Equinox

Great club. Clean, great group fitness instructors and a management team that’s responsive to client requests.

I’m giving 5 stars for the massage treatments I get at Equinox by Eve Bartkoski. Whenever on business here in L.A., I always make time to stop by Equinox’s day spa just for her healing medical massages. I highly recommend her.
She’s the best and most competent over there. I’m a pretty big guy (6’4″ 225lbs). During the day, I’m at my desk sitting, and then at night I’m either weight training or getting thrown around at my MMA gym in BJJ /​muay thai.
So far Eve is the only one I’ve met that has the expertise to heal my lower back pain from hours of sitting, and muscle knots & pains from training. Plus, she also an expert on stretching techniques and always willing to teach them. So during massage treatment sessions she’ll geek out on stretching techniques and the science of medical massage with me. I get to heal and learn. #WinWin

I have been training with Catherine RODRIGUEZ Jones for a few years. Simply put she is pure joy and inspiration. She has help me transform my body losing almost 50 lbs and I am in the best shape I have been in for 20 years.

Joined a couple of weeks ago and it’s meeting all expectations. The place is super clean and never feels overly crowded. I’ve only taken classes, haven’t used the equipment on the floor. No problem getting into the spin classes I’ve wanted or doing the group exercises. Will try the kid care soon. Wish you didn’t have to buy that in two hour chunks. I’m only here an hour at a time, don’t need to make a morning or afternoon of it.

Not my favorite Equinox by any means but better than any other gym I have tried in the area.

It’s all about the classes! Ropes and rowers, 4×4, spin classes, yoga with Mark and Jen, stacked, Best Butt Ever! (yeah you read that right)…
I’ve been coming here now for long enough to know this gym is the pitta me of classiness. Many people look at me and balk at the price like it’s super expensive but if you add up your monthly yoga classes or spinning classes or any other fitness related classes for expense it ends up being a real deal.
Add to that all of the amenities of the locker room and shower facilities including a steam room, complementary razors, Q-​tips, mouthwash, Cotton balls, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and not to mention an abundance of available clean towels both inside the locker room and around the gym. If you have that moment where you need a refrigerated eucalyptus oil towel yeah they have that. High level of training presence all around the gym if you need to take it to the next step with personal training.
It’s the culture and the attitude of this location that I like. Everybody is warm, friendly, family, it’s a welcoming environment of professionals it’s not a highly competitive, heavy weightlifting testosterone driven type facility. It’s more like a spa with respect to the cleanliness and the atmosphere. Add to that all of the facilities are always immaculate, and all of the equipment is always working.
Two hour child care is a plus for parents during select hours.
Love the app and being able to track class progress and activity statistics.
Shout outs to Class Trainers Collin, Marc, Sami, Devon, Pearl, Carmine, yoga Mark, Jen. Love the classes!
Personal Trainers Chuck, Nick, Carly and Michael.
Maybe I’ll see you at a 6am class one morning or on a Sunday while I create the BEST BUTT EVER, «say ‘bubble’ while you push your heal to the ceiling…» –Collin Sam
Dr Cressey, Chiropractor

Decent gym, fairly clean facilities and up-​to-​date equipment. Friendly crowd and staff. When you avoid peak hours, there’s very little waiting on equipment. I joined this Equinox mainly due to the fact that I live in the neighboring apartment residences. Having been a member here for several months, I have developed some gripes that amount to my three-​star rating of this gym.
-$ 150/​month for a gym membership is not cheap at all. Anytime Fitness (open 24 hours) is $ 40/​month. Lifetime Athletic (with much better, newer and larger facilities) is $ 135/​month. LA Fitness is $ 40/​month. $ 150/​month should reflect a truly premium gym experience, but I feel that this Equinox location is just incrementally better than your average gym. There is no pool, no basketball courts, no state-​of-​the-​art facility.
–I don’t understand why this gym closes so early on the weekends (9 on Fridays, 6 on Saturdays and Sundays). This is problematic for me because I always prefer to hit the gym late at night when there are fewer people around using the equipment.
–The maintenance crew start to clean up 30 – 45 minutes before the gym closes. Again, I always hit the gym late at night and it’s extremely distracting when someone is vacuuming two feet away from you while you’re trying to max out on your bench or deadlifts. This type of cleaning should be done after hours, not during operating hours.
All in all, there are better options out there, especially for $ 150 a month. I’m a member here mostly out of convenience and have no major complaints about the gym, but I wish that the management would focus on improving the facilities and operations to make it actually worth the hefty premium.

