Gym Reviews

fifth

Wexford:

Talbot Hotel / Quay Leisure Centre (currently a member there)
Not the biggest but definitely big enough for me. Weights/ Cardio / Pool all given good space and attention.. Plenty of treadmills/bikes/rowing machines/steppers etc.. Chin up bar.. Pull down machine, few other machines / Plenty of weights.. Squat rack, one bench.. Couple other benches for incline /decline.. Always one or two free.

Dumbells go up to 37kg. Gym balls, mats also provided.. Free towel every time too. It's a spit and sawdust gym to look at but it gets the job done.. Think you can get a year for €330 on a student card or €600 for adults.. I pay in 3 month installments of €150..

I also checked out the Ferrycarrig Leisure Centre..
Very cardio orientated.. Very few weights and nothing over say 20kg in dumbbells... Pull down machine a bit wobbly.. Mostly bicycles there and two rowing machines.. Amongst some other machines.. Newspapers provided (don't see the point of this.. seem's not a lot of people there wanting to actually work out when I went there..)

Nice pool though.. But so was Quay leisure centres..

Hope that helps someone! Sorry don't know rates for Ferrycarrig.

Edit: opening hours for talbot are mon fri til 10pm.. and weekends til 8pm.. ferrycarrig weekdays til 9.30pm

Keedowah

Any opinions on this gym? I think its the closest one to me and I just got an offer in the door about joining before 1st of September: no joining fee and only 269 for the year. I think that's the cheapest place i have seen too.

But....

I have heard someone say before that it gets really packed in there, and that the weights section is pretty poor.

EileenG

No idea about Crunch in UCD, but I did check out the one in the city centre, and thought it was expensive rubbish. No bench press or squat rack, never mind weights for deadlifting. And the staff seemed to believe that a Smith Machine (at an angle) was a squat rack.

I really hated it. The changing rooms were great, bright and lots of mirrors and loud music, but the actual gym was dim, very few mirrors and with wind chimes. Wind chimes!!!! I'm not joking. Not to mention the gold thrones in the reception area. All the equipment was cardio or weights machines except for a few small dumbbells. And it's a small thing, but I felt that the black marble stairs, backlit by blue lights, was an accident waiting to happen when you stumble to the showers after a hard workout.

Would not recommend.

queen of hearts

Anyone heard anything about either the Sanovitae gym at the Clarion in Liffey Valley or the one at the Glenroyal in Maynooth?

Beau

queen of hearts wrote: »

Anyone heard anything about either the Sanovitae gym at the Clarion in Liffey Valley or the one at the Glenroyal in Maynooth?

The Glenroyal is ok, it has everything you need really. I found the weights area to be a bit cramped however.

If you're not interested in swimming or sauna's and stuff I'd go for NUIM gym. Its very cheap for non students and has all the adequate equipment and is generally not to busy.

laursok1

The sanovitae gym in the Clarion Hotel in Liffey Valley is the nicest gym going. I'm going into my fourth year there and it is as clean as it was on the first day it opened. The staff are so dedicated and friendly and the classes are great also good fun. I would recommend it 100%. The facilities are great and the pool is luxurious. Go see for yourself........

queen of hearts

laursok1 wrote: »

The sanovitae gym in the Clarion Hotel in Liffey Valley is the nicest gym going. I'm going into my fourth year there and it is as clean as it was on the first day it opened. The staff are so dedicated and friendly and the classes are great also good fun. I would recommend it 100%. The facilities are great and the pool is luxurious. Go see for yourself........

