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Before joining a health club, think skeptically about what activities you
are likely to participate in and how often you’ll be able to use the club.
If you haven’t exercised before or for a long time, question whether you
will be able to stick with a new fitness regimen. Most people who join
clubs stop using them long before their memberships expire. Since most
clubs charge nonrefundable initiation fees, and many clubs require or push
annual contracts, you can waste a lot of money if you quit.
If possible, try out both your determination to exercise and your exercise
plan before making a major financial commitment. You might be able to do
this as a guest at a private club; by purchasing a trial membership, offered
by some clubs; or by using a government-sponsored facility.
Consider whether you can get the exercise you want less expensively some
other way—for example, by doing push-ups, sit-ups, and running on your
own; by joining a sports team or exercise program; or by using a government-sponsored
facility.
Shop. For roughly the same facilities, you might pay more than twice as
much at some clubs as at others.
Be sure to press clubs you are considering for their best deals. When you
are negotiating, get clubs to compete by mentioning other clubs you are
considering. Many clubs have various fee plans and discount options and
offer the best deals only if necessary to get the sale. Don’t allow sales
staff to pressure you into making a decision.
Check to see whether you qualify for a discounted rate due to an arrangement
between your employer or health plan and the club.
Find out about clubs’ rules on canceling a membership, selling a membership
to someone else, and freezing a membership.
Try out any club you are considering by asking it for a guest pass to use.
When you are there, check out the cleanliness and the condition of equipment,
ask other members how crowded the club gets at hours when you might want
to be there, and judge how helpful the staff is.
On our Ratings Tables, you will find ratings of individual clubs and
information on facilities, equipment, activities, and other features of
area clubs.
You know that being physically fit will make you feel better. You know
it will help you stay healthy. You know it will probably help you not only
live longer, but do the activities you like for many more years to come.
Deciding you should get in shape or stay in shape is easy. The hard part
for many of us is figuring out how to make it happen. Good intentions often
just don’t translate into burned calories or a svelte figure.
There are lots of ways to stay fit—long walks; daily push-ups, sit-ups,
and pull-ups; a regular game of basketball; always going to and from your
10th floor office via the staircase—but all require commitment. If that
commitment doesn’t come easy, maybe the facilities of a health and fitness
club—and the financial commitment to become a member of one—are the motivations
you need.
But if you are thinking of joining a health club, be prepared. There are
decisions to make, and many clubs in the area from which to choose. Making
the right choices can be difficult, with some clubs using pressure and
deceptive sales tactics.
Health club memberships usually don’t come cheap. Even at clubs that offer
few facilities other than weights and exercise equipment, dues for an individual
are in many cases more than $600 per year (including initiation fees).
Want to play racquet sports or use a club that offers a wide range of facilities
and amenities? Expect to pay even more.
While amenities and the full range of services may differ, among clubs
that offer roughly the same basic fitness opportunities, there are large
price differences. If you’re just interested in using fitness equipment
and group exercise classes, at the time of our last full, published article,
full access to all facilities for one year at Fitness 19 in Sunnyvale will
cost $347; at Club One at Santana Row, you’ll pay $1,120. If you want to
play tennis and squash and swim, membership for three years for a couple
will cost $6,750 at PrimeTime Athletic Club in Burlingame; at Pacific Athletic
Club, you’ll pay $12,342.
Before signing on at any health club, it makes sense to compare the costs
of joining a club to the many other available fitness options. In the article
that follows, we’ll help you sort through those options, and if you decide
that joining a health club is the best solution for you, try to help you
get the health club services you want at the best available price.
Many who join fitness clubs pay a lot of money to do what they could do
much more cheaply elsewhere. That’s why it is important, before joining
a club, to think about your own motivations and interests, and consider
the alternatives.
In fact, most of us can save money and possibly meet our fitness and recreation
needs by avoiding private fitness clubs entirely. You can do push-ups,
sit-ups, and many other exercises at home with no investment. Walking,
running, and bicycling are very inexpensive. If you can find a regular
soccer or basketball game at the school playground, that not only will
be inexpensive but might be a lot of fun. If these options aren’t interesting
enough or convenient enough, you can buy various types of home exercise
equipment for a one-time investment of a few hundred dollars.
