LA Fitness

I’ve been a member of LA Fitness in Sale (actually, there are two branches in Sale, but this one particularly) for two stints. Once about 4 years ago, not long after it opened, and currently (and since April this year when my most recent health-​kick began. It is housed in a building that used to be a cinema and has been skillfully converted to use the internal height of the building to maximum effect. There are various ‘levels’ to the gym which rise up in height throughout the building, but all of which look out as balconies into the main space, and forwards to where the main cinema screen would have been, and upon which the usual ‘Gym TV’ is projected. The ground floor features a number of resistance machines and free weights, the next level up is mainly cardio machines, and the top floor is rowers, further resistance machines and a spinning studio space. The ground floor also features a pool area with hot tub, sauna and steam room, all of which are decent sizes, but not enormous. All in all it’s a pretty good facility with decent changing rooms and locker space, and its rarely so busy that you have to wait for anything. There’s also an aerobics studio on the ground floor and a café area and crèche/​nursery.
So, on the positive side, it’s got lots of equipment, good facilities and is not too busy. Now for the bad news. The staff are a VERY mixed bunch. I’ve never seen so many ‘trainers’ walking the floor touting for business, and the only way you can avoid their interruption is to have your earphones on constantly which is not something I have a problem with. The receptionists are for the most part rude and ‘up-​themselves’. The parking is a nightmare and for some reason the car-​park is not entry controlled so I’m sure that some shoppers use it to walk through to shop in Sale. The interior is a bit tired and starting to get shabby in parts… I don’t think it has really been renovated in any major way since it first opened, and machines can often take a good few weeks to get fixed when they break. The cleaning of the place is sometimes questionable. The music is repetitive and often you’ll see the same music videos on a loop over and over and over again. Okay, the last one is probably a bit harsh, but the rest of my criticisms stand. The bottom line is that I’ll probably still keep up my membership as the price is pretty reasonable and I can always get on the machines I want to. But if I were looking for the complete package and a place that I wanted to hang around in for social purposes, this would not be it.