I've been a Longfellow member for 14 years now. Previously, I was a member at the Four Seasons in…read moreDallas, which as you can imagine, had 5 star amenities. I'm an avid tennis player, so when we moved, I was looking for a place to play for fun, but also a place who had men's teams and group drills classes. I briefly ran into Longfellow while looking at houses in Sudbury, saw their facilities were numerous and briefly met with the staff to talk about their programs. Sudbury has a lot to offer, but I won't discount the role that Longfellow played in our decision to settle in Sudbury. While Longfellow's facilities weren't quite as new and flashy as the posh Four Seasons, their staff was much more family-like and took me in. It's now my home away from home, and I'm there probably 4 days a week. Their adult tennis programs and leagues are very good. I've done many adult drills classes over the years and play on many men's and mixed doubles USTA and CMITA teams. In addition, I've taken advantage of group exercise classes, personal training, physical therapy, and swimming and tennis lessons for my kids. I also weight train several times a week.
Longfellow is very family oriented, and not pretentious. It's also not intimidating to go there and work out...unlike many other gyms where you're surrounded by 20 something models on every treadmill, or guys grunting away and slamming down weights (although during Winter Break you get a little of that with the kids home from college). Yes, the facilities are older and it's a large place with many working parts. However, there's plenty of weights and machines to do what you need to do, and if you can't figure out how to use them, there's always friendly staff available. For the types of facilities and amenities people are complaining about Longfellow lacking, that's what you get if you're paying $500/month (which is what I paid 14 years ago at the Four Seasons). Longfellow is nowhere near that.
Complaints about guest fees for swimming lessons? The lesson fee you pay goes to the instructor, but the guest fee goes to the club for maintaining the facilities your child is using. So are members supposed to foot the bill so your kid can take lessons? Think of it this way, as a members get a $10 discount per lesson...does that sound better? That's a very common practice at other gyms.
As for court time? Well, yeah, it's tough to find something during the day, if you haven't been booked far in advance. But what is the club supposed to do? Keep one empty court available every day, all day, just in case someone calls? That's a poor business model. Yes, there are a lot of kids' practices and lessons from 2-7pm. However, the morning and early afternoon have many adult classes and adult leagues, so there are opportunities to play.
And for the people complaining about the quality of the facilities, Bosse was the big, flashy, overpriced gym around and looked beautiful, but lacked any spirit. I visited several times with friends, and it seemed more like a place people liked to show off at rather than actually work out or play tennis. Let's not forget that its owner just up and closed with a lot of families' money. Longfellow has owners and staff that care, which is why so many staff are still the same for the past decade. Are you looking for a place to workout and play sports, or are you looking for a place to just lounge around? Because there are plenty of coffee shops around.
So if you're looking for a place to workout with a family atmosphere, with plenty of adult and kid programs of many types, tennis, swimming, and a place to actually make friends at, then Longfellow is for you.
Oh, and I hate Yelp reviews. Longfellow has had thousands of happy members/families over the years. However, people who are satisfied aren't usually going to type a review...they're too busy enjoying working out and life in general. It's the grumpy few who do, and usually ones who are bored and have an agenda. I only typed this because I'm bored at work and feel that the Yelp's review isn't an accurate representation of Longfellow. If you check Longfellow's Facebook review, you'll see a far more accurate representation. Yelp, in general just sucks for businesses because they do nothing to help businesses, unless you pay to subscribe to them. If you do, they allow you to delete negative reviews and whatnot.