At a somewhat more organized level, local governments offer both facilities
and programs. At recreation centers or at local parks, you can find cardiovascular
fitness equipment, weight-lifting rooms, tennis courts, swimming pools,
aerobics classes, basketball courts, sports leagues, and much more—all
either free or very inexpensive.
For example, at the time of our last full, published article, the Milpitas
Sports Center offers a fitness center, a gymnasium, four swimming pools,
and wide range of group exercise classes. A one-year pass for adults costs
only $450 for residents and $495 for non-residents.
San Jose’s Camden Community Center also offers a wide range of facilities
and classes. A one-day pass costs $5 for residents and $5.50 for non-residents;
a one-year pass costs only $260 for residents and $300 for non-residents.
San Francisco operates close to 100 community and recreation centers. About
half have gymnasiums, five have indoor pools, and several have fitness
centers or weight rooms. Access to these facilities is free.
Below we list all of the local government-run recreation centers in the
area we could identify as having at least a weight room/fitness center
and/or an indoor swimming pool. Almost all allow use of exercise facilities—without
requiring a term commitment—for prices that are well below those you can
expect to pay at even the least expensive private health clubs.
Even if you expect eventually to want to join a private health or racquet
club, it’s a good idea to spend a few months trying the alternatives. That
will give you a better idea whether you really are likely to stick it out
at a club and which types of activities and facilities matter to you.
If you don’t currently exercise on a regular basis, or if you do but want
to increase your fitness regimen, a good first step is to develop a plan.
For most, beginning a drastically new exercise routine is akin to quitting
a bad habit; having a plan increases your chance of success. Your plan
should include realistic fitness goals, a list of the types of exercises
you’ll do to achieve those goals, a schedule of how often you’ll exercise,
and a list of reasons to help keep you motivated. (If you are over age
40, check with a physician before beginning any program of increased exercise.)
Obviously, your chances of changing your habits are best if you enjoy what
you’re doing. Some individuals who stick through a few months of unpleasant
exertion eventually find that they positively enjoy exercise for its own
sake, but it’s easier to get through those early months if you enjoy it
from the start. If your new exercise routine will include the chance to
see friends or meet new people, that helps. An attractive facility may
help. And it certainly helps if you can look forward to playing a sport
you enjoy rather than pedaling an exercise bike or pushing and pulling
on a machine.
When shopping for a club, you’ll want to consider several points, including
what its members say about it, where it is located, how much memberships
cost, the contract terms it offers, the facilities and equipment available,
and the classes and amenities offered. On our Ratings Tables, we’ve
assembled much of this information for you for area clubs for which we
have collected at least 10 ratings from CHECKBOOK and Consumer Reports
subscribers. (Our customer survey and other research methods are described
here.)
Our Ratings Tables report the percent of each health club’s surveyed
customers who rated it “superior” for several aspects of service. As you
can see, there are several clubs in the area that rated quite high on all
of the survey measures. Customers we’ve surveyed for these clubs often
rave about the service provided—
“Facilities are bright and open. Employees are very knowledgeable. Company
appears committed to educating customers and not just taking their money.”
“A very welcoming place that produces results. Extended hours, lots of
special events, and lots of fun.”
“Great facilities with many knowledgeable trainers. Particularly good for
non-athletes wanting to work with a trainer on a personal plan. Non-intimidating
atmosphere...”
“Wonderfully run facilities with courteous staff, fantastic (well-kept)
equipment and lots of great classes.”
“They have an attitude and a service orientation that keeps you wanting
to show up for your workout and nothing beats that!”
But we receive an alarming number of complaints and poor ratings for many
other clubs, as evidenced by the ratings shown on our Ratings Tables.
The comments listed below are illustrative of the type of feedback we get
for these clubs—
“Overpriced, too crowded, promised more than they delivered. Plus, their
contract was misleading.”