Must go have a look then. Thanks. I think it works out cheaper than the Glenroyal too, not to mention its on my work route. :rolleyes:

Wanda

hey guys!

i've read through all the previous post and i've reached the conclusion that there isn't a gym where i'm hoping!!

i work on mespil road and get the luas in, getting off at charlemont....i was hoping there was a gym somewhere along the way.... any that i've found are 15/20mins walk in the wrong direction, which may not seem too bad, but it's 20mins out of the way off work which means i prob won't go too often!!

is there nothing around baggot street or lesson street? not looking for anything fancy, basic will do!!! Thanks!

estebancambias

Anyone in Fitness Dock in town recommend the best times to go at?

ali.c

EileenG wrote: »

No idea about Crunch in UCD, but I did check out the one in the city centre, and thought it was expensive rubbish. No bench press or squat rack, never mind weights for deadlifting. And the staff seemed to believe that a Smith Machine (at an angle) was a squat rack.

I really hated it. The changing rooms were great, bright and lots of mirrors and loud music, but the actual gym was dim, very few mirrors and with wind chimes. Wind chimes!!!! I'm not joking. Not to mention the gold thrones in the reception area. All the equipment was cardio or weights machines except for a few small dumbbells. And it's a small thing, but I felt that the black marble stairs, backlit by blue lights, was an accident waiting to happen when you stumble to the showers after a hard workout.

Would not recommend.

The one in UCD is alright, well it has bars weights and a squat rack, its all downstairs. It is not anything spectacular but it is relatively cheap and okay

Dubdude

estebancambias wrote: »

Anyone in Fitness Dock in town recommend the best times to go at?

Are'nt they suppose to be open 24hrs!!

JMCD

Wanda wrote: »

hey guys!

i've read through all the previous post and i've reached the conclusion that there isn't a gym where i'm hoping!!

i work on mespil road and get the luas in, getting off at charlemont....i was hoping there was a gym somewhere along the way.... any that i've found are 15/20mins walk in the wrong direction, which may not seem too bad, but it's 20mins out of the way off work which means i prob won't go too often!!

is there nothing around baggot street or lesson street? not looking for anything fancy, basic will do!!! Thanks!

Howya Wanda,

Pinnacle is just of camden street..........depending on your walking style its no more than ten minutes away!!:)

Check it out.......

Diarmey

Quote:
Originally Posted by estebancambias
Anyone in Fitness Dock in town recommend the best times to go at?

Are'nt they suppose to be open 24hrs!!

On weekdays not including weekends..
I was considering joining it 56 EURO to join and 40 euro a month per use..

Anyone know the price for the pinacle gym behind coppers?

gary the great

Was down in Carlisle today, really nice place I think.

They have a special on at the moment - 795quid for 3 people (thats 265 each) for a membership until 31st january 2010 which is an amazing offer.

If anyone else wants to join, maybe PM me and we can see if we can get 3 and avail of the offer. Offer fisnihes this week though!

Wanda

Howya Wanda,

Pinnacle is just of camden street..........depending on your walking style its no more than ten minutes away!!:)

Check it out.......[/QUOTE]

Thanks a million!

EileenG

I've just been over to take a look at Migym and it's actually quite good. The website www.migym.ie gives the impression there is no free weights, but they do have a pretty decent free weight section, with squat rack, Olympic bars and dumbbells up to 40kg.

They've got a big cardio section, with several regular treadmills and one with an incline of 30%. Also some sort of semi-ski stepper which feels very weird. Rowers, ellipticals, bikes etc.

They've got an unusual collection of weight machines. One is a replacement for cable stations with a very adaptable system. They don't have a leg press, but do have a squat machine which I've never seen before. I could do single leg squats on it safely. Butt blaster, leg curls and the obligatory inner and outer thigh thingies as well as chest press etc.. Hyper extension station, several balls of different sizes, medicine balls, bonsu etc.

A studio for classes with spinning bikes. Some classes are free with membership, Pilates and kick boxing are extra.

Showers, mixed sauna and steam room. Everything was brand new and squeaky clean. They had whey on sale in reception and sold whey shakes after workouts if you wanted.

They quoted me 550 euro plus 70 euro joining fee. That seems to include a couple of sessions with a personal trainer and nutritionist. However, they only have around 400 members at present, so I reckon a bit of haggling should knock out the joining fee.

estebancambias

have to say the staff in the fitness dock are top notch....nothing but positive views from me.

