at several other gyms including Bally's and LA Fitness. I was pleased to see when he offered me 3 different rates that were all under $40! I ended up signing a 2 year contract with the gym for $34.99 a month. A 3 year deal would have dropped my rate to $29.99 but I didn't want to get locked into that long of a deal. 1 year would have cost me $39.99. He waived my initiation fee which saved me $165. I had to pay my first and last month up front so I post dated them a check for $70 and they waited until my pay day to actually cash it. It worked out well because I applied before Christmas and since I paid my first month up front, I ended up getting the last week and a half of December for free and I don't have to pay again until February. Overall I saved a ton of money over the other gyms in the area and to be honest, the initiation fee was well under what they were offering as well so I would have signed up even if the initiation fee wasn't waived!
So far I have been more than pleased with Gold's Gym. I usually work out during peak hours, between 6-8 pm and even though the gym is busy I never have a problem getting a bike or treadmill and there are plenty of weight machines and free weights so you don't have any problems getting your workout done. I joined the gym mostly to use the cardio machines and free weights, but they also have spinning and aerobics classes, a sauna and tanning beds. The locker rooms are massive and have plenty of self lock lockers as well as a full shower and changing area. In addition to the weights and cardio machines, they also have a large abdominal exercise room that has about 10 swiss balls of various sizes and around 6-7 different ab exercise machines as well as 4 dip stations. The cardio theatre area offers 20 television screens and you can plug in your headphones to the machine you are on and listen to whichever screen you would like.
Their hours are a great fit for my schedule. They are open from 6 AM until 10 PM every night so I can either work out in the morning before work or after work when I get out at 6 PM. They are open on the weekends from 6 AM - 8 PM so I can also go in almost anytime on Saturday or Sunday. The staff is very friendly and they know their stuff when it comes to fitness. They have 4 personal trainers that are available to show you how to use the machines. You get one personal training session for free and then you can decide if you want to sign up for additional sessions. The trainers are very nice and they do not hassle you about signing up for more sessions. I have actually worked out with 2 of them and they always make friendly conversation and have never asked me to sign up for more sessions. The staff normally walks through the gym 4-5 times per hour to clean off used machines and converse with the members. I get the feeling that the staff cares about the members and you're not just "another person" working out in their gym.
There is a good variety of people that workout at the gym. You have your serious power lifter guys and then some of the people who are only there to run or do aerobics. So far everyone has been very friendly and there aren't really any hardcore people that give you the vibe of "what are you doing in my gym?" I'm not really one to be intimidated by people just because they can bench press 400 pounds, but I know at some gyms it is easy to get the feeling that people are staring at you and making fun of you because you can only lift so much. You don't have that here. The serious guys are actually pretty nice, I've asked a few for tips on bench press and shoulders and they've actually taken the time to show me some of the exercises they do.
The only complaint I really have about the gym is that they do not offer towels for the members to use. This can be kind of a hassle because I hate not having a towel when I work out, but if I forget mine at home I end up having to use paper towels since they do not have towels at the gym. I brought this issue up with management and they actually said they are considering getting towels for everyone to use so at least they were willing to listen to the ideas of a member.
Overall I am very pleased with Gold's Gym and I had similar experiences with the Gold's Gym in Jacksonville, Florida that I used for a short time while I was in Florida. If I ever go on vacation I can use a Gold's Gym anywhere I go up to 14 times a year which is great if you travel. You just have to ask your gym for a pass before you leave on vacation and they will notify the Gold's Gym where you are going that you will be coming by and you can use the gym at no charge. Management has also been great about dealing with any requests I have made. I asked them for a few guest passes so my parents could try out the gym and one of my friends is coming down in the next week or so to visit me and they gave me 2 guest passes so he could workout during the weekend while he is here. They also offer a referral program where you can actually get paid if your friends or family join at the gym.
As always thanks for reading my review. I hope you have found it helpful. I know I cannot speak for every Gold's Gym in the US, but the ones that I have had the experience with have been absolutely wonderful. Feel free to leave any comments or experiences you've had with Gold's Gym!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
supersaiyan23
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 163
Trusted by: 43 members
About Me:
"I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying" - Michael Jordan
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.