“Always packed and have to wait three-deep to use the machines...[W]hat
should take 45 minutes takes 1.5 hours. Way too many people at this location.”
“Little or no concern for members is shown by most staff members. All they
want is my money.”
“Bathrooms are filthy; showers rarely work; equipment not maintained and
often broken for several weeks; inadequate equipment for the number of
clients.”
“Equipment frequently breaks down or works improperly and is not repaired
for months.”
“Several broken items of exercise equipment have remained unrepaired in
the exercise area for over one year. The roof of the building leaks when
it rains often creating a rancid smell in the main exercise room.”
“Lots of promises, poor follow through.”
In addition to the results from our customer surveys, for clubs that were
evaluated in our last full, published article, our Ratings Tables show
tallies of complaints we gathered from local Better Business Bureaus (BBB)
for a recent three-year period.
You can check current BBB complaint information on any club by contacting
the BBB where the club is located (see below for contact information).
For clubs that were evaluated in our last full, published article, in the
details under the club’s listing, click a link to the local BBB to go directly
to the BBB’s most up-to-date report on the club.
If you decide you do want to join a health or racquet club, you’ll want
to think about your interests and needs and then check out carefully what
each club you’re considering has to offer. Before joining any club, visit
it and ask questions. Most clubs will allow you not only a tour but also
a day’s free use of the facilities. You’re safest joining a club that will
allow you to take out a short-term membership or pay as a guest on a per-visit
basis for awhile so that you can get a good feel of what the club is really
like and how likely you are to want to continue using it. When you visit
a club, be sure to ask current members what they like and don’t like about
the club.
To help you in choosing a club, our Ratings Tables give you information
for area clubs on what is offered, how satisfied members have been, costs,
and other considerations.
Convenience
You won’t use a club if it is not convenient. Not surprisingly, among CHECKBOOK
subscribers we have surveyed, the feature most often cited as most important
in choosing a club was location. Start your selection process by identifying
clubs that will be easy to get to either from work or from home, depending
on when you plan to work out. Our Ratings Tables give you locations.
The chains usually offer memberships that allow you to use several different
facilities.
For any club you consider, you’ll want to check its hours of operation.
For early workouts, most open by 6:00 a.m. during the week, but some don’t
open until 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., or even 9:00 a.m. on weekends. In the
evening, most are open until at least 10:00 p.m., but a few close as early
as 9:00 p.m. If you plan to use a club on weekends, Saturday and Sunday
closing times, which are often earlier than weekday closing times, may
be important to you. Also, before finally committing to a club, find out
about hours of the specific facilities you expect to use; the tennis courts
may be open until midnight while the weight room closes at 10:00 p.m. and
all aerobics classes end by 9:00 p.m., for example. Indoor pool hours are
often quite different from the hours for other facilities. Be aware also
that specific classes you want may be offered only at times that aren’t
convenient for you or that certain facilities may have multiple uses—for
example, basketball three days a week and volleyball the other four days.
The “features/amenities” information on our Ratings Tables tell you
about availability of free towels and lockers and another convenience feature
that may be important to you: child care.
Facilities and Equipment
Check the kinds of facilities and equipment each club offers. You’ll find
this information on our Ratings Tables for the clubs we evaluated in
our last full, published article. All of the clubs listed on our Ratings Tables offer some form of weight training. Many clubs also have racquetball
or squash courts. Indoor swimming, indoor tennis, basketball, volleyball,
and indoor tracks are less widely available. In addition to information
on major facilities like indoor pools and indoor tennis courts, our Ratings Tables list such features as saunas and Jacuzzis. Remember that our Ratings Tables tell you nothing about size or quality: one club’s pool might
be barely bigger than another club’s hot tub.
The presence of specific types of facilities and equipment doesn’t assure
that they will be of good quality and well maintained, of course. On our
customer survey, we asked CHECKBOOK and Consumer Reports subscribers to
rate their clubs on various aspects of quality, including “quality/maintenance
of facilities and equipment.” As our Ratings Tables reveal, at the
time of our last full, published article, some clubs were rated “superior”
on this question by more than 80 percent of survey respondents while others
got such favorable ratings from fewer than 20 percent. (With this and other
survey questions, keep in mind that we conducted these surveys during a
period from 2003 to 2008, so conditions may have changed. See a further
discussion of our customer survey and other research methods here.)