The gym is cool as well...i was in total fitness in sandyford, and while i liked it there is just something i like about this place.

I don't know why but I have a feeling I will make more progress than i ever did in TF.

I also love the location.

iMADEtheBBC

Anyone here using Club Tonic in the Castleknock Hotel ?

It's not cheap, I had a look around midweek and it seemed to be very good. By this I mean it is clean, modern and within walking distance of my house (so the kids will get use out of the pool).

600euro each for my wife & I plus 100 euro each for the kids.

Don't really know anyone using it though so would be interested to hear.

Hanley

iMADEtheBBC wrote: »

Anyone here using Club Tonic in the Castleknock Hotel ?

It's not cheap, I had a look around midweek and it seemed to be very good. By this I mean it is clean, modern and within walking distance of my house (so the kids will get use out of the pool).

600euro each for my wife & I plus 100 euro each for the kids.

Don't really know anyone using it though so would be interested to hear.

If Total Fitness is in any way close to you then it would be a MUCH better option. As far as gyms go, it's gonna be very hard to beat. Should get a nice deal if you all sign up together too.

iMADEtheBBC

Thanks Hanley, Total Fitness is within driving distance which I think will mean we wouldn't use it as much - certainly the kids couldn't just walk down there.

I know Tonic is probably more expensive but I think having it on my doorstep (almost literally) is akin to someone offering me a pool and gym in my back yard.

GBA

how about ben dunne's gyms? i'm considering joining the one in kimmage. it seems dirt cheap in comparison with many of the other gyms.

any thoughts?

DesignLady

Joined one of Ben Dunnes gyms because it was the only one nearby and the price is good. Lots of equipment but I haven't found the staff great. (I was at a ridiculously expensive Virgin Active Gym in London so I suppose I can't expect the same level of expertise for a fraction of the price)

In my experience, they're great if you know what you're doing but if you're a gym newbie it's not fantastic.

I had to ask for a programme (6 months on and no one has approached to see if I would like to change it) but was worn out with an hour long cardio routine before going to the resistance area (other gyms normally just give an overview)
I was told to do three sets of 15 reps on various machines at whatever weight I wanted (no body measurements, weight, fat measurement or diet questions asked at any stage) and the staff member would not help me decide what level I should be working at.

I mentioned that I was interested in running and while I prefered outdoors, the lack of places nearby to run and the awful weather meant I would be race training indoors. My treadmill programme (told to me and then he walked away) was 25 minutes varying 4-6kmph for 90 seconds then 180 seconds of 8-11kmph then back to 4-6kmph and so on.
Now normally I have a steady race pace of 11-11.5kmph and then go up to 12-14kmph for interval training so I decided to just ignore him completely.

The classes are limited- lots of classes are to be paid for but I don't trust any of the instructors there.

On the plus side there is lots of equipment and a great pool that is never over crowded so if you know what you are doing then it really is value for money.

I said I would be going to the gym for 45mins -1hour five days a week. I was given a daily programme that would take at least 1.5hours. If I was a newbie it would have turned me off the gym and with the programme I was given, I would have serious injuries.

Johnerr

I would like to give my opinion of three gyms i've been in, in the last few years.

Firstly the NAC,
I was very impressed with layout of the place and the amout of parking spaces,
I joined the gym without out getting a tour, which was a big mistake. When i arrive for my first workout, i was looking for all the equipment, i actually had to ask a member of staff, (who appeared to be stoned) where the weights where and he pointed in the the direction, there was and eastern european lifting all the weights on the bench and there was none left for the squat rack. a que had also formed for the bench, i spent about 10mins negotiating with the polish man and managed to get 40kg off him.