I’ve been an Equinox member for almost two years. I used to work out at 24-​Hour Fitness because they have a pool but the gym is deteriorating and the type of people who go there simple creep me out.
Anyway, I really love working out here at Equinox Pasadena. The team members are very friendly and approachable. I love it when the greeters greet me by name. The weight machines are always clean and new looking. They play such great variety of music. I never really have to bring my music player. If you have an iPhone, you can load the Equinox app and see the class schedules, operating hours and other gym locations. At the end of each workout, I always look forward to using the steam room and showers. Clean white towels are provided (and a good size towel too, not tiny towels like at 24 that barely cover you).
The only thing that I have to say, and this could be because of how particular I am about everything; is that everytime I’m in the shower, wash area or locker room, there is ALWAYS a cleaning crew in sight. Although I greatly appreciate their hard work in keeping the facility clean, I get uncomfortable when they are always around cleaning, mopping the same floor within two minutes. I absolutely hate feeling the mop on my feet after I’ve showered, I feel bad if I say anything to the cleaning people. So I hope the cleaning manager reads this and makes a note of my comment. Please do not mop near anyone’s feet!
I almost feel like they are «stalking» me and not giving me any privacy. I have this weird thing where I do no like to see people cleaning in front of me.
Anyway, other than that… this gym is amazing! I love coming here if I am not swimming. A lot of people tell me why I would pay so much money for a gym. I’ve been to a lot of gyms and all I say is «Once you go Equinox, you can’t go back».
Fitness and health is so important to me, so I don’t mind paying the monthly fees. My only wish is that my all-​access pass would grant me access to the West LA Sports Club Equinox with the nice pool :-(

Got a 3 day free pass so went during Christmas break. Big turns offs: Women’s steam room under construction grr, you have to bring a physical padlock for your locker (seriously, who uses these anymore!?), yoga studio had poor circulation and was packed for the Sat. morning class, also not quick to get to, as it’s tucked in a corner atop the upper level. Glendale location is better.

I’m having a blast at equinox. The gym is über clean all the remodel that is going on hasn’t interrupted my ability to use the gym. The free weights are always super organized and I love that I rarely have to wait to use a machine. The personal training sessions I’ve had with Nick have helped me get stronger and learn new exercises I can do on my own. And lastly one of my favorite ways to end a hard workout is with a eucalyptus towel so refreshing!

I joined one year ago and plan to leave. The personal training is wildly expensive. The facilities are mediocre for a «high end» gym. The group fitness room is small/​crowded. Spin facilities are great, however the prime time classes are often booked. For me, «high end» needs to include convenient and spacious… oh well.
High point was studying Pilates with Lydia Ho… excellent instructor. After my son and I spent *considerable* $$ on private Pilates lessons, the gym management decided not to let my son out of his contract 2 – 3 months early (despite moving away for college). Perfect example of not seeing the «big picture». Unfortunately, this club cares more about contracts than accommodating unique circumstances. Not surprised club management changes often…
Sad this great location doesn’t measure up to other high-​end gyms I’m familiar with in Northern California (ClubOne in San Jose, Bay Club in Cupertino, etc.).

