Planet Fitness – Danvers

I have been a member of planet fitness for a long time. I spend the 20 $ a month so I can enjoy the extra things included, I tanned today and there was no extra chair in there to put my things on. I have noticed before that the barrels are full and place does not look clean. Paper towels on floor and staff didn’t seem to care. They use to always have people waking around cleaning place.

For $ 10 a month, it works. I run with my dog almost daily, so I just go for the circuit rooms a few times a week. Staff has always been friendly and I generally don’t have any problems getting machines I want to use. Only real issue I have is that some people don’t clean machines after they’re done. I understand that some people do very regulated workouts and jump from one machine to the next quickly, but taking 10 seconds to wipe your body sweat off a machine really won’t ruin your workout.
Overall it’s what you expect for the price. No frills.

I normally go to the much newer Planet Fitness in Billerica, but the Danvers one is near my work, so I figured I’d give it a quick review.
EQUIPMENT: Tons and tons of cardio equipment — nice! Dumbbells, Curl Bars, etc = all good. Flat benches for Dumbbells = yes, but no flat benches for straight bar benching (as is similar with other PF’s) — only the Smith machines. Decent leg equipment, etc. Machines are not too old.
TEMPERATURE: This is one of the only Planet Fitness’s I’ve seen with NOT ONE SINGLE CEILING FAN in the entire place. UPDATE: A/​C has been repaired, and they are now at a comfy (for working out) temp of 67 degrees (but with no ceiling fans at all, it does seem a bit stuffy at times).
STAFF: 50% are friendly, and really seem to care. The other 50% don’t seem to really care, and either offer no greeting, or do it with the «I don’t care» look, as if being forced to do it. Someone should audit the staff (surprise visit by corporate/​mgrs., undercover, and see how they are at different times of the day — AM, lunchtime, PM, and overnight). Reward the good ones, replace the bad ones (seems like a simple solution!)
LOCKER ROOM: The men’s locker room paper towel dispenser was broken, and it looked like there was some issues with how clean it was (seemed to be litter scattered about).
PRICES: Can’t be beat! $ 10 for a single location, and $ 20/​month to be able to go to any PF location. And with the $ 20 membership, you can bring a guest for free, whenever you go. A+!
Overall, it is a decent gym, but the lack of any ceiling fans does make it a bit stuffy in there, during an intense workout (if you are trying to do a quick workout, and especially if you are doing cardio). That’s it for now!

Not a bad place to start if you are new at gym life. Plenty of machines, treadmills. Layout is good.
Men’s locker room could use a little more attention when it comes to cleaning esp after normal 9 – 5 staff leaves. After 5 the locker rooms stay dirty till the next day.
The tanning beds finally had the bulbs changed 2 weeks ago. but the customers seem to be good at wiping machines after use, but not after tanning. They are always dirty. Staff should look in after use to ensure beds have been cleaned. They get cleaned twice with my use, before and after.
The staff in general are decent, male staff are always friendly, welcome, Hello, have a good workout, good bye, good night etc. the female staff could and should take some pointers from the guys. One female staff, is very professional and does her job 100% by the book and correct, but never smiles assume a manager of some kind. The other female staff is even more miserable and unfriendly. Ask her a simple question and you feel like you just asked for her kidney, with the looks of disgust and ignorant rude replies. Good for $ 10 a month or $ 20 if you want to tan on occasion like myself. I have since joined another gym to use full time. Little more pricy but well worth it to have a happy staff, clean locker room/​toilets and showers and only use this gym during odd hours or too tan. Can’t beat $ 20 a month unlimited tanning.

First, let me say the staff that physically work there are AWESOME! Really and truly. The people responsible for spending money to maintain the gym (its a corporate establishment) are NOT AWESOME.
1. Were promised WI-​Fi not gonna happen.
2. I would be shocked if the day ever came where more than 50% of the cardio equipment had audio that worked clearly for the television.
3. They should probably just permanently hang an «out of order» sign above the water fountains.
While I’m ranting… It seems hypocritical to self proclaim as a judgement free zone and then pass judgement on meat heads… just saying.

This gym has declined since the change of staff. the staff is lazy and sit behind the desk they don’t clean the machines they are gross especially the treadmills. machines are broken and they take weeks to months to repair. the water filtration system and bubblers are broken. the locker rooms were broken the other day mens and womans people had to change in the tanning booths. there are several light bulbs out. CHANGE THIS STAFF THE BOARD OF HEALTH SHOULD SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN

Really nice layout here, plenty of machines and room for mats. Place is kept clean and the layout of equipment and different work stations is good, looks classy here.
Would be nice if they had wifi.