We also asked surveyed customers about “cleanliness.” As our Ratings Tables show, this was the feature on which clubs’ scores varied most
widely.
You can, of course, check the current state of facilities and equipment
when you visit clubs. You can see whether the club seems to have the things
you want. Is all the equipment clean and in working order? How clean are
the shower facilities? Do the pool water and pool areas appear clean? Are
soap and toilet paper available?
Classes and Activities
Our Ratings Tables tell you about a variety of classes and activities
offered by the rated clubs, including aerobics, yoga, group cycling, and
dance. Ask to see a club’s schedule of classes for the current period to
see how often these activities really are available. Even then you won’t
know how quickly classes fill up.
To give you more insight on the availability of activities, we asked customer
survey respondents to rate their clubs on “availability/convenience of
organized group activities.”
Crowding
Good facilities and equipment won’t do you much good if you can’t use them.
Our Ratings Tables show how surveyed users rated clubs on the “adequacy
of facilities/equipment for demand.” Since clubs may have added facilities
or experienced increases or decreases in membership since the time of our
survey responses, be sure to check the current state of crowding. Visit
a club during the time you are most likely to use it to see whether there
are waits for equipment, find out how and when reservations are made for
court time, check sign-up rosters for courts to see how full they are,
and ask club members whether crowding is a problem.
Quality of Staff
You’ll want a well-staffed club—with good tennis pros; experienced, inspiring
aerobics instructors; knowledgeable instructors on weights and exercise
equipment; etc. A good staff can help you progress quickly, remain motivated,
and avoid hurting yourself.
When you visit, ask how experienced various staff members are. You can
also ask about certification. But there are many certification programs,
and some are meaningless.
Among the more respected programs are those sponsored by the Aerobics and
Fitness Association of America (AFAA), the American College of Sports Medicine
(ACSM), the American Council on Exercise, and The Cooper Institute. Although
certification through these programs may not assure the competence you’d
like in every facet of exercise, most of these programs offer a good foundation
for personal trainers and health club workers. You can also ask a club
whether or not any of its instructors have college or graduate degrees
in physiology or related fields. The fitness industry has become increasingly
professionalized in the last 20 years.
You can judge staff competence to some degree by your own observation.
For example, simply ask a weight-training instructor what kind of activities—and
what limitations—he or she recommends to reach certain goals and then ask
why. You at least can evaluate the coherence of the answers. You also can
observe a dance instructor or tennis pro, for instance, to see whether
he or she gives the kind of feedback you’d want.
On our customer survey, we asked about “quality of instruction.” As our
Ratings Tables show, this is the area in which many clubs received
their lowest scores.
Atmosphere
Different clubs have different atmospheres. Some are very attractively
decorated; others are more down-to-earth. Some seem oriented toward socializing;
others seem to provide little opportunity for meeting people. At some,
you might feel uncomfortable arriving in jeans; at others, this is standard
dress. Your visits are the only way to check a club’s feel, but on our
customer survey we asked one related question: we asked users to rate clubs
for “friendliness.”
Although it will be easy to check on prospective clubs’ facilities and
activities to find out which club is right for your needs, unfortunately,
depending on the club, it may be more difficult to find the right membership
option for you. Some clubs refuse to give price information over the phone.
And even when you can get the information, it’s hard to compare since membership
plans vary with regard to initiation fees, monthly charges, facilities
offered, and many other features. The worst problem is that you may be
expected to make a substantial financial commitment up front: many clubs
require initiation fees or long-term contracts that may cost you a lot
of money even if you—like many club members—stop using a facility after
only a short time.
The financial stakes, the high-pressure sales tactics used by some clubs,
and the personal nature of the service result in big club-to-club differences
in customer satisfaction, as our Ratings Tables reveal. For example,
a number of clubs were rated “superior” for “quality/maintenance of facilities
and equipment” by more than 80 percent of the customers we surveyed, while
others got such favorable ratings from fewer than 20 percent of their surveyed
customers.