I cancelled my direct debit and joined total fitness.
I was initially impressed with the size and layout of the place, but after a few weeks became very fustrated with the place,
The changing rooms were a disgrace, there was a chinese man who worked there but all he did was hose the place down, I lost a pair of tracksuit bottoms in the changing rooms and about a week later, the chinese man was swaning around in a pair of tracksuit bottoms very similar to mine.
The weights room is like a pick and mix, which is full of steroid heads who hog all the weights.
The hydro area is very misleading, it looks very nice and clean but first hand its a kip. The pool was closed for a week before and no reason was giving, a fellow member informed me that faeces was found in the pool, the water was not even drained, they just added more chlourine. A razor blade was also found in the pool,
The sauna is alrite but sometimes its too hot, The steam room is a joke, you'ed be better off putting you head over a kettle. the tiles where where you sit on where falling off awel.
The plunge pool is good but i stop using it after a member told me he devoloped a fungus on his back after using it.
Overall its a good gym but needs to get its act together,

Finially westpoint
I was impressed with westpoint, very clean and modern, lots of equipment. The weights room was good, the only downfall is the the DB only go up to 30kg,
The biggest porblem with westpoint is the amout of members who use it, Its very hard to get a locker in the changing rooms, the weights room is like a postoffice on a thursday. there is a lot of equipment but you still have to que up to use it because there is so many members,
I near impossible to ge a parking space, there is a man who works in the carpark directing people to car park spaces but he only directs female members (from my experience).
The pool is cold and there is always kids messing around in it, the jacuzzi is hot, but always packed with couples fooling around under the bubbles. The sauna is not hot enought and you are not allowed add your own water,
The steam room is good and there is also music playing which is good,
The staff are helpful but are always standing around talking, i dont like the way ben dunne had a reserved spot for his car and if you park in it you get banned from the carpark,

Overall its a good gym but too busy,

Ratings of gyms

Westpoint 6/10
Total fitness 5/10
NAC this gym does not deserve a rating

Stark

Johnerr wrote:

The pool is cold and there is always kids messing around in it,

Pool being cold is not necessarily a bad thing. The pools in a lot of gyms tend to be too warm for training purposes in my opinion, they tend to be more "splashing around" temperature. The kids thing would annoy me. When I was there, they had half the pool given over to lane swimming and half the pool given over to messers, which worked well. Not sure if that's still the case as it's over a year since I've been there.

Malteaser!

Johnerr wrote: »

I cancelled my direct debit and joined total fitness.
I was initially impressed with the size and layout of the place, but after a few weeks became very fustrated with the place,
The changing rooms were a disgrace, there was a chinese man who worked there but all he did was hose the place down, I lost a pair of tracksuit bottoms in the changing rooms and about a week later, the chinese man was swaning around in a pair of tracksuit bottoms very similar to mine.
The weights room is like a pick and mix, which is full of steroid heads who hog all the weights.
The hydro area is very misleading, it looks very nice and clean but first hand its a kip. The pool was closed for a week before and no reason was giving, a fellow member informed me that faeces was found in the pool, the water was not even drained, they just added more chlourine. A razor blade was also found in the pool,
The sauna is alrite but sometimes its too hot, The steam room is a joke, you'ed be better off putting you head over a kettle. the tiles where where you sit on where falling off awel.
The plunge pool is good but i stop using it after a member told me he devoloped a fungus on his back after using it.
Overall its a good gym but needs to get its act together,

Hey Johnner, did you happen to mention any these complaints to the manager?? He's actually a sound guy and will usually take these things on board.

Did you find the changiing rooms dirty?? I've only ever seen teh girls but I've always found them to be very clean. I've been a member of numerous pools/gyms before and tbh Tf wins for cleanliness.

As for the weights room, I agree with you that it has it's fair share of 'roid heads but no more than any other gym. Certainly no more than the NAC or Westpoint. Where you have free weights you're gonna have them. The only real way to get rid of them is to make the free weights section so bad (equipment wise) that they don't want to come back, sort of what Jackie Skelly has done in her gyms.

The thing is though, TF has the BEST equipment around. Who else has a full set of Hammer Strength Machines? Or dumbbells that go as heavy? The benches are far superior to Westpoