Bally Total Fitness

Hate this gym. Been a member with Bally’s for 10 years and only 2 years here in the city. Too bad Bally’s has gone downhill… they used to be nice gyms before they filed for bankruptcy and competitors like LA Fitness, SWEAT, and Planet fitness showed up and schooled Bally’s on what a gym should look like.
I go before work and the same receptionist is there every day reading her magazine and slowly scanning my card– you may as well just put the scanner on the counter I can do it faster. She has never said good morning, just looks miserable.
This gym was closed for 2 months right before I got married. I was so mad I kept calling their corporate number asking to cancel my membership and they wouldn’t let me since there is another Bally’s 25 miles from where I live. What BS– this location has old equipment, I swear they never clean anything (I bring my own clorox wipes with me to clean off equipment) and there is no ventilation! They used to have fans, but removed them and now they only way I can work out here is if I go upstairs and open 1 of only 2 windows that actually open up. Without a breeze I die in this sweaty hell-​hole. I’d love to get my money back and cancel my subscription, but it’s hell to even attempt it.

I don’t feel bad for kicking a dead horse… especially after how ridiculous they were with me and my sister.
If you inquire about a membership, be prepared for constant harassment — I finally had to threaten to call the BBB for them to remove me from their list.
My sister attempted to cancel her membership and they kept charging her, refusing to return money (this was at a CA location).
The horror stories from my friends and family could go on for years.
If anything, this should be a warning of ALL Bally Total Fitnesses — you’ll be sorry you ever contacted them.

This is my 4^th review of gyms in the area, so check out my other ones if you’d like a comparison.
So, my first complaint is that their free weight room has been closed for 2 months supposedly because of a water main break that ruined it. What, you don’t have insurance to fix it? How the hell can you run a gym without having half the equipment? Better yet, how can you charge the same price and why are people paying it? So, if you want to do a proper bench press, you better go somewhere else.
Secondly, probably because of the first issue, it was pretty busy on the remaining weight machines. And there wasn’t that much variety.
The gym staff didn’t seem that friendly to me. There is no towel service.
The bathroom is filthy and they do not have paper towels (only blow dryers).
There is at least one free weight preacher curl setup.
Of the gyms that I trialed at, this was the cheapest at $ 40 a month. But you aren’t getting much of a deal when half the equipment is out of commission.
Not recommended.

I used to be a member here, and while it got the job done — I have since moved on to bigger and better things. The bathrooms and locker rooms were not kept as clean as they should have been. At times, you had to wait in line for a treadmill — which I am not okay with. (If you go at off times, it was fine. but eh.) Weights upstairs were far too crowded. Most of the staff are friendly enough. It was cheap (but there are others in that same price range that are far superior). I really like going to classes, and these were mediocre at best. The spinning classes were the one exception. But the real reason for 2 stars instead of 3 is how hard it is to cancel your freakin membership. Seriously, even if you manage to get a month to month and not a 36 month, you have to call a bazillion times until you get through to them. THEN, you have to mail in something asking them to stop charging you. It’s ridiculous.

HAT-​ED IT! They treat people like poop and gave me a hard time after ripping me off and not being cooperative at all. Strongly not recommend

I have been a member of this gym for over three years. I was stuck in a contract and to cancel it would have costed me so much. I have never liked the facility but it was cheap and close to my home. Now when I decided I was going to work out there regardless of how dirty or broken it was, there was a water-​main break. That is not their fault, but getting it fixed timely is their responsibility. I do not want to spend money to travel to a location in South Philly – there has been no indication of when it will be fixed. The club should offer to refund everyone’s membership for August and September. It is BAD business. Fortunately I got a free month at another gym which is clean with a pool. It doesn’t have classes but I’m seriously considering joining and ending Ballys next week! What good are they?

I have to say that for the price and the fact that I am basically there to run on a treadmill, this location did the job. The treadmill worked great, the staff was alright, the actual location is sweet — I was looking at a fireplace as I ran — guessing this is an old Philly place which makes the details inside pretty sweet.
So as a Bally member, I was happy enough with this location, i’m just going there to get my sweat on, so my biggest concern is that the treadmills don’t «back track» and the treadmills that I used all ran really well!

Membership is almost impossible, if not actually impossible to cancel. Just google cancelling Bally Total Fitness and you will know what I mean.

