New York Health & Racquet Club

05/23/2008 Posted by happywinter

A member for 2 years. I love to be able to use any location around the city. Some locations are better than others. 23rd street is the most complete and it tends to be clean, but is decaying: showers are broken more often, and the locker rooms and bathrooms in general show signs of heavy wear. 23rd is also overcrowded: often at weeknights you will have to wait for a locker, wait for a long while for cardio equipment, and for a turn to take a shower. In general I like the convenience of the different locations and to have pools available even if they are small, classes in all locations is a plus too, staff seems efficient. As a basic gym this is all good. But certainly do not get a membership for the extra-offerings. The biggest letdown so far has been to find out they mislead in their advertisements. We went to check out “private beach” last summer: There are a few nice clubs that are located in the same area so you are not alerted right away. When you get there, is actually a hidden driveway behind a bigger club. The attendant informed us the price fee and emphasized on the no-reimburse policy once you pay. We joked with him: Is there something we should know? (we were being funny). Well, he says, let's us say that the gyms in the city like to exaggerate. He finally let us go inside and decide before paying. The overall area of the club is very small, is extremely crowded and not clean. The pool is clearly for kids and family play. Loud radios and food everywhere. The beach is just a tiny stretch (8-10 meters), just a small section of sand. Strong fences at both sides. I am surprised nobody has mentioned this in any reviews. The attendants said they were used to people coming from the city and getting back angry at finding out. Now I see all these signs and the big size letters saying BEACH, and it feels pretty bad they can go ahead and use this as a hook for sales.

Pros: classes, trainers, mostly clean

Cons: misleading advertisement, decaying facilities

05/20/2008 Posted by sweetepy302

Everyone here is complaining endlessly about the cancellation policy... I was a member here for a year and a half and had absolutely no problems. The only reason I left it was because I moved to Brooklyn. Anyway, when I went to cancel my membership, the girl at the front desk explained the reasoning for their cancellation policy it made perfect sense. They have you send your cancellation form registered or certified mail so that you have proof that you sent it. If the staff were as "shady " as all those below seem to think, I certainly wouldn't want to leave my cancellation form with them, just in case it accidentally "falls behind a desk" etc... Also, I appreciate having the reciept of my cancellation form, b/c then headquarters can't claim it was lost in the mail. I do agree that its a bit ridiculous that you have to send in the form 30 days in advance, but that's my only complaint with the cancellation process. About the gym itself, I found the staff to be competant, not stellar, but overall polite and accomodating (A general note on that - I've found that if you approach people with a smile they'll almost smile back - I have to wonder if perhaps some of the complainers below might have deserved to have some attitude dished right back to them). The sales guy and personal trainer I spoke to when I signed up seemed a bit pushy, but I'm guessing they work on commission. The gym got a bit crowded in the early evening hours (5-7ish), but I tried to avoid those times (proactivity works so much better than complaining on a message board ;-)) The equipment, main floors, and locker room were all clean and well maintained. Overall I had a very pleasant experience at this gym. A few things could be improved here and there, but isn't that true of almost all places?

Pros: Competant Staff, Well maintained

Cons: Somewhat pushy sales staff, could have a little bit more customer friendly cancellation policy