In a word: terrible. Other words: dirty, broken, rude. Including:…read more
- Unsafe infrastructure. Floor literally shakes regularly. If there is a building in Chicago likely to collapse on you, this is it.
- Operated for many, many months without a proper license to have their pool open for use.
- The pool is constantly leaking into the weight room on the floor below. Every time I work out there is a pile of towels in a different location, buckets catching water from the pool a floor up, areas sequestered off because the ceiling is falling in.
- The roof is constantly leaking and instead of what seems like minimal effort to patch the roof, they rig up plastic sheets with clips and place buckets the leaking water flows into in the middle of the track. This is in multiple places and has been in place all winter long.
- Generally dirty and gross everywhere. Have never not ever and would not: get in the pool, take a shower, use the sauna, or touch the floor with anything other than the bottom of my shoes. The equipment is disgusting.
- All the broken things everywhere. Broken shower doors, broken equipment, broken chairs, broken clocks, broken coat racks.
- A nonexistent class program. Every other gym I've been a member at has had decent to awesome group fitness options. Do not come here for that. For starters, they offer almost none. Those that they offer are often cancelled last minute without notice. This place isn't exactly teaming with fit staff... The fitness class spaces are very low quality.
- The youth classes are a waste of money. I've paid a lot of money for a lot of different youth classes over the years. This is the only establishment where I asked for a refund for the swimming lessons and my kids begged me to not make them do tennis again.
- They brag about the kids camp but it is highly over priced compared to what's out there. The cost initially sounds okay, but then you realize their "full day" is actually a "half day" and to get the rest of the day covered, you have to double the cost. Add to that I've never encountered a youth camp program with poorer communication.
Why are we members (for now)? Because they are generally chill around here and we have a boatload of kids. They swim in the gross pool, climb on the shaking outdoor playground, have so far survived the childcare that is pure chaos, and once in awhile I can't find another camp to send my kids to (they complain the whole way there and back and I worry about their safety all day).
Recently a new manager-like gal has started roaming the halls scolding families for "health violations" like giving their kids a snack from home. Set aside that anyone with kids understands this is an unreasonable expectation, it's a highly offensive public lashing given the clear health code violations the staff routinely ignore and their patrons have just resolved to deal with.
Every time I come here, I see at least a half dozen new member tours in action. Anyone considering joining should do so with eyes wide open. The quality of this gym compares to the Lakeview YMCA, with the Y coming out the clear winner for cleanliness, customer service and cost. It goes without saying, if you don't have kids or like kids this is not the gym for you. Don't complain about the kids, just go to one of the countless other cool gyms where you won't see them.
We haven't cancelled our membership yet and I won't bother raising these issues with management because every interaction I've had with them makes it quite clear the bar they've set for themselves is so low. But it's just a matter of time, and I have no intention of wiping down the equipment at an establishment so woefully neglected by the rude people collecting $500 from me every month.