24 Hour Fitness

Pros: Membership price is negotiable and fees are reasonable.
Cons: They need to spend more focus and cleaning the place.

I've been a member of the 24 Hour Fitness in Castro Valley, CA since 2002. It is convenient and has all of the basic equipment needed for a good workout. Unfortunately, it is not the cleanness gym I have ever been too. The equipment is dirty. The showers often smell. I recently acquired a staph infection and the doctor and I narrowed down the gym as the place I acquired this "gift". Be careful to wipe down the equipment prior to use and wash your hands thoroughly after your workout. I do wish they would spend a little more care in keeping the facility a tad bit cleaner. They have installed several stations throughout the gym with disinfectant spray bottles so that you can clean your equipment prior to or following your workout. I have found these stations to be either out of paper towels or the bottles have been empty. At least they're trying? I would highly suggest using them when you can.

Pros: near freeway
Cons: read the review

I'm not quick to complain as I have been a member of 24 Hour for over 12 years. But I have had enough. I have put up with the foul bathrooms and broken equipment. But today took the prize. I wanted to have my just turned 13 year old son join me at the gym. I used my free guest pass to get him in the door, but thats as far as we got. The staff wanted to question my son and put him through a tour. (this is after he has spent 8 years in day care!!!) I said no to the questioning as I am not going to let a minor be sold to. The reply was I can pay $10 and avoid the whole issue. Even the club manager was rude and uncaring. Most of the people I used to work out with are now at a near by Bally's.

Pros: Close to home, fairly cheap plans.
Cons: Dirty!  Always having to drain pool.

I work out at 24 Fitness In Pasadena on Oakland Ave.  Dirty pool, dirty jacuzzi, dirty weight areas, gang-like rap turned up high on the stereo system.  Sex in the showers.  It's like working out at a gym in a prison!  Yuck!  
They constantly drain the pool. 
UPDATE:  I finally cancelled my membership & went somewhere else & couldn't be happier.  I do NOT miss this gym at all. 

Pros: Membership valid in the different cities I travel; they are open at any hour.
Cons: Better equipment maintenance; Change facility maintenance to the early AM hours.

I've been a member at 24hr fitness for several years and have used different 24hr fitness locations in California (Canyon Country, Oxnard), Nevada (4-different Las Vegas Locations), and Washington (Seattle area). My local gym (Canyon Country) like many is crowded in the mornings and it's typical to find a situation like yesterday and again today where I could see that at least three machines in the area of the treadmill I was using were out of order. I also find it bothersome that, while they are open 24hrs, that I have to workout next to a someone running a Vaccum at 6am, long after the gym has already gotten busy for the morning (I found this same situation recently at a Las Vegas location as well)

Pros: Good equipment
Cons: Facility personal are rude and obnoxious.

My friend who joined gave me a 5 day pass. The plan was that I would use the 5 day pass and then join. The first time I went there I took the tour of the facility and listen to the 20 minute lecture re the club. After the work out I need to get home to my 2 kids (one of whom is autistic). The manager of the downtown Sacramento facility told me that unless I stayed for their other lecture re my fitness goals, I couldn't use the 5 day pass. I told the guy I didn't want to and had to get home to my kids. So he said I couldn't have the 5 day pass. Never in my life have I been treated so RUDELY. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. I plan to join the club near my home so those rude people in Downtown Sacramento don't get a commission off my membership. I wrote to 24 hour fitness to complain - but no response - so I guess they are ok with the horrible customer service from their employees.

Pros: Plenty of locations, open 24 hours. Except old "Q" locations. Updated equipment.
Cons: They hire people who have no people skills.

24 hour fitness came into the Dallas area and over took all
gyms. The forced real gyms out of business. They hire
young college guys who spend more time trying to pick up girls. If I am on the treadmill next to a young lady, here comes the so called "fitness experts" and try to line a up date for the weekend. They spend more time looking at themselves in the mirror.
No they want give prices over the phone for memberships, they hammer you for an enrollment fee. Most of the gyms have the same equipment, they are clean Mon-Fri. One the weekends it is another issue. The bathrooms smell of urine, the sinks are dirty. I work out at 2 Carrollton locations, Lewisville and Addison. The Addison location is just too small.

Pros: Price, great pool and hot tub, lots of new equipment, large gym.
Cons: Interior needs update, staff could be a bit more eager to serve.

Regarding the 32nd and Camelback location in Phoenix, AZ, our friends told us to join as they really like this club. As for me, I like the babysitting service and the pool. Both are excellent. My wife does the spinning classes and uses personal trainers. We did the 3 years up front for $600 per person plus 5 training sessions for $100 for a total of $1400 for three years. After the three years, it is $150 per year to continue. On average this comes out to about $15/month per person. Now that's cheap. I like the no monthly option. Although this particular location is an older location, the equipment is nice and there is enough room for everyone. The management was liberal with their free passes to let us try the gym out (we got over a month at no charge). I think they did their part so I signed up.

Pros: NONE
Cons: Rip off. Flawed website and order processing system.

