LA Fitness

DO NOT JOIN THIS CLUB. They will rip you off! When I first moved to this area, I made the mistake of joining. I didn’t know any better. One of the sales guy (Shawn) hooked me in for a $ 349 initiation fee and $ 140 prepaid dues. He said that was normal for this area. Looking back, I was so stupid believing him. I was in a hurry to sign up for a gym that I just handed him my credit card without doing research. I could have joined Equinox for less money and better amenities! The employees were rude and egotistical. Weights were all over the place. Cardio machines were dirty. Very busy at night. The atmosphere is like jersey shore but in Dallas. I was able to cancel my membership in another location with no problems (luckily). Do your research and explore your options before signing up here.

Just recently moved here to Dallas from
Iowa, had a gym membership with golds and checked out all the gyms around me, have to say la fitness has it all and I love it, loads of parking, great Gym, loads of free weights and tons of equipment so I can be in and out. Really happy to now be a member here and hope they open up locations in Iowa so when I visit there I can lift there

2 days in a row I’ve arrived and they have zero towels available. This place is a joke.

I tried out this gym, did not join, but actually have a good rating for it.
As this is a signature location, it runs about $ 45/​month for new members with a $ 100 initiation fee (as of January 2016). This is about $ 15/​month more than a non-​signature LA Fitness in the area. I worked at Lifetime Fitness for a few years, and they would negotiate initiation fees– it does not appear that the sales staff has the option to do this. It is very corporate run, as opposed to local discretion.
The sales approach is filled with pressure, as is standard for the industry. The reason I still gave it a 4 star rating was because they gave me a seven day extension after I put some money down to extend the offer period, and they gave it back to me with little hassle when I decided not to join.
The facilities are great. You still have some pricks leaving their weights everywhere, but I didn’t notice it as much as other Dallas gyms. HUGE gym with plenty of cardio and weight equipment. Lap pool, bball court, «class» room, and cycling class room.
The reason I did not join was because the gym came with a lot of additional amenities that I would not use that were built into my offer rate, anyway. If it was the rate of a normal LA Fitness, I would have joined.

In the past two weeks, eating raw, drinking juiced veggies, and working out daily at LA Fitness has helped me lose over 8 lbs! (Wedding dress here I come!) Thanks to LA Fitness’ reasonable new year rates, I was able to jump start my fitness and health goals without breaking my tight budget.
This is a signature location, so it is much bigger than other LA Fitness locations. Despite resolutioners like myself piling in this time of year, there still seems to be ample machines available for cardio and weight training. However, parking is a nightmare… especially during peak hours early mornings/​after work. They have a garage with two levels of parking but even those get full during peak hours.
Other pluses:
— Classes are included with membership (spin, yoga, aquafit, bootcamp, kickboxing, etc.)
— Facilities are nice. Huge lap pool. Sauna, Jaccuzzis. Tvs on all of the cardio machines.
Downsides:
— Not the friendliest or most helpful staff.
— The trainers are pushy and remind me of used car salesmen.
— They have a mini café inside that advertises menu items that they don’t have. (i.e. Went for a cold pressed veggie juice after today’s workout only to be told «we don’t have that anymore.»)

If I could give half a star I would. I signed up at this gym when it opened. It started off as a great gym. Great location, always plenty of towels, friendly staff. Now it’s a dirty, filthy gym. There are never clean towels (even at non peak times).
I went to cancel my membership yesterday and the membership sales guy heard me tell the front desk I wanted to cancel so he popped up and came over. Right away he started telling me that I shouldn’t cancel, and that I needed to take a day to reconsider. Um, no. That’s not how this works. I came in to cancel, I want it cancelled then. He kept on and on and on until I had to very firmly to quit wasting his time. The guy at the front desk says that he will have the manager cancel when she gets back, and then I will receive a confirmation email. I get home and lo and behold no receipt. No receipt again this morning. I called up there today and was told that there we no indication that I had tried to cancel my membership.
I asked to speak to the manager and was told she was not there at the moment. IS SHE EVER THERE?! Or are they instructed to tell people she isn’t there? Finally I told him that if I didn’t get an email confirming the cancellation that I would be up there, and it wasn’t going to be pleasant. I received my email 10 minutes later. (So I guess the manager was there?)
There are much better, cleaner places to work out. Goodbye forever, LA Fitness.

