Aztec Recreation Center

I live a few miles away from campus and visit this campus about 5 days a week. As a community member with no university affiliation, it’s $ 39/​month. $ 19/​month for students. This is not your regular ordinary gym. I have access not only the gym but I have access to the Aztec Lanes, Aquaplex, Cardio Room, showers, basketball courts, indoor soccer, weight rooms, and even Intramural Sports. As a former 24-​fitness member, I came back when the new Aztec Lanes was finally completed from construction. Signed as an ARC Member in Fall 2014 and this membership seems like a total steal. Only concern is parking but mostly don’t have a problem with it.
I love the atmosphere in the gym and outdoors. I met a lot of people since I came back as a member and some does push me to work out harder. They have a very friendly staff, some enjoy playing at least 3 games against me at the bowling alley. I Started weighting about 241 lbs and now dropped to 210 lbs and haven’t feel younger for a long time.
Everyone in the ARC is trying to better themselves, whether it’s running, cardio, lift weights, or improve their conditioning. Regardless of a full schedule, there are no excuses for not wanting to work out, because they got everything for everyone and this an offer than no one should refuse either if your a student or a community member.

The best gym ever. NO additional fees besides the $ 19/​month for students! Best price ever for any gym honestly.
I use to go to 24 hour fitness but I paid way too much for that gym including a start up fee, last month fee, AND annual fee on top of the $ 30/​month and no towels or free wi-​Fi. Forget that!
This gym has everything, from towel service to classes, weights, cardio room, showers, basketball court, sauna (NOT co-​Ed, thumbs up!), free wi-​if, access to bowling alley. Seriously, what doesn’t this gym have? The machines are all well maintained. They are also open 24hours 4 – 5 days a week (just call beforehand to check ahead) I believe weekends is when they close at midnight.
They also have a climbing area which I thought was pretty cool!
Overall, I would highly recommend to any Aztec student! Great price, and this gym has everything you need for a great workout!

Uugggh… Kendra at check in… Why? Just why? Will never understand people who take pleasure and glee in other people’s discomfort. Beyond bad customer service. Business students at SDSU go observe for a lesson in how NOT to behave.

As a former 24 hour fitness sport club member, I can tell you it’s night and day between the two. When I was admitted to SDSU, I was so excited for a $ 19 a month gym. But this is no ordinary gym. Towel service, sauna, basketball courts, HUGE weight room, and plenty of other awesome stuff makes me love this gym even more. Only complaint is that it can get pretty crowded during after-​school hours and when the gym noobs realize there’s only a few weeks until summer. However, since I go mornings, there’s usually plenty of equipment for everyone. ⁹⁄₁₀ would recommend to another student.

Unbelievable, hands down the worst customer service I’ve ever dealt with… The line to register was long and the girl with the headband was folding towels while the one guy just helps. Then when she does come and help, it’s because someone cuts the line so she decides to help him. Then another worker comes by, and let’s two other people cut in front of me because they are getting day passes…
Lines were made to help people in specific orders. If there was a long line, you would expect the second worker to open a second register. I stood in line for half and hour. It seemed like the workers have more time to chat with themselves than actual help the customers who are paying.
Also, Joshua: the guy who ended helping me gave me the wrong scan code from my red Id. How ridiculous is this.

This is a review on the facility and staff (see bottom for parking slam). Love this gym, definitely the best in San Diego. I especially like the amount of options to work out. Speed/​heavy bags for boxing, rock wall for climbing, bowling for the off days, great weight room and the BEST basketball played in all of SD county as far as I’m concerned. I have had problems with a few people over the years and the staff is very responsive to keeping the grounds safe and members accountable. I feel like the environment just has gotten better over time, all but…
The parking is horrendous. I have to show up after 6PM just to be able to park in yellow or green spots. The gym must figure something out for community members, I suggest a type of discounted gym parking pass to be used on certain days. They just changed the visitor lots from $ 1 an hour to $ 2/​hr and are VERY ferocious (damn parking ninjas, 2 tickets in the last month.) This is the biggest point of frustration. SDSU, please fix it so that it is a 6 star experience!

Most people reviewing this gym are students, which makes sense as it’s a university gym. However, «community members» (people not associated with the university) can still join for $ 39 dollars a month or $ 12 for a day. Considering the facilities offered, that’s an amazing price. However, you still have to consider parking. If you pay for parking every time you come, your great bargain will disappear. I would only consider this gym if you’re going to be on campus anyway, live nearby, or won’t need to park.
If parking works out for you, the facilities are amazing. 24 hour access during the week, long weekend hours, group classes, heated pools, a spa, a climbing wall, and towel service. I loved the last one more than I had anticipated as it means you don’t have to lug a soggy towel around with you after working out. Definitely an unexpected perk.
So why only three stars? Honestly, everything was great except the showers, but those were enough to make this gym useless for me. The shower heads are low flow (because of the drought? because they’re just bad shower heads?) and so little water comes out that it took forever to rinse soap off my body and I was never able to get it entirely out of my hair. And if I can’t wash my hair at the gym, I can’t go before work. Ultimately, that alone was enough to make me quit.
Bummer.