When I signed up they told me «I can cancel at any time before the middle of the month, if I cancel after then I would have to pay for that month». After six months I went to cancel and they wanted to charge me $ 60 dollars for early termination Fee’s.
Dear Planet Fitness your scam is exposed, be honest with your customers.

Good amount of machines, great women’s locker room (always clean), tanning machines get the job done and are included with the Black Card membership (only $ 20 a/​mo)
But the staff lack knowledge about the gym; no one could tell me about their «red light» booth and most have a dull/​unfriendly attitude.
I think Pfit needs to up the hourly wage and attract people with fitness knowledge/​background; not just high school kids looking for an after school job.
I guess you get what you pay for though. I will continue to come here.

For the monthly fee, it can not be beat! I have been working near this gym on a temporary project, so I needed a gym for one month. No big annual fees here, so a one month membership was perfect.
Classy? No. Sauna? No. Pool? No.
Great variety of equipment? Comprehensive speed circuit? Plenty of cardio machines? Clean locker? Nice staff? YES YES YES
And a free t-​shirt too!

I like my Planet Fitness, but this location (which I use when I’m in the area) could use a facelift. They have replaced a lot of the machines, but some of the equipment is still waiting. It’s also a lot smaller than my local gym, and gets crowded more often (makes sense given this is the North Shore and they’re only charging $ 10/​mo.). It’s also off Rt. 1 South, which is really inconvenient. I’m looking forward to the new Salem, MA location opening in a couple months so I can go there instead!

So I was just here this past Monday night and they had dozens of boxes of pizza… in a gym… I guess I’m the only one that sees something wrong with this… Had to wait to use one of the three smith machines, had to wait to use the one leg press, then had to wait yet again to use free weights… The only reason I stay at this establishment known to some as a «gym» is because of their late hours.

I refuse to pay more then 10 $ a month for a gym membership so even though I gave 3 stars im sticking with PF.
There are definitely meatheads that frequent the place but you can’t really go anywere these days without running into one. It’s pretty big, lots of machines, and the ladies locker room is decent.
The bad side of PF is the dollar sign up deals. I admit I signed up for one dollar, but becuase they do it so often and it’s so cheap, EVERYONE signs up. The place is super crowded when this promotion is going on. I’ve actually had to wait for a treadmill numerous times. I know others who go to PF’s in different locations and they have said the same. Eventually the crowd dies down, but be prepared to wait for machines when these promotions are going on.

The price is definitely right at $ 10 a month. And I like the mix of people and ages. Even the atmosphere is pretty good. On the down side the machines are placed too erratically and close together for such a big place. You have to weave through them to find the one your looking for. This makes it annoying for the person that is on one while you are squeezing by.
If they would make better use of the space, (which they could easily do) They would get five stars.

$ 10 a month. Could it be any better? (Well… yes, it could: I could live closer. But that’s not the gym’s fault.)
I’ve gotten out of shape over the past year and I desperately need to get my body — and stamina! — back. I have to admit, I’m embarrassed that within five minutes of being on the elliptical, I’m DRENCHED with sweat. And so I go at night. I’ve gone around 9pm and after midnight so far… I’m surprised that people are actually still there so late! Since it’s such a big place, though, it doesn’t really matter. Plenty of cardio machines. And hey, none of you people know me, so what do I care if you see me sweating like a pig?
The locker room is… okay. It seems pretty clean, but I looked a little too closely at the paper towel dispensers and noticed they’re either really dusty or MOLDY. I don’t want to think about it. And maybe it’s because I go when it’s slow, but I haven’t noticed the locker-​room-​smell yet. I wish I had known that I needed to buy my own lock before my first visit… so hey, readers: you have to buy a lock!
At this point, I only plan on using the ellipticals and treadmills, so I don’t care much about the quantity/​quality of weight machines. I also don’t care about the friendliness of the staff. I don’t need any questions answered. I don’t even need to be greeted. I WANT to be invisible here, so acknowledging my existence is completely unnecessary.
Four stars pretty much just for the amount of cardio machines and hours.