As you identify clubs that have the range and quality of offerings you
want, you’ll also need to check out the kinds of financial commitments
they require you to make.
You might expect that a health or racquet club would let you use it when
you want for a daily fee. A $10-per-day fee, for example, would give the
club a tidy $1,040 per year of income if you used it twice a week. In fact,
YMCAs and government-operated facilities, which aren’t out to make a profit,
allow such per-day payment.
But most of the private clubs are not nearly so flexible. They want you
to lock yourself in with a substantial initiation fee, a long-term contract,
or both. That’s good for the clubs. They collect your money even if you—like
most club members—lose interest and stop using the club. But such inflexibility
is bad for you. Oral promises made by a salesperson when “pitching” the
club may not be legally binding. If a club is not what you thought it would
be when you signed a contract, or if the service a club provides is terrible,
you may still be responsible for paying off the contract.
Don’t sign up with a club without carefully reading its contract. For the
most part, clubs are merciless in enforcing their contracts. If you’ve
signed up for a year and want to quit after a week, your club may come
after you for payment for the full year. You need to look for several contract
terms to determine how much flexibility you’ll have.
Initiation Fees
Pacific Athletic Club’s $1,850 initiation fee would seem like quite a stiff
price if you quit after two months. You’d get nothing back. At several
area clubs, initiation fees are $400 or more for some options. Fortunately,
most clubs’ initiation fees aren’t so high.
A stiff initiation fee raises more than the risk that you’ll waste your
money if you lose interest; there is also the risk that you’ll lose all
or part of the fee if the club goes out of business. There have been many
club failures—with many consumers’ fees lost—in the past 10 years.
Long-Term Contracts
Some clubs require you to sign up for a year or more. Most clubs expect
you to pay monthly fees throughout a contract’s duration, while others
expect the full fee for a long-term contract up front. We’ve indicated
on our Ratings Tables whether or not clubs told us that they offer
month-to-month or short-term contracts—meaning that you can drop out at
any time without obligation for future payments.
Low initiation fees and the availability of month-to-month memberships
may also be a sign of quality. A club that requires no initiation fee or
only a modest one or a club that lets you maintain your membership on a
month-to-month basis is displaying confidence that you will be satisfied—that
you will want to continue membership. Also, a club that does not devote
enormous resources to advertising is likely to be one that satisfies its
members, so that they can be counted on to bring in new members through
word-of-mouth recommendations.
Cancellations/Refunds
Most clubs will not release you from a term contract or refund payments
you’ve made if you decide to quit. By law, a club must stop requiring monthly
payments or refund a pro-rata share of prepaid fees if you have to quit
because of medical reasons or moving from the area. Some of the clubs we
surveyed will let you off the hook for monthly fees or will refund the
unused share of the annual fee in the absence of illness or moving. In
many cases, however, you’ll have to pay the club back for a discount received
for committing to a term, or you will have to pay a cancellation fee.
Transfers
If you can’t get out of your contract and get back fees you have paid,
you’d like to be able at least to sell your membership to someone else.
But most clubs don’t allow members to transfer contracts to someone else,
and those that do usually charge a fee for the privilege. Selling memberships
is not easy. You can advertise in the newspaper or pass the word among
other club members who may have friends who’d like to join. But expect
little help from the club itself; don’t count on putting your announcement
on a club bulletin board.
Freezes
Even if you want to continue as a club member, you might want sometimes
to take off periods of time. Many clubs allow you a “freeze” period. They
may allow you to defer monthly fee payments during the period, or they
may require that you continue discounted payments on schedule while they
extend your membership and let you avoid paying a new initiation fee when
you become active again. Many clubs that allow you to freeze your membership
generally restrict this privilege to cases of illness or injury, or cases
of temporary relocation or extended travel; you can’t just take time off
because the weather is nice. But several local clubs allow membership freezes
regardless of the reason. Many have a minimum length of freeze (say, at
least three months), a maximum, or both. And some require you to pay monthly
fees at a reduced rate for the months when your membership is frozen.
