Background:
I am an American woman, mother, and physician living in Milan for the last 7 months, studying Italian while my husband earns his MBA. Hence this review is in English as my Italian is not that good yet.
The good things:
A beautiful building, lots of equipment, a juice bar, lots and lots of classes of every conceivable type, a spa with sauna, jacuzzi, turkish bath, fanghi--all of this inclusivo. Also personal trainers and other spa services such as massage are available for an extra price. The staff that I met are nice and friendly and very accommodating of my limited Italian.
The bad things:
Very expensive. They required me to pay for and undergo a lousy physical by their in-house doctor who was rude and didn't do anything useful (I understand why they want a physical, but at least then make it a useful one), the personal trainer I met with was useless, and some old lady stared at me and yelled at me in the shower, while I was shaving my legs, totally naked, that I am ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED TO SHAVE MY LEGS. Oh my god. You'd have thought I just spit on her dog. The fact that I didn't know the word "rasare" in Italian probably upset her even more. I called the customer service person that had signed me up, and she said, well it's true, neither the men nor the women can shave. Thanks for letting me know in advance. Therefore, I now have to shower twice if I want to shave (once at home, once at the gym). For men, I guess it's not that big of a deal if you can't shave your face there, you just do it at home in the sink. For a lady, well, we have to get our whole legs wet plus more. It's much more inconvenient. Also the locker rooms and showers are quite dark, which is kind of nice since I don't care to highlight everyone's naked bodies with bright lights, but then it's also kind of frustrating when you're trying to get clean and get dressed and make sure you got all your things out of the locker.
The weird things:
Maybe this is just a cultural difference, but...your choice of hard liqueur at the juice bar? Why? I thought this was a healthy place??? Alcohol is dehydrating and disinhibits coordination, the last thing you'd want while exercising. Are people really unable to get through a work-out without drinking alcohol???
I've only been there 3 days, and while I appreciate what the gym offers, I'm already regretting having signed up. Probably better to go sweat it out somewhere cheaper. At least then if you have negative experiences, you won't have lost so much cash. read more