Horrendous. Yelled at by the Janitor for daring to venture near the closet door that he leaves open! Manager on duty has no interest in correcting the janito, despite admiting he saw us do nothing wrong. Called Manager the next day, only to find out that the Janitor, the employee, and a «mystery» employee all made up a different version of the events. The location’s manager decides to side with his employees, claims that there is no way to contact his corporate office, and basically calls me a liar! He claims that his people asked us to leave (untrue), and that we also were «Banging lockers» (also untrue). Caught manager in multiple lies, and he refused to apologize for his employee’s treatment of customers.
I cancelled my membership immediately. This all was within 6 days of signing up! Avoid, AVOID, AVOID!!!
Also, the corporate number is 603−750−0001, despite being told that «The corporate office doesn’t have phones»
Feel free to browse this company’s business practices here–
Good luck in this economy, PF. I wouldn’t set foot in there again if it was the last gym on earth!!! I also have encouraged all of my family and friends to cancel their memberships.

Sorry, but you do have to compare this to other gyms.
At least with cleanliness.
That locker room was one of the most disgusting I’ve seen. Always just smelled awful. I honestly don’t recall ever seeing it being cleaned up. The gym I currently go to I know is cleaned twice a day.
And as for the ‘no judgement zone’ or worrying about muscleheads, PF had plenty of those types. Maybe they can’t let out a grunt or drop weights (and who really does that these days anyway?), but there were always plenty of ‘Situation’ types admiring themselves in the mirror when you walk in, glaring at you. In fact, I think the low price entices more meatheads to go there.
I get the whole mantra of the place, but people seem to think that the ‘no judgement’ slogan and all that keep the riff raff away. I found that paying a bit more for a good gym gets you in a decent place where people are there to get their stuff done, so there’s no time to ‘judge’.
This place isn’t all bad. If you’re just down for some cardio, then this is a great place for you. Plenty of cardio machines open at all times. This is great in the winter when it’s too raw to get outside. Never a wait, either. Plenty of area to stretch, too.
Free weight area is always too crowded and they changed the floor to nautilus machines some time ago, so almost all of the benches are gone. That’s not a good thing.
No jump ropes, resistance bands, or even medicine balls. That’s pretty basic stuff.
So, to me, this is a gym starter kit. Fine if you just want to hop on a cardio machine, but if you’re looking to really get fit you gotta move on.

When it comes to handing out stars, it’s not fair to compare Planet Fitness to other gyms. It’s mean to be a pretty barebones, no-​frills gym that’s meant to be reasonably priced (currently $ 10/​mo, $ 20 for a few extra options) and very accessible (open 24hrs, except weekends).
And tha’s exactly what Planet Fitness is.
Planet Fitness isn’t terribly exciting but they represent themselves as «The Judgment Free Zone.» So, people who have either never been to a gym, or who’ve fallen off the gym wagon for quite a while, can feel confident they won’t end up a «shrinking violet», or ridiculed, by do-​rag wearin’, steroid-​pumpin’, muscle dudes throwing 80lb barbells around while grunting like a herd of Sasquatch.
You get the point.
Planet Fitness has an abundance of cardio machines. A good supply of universal/​nautilus type machines and a «circuit training» room where you do like 15 machines, one-​after-​the-​other, with like 30 seconds rest in between. It’s all coordinated by a «traffic light» setup whose red and green lights everyone has to obey… this way everyone gets a good work out and everyone keeps moving.
You’re in and out in like 30 minutes.
The showers and bathrooms have been pretty clean so far. And late night ‘tween 12a-​5a is pretty empty so you get to share the place with like 6 other people. The front desk will even give you a schedule of how many people there usually are for each time period of the day so you can schedule your workout around the busy hours if you want.
Last I checked, Danvers Planet Fitness had tanning. You only get tanning with the $ 20/​mo membership. They sell all the accessories at the front desk, too, like tanning lotions and eye protection. There’s also t-​shirts, caps, water bottles, drinks and cheap headphones so you can listen to the TVs in case you forgot yours.
Parking is pretty generous and the area is pretty safe. It’s all very convenient to route 114 and route 1 so you can reach it quickly from most places within a 3 – 5 mile radius.
Note: Unless you pay in advance, you need a credit card or your checking account information when joining.
Now, go… what are you waiting for? Summer’s almost here!

Love this gym. I can go there and put on the ipod, focus on working out, and not have to worry about jogging down the street and getting whistled and yelled at by random dudes in cars!
No muscle heads or people grunting and groaning and everyone kinda just does their own thing. For $ 19.99/month you get free tanning, free guests, and use of any other PF location. Love this place!

I will drive an hour from Worcester just because this gym is open 24 hours… I really do miss it when I’m at school.
4 stars for the crowds at peak times.