Cooling-Off Periods
Since the financial commitment represented by a club membership is so substantial,
and since some clubs use very aggressive sales tactics, California has
passed a law establishing a cooling-off period. You have three days after
signing a contract to cancel and get your money back. You should cancel
in writing by certified or registered mail. If you can get a club to give
you a longer cooling-off period, or trial period, than the law requires,
do so.
As we’ve noted, the differences in fees from club to club are dramatic.
On our Ratings Tables, for clubs that were evaluated in our last full,
published article, we’ve calculated fees for six different profiles, ranging
from full access for three months for one person, to full access for three
years for a couple. Based on the fee information we collected from the
clubs, we’ve attempted to calculate the lowest fee possible for each profile
for each club (see further descriptions of the profiles here). For the three-month user profile, we assumed the
user planned to use the club for just three months and then quit. Charges
at some clubs might have been much higher for someone who planned on being
a member for a year and then stopped using the club after three months.
For each profile, the fee differences are large. For example, the one-year,
full-access individual user would pay $297 at The Right Stuff Health Clubs
and $4,022 at Pacific Athletic Club.
Our profiles are a starting point for your price comparisons, but you’ll
have to do your own calculations of costs for your particular planned uses.
You’ll want to check for the most up-to-date fee information before finally
selecting a club.
You will also want to check whether you qualify for a discounted membership
rate.
Many clubs offer steep discounts for seniors. The age requirement to receive
the discount varies by club—at some clubs, those aged 50 or older are eligible
for the discount. Keep in mind that at some clubs, senior rates are available
only with memberships that limit club access to off-peak hours.
You’ll also want to check whether you qualify for a discount through your
employer or your health insurance plan. Many clubs have agreements with
employers to offer discounted “corporate” rates, which are typically about
10 to 20 percent lower than the normal rates. If your employer doesn’t
have an agreement with a health club you’re considering, you may be able
to foster an agreement yourself by recruiting co-workers to join with you.
Clubs will typically extend corporate rates to employees of businesses
that have just a handful of employees willing to sign up.
Many clubs also have agreements with health insurance plans to provide
discounts to their members. Usually all you have to do to get the discount
is to show your health insurance card. In the Bay Area, Aetna, Blue Cross,
Cigna, and Kaiser, for example, have discount agreements with a number
of health clubs.
When comparing clubs’ fees, keep several questions in mind—
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Which facilities you get to use. One reason for the cost differences shown
in our profiles is that some clubs offer much more than others do. You
have to look at cost in relation to the facilities, equipment, and activities
that are offered (also shown on our Ratings Tables) and, specifically,
those that you expect to use. Some clubs offer lower fees for memberships
that exclude use of certain facilities.
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Times of day. You can sometimes save money by agreeing to use a facility
only at off-peak hours.
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Per-use fees. Some clubs, or membership options, require you to pay separately
for court time or other benefits while others include a broader array of
benefits under the basic fee. If you’ll want tennis instruction, a regular
massage, or other personalized service, be sure to check clubs’ charges.
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Other clubs you get to use. If you are interested in using more than one
club location, either locally or when traveling outside the area, you’ll
want to ask clubs for details of their multi-club use opportunities. Our
Ratings Tables report whether each club offers membership options that
allow its customers access to other local clubs. Our Ratings Tables
also report whether each club has memberships that allow access to other
clubs nationally (typically through a national reciprocal-use program which
gives its members access to other participating clubs for a per-use guest
fee).
If you are interested in using more than one club location, make sure you
get a list of participating clubs. Some clubs only offer use of one other
local club; others offer use of dozens.
If you know you will only be using one club location, be sure to point
out this fact to membership salespersons. The health club chains often
have lower membership-rate categories for customers who agree to limit
their access to one club location.
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Renewal fees. Some clubs charge lower fees for renewals after you complete
an initial contract period.
Unfortunately, some clubs will give you little or no fee information over
the phone. They apparently want to get you to come in so they can give
you the full sales pitch.