I originally rated the club 4 stars due to iffy parking situation and the gym being crowded over all, but I had such a great experience I had to change my review. I was on a treadmill next to a guy who ended passing out. I ran downstairs to tell the staff and 3 staff members dropped everything they were doing to help. The guy was conscious so one employee went downstairs and bought water and food with her own money to help the guy! It’s things like that that make me happy to be part of this gym. Towel situation continues to improve and I’m constantly seeing more cleaning staff and maintenance.

Quick look rating: ⁴⁄₅ Value selection, ⁴⁄₅ Service, ⁴⁄₅ Experience
Now (In the fall — winter) is the time to start checking out gyms, and going to the gym! Don’t wait, «Just Go!» This is a «signature location», but don’t let this intimidate you!
To note: (Bring your gym bag with items of a lock, extra towel, slippers (water proof), and a nutrition recovery snack.)
Classes to check out: biking/​cycle, boxing/​kickboxing, pilates, bootcamp conditioning, yoga and don’t forget swim/​aqua fitness class! What’s fun is that they are always trying to change up what is the new cutting type of fitness, so if you have an idea, just let them know.
There is a number of pieces of equipment open to the users. Plenty of stationary bikes, in the bike class room. Warning, if you want to burn calories this class is ideal of where to start!
If you forget to bring your after workout nutrition, stop by their little nutrition bar.
The service is pretty darn good. I once drop an ear phone plug when I was running on a tree mill. There was a total of three employees that’s stopped what they were doing to come help me find that little silly headphone plug.
I like that you can also look up on line their classes. Great location if your near downtown Dallas.
I would recommend this is gym. It is one of their better gym’s.

I’ve been going here for over a year. Overall is a clean gym with plenty of equipment. The management is nice, but some staff members aren’t the friendliest. $ 48 per month seems kind of high but it’s hard to find a better deal in uptown. Just signed up for a year of training, excited to see how that goes! Towel service isn’t always ready/​available during peak hours. So bring your own just in case.

LA Fitness has been consistently good to me since my first experience. I have visited locations all around the US when I travel for work. I can say with confidence that unless you are in the sticks, there is an LA Fitness (or two) nearby. The gyms are well kept with a good selection of machines. If you go during off-​peak hours, the gym is usually wide open. The staff is helpful if needed, but pretty much leave you be if not. The salespeople are pretty relaxed (after your initial visit). All good.

Thought I would go in for a 7 day trial to check out the facilities, but one interaction with Chase left me not wanting to ever come back, ever again. I went with my husband, who had put me on the list for the 7 day trial. After my workout, Chase came up to talk to us about the special they had running, which we had asked the front desk when we entered (the front desk guy had no idea what the special was even though it was posted in front of the door, which he would be staring at standing at his desk). Anyway, Chase would not even acknowledge me (eye contact or otherwise), only gave my husband a handshake and asked him to follow him to his desk. On our way there, he talked about how he ran into Tyson Chandler during one of the nights he bounces and how he escorted Chandler to the bathroom. I bet that makes Chase feel important. When my husband then introduced me after we sat down and said we were both interested, Chase then looks at me and gives me a half hearted handshake before we go into his «sales pitch,» which was just pathetic. Instead of taking the time to explain what the club offers, which was what I was most interested in, he went on about how good the «deal» was, which wasn’t that great, and tried to get me to commit that day. When I explained to him that money isn’t an issue, and that I just want to check out the club a little while longer to see how it is instead of signing up today, he seemed irritated. There was no way I was going to sign up under him and give him commission after his sour attitude. I don’t know what this guy’s problem is. He must not be that great at bouncing to quit his day job, I guess.
Just don’t do it.

Stay clear of this place, at first I thought since they were new they would be better and have ethical business standards but I was terribly wrong.
First, every single employee is useless and is more concerned about their image rather helping customers out when they clearly have a question or need help. Their job is evidently to get dressed up in fancy workout clothes and walk around like they are celebrities. Great job employees, y’all are all just so important.
Second, there were never any fresh towels available. Laziness to blame? Absolutely.
I moved out of town to a state that doesn’t have LA Fitness so called to cancel after I left. I was told I would have to come in personally to cancel which wasn’t going to happen. After 2 weeks of being told I’d have to speak to the manager and leaving her voicemails I never got one phone call back. She had my name and number, evidently going about things with her civil does not work. She is a sorry manager just plain and simple. After demanding something be done I was finally given a website where I had to print out a form to sing and mail in, since this is 2015 and that’s necessary to cancel a service. Obviously they wanted to milk me for a few more days of money then it took 2 months to cancel my membership.
I knew several people who switched from the Gold’s Gym in uptown and had the exact same experience. I couldn’t be happier my LA Fitness experience is over.

