I was in Vienna for a short time and joined Club Danube Erdberg because it was one of the few…read morefitness centers in the city that seemed to offer one month memberships. Based on my experience there, however, I would never join this center again, even if it were the only one in Vienna.
The fitness center itself was mediocre. I stopped working out there when I had a lot of cash stolen from my wallet after locking it in my locker. This was particularly disturbing since I had the key in my possession for the entire time my belongings were in the locker, it was locked when I returned to it, and there was no sign of forced entry into the locker. Of course this suggests that the thief had to have had another key or a master key that would open it. When I explained this situation to the employees and branch manager, their reactions varied from apathetic to downright hostile. In my opinion, they should have at least refunded my one month membership fee, but they refused to do that. The employee at the front desk rudely blamed me for having my money stolen, saying that "everyone knows" the lockers in the locker room are not secure. Ironically, as he made this claim, customer after customer entered the gym with backpacks and briefcases, exchanged their cards for locker keys, and headed upstairs. Apparently the fitness center has a small number of more secure lockers near the front desk intended for money and valuables, but I was never told that these exist. Of course, the fact that all of the lockers have locks and keys implies that they are secure, and at the very least they should inform patrons that they are not. Plus, if someone with a key is committing the theft (as I strongly believe was the case), then it is possible they would have a key to the lockers near the front desk as well, which would therefore make them no more secure than those in the locker room.
Given the circumstances, I cannot imagine anyone else wanting to put themselves at risk of the kind of losses I suffered because of my error in joining Club Danube Erdberg.