Bally’s is what it is. A musty sweatbox with questionable sanitation. But it’s 25 dollars a month, what do you expect… oh, probably the commercials. Well forget that, do McDonalds burgers look like they do on TV? Exactly. Four floors of weights, machines, cardio, and what looks like decent instructors for different types of fitness classes. It’s also generally not crowded, which is nice. Overall, a decent place to get your fitness on. just don’t shower there. Yikes.

It takes a lot to gross me out and to really make me angry. On a MONDAY AT FOUR THIRTY, the gym is packed. Why? This place is dirt cheap, in the middle of Center City and they aggressively market themselves.
You get what you pay for. It’s either swamped or nobody is there. The locker rooms are eternally disgusting. Using the free weights on the third floor involved bumping elbows with a bunch of wannabe tough guys (I have the same right to lift as you, ya grunter!), they don’t even turn off the lights for yoga, and the spinning class attendees are nuts. They will seriously kill you and your entire family if you take ‘their’ bike.
The only pleasant front desk experience was w/​one of the young ladies (who is now a trainer); Justine. She is apparently the only person at the facility who doesn’t hate you and everything you stand for. She’s also sick with a pair of bolt cutters.
Until I find something better, I will stay in the blasé gym relationship. I’m settling but the right one will come along, one day.

I’ve been a member here since September and try to go at least 4 times a week. When selecting a gym, price and location were definitely the most important factors to me. I live only a couple blocks away and signed up while they were offering $ 22/​month so I couldn’t resist! I was personally signed up by the manager, who was very flirtatious. I wasn’t really surprised because I thought it was pretty typical for a gym. He did give me his City Sports discount card to borrow so I could purchase a new pair of sneakers, which was awesome! He did warn me during registration that a yearly charge will be billed equivalent to the monthly dues. So I wouldn’t argue about it, he promised to waive on month’s fee. I didn’t get this in writing, which was a mistake. A couple months later I was billed the yearly charge and never waived any fees. Not a huge deal but a little misleading.
The gym itself is pretty standard. Plenty of cardio machines. I prefer to work out pretty early in the morning. Their peak hours are typically after work so I usually avoid the crowds. The weekends are a different story though. My only complaint would be that they do not stock paper towels in the locker rooms. No real frills here, but I guess you get what you pay for!

Bally’s is the most disgusting gym I have ever been to. It is not clean and I know people who have gotten infections from the mats. The only reason I am still a member because I love the lunch time spin class with Tiffany. Most of the Spin Instructors are great, but the other group fitness leaders are often clueless. The spin bikes are old and most of them have issues. I have to pick and choose which bike actually works.
The equipment is old and dirty and has sweat all over them because the «sanitary» bottles have water with a little soap in them. I am surprised the Department of Health hasn’t condemned this gym. It is full of germs and bacteria from not cleaning the machines and mats.
Again the only reason I go is because of the Spin Instructors and the price. You cannot beat the price– $ 21.99 per month. Overall the gym is gross and I cannot wait until I have some extra money to go somewhere

I was a member here until mid-​September last year. When I left Bally, I would have given it one star. However, the gym I switched to ended up being even worse and I now appreciate some of this place’s amenities.
Up front, the equipment is not the newest, shiniest, state-​of-​the-​art stuff. But it’s everything you need to get in shape and it is well-​maintained. That is, rarely will you find a broken machine. It isn’t really CLEAN, though, so keep that in mind. I’m not sure if that’s because people don’t bother cleaning up after themselves, or if the gym doesn’t have a housekeeping staff, or if it’s because the bottles full of solution may well be full of water. Either way, I encountered some grime from time to time.
The staff is usually friendly and attentive after about…10am. The early morning people are more interested in Facebook for Android or Us magazine, but hey — it’s early. I’m not sure that I necessarily even blame them. And someone not smiling at me when I walk in to work out doesn’t really ruin my day.
The #1 thing that forced me to switch from Bally was the locker room roach problem. There was one on the floor in the locker area, two in the bathroom, and one day, there was one in the locker I was about to use. I can deal with lots of nasty things (I went to Temple, I lived in the hood, I’ve SEEN things), but roaches in the locker room is just not one of those things. So I peaced out.
If they give the place a good, thorough scrubbing, and fill those solution bottles with… solution…and add a housekeeping staff to their payroll, this would be a great (affordable) Center City gym. Until then… enjoy those roaches.

I’m not a ‘gym’ person. Because I’m fresh to Philly and I just discovered the Schuykill River Trail YESTERDAY, I didn’t want to cancel my appointment for a walk-​through and 30 minute personal training session. Let’s just say I didnt make it to the personal training session. The equipment is okay, the staff sucks, and I just really can’t see paying over 30 dollars a month for a membership at this place. Like I said… I’m not really a gym person.