Worse still, many of the clubs have various fee options, which allow membership
salespersons to squeeze each prospective customer for all they can get.
When our shoppers called clubs, salespersons at some clubs pushed them
to sign up for long-term contracts. Sometimes, when our shoppers wouldn’t
bite, the salesperson offered a two-year plan, and finally, a one-year
option. A very common ploy by club salespersons at many clubs was to offer
our shoppers a steep discount, available only if our shoppers would sign
a membership contract that day.
In addition to allowing selective price squeezing, multiple pricing plans
open the way for other abuses. A club can decide not to offer you its best
prices because the salesperson thinks you’ll use the facility too heavily,
thinks you’ll complain too much, or doesn’t think you’ll “fit in.”
Another tactic to be wary of when shopping among clubs is the discount
that isn’t a discount. Many clubs print up membership fee schedules with
inflated prices so that they can cut the cost while the consumer is getting
the sales pitch.
The same non-discount strategy is evident in newspaper ads. Many of the
advertisements are truly specials and can be a good way to get a special
price at the club you want to join. Other ads are simply come-ons and often
are confusing or misleading.
Careful shopping is your only solution. When deciding whether to sign up,
don’t think about the discount being offered by the club; focus on the
price you are paying for the service compared to the price at other clubs
you have visited.
You may want to join a club that allows you to continue to work out when
you’re out of town—or even in another part of the local area. Many health
clubs have reciprocal arrangements with other clubs in the area, or participate
in reciprocal programs that allow members to use other clubs worldwide.
Our Ratings Tables show which clubs we’ve rated offer local and/or
national reciprocal benefits.
The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) and
the International Physical Fitness Association (IPFA) are two of the organizations
to which some area health clubs belong. Generally, a club’s membership
in either of these organizations allows its members to use the other member
clubs in the world on a per visit basis by paying a discounted guest fee.
To utilize these reciprocal benefits, the member must be at least 50 miles
away from his or her home club and have proof of membership in good standing.
It’s a good idea to call a club you will be visiting ahead of time, as
most clubs place a priority on meeting the needs of their own members first.
If a factor in your choice of a local club is the club’s reciprocal arrangements
with other clubs, be sure to ask for a full list of the clubs that reciprocate
and the rules and fees for using reciprocal privileges. Both IHRSA and
IPFA publish booklets listing all their clubs, worldwide. Also, IHRSA’s
list is online at www.healthclubs.com and IPFA’s list can be found
at www.ipfa.us.
Here’s a summary of the various kinds of complaints we find in the reviews
of health clubs we receive from surveyed CHECKBOOK subscribers.
1. Facilities—Inadequate or rundown facilities, broken or outdated equipment,
or unsafe conditions. Mentioned in 40 percent of complaints.
2. Customer service—Lack of responsiveness by club management; poor communication
or rude treatment by staff; failure to deliver on promises; unfair membership
policies; or pushy sales staff. Mentioned in 29 percent of complaints.
3. Cleanliness. Mentioned in 22 percent of complaints.
4. Instruction—Not enough personnel available for instruction or help or
instructors were not knowledgeable or helpful. Mentioned in 16 percent
of complaints.
5. Overcrowding—Club was too crowded or wait to use equipment was too long.
Mentioned in 15 percent of complaints.
6. Classes—Not enough variety in class offerings or classes were often cancelled
on short notice. Mentioned in 11 percent of complaints.
7. Price—Club’s fees were too expensive given the services offered. Mentioned
in 10 percent of complaints.
8. Fees and contracts—Club did not disclose all fees or contract requirements
in advance, added undisclosed extra fees, billed incorrect amounts, or
would not work with customer to satisfy billing or contract disputes. Mentioned
in nine percent of complaints.
9. Noise. Club was too noisy. Mentioned in four percent of complaints.
10. Amenities—Club did not have desired amenities. Mentioned in three percent
of complaints.
Below we list the local government-run recreation centers we could identify
as having at least a weight room/fitness center and/or an indoor swimming
pool.