This is a pricey gym, but you get what you pay for. Some background: I’ve been an on and off member since 2005 — when I was trying to work off my baby weight and was thrilled to find a high end gym that had a very clean and bright day care room with at least two attendants for the kids. And then, I had to train to help my wheelchair-​bound friend make a week long trip to a foreign country; this entailed me being about to lift 1.5 times my body weight so that I could transfer her to and from her chair for toileting, bathing and getting in and out of bed.
If you want serious training and fitness, this is really the place for you. As others have said, it’s very, very clean. I’ve never seen a maintenance staff work so hard and constantly. Nothing smells, the air conditioning is 99% working (which is a blessing during heatwaves). I go in at 8 am and I never have to fight for space or a machine. The mat area for trigger point rolling and massaging is vast and the upkeep is constant. The machines are always updated so that they have the latest technology (right now, there are up to 6 different virtual reality ‘places’ you can run or bike to — from Germany to New Zealand). The equipment includes stationary bikes, treadmills, stairmasters, a stairclimber as well as all the Cybex stuff. There are three group fitness rooms; one for cardio classes, spinning and another for yoga. From what I can see, there’s a lot of variation and ‘props’ involved in the cardio room (i.e. there are kettle bell classes as well as some incorporating ViPRs). There is also a pilates room full of reformers; you can purchase packages for that in the same way you’d purchase personal training.
All trainers are updated with the latest classes and cover 4 «Tiers» of professional experience. The package prices for PT are based on how high or low their tier levels are. I train in the morning and there are always at least 8 trainers on the floor and those in light blue shirts who are just there to do a shift, help clean up the floor of stray free weights and offer towels to the members and/​or help in how to use equipment.
The locker room is spa quality. You don’t have to bring any of your toiletries for showering or moisturizing. The brand they use is Kiehl’s. There are about 8 stations with hairdryers. There is a steam room and about ten showers; the water pressure varies from someone lightly peeing on you to «I’m scared for the condition of my nipples.» You just have to pick your favorite one and try to be there when everything is not fully occupied.
Still, the crowd is all mostly 25 – 60 years old, professional types with real bodies; not as intimidating as maybe the model/​actor crowd in WeHo. Everyone’s friendly and helpful. I think I left my wallet there once while getting a massage (oh yeah, they do medical massage here!) and it was returned to the front desk instantly. I’m assuming the maintenance staff are paid well and love their jobs; it certainly shows.
Okay so yeah, this is long and sounds like an ad but I really love my gym and a lot of these trainers work really hard and know they’re stuff and some of the one star reviews are so misinformed and ludicrous, I had to write something. Oftentimes, Unilocal can be a dumping site for people who just want to vent. It’s not often we take the time to express how much we really like something; we only take the time to complain.
About the lack of swimming pool? They’re on the second floor of the Paseo Colorado; where are they going to put a fucking pool? And are you really going to complain about bringing a lock to the gym? What are your priorities? And the complaints about the $ 200/​mo membership fee. Let’s do the math. Yes, this gym is upscale, but if you join, they’re assuming you are committed to your own fitness to actually attend the gym. I attend my gym at least 5 days/​week. That’s 20 times a month. That’s $ 10 a day — the cost of two vanilla lattes; the average consumption of a working person throughout the day. It’s not expensive unless you only go once a week. Do yourself a favor and cut out a latte and the extra cheese and join this gym. It has everything you need to change your health and help you live longer and happier.

Ah, f_​ck it, I quit.
If you HAVE to go to an Equinox, travel a little further and go downtown or Glendale. At least those places have more than two benches in the ladies room and you don’t have to bring your own lock.
General managers only last a few months at Pasadena plus all the good group fitness leaders tend to quit.
Last straw was when I tried a Zumba class with a new «hot» instructor for the first time. A trainer came in late and stood in front of me (she did ask if it was okay, but what am I suppose to say? No? Its my first class! I know how cliquey group fitness can be!) Then she stripped down to damn near a bikini and I look and a guy on a bike was taking photos of her. Creepy!
We get it, you’re in shape but I pay for the class and you just blocked my view of the instructor! And, um, I know you see that guy on the bike. Say something! You work here!
After Zumba people in the class tried to tell me that trainer has been like that for a bit. But «she’s the top earning trainer so complaints won’t be listened to.»
Seriously, read most reviews — they are praising certain people — a massage person, a trainer or two. The gym as a whole? Feel free to message me. Unless you like wasting money.
I’ve given this place second chance after second chance. Trust me — no. Just no.

This gym sucks the big one. I was a lover of the chicago Equinox for 5 – 6 years and when we moved here and joined I expected the same quality level and was sorely disappointed. The group fitness classes are poor. There is no variation during the 9/​10am hour. Seriously… There is barre, Pilates, and kettle bell 3 x a week and then more barre and Pilates. It’s HORRIBLE!!!
What happened to the dynamic group fitness classes that got me so passionate about working out? The tabata, the cardio kick, the metcon, etc. these used to be offered everyday at ⁹⁄₁₀ am with a different class every morning for those of us that workout everyday and appreciate variety. But nooooooo… Here at Pasadena Equinox you get barre or kettle bell. Seriously??? The Glendale location and Downtown location has much more exciting class schedules for group fitness.
Also– the locker rooms are disgusting compared to other locations. They told us over 8 – 10 months ago that they were going to start millions of dollars rehaul. Nada. Zippo. Zilch.
This Equinox needs to get its act together.

