Crystal Gateway Sport&Health

This location is supposed to close for good during the 1^st week of December 2015. It will be converted into an Earth Treks Climbing Center and become one of the largest climbing gyms in the U.S. The new Earth Treks gym is scheduled to open in the late spring or summer of 2016.

I went to Sport and Health last night since I was not close to my regular gym (which happens to be another Sport and Health location).
I did not experience the customer service issues that the other Unilocalers have complained about. In fact I thought the staff was friendly and professional.
The main reason I cannot bump this location up higher is not because of the location (think it is very conveniently located) and not because of its cleanliness (thought the gym was cleaned and maintained well) it is the lack of classes available. I could overlook the outdated TVs and equipment if the gym offered classes. In fact I find I get a better workout with classes and trainers (I do both at my regular gym location).
My recommendation is if you’re not going to have classes at this location make sure everything else is stellar to justify the price of membership.
It also felt the indoor tennis court was being underused. I looked for a schedule and/​or price list for classes and found nothing posted (understand the gym may not want to pump money into hiring instructors). However I didn’t know who to contact (in regards to other Sport and Health members) who play at my level and are looking for games. It would make sense for Sport and Health to invest in some type of electronic (or even paper) bulletin board. I would be inclined to upgrade my membership to use the tennis court (it was apparent that there is a need for racquet sports, when I arrived in the late evening all the racquet ball courts were being used).
In a nutshell the gym is lacking and my visit didn’t convince me to upgrade my membership but with a few (and what I considered minor tweaks considering the size of the company that owns Sport and Health) it wouldn’t take much convincing for me to do so.

If your reading this its not to late. Save your money, I understand the connivence of the gym being here in Crystal City; but your better off running circles around your car than going here. Staff is ok, equipment very outdated. How do you still have Box tvs? Oh they have kettle bells, Im sorry I meant they have two kettle bells 10 & 30 pd. The owner doesnt even think its work to add a kettle bell rack. You want to do pull ups? Thats great just slide the ceiling tile to the right so you have space and wont hit your head I“ve seen it done. I had a membership for 2 months base on its location and no commitment fee. Dont be fool its a trap. I once left my lock on a locker with my basketball and jump rope, I forgot to take it with me the day I left and the following day it snowed, so I worked from home. So the staff got bored and wanted to try a new tricep workout and broke my combination lock and threw my stuff in a bag.
When I ask why and noted that there is no posting stating that «staff will cut lockers daily» He foolishly replied «well there’s no sign that say we dont»
Good luck if you want to deal with place like this

The gym has potential. One of my biggest issues was the cost for the quality of gym. Since then, the gym has dropped its prices to about where it needs to be. Unfortunately, the gym also cut its classes — 2 of which were spectacular and well attended. That being said, they cut the classes with the intent of re purposing/​renovating the area that they had classes, so that could improve the quality of equipment. I also met with the new fitness director who seems to have a very good grasp on what is new and effective. He is helping me put together a solid routine that I am very excited for. Once the renovations are complete, I will revisit my review and may increase the review to 5 stars. At least, for now, it is a good price for what it is and is showing strong potential for improvement.

Quite disappointed with this gym.
— The place is very outdated, dirty, and dingy.
— I thought the machines are just fine, had no problems with them.
— Management (Delonte I think is his name) had no concern about fixing problems regarding my membership. You will instead find him watching movies on his laptop.

I love this club. My only complaint is the cardio equipment does not have closed caption so I can listen to music and watch a tv show. Anything to keep me distracted from the activity I am doing. I have a love/​hate relationship with cardio.

It seems as though the other Club in Crystal City (Crystal Park) is undergoing a $ 10M renovation and this one is falling into disrepair. With the lockers being replaced in Crystal Park you would think there would be enough spare parts to fix the old lockers here. Wrong. Nobody cares. And the men’s steam room is a joke. Makes more noise than steam — a waste of time. Too bad Sport and Health doesn’t believe in routine maintenance which Crystal Gateway is sure in need of.

I was a member of Sport and Health Crystal Gateway for six months. During that time, I used the facilities primarily for their tennis courts and their classes (yoga). I was very excited when I joined, but that quickly went away because of the horrible staff at this location.
The overall facilities at this location are acceptable. The tennis courts are in good shape, and things are kept relatively clean in the other areas. The club is small overall but makes decent use of the space. However, this small size means you have to be very aware of your surroundings so that you don’t hit or get hit by others who are working out. Also, I didn’t like the fact that the yoga area was so open, as it encouraged guys to come leer at the women while the classes were going on.
The problem with this location is the horrid staff that works there. I had a myriad of problems in my six months as a member, most all due to a lack of training or desire by the staff. My reservations for the tennis courts were lost or mistakenly canceled on several occasions. I frequently had to wait while staff members discussed their dinner orders, then wait again while they figured out how to use their registers. If I had a problem or needed assistance, the staff would (SOMETIMES) reluctantly take care of the situation. And, if I did ask to speak to the manager, they mysteriously seemed to be absent or busy.
I would STRONGLY encourage anyone who wanted to join a gym to look at other options. This location is very convenient to the northern-​half of Crystal City, but the cost is too high to for a business that does not value you as a customer.

Sport and Health Crystal Gateway is in a convenient location for me, and has racquetball courts and a community of players, which are the primary thing I was looking for in a club. The other facilities seem fairly average, with exercise bikes, weight equipment and such squeezed into a fairly compact area.
The low rating is completely because the club makes changes to policies without any notice or communication. All of my complaints center around racquetball, but they are emblematic of the completely inadequate communication the club has with its members. Some racquetball pros run leagues, which allocate several courts on different days. On numerous occasions, someone at the club has scheduled conflicting activities on the courts. In the evening when the conflicts occur, there is no one around to deconflict anything. A «computerized system» to schedule the courts resolved nothing except making it difficult to reserve courts. (Amazingly the numbering used in the system differs from the numbers on the courts).
Last year, the club changed its policy toward the leagues and drastically raised the fees for non-​members in the leagues. Allowing non-​members was useful to help the vitality of the racquetball leagues. For some people only playing once a week, the extra expense of a $ 100+ monthly membership would be hard to justify. I have no problem with the club changing policies, but changing from a non-​member fee of $ 65 for 14 games, to $ 205, with no notice, on the eve of a new league beginning was… just typical. Now in January, they have added court fees for the racquetball courts, which for me could change my ~$ 100/​month fees to $ 150/​month.
The facilities are generally OK, a little run down. A few of the showers have stains (mold/​rust) on the ceilings or are in need of some work. One of the racquetball courts has been closed for several years with water damage, now used for storage. There hasn’t been much improvement in the club since several years ago when they expanded the area for exercise bikes.
I asked whether they could change their policies to have fees to use the weight machines, or fees for towels, and they said, «Oh, we’d never do that». Make sure you ask about specific fees and policies BEFORE you make a long term commitment to the club. I have a one year commitment to the club in my contract, but it is inconceivable I’ll renew that.