Albany
Albany Pool
1311 Portland Ave
510-559-6640
Antioch
Antioch WaterPark
4701 Lone Tree Way
925-776-3070
Berkeley
Berkeley High Pool
2300 Milvia St
510-644-6843
James Kenney Recreation Center
1720 8th St
510-981-6650
Strawberry Canyon Recreation Area & Pool (operated by University of California)
Centennial
Way
510-643-6720
Campbell
Campbell Community Center & Pool
1 W
Campbell Ave #C-31
408-866-2105
Cupertino
Cupertino Sports Center
21111 Stevens Creek
Blvd
408-777-3160
Daly City
Giammona-Westmoor Pool
131 Westmoor Ave
650-550-7400
Jefferson Pool
6996 Mission St
650-550-7700
Fairfield
Fairfield Sports Center
W Texas & 5th
St
707-428-7428
Hayward
Hayward Plunge
24176 Mission Blvd
510-881-6703
Sunset Swim Center
410 Laurel Ave
510-881-6700
Hercules
Hercules Swim Center
2001 Refugio Valley
Rd
510-799-8296
Menlo Park
Burgess Pool
501 Laurel St
650-328-7946
Onetta Harris Community Center
100 Terminal Ave
650-330-2250
Mill Valley
Mill Valley Community Center
180
Camino Alto
415-383-1370
Milpitas
Milpitas Sports Center
1325 E Calaveras
Blvd
408-586-3225
Morgan Hill
Centennial Recreation Center
171
W Edmundson Ave
408-782-2128
Newark
George M Silliman Community Activity Center
Family Aquatic Center
6800 Mowry Ave
510-742-4400
Oakland
Brookfield/Ira Jinkins Recreation Center
9175
Edes Ave
510-615-5959
Bushrod Recreation Center
560 59th St
510-597-5031
San Antonio Recreation Center
1701 E 19th St
510-535-5608
Pacifica
Oceana Pool
1810 Francisco Blvd
650-738-7354
Richmond
Richmond Swim Center
4300 Cutting Blvd
510-620-6654
Rohnert Park
Callinan Sports and Fitness Center
5405
Snyder Ln
707-588-3488
San Bruno
Veterans Memorial Recreation Center
251
City Park Way
650-616-7180
San Francisco
Balboa Pool
51 Havelock St
415-337-4701
Chinese Recreation Center
1199 Mason St
415-292-2017
Garfield Pool
1271 Treat Ave
415-695-5001
Hamilton Pool
1900 Geary Blvd
415-292-2001
Hamilton Recreation Center
1900 Geary Blvd
415-292-2008
Mission Recreation Center - Harrison St
2450 Harrison St
415-695-5012
North Beach Pool
651 Lombard St
415-274-0200
Palega Recreation Center
500 Felton St
415-468-2875
Rossi Pool
600 Arguello Blvd
415-666-7014
South of Market Recreation Center
270 6th St
415-554-9532
Sunset Recreation Center
2201 Lawton St
415-753-7098
San Jose
Almaden Community Center
6445 Camden Ave
408-268-1133
Camden Community Center-Pool
3369 Union Ave
408-559-8553
Gardner Community Center
520 W Virginia St
408-279-1498
Grace Community Center
484 E San Fernando St
408-293-0422
San Leandro
San Leandro Boys & Girls Club
401
Marina Blvd
510-483-0832
South San Francisco
Orange Memorial Pool
113 Orange
Ave
650-875-6973
Terrabay Gymnasium & Recreation Center
1121 S San Francisco Dr
650-829-4680
Union City
Union City Sports Center
31224 Union
City Blvd
510-675-5808
Walnut Creek
Heather Farm Community Center
301
N San Carlos Dr
925-943-5858
Better Business Bureau of Silicon Valley
700 Empey Way, #110
San Jose, CA
95128
408-278-7400
www.sanjose.bbb.org
Better Business Bureau of the Golden Gate & Northern California
1000 Broadway,
#625
Oakland, CA 94607
510- 844-2000
www.goldengate.bbb.org
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