Charged me 4 times when i tried to get one membership. Now 900 of my money is beheld hostage, 5 days before Christmas, and according to there "Contract" I have to submit a written notice mailed to them, with in 3 days. 3 days isn't the problem, its the fact that according to that "Contract" It will take them 30 days to mail me a check. What every you do don't use 24 hours fitness online ordering system. I know how to use computers I'm a Management Information System major, and The web site and process is flawed! It has the potential to submit one order many times. I think the only reason it stoped at the 4th is because i ran out of money in my account for it to charge me a 5th, 6th, and so on.

Pros: Facility and equipment very nice.
Cons: Management non-existing, employees brain-dead.

Nobody wipes off the equipment, nobody re-racks the weights, the TV's never work an worst of all you get to listen to terrible rap music so loud you can't think. It is a horrible horrible place to go relax, de-stress and workout. Buy a Bowflex and work out at home.

Pros: Open extended hours, accessible to the common man,
Cons: NOT Clean, cheesy sales practices

I've been a member of 24 hour fitness since 1995. The clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area are getting progressively worse over the years.
The Club at Van Ness is so nasty smelling. I fear getting foot fungus a treatment that would cost more than a years membership.
You truly get what you pay for. I gladly only pay $12 per month but even at that rate I dread going to the gym at this location.

They should be ashamed of their establishment.

Golds Gym has people walking around really cleaning all the time and great sanitary sprays and towels.

Pros: Great trainers (atleast mine)
Cons: Crowded and bad membership policy

I used 24 hours fitness at Bellevue, WA for two months prior to my wedding :) The instructor was great and everyone was impressed at the results :). However, I changed jobs recently and my employer offers free membership at a different place. When I called to cancel my membership, I was shocked to hear that they require a 30 day notice to cancel memberships. Really? I am used to businesses offering me a refund on the prorated amount I will not be using. To require a 30 day advance notice is totally absurd. Though I canceled it today (7/24), I am still set to pay the next payment on 8/20 which will keep my membership active till October. Rather absurd.

Pros: Excellent gym in Austin, Texas
Cons: Deceptive Billing and contracts Customer Service Rude and Unhelpful

I canceled my membership to 24 Hour Fitness on May 31, 2006 because I was moving to San Antonio, Texas from Austin, Texas. 24 Hour Fitness does not have any facilities in San Antonio. My credit card was automatically charged on June 15, 2006 for the canceled membership. 24 Hour Fitness maintains that I must cancel 30 days prior to my "billing date" in order to not be charged for the next month. I feel this practice is deceptive and unfair, as no where on my "Transaction Receipt" does it state that 30 days notice is required. Also, I did not use any of their facilities for the entire month of June, as there are none of their gyms in my current city. Yet I was charged as if I did when I did not. I feel it is unfair that they charged me and received my money and did not deliver any services. The customer service agent I spoke with on the phone said that my membership cancellation had been processed on June 1, 2006, yet I was charged 14 days later.

I just wanted to warn people that this is a potential problem that they may encounter.

Pros: Excellent equipment, well maintained; maximum hours of operation
Cons: Dirty, smelly, horrendously poor ventilation, equipment is rarely cleaned

Three members of my family have had memberships to 24 Hour Fitness in San Diego for the past 5 months. I cancelled one of the memberships a few months ago, and today I cancelled the remaining two. I was told that I never cancelled the other membership, so now I have to battle with them to collect the fees for the past few months.

Aside from their dishonest billing practices and poor customer service, the club is overcrowded (Horton Plaza San Diego), dirty, and poorly ventilated. With even a moderate number of members working out, the facilities smell like my old high school locker room. The music blares at a ridiculously loud level, so you must have a music player with noise canceling headphones or you are subject to the manager's musical tastes.

I opted to pay a little more and join a smaller club where the ownership respects the members and the members take pride in maintaining a great atmosphere.

Pros: Great equipment, nice locker rooms, nice pool area.
Cons: Snobby, rude employees, high membership fees, TAKE OUT DUES MORE THAN ONCE A MONTH!

Great gym, but not great enough to have your membership dues withdrawn two to three times a month! They took out our membership dues three times one month, we called them and they said "well sometimes the computers make mistakes." This caused our account to go negative and caused overdraft fees. We told them they were going to have to cover those because it was their fault and they said they could refund the two extra dues, but not the overdraft fees. We finally had to send our complaints to the BBB and ended up getting our money back. Membership there was outrageous anyways!

Pros: Clean, uncrowded, exclusive, great service, great price and has every amenity known to man.
Cons: Restaurant food is too expensive. Not much of a con

I've been a member of 24 Hour Fitness for 9 years and have visited locations all over the country. I have most recently been going to the Ultra Sport in Irvine. The facility is incredible. I read a review which said it has no tv's on the equipment, that it's too crowded and that it's not very clean. I found none of these things to be true. They do have individual tv's on 80% of the equipment and the for the other 20% you can watch huge flat screens. This club had no more then 10-20 people working out at the same time in 150,000 sq ft of facility The bathrooms were very clean. The club has 3 aerobics rooms, 3 squash courts, 2 racquetball courts, 2 basketball courts, indoor track, climbing wall, personal training area, boxing room, pilates reformers, tons of weights, tons of cardio, 5 lane lap pool, sand volleyball court, restaurant, day spa, pool, bar, executive lockers, jacuzzi, steamroom, sauna and lounge. The place is incredible, especially for the price.