Great place come here all the time great place to kill time and very cheap for students

The best place for fitness. Clean, organized, huge where you enjoy the workout, staff there are sooooooo friendly. And attitude free. I’ve been to every fitness place in San Diego and nothing can be compared to this place. I’m a member for life.
Highly recommend!

ARC is all you can get from a gym center! It has a huge building including a Weight Room, Fitness Room, Cardio Room, Wall Climbing, Volleyball and Basketball Courts and other rooms for group exercises.
It has enough amount of equipment for all parts of body. It is also very clean and well taken care of. If you are a student at SDSU it is $ 19 only for a month. For public it is $ 39 which is a pretty good deal still I would think. Considering the pool and the racquetball courts they provide too, that is avery decent price.
They also have hiking trips at the weekends and all kinds of tournaments for non-​professional players. It is a really good place to take a moment off your stressful day.

Great facility if you’re a student, or even living close to the area, which does include the Aztec lanes access.
For comparison, as a student, the hours are better than UCSD’s Rimac since the admin desks have longer hours and it’s open 24 hours 4 – 5 days out of the week. Then again, you are paying $ 19/​month (for students) with access to the bowling alley, whereas at UCSD they include it within a mandatory recreation fee.
Parking is $ 1/​hour at the immediate lot, or you can park in PS 4 if you have a student parking permit.
Everything is really clean and climate control is consistent, so you’ll never feel like a hot mess despite how much you work out. I used to rely on clubbing with my girlfriends as a form of cardio, but hey, why not do it here where you can track your progress? ;) There’s also an area for rock climbing, which is pretty cool, and the machines are well maintained.

This place has gone downhill big time since I came here as a freshman in 2000. Many of their machines are broken and do not get fixed for weeks or months. Also, the bathrooms and locker rooms are just nasty with broken lockers, rags and water all over the place and does not often get mopped throughout the day. Also, the drinking fountains will often have green snot in the drain which stares you in the face as you lean down for a drink. They still have many cardio machines which I like and TV’s, however I am going to switch gyms pretty soon simply due to the fact that I can do better for the same money now adays.

Awesome facilities and it’s huge! Open ²⁴⁄₇ Sunday –Thursday. 4 full court basketball courts always running games so we can alway go and play. I don’t live by state anymore but I still go just because of all it has to offer.

The best gym ever! If you are an SDSU student, take advantage of their student rate, which is only $ 20/​month. When you graduate and want to keep your ARC membership, you remain billed at student rate!!! I have been going to this gym since I was a student at State and have found that no other gym can compare. It’s always clean!
The ARC has towel service! It also has 2 weight areas, plenty of cardio machines (treadmills, ellipticals, rowing machines, stair master, bikes), a rock wall, 4 full basketball courts (also used for indoor soccer and volleyball) saunas, a group exercise classroom (for yoga, body pump, tkb) and a spin classroom. There is just a lot of opportunities for various workouts.
It does get VERY busy during the 1^st month of each semester, it does die down a little after, but hopefully with the addition of the ARC extension at the Union Center, it won’t be as busy. I do also want to mention that if you do not have a parking pernit, you either have to pay at the lots or find parking in the residential areas near by.
Also with your membership, you get free bowling games at the Aztec Bowl and the ARC membership includes access to the Aquaplex, racquet courts, tennis courts and track, for running.

I love this gym so dearly, so much that it’s almost like a second home to me.
The ARC is spacious and filled with plenty of activities and amenities for everyone. I love that it’s opened 24 hours a day on weekdays.
grading scale:
The weight room: A
Maintenance does a good job maintaining the appearance of the weight room for all us steroid-​injecting meat heads :) If you need a spot, ask your friendly frat BRO to help you out, because they will gladly do so.
Tennis courts: B
All the courts are lit at night and there is PLENTY OF COURT SPACE to play on. Staff could do a better job displaying the hours and availability of the courts though since the sdsu team and club team reserve them as well.
Basketball Courts: A
full-​court courts are waxed and swept on daily basis, and hoops are well maintained. intramurals are awesome!
Cardio Area: A
Dear girls, GO NUTS. there’s zillions of ellipticals and treadmills and stairmasters to go around. Note: you might have to fight a sorority girl for the use of a machine during peak hours of 5 – 7 pm on weekdays.
Bowling Center/​ping ping/​the express gym: A
I love the new Aztec lanes, especially that it’s free for ARC members. TWO THUMBS up for the refueling water bottle stations inside aztec lanes.
I love the atmosphere. There are plenty of gorgeous women to motivate you to work out harder. There’s also plenty of good looking guys, for you ladies out there. Nonetheless, Everyone in the ARC is trying to better themselves, whether it’s running faster, bench press more weight, or work on those abs. There is no excuse for not wanting to work out, because they got everything for everyone.
This gym is clearly better than any 24 Hour fitness, Anytime Fitness, or any other school gym I ever been to. I will miss this place after I graduate. btw, did I mention its only $ 20 for ALL THAT ^^^ for SDSU students?