This review is about this location and its amenities. Not the staff as that would raise my rating.
The pictures on here are not of this gym.
I’ve worked out at the South Bay and Downtown LA equinox and this one is definitely the dumpiest.
Upside:
It’s clean.
There is enough cardio equipment.
It gets busy but you can still work out comfortably.
Downsides:
No pool.
No sauna (there is a steam room but those gross me out since women like to do stuff likes have their legs in them)
The showers are really ugly (compared to the other gyms) and the lighting in them is bad. There’s just one stall that has decent lighting
The locker room lighting is poor all around
The spin room is tiny and the good classes get filled within 20 minutes of registration opening
The spin room is awkward as hell and there are a couple bikes tucked in so that you’re literally face to face with someone else on a spin bike. You can feel them breathing. They can feel you breathing.
Honestly? If this wasn’t so close to work I wouldn’t come to this location. The price is the same as MUCH nicer locations so if those are an option for you I would check out somewhere else first. I truly miss the South Bay location.

Overall, I think Equinox is a 4 out of 5, and that’s mainly thanks to the work of my trainer, Erik Raposa.
I started coming to Equinox around 2 years ago; my family had been members at Equinox of the South Bay, which is a massive, 2 story building all to itself. The Pasadena Equinox is not nearly so impressive. As the first west-​coast Equinox (I believe), it’s a bit small, with an L-​shaped layout optimized to the gym’s location in the paseo Colorado mall. Renovations are in talks, supposedly, but the nature of a gym makes it very difficult to do drastic modifications to the building.
In terms of the equipment and facilities, you do get what you pay for; towels are provided, both of the hand variety and for showering, and even cold towels soaked with eucalyptus water to cool off after a hard spin session or circuit. The machines are all new or new-​ish, and well-​maintained, and there’s a good selection of free weights, barbells, and assorted fitness devices.
My main gripe with Equinox is the training staff, a controversial assertion that will probably polarize readers. I should start out by saying that I train at this Equinox with Erik Raposa, who introduce me to Olympic lifts, and who has made a radical (positive) change in my approach to fitness. However, and this is a big however, if you do not wish to work out with a trainer here (although if you choose to, many of them are talented and friendly), you will sometimes get the feeling of being in an elevator pitch while you workout. I understand the sense of balance inherent to this dilemma, and maybe the problem is that I haven’t made my intentions clear enough, but at around $ 100 dollars a session for a tier 1 trainer in addition to equinox’s steep member fees, it’s a lofty goal to have everyone who comes in training thrice weekly.
Besides that gripe, which I think is a problem at every gym, I believe you get what you pay for with Equinox. Kiehls in the locker room, the focus they maintain on continuing education for personal training staff, the presence of massage staff, classes included in membership if you’re interested in that sort of thing (Pilates, hot yoga, etc etc.) make Equinox my gym of choice. For reference, I’ve been a member at 24 hour fitness and spectrum in the South Bay.

You get motivated to workout more! The staff are friendly and welcoming.
And my personal trainer, she’s awesome! Thanks Maria Two-​Straps. You’re soooooooo professional. Looking forward to see you soon and learn more from you.
When you go there, ask for Maria Two-​Straps, you’ll love her !