This gym has everything I need. It has never been crowded when I come. My one complaint is the hours… they close way too early on weekends.

Snapshot: 3.5÷5 Amenities, 3.5÷5 Cleanliness, ³⁄₅ Hours
Like most gyms during peak hours 6−8a and 5−7p it’s a bit packed but rarely do you need to wait more then a few minutes for a piece of equipment.
There’s plenty of cardio machines upstairs along with fitness classes downstairs.
I’m here about 4x a week and the only drawbacks are limited towels (during peak hours) and no steam room.
Tip: purchase a 2 year and the 3^rd is free. T ends up being $ 23 a month

Kimberly’s 9:45 Kickbox Cardio class was the only reason I stayed at LA Fitness for as long as I did. She makes working out fun, but you leave feeling like you worked out hard. Definitely try her class on Saturday’s!
The pool does not have flags, so it makes it difficult to do backstroke or IM sets. Additionally, there are only three lanes, which means the pool gets crowded very easily.
The classes that I like to go to are all at 5:45 PM. They need more times around 6:30 and less zumba classes.

I do like this gym… a lot. One of the better LA Fitnesses in the area. Things I like: 1. weights are spread out with considerable room to lift. As a woman I appreciate this as you don’t feel like guys are creeping on you, staring you down. 2. Man musk… (that terrible A&F cologne guys are STILL apparently wearing) is at a minimum from noon til 3pm… after 5pm– save your nostrils! 3. Cleanliness. I routinely see staff dusting and cleaning the cardio equipment… major plus — no one wants a staff infection.
I’ll leave you with a negative and awkward experience. Spin class was ending and a man from the next class came in early to warm up. (sign on door was clear to wait until class is finished). Man and instructor got into a heated argument finalizing with instructor YELLING at man, «QUIT BEING A DICK!!» Class wasn’t over but I quietly stepped out… I laugh about it now but at the time… awkward!
Overall fantastic gym.

I have been a member here for over 2 years. I was going to freeze my membership a while back due to not going very often because of my extremely busy schedule but when I tried to do that I got talked into doing the personal training, since they promised results with a limited schedule like mine. The buff meathead sales dude ended up being a total liar and went on and on about stuff the personal training includes, but is not actually included once you are enrolled. Among these false promises were:
A meal plan
A book to help keep track of workouts and progress
Random free personal training sessions
LA Fitness willing to work with you if you need to cancel
He also hid enrollment fees that I found out about after signing up when it hit my credit card.
I ended up liking my trainer Kyle a lot, so I rolled with it even after being annoyed by all of the salesman’s lies.
Recently, I found out that I am going to be moving, and due to some other personal reasons cannot afford to pay $ 150 a month for a membership and 2 training sessions any more (pretty outrageous pricing huh?). So I called the other day and they won’t even deal with this sort of thing or give you info, and you can’t cancel online, which is absurd in 2015, so I went in person today.
They called this blonde bimbo up to the front desk after I finished my workout and asked to talk about cancelling my personal training and I explained to her my situation and she responded with the rudest attitude in front of a ton of other customers. She told me that there was nothing she could do for me and that I signed a contract so it didn’t matter that I was moving. When I made the comment that I could just cancel my Amex she threatened me with the comment that a move like that «would not bode well for me». After this she belittled my personal situation and then said she had to go to her car and just ran out the door.
Immediately I am moving over to the one on Greenville and will be cancelling the day that my contract is up. I have already told multiple people looking for a gym to not go here. She sucks, the sales team sucks, the facilities are mediocre and the corporate policies of this company are deceiving and predatory.
Don’t fall into the same trap I did!!!