The gym membership here is probably one of the best deals you can get. It includes the gym (duh), free bowling (shoes cost +$ 1), and access to the Aquaplex (swimming pools & jacuzzi). As a student, the gym membership is cheap. For anyone else, it’s still a pretty good deal compared to what other gyms have to offer. The con? Either you pay for parking or you go looking for parking on the street (beware of areas that requires special permits). They have a lot of equipment and the air circulation is bearable. I like that they offer many different fitness classes such as yoga, spinning, etc.
If you’re not an SDSU student (or if you are a student) but want to get a free week at the gym, they offer a free week pass for NEW guests that permanently live in San Diego:

The ARC is a great student gym. It’s huge but often very busy. I’ve had to wait 10 minutes before for a treadmill but thats just at peak times. You gotta go at night when it is slow. But for 19 a month, its totally worth it especially because you have access to the aquaplex and the bowling alley.

Just visited for the first time today after a particularly strenuous workout left my muscles feeling sore. After a day of rest, I needed to get in some low-​impact exercise and decided to come here to swim some laps.
I will start with the only reason I took off a star — parking. OMG. Unless you already have a student/​affiliate permit, good luck. The rates for visitor’s parking is fine at $ 2 for 2 hours, but if you can’t find a non-​reserved spot in the lot at the center, you’re pretty much relegated to the structure at 55^th and Montezuma, which is a fairly decent hike from the Aquaplex.
The rest of my experience after that was great. The front staff was friendly and helpful, and it’s only $ 5 for a day pass if you’re not a student or affiliate. The women’s locker room was clean, although you will need to bring your own lock for a locker. I chose the rec pool since it’s warmer and I was going more for a recovery swim. It wasn’t over-​chlorinated and was pretty much perfect. Everyone was really polite about splitting lanes.
I’ll definitely be back!

The Aztec Aquaplex is one of the best swimming facilities in California that I have had the privilege of visiting. The Aquaplex is part of the Aztec Recreation Center at SDSU. There are two pools and a big jacuzzi here at the Aquaplex. They have the main competition pool, and an odd «L» shaped recreation pool with a floating area with beach entry. The competition pool is a 50 meter pool x 25 yard pool, with lane lines set up for around 12 — 25 yard lanes. The competition pool ranges in depth from 7 feet to 12 feet under the diving board. The recreation pool is 5 feet deep. You can swim laps in both the competition pool and the recreation pool. The competition pool is kept at a temperature of about 79 to 80 degrees. The recreation pool is kept at 83 — 84 degrees.
The men’s locker room is adequate. Lockers are available for you to use. Bring your own lockers. There were 4 showers stalls in the men’s locker room, with curtains for privacy.
The pool is open for lap swimming at different hours depending on the season. The current hours for fall are,
Monday — Thursday: 10 AM. — 9 PM.
Friday: 10 AM to — 7 PM.
Saturday & Sunday: 10 AM. — 5 PM.
The hours do change with the season, you should check with their website.
The price for lap swimming is $ 3 for SDSU students, $ 4 for affiliates, and $ 5 if you are from the community.
They have kickboards and pull buoys for you to borrow.
The Aquacenter is well designed. Lounge chairs are located all around the pool. The grounds are professionally landscaped with palm trees and other tropical plants.
The Aquacenter is one of the best lap swimming facility that I been to. Why do you have to be so far away?

This is by far the best gym I’ve ever been to! As everyone else has mentioned, the facilities are incredibly well managed, and I was shocked to find that all the employees I talked to here absolutely LOVE their jobs.
If you’re an affiliated student or faculty, the monthly cost is very affordable, at $ 19, and that includes all the spin, yoga, and fitness classes you want. The equipment is a bit old, but the fact that there always seems to be plenty of machines and the instructors are very helpful and friendly definitely more than makes up for that. The range of exercise equipment, mats, weights, and machines is impressive and you can always find something open. There’s even a rock climbing wall right in the middle of the gym. Not too shabby!
Plus, SDSU students really seem to take a pride in their looks (everytime I’m here I see at least one female putting on makeup in the locker rooms– no kidding!), so it’s a great motivation to join a class, or workout in the main gym, surrounded by a bunch of fit students who are all dolled up… once you get over feeling like a bit of a troll you get a fire under your ass to step it up and show them a thing or two about endurance!