I’ve truly been spoiled by the Beverly Hills Equinox because there are things in this gym… that level that of 24 hour… not ok.
Location:
Equinox is located a shopping plaza on the corner of Green Street and South Marengo St. Although it shows on the map to be more on Colorado street it’s not.
Parking:
There are multiple spots to park which is nice. The parking structure connected to the shopping plaza where Equinox is located allows for 2 hours free with validation which is really nice… like I said. 2 hours isn’t enough for a class so ehhh you still will probably pay something.
Gym:
It’s definitely a smaller Equinox than some of the others I’ve been to around Southern Californja… That being said they make good use with the space so kudos on that!
The equipment is certainly not as updated as the gym I’m accustomed to… even the mats are tatted and look like someone lets their dogs play with them. Honestly for the amount of money I and other members pay., I expect the gym to have the best equipment… at all times. This isn’t LA fitness.
Plenty of workout space in the stretching area but it can get tricky when you have trainers training others and they start getting to close in your space. Especially when they are doing some kind of burpees or kicks… Yeah.
Locker Room:
Clean which is to be expected. I hate the setup in the locker room the same with the West Hollywood location. Very cramped. The thing that got me though was the fact the lockers are not electronic or even equipped with built in locks. You have to bring your own padlock… huh ok wasn’t prepared for that!
Honestly if I was never exposed to other Equinox locations would I think that this is a nice place to workout? Of course! Even know with everything it’s still a wonderful place to get shape but ehhhggghhh. Not for me.
Unilocal 100 2015 Challenge — ²²⁄₁₀₀

Although one of the smaller ones, this equinox is still pretty darn great… as it should be, for the price: P
Located on the upper level of Paseo, stair access from colorado blvd or elevator/​escalator/​stair access from the middle of the Paseo shopping center. Alternatively, if you’re driving, you can park in the lot across the bridge (entrance to the garage on S Marengo, go South from Colorado and it’ll be the first one on the right)
Obsessed w the icy cold eucalyptus towels in the lil fridge in the weights area (at the end of the hallway on the right side) and the eucalyptus steam room. Doubling up n doing both after a hard work out is soooooo amazing and feels increasingly better the harder you worked out! :D
Access to towels everywhere: in the weight room, in the locker rooms, and sometimes even delivered to you while you’re working out. wheee
Most classes are great but my favs are Metabolic Meltdown w marc n Spin w Charles (best music!)/Sami (most pep — her pep will rub off on you. If u want more pep, come to this class. I can def use more pep)
Awesome to have separate studios for spin, yoga and the private pilates sessions. Spin room is on the right as you enter, main studio on the left and yoga and pilates at the end of the hall once you’ve turned the corner, just past the locker rooms.

Alright loves, its been like a year and a half since I joined the super luxurious equinox family; there’s not only been a lot of calories burned, pounds shed, and healthy habits gained but I’ve heard a very fair amount of ‘pffffffttt!’ And «wtf?! You pay how much a month?!» So I feel very obligated to update my review and well, honestly, defend my gym (aka my second home) and my pocketbook!
When I first signed up, I did so because I used to be a member at 24 –you know that crazy amazing deal you get at Costco? But I went once a month and that one time I’d be there for like an hour before either 1. I for irritated waiting for a machine. 2. I got tired of the meat market slash show off fest it became. Or 3. Realized I forgot a towel –and let’s be honest, who wants to get all nasty sweaty and not shower? Gross.
Fast forward to my birthday last year, equinox just opened their fabulous downtown LA location. A friend of mine was already signed up and asked me to go check it out with her. Upon my first minute walking in, I was greeted by what felt like every person in the building. If you’ve read any of my reviews, you know I’m a sucker for that top notch customer service. After walking around, the biggest reason I was down to shell out that extra $, was how C L E A N everything was! I don’t have the best immune system so cleanliness is a big deal to me. Equinox is pristine.
Before I keep ranting how down I am for equinox and how amazing it is, I’ll just bullet point it for easier reading and less eye rolling:
Provided for your convenience
*lockers
*razors, shave cream, hairspray, hair gel, Keihls! Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, blowdryer, cotton swabs&balls, errrthang you’d find in your own bathroom pretty much.
*towels (bath, face, hand. And they even have this one soaked in eucalyptus & its refrigerated! Feels ahhhhhmazing after a great workout :)
*classes (this alone is worth the $, cos you know how pricey those are alone!)
The highlights:
***Pasadena equinox has hands down the best staff. End of story.
*so many machines I’ve never had to wait. Ever.
*super clean
*the other members are strangely very friendly
*the steam room. Sometimes I come just to sit in there!
*the spa
*personal trainers
I’m going to stop. I’m rereading this and I sound like an advertisement haha. Just trust me and call Benson right now to schedule a walk through, hell, I’ll even go with you! I’ve never been in such good health nor felt this amazing. I get it, its expensive but remember the (other) golden rule:
Q U A L I T Y over quantity. –meaning, you get what you pay for baaby. ;) see you soon?