This is mostly a young professional crowd, which makes sense given its uptown location. I happened to come in during meat head hour. There were tons of guys wearing tank tops to show off their guns and full sleeve tattoos. The guy to girl ratio was like 20:1, which is nothing really atypical. The gym bunnies I saw were dressed more to work out than to been seen. This was different from the trophy wives I saw at Equinox.
I actually saw a douche doing dips without his shirt on. He wasn’t even facing the mirror so it was for pure show. Not my cup of tea. There are also some older bodybuilders here. I would imagine they enjoy showing off to the young crowd and feed off the young energy. I know I would if I were in their shoes.
Layout/​Facilities
The gym is a signature series club, which is their upscale club. What this means is they offer fancier equipment. The guy told me they have the latest models in machines. Honestly I don’t see how one chest press machine is different from another but whatever. The actual gym is also twice as big as a normal LA fitness. For example, they have 50 spin machines and three TRX suspension cages.
They also have the fanciest rowing erg I’ve ever used, the thing was very… different in the cable’s tension; it felt more realistic. I want to take this opportunity to apologize for the poor photography. I don’t feel comfortable with taking pictures in a gym. I mean, people are self-​conscious as it is, and I don’t want to make it worse.
The gym also has a saltwater pool, which is only rivaled by Equinox. There is also a nice large hot tub, but when I was there it was unavailable as it awaited repair.
I was also impressed with the number of squat racks they had (5!!!). When I showed up in prime lifting time (12:30 on a Saturday) I was able to find an abandoned rack. The douche who used it before couldn’t have been bothered to re-​rack his weights. I get the feeling this is a common occurrence in this gym. They also have five bench racks, but they were being used, causing me to wait for over four minutes for one to clear up.
I was a little sad to see they did not have any bumper plates, but this very much feels like your typical globo gym that focuses more on isolation exercises than compound lifts. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not what I personally am looking for in a gym.
There is also a basketball court on the second floor, which I was told was very popular for pick up games. They also have a group fitness room that is very nice. mirrors on two walls and punching bags lining another one.
A nice bonus here is the juice bar. They sell protein on the cheap here. They sell dented bins here at discounts. I think this is a great idea. I mean, if the container is still sealed, then what does it matter if the container is shaped differently? I guess people like their things perfect.
Classes
Only attended one Yoga class here. It was exactly what I needed, a peaceful, relaxing stretch one. As we listened to Kenny G’s rendition of «my heart will go on» the male instructor did a very good job of setting up clear instructions. Nothing was hard to follow. Honestly I liked this one more than the one at Equinox, but I’m not a yogi who does standing splits. The class was a nice size, quite a few people but no where near crowded. Lots of women as would be expected. Perhaps they all hide up in the cardio floor
For the yoga room, they have a stack of nice mats but no disinfectant wipes, so I would bring your own mat. I was kind of surprised that this isn’t something that is required to be provided. At Equinox everyone just tosses them into a box to be cleaned by the staff (You know, the other half).

DO NOT sign up here! They are so unprofessional! I signed up as a new member with the Manager, Chase (who says he’s a bouncer at the new Fat Rabbit on McKinney Ave too). As he went over everything, he said I could cancel in the first 72 hours for a full refund if need be. Within that time frame, I ended up needing to cancel for personal reasons so I asked him to cancel my membership. He REFUSED to cancel my membership! After many phone calls, he said he’d FINALLY cancel it for a full refund in 10 days. Fine. Done. So I thought.
10 days later, still no refund. So, I called the location in Uptown to check on the status and the front desk girl said my membership was still active! So, I demanded to speak with someone higher than Chase, the Manager. She said the GM was busy. I called back 2 hours later — same response. I called back another 2 hours later and finally talked to the General Manager, Luis. He apologized, said he just took care of it, and it was canceled.
I thought to myself, I better go there in person to have a receipt that it really is canceled. So, I show up and Luis, the GM is shooting the breeze with two coworkers for 15 minutes before he decides to acknowledge me!!! I asked for a cancellation confirmation and it took 30 minutes of negotiating/​pretty much yelling before he FINALLY did it right then and there. Now I have to wait another 10 days for the refund!
I’m so appalled!

This is a short review for just the swimming pool and locker room! :D
I love how the pool is built next to the window and has natural lighting. It’s 3 lanes and is less than 5 ft deep at the deep end. The pool lacks the pumping music that plays in the gym and locker room, so it’s kind of discouraging going from a «Yeahhh, I’m pumped, whoo whoo!» mode in the locker room and then walking onto a super silent pool deck. *My energy just died* For the more serious swimmers, there aren’t any flags for backstroke either.
Even with those small faults, the pool is clean, not too warm, and quite nice to swim in. Love how it’s not too crowded either ^_^b
The locker room is connected, so it’s nice jumping into the shower right after swimming. Shampoo, conditioner, and «hand soap» (uhmm. in case you want to wash your hands specifically while showering) are in each shower. And the locker room is well-​kept and clean + nice music :)