Pros:
~Location
~Price
~Always equipment & machines available
~Management & staff are always very nice & helpful
~The upstairs weight space is very ‘lady friendly’
~Beautiful moulding on the ceilings
Cons:
~There are no amenities in the grimy locker rooms. NONE. 2 of the sinks
don’t even work & they’re always out of hand soap. No blow dryer,
tissues, paper towels, or full length mirror (Don’t even think about
sauna, steam room or toiletries)
~TV is blasting, not music.
~Classes are beat. Especially spinning class because the CD player is
broken & there is no music.
~The floors in the stretching room are dirty. So are the mats. And
equipment. The ‘cleaner’ in the spray bottles is watery, scentless
solution.

Changing cities is a pain when it means finding a new gym — worse when it means you have to start paying for it yourself. With only a handful of gyms in the immediate area the pickings were a tad slim, and since I wanted to get the best deal I could I ended up choosing Bally’s right at the end of a $ 25/​month promotion during the summer. Months later, I’m pretty satisfied with my experience (although once the money starts flowing I’ll try and upgrade to a nicer gym).
Bally’s is fine — the building its in is beautiful, and they have laid it out in a pretty straight-​forward manner: locker rooms in the basement (with free weights room), cardio primarily on the first floor (bikes, ellipticals, treadmills, a few stairmasters), class studios on second floor with scattered cardio machines, and weight machines on the top floor. Crowds depend entirely on the time of day (the weekend is surprisingly not that crowded) and treadmills are the first to get crowded from my experience. The whole spectrum of city dwellers use the gym, there is no ‘type’ which is a nice change from the NYC gym I used to go to that was filled with trophy wives whenever I went *sigh*. People are really nice, including the staff which has always been friendly and helpful and greets you with a smile.
This is a very basic gym, no pool, sauna, or large sports facilities, just the basic cardio and weights with a smattering of classes that generally are only held at peak times like the morning, noon, and evening around dinner time. You can also hire a trainer to help you, but its gonna cost you an arm and a leg, but if you’re trying to lose that much weight its worth it if you can afford it.

it REEKS in here!
I’m afraid to touch the weight machines because they stink even after I wipe them down. That’s because the solution in the spray bottles is just plain water.

I really hate this gym. Seriously. When I go home to Maryland, I can enjoy working out in a spa-​like environment with pools, saunas, plenty of equipment and great natural light. And we’re still talking Bally’s.
This gym is the PITS! It’s gross in there and the set up is stupid; half of the weights are in the basement, the rest are on the fourth floor. Plus, if you want to do anything with free weights– say, like a LUNGE, or SQUAT, you need to tote your weights to the aerobics area bcz there is no room anywhere else to do it!
The only thing that I like about the place is the hip-​hop class on Monday nights with Dwayne. That’s all there is to look forward to with this gym. The only reason why I even have a Bally’s membership (which I advise against getting directly from the company; former collections rep here) is because my health insurance offers it with no contract, super cheap.
If you don’t have that option, do yourself a favor and join another gym!!!

A no frills facility as BTFs go. I joined in Phoenix back in 1997 and keep my membership because: 1) I can use it to workout in almost any city in the country; 2) it’s dirt cheap at this point, less than $ 100/​year. Compared to King of Prussia or Franklin Mills, this branch leaves much to be desired. If you happen to be working out while an aerobics class is happening on the second floor, you can enjoy a great LA earthquake vibe as the entire gym bounces along in rythm, literally.
The crowd here is down-​to-​earth and the basement weightroom was a welcome addition when they renovated a couple of years ago.

This is the most beautiful gym I’ve been in, probably because it’s in a historic building with a gorgeous ceiling!
I did a 2 week stint in Philadelphia about 7 years ago & stayed with a friend who lived 2 – 3 blocks from here, so it was very convenient for me to workout here. (My Bally membership allows me to go to any regular Bally gym in the US, which was pretty convenient most of the time when I was moving around a lot).
Otherwise, the cardio equipment & weight machines are fine – worked for me. As long as they function & can adjust for short people like me, that’s all I really want.
It wasn’t super busy where I had to waste a lot of time waiting around for machines… I’m all about efficiency when it comes to working out at the gym… get in, get out… none of this sitting/​standing around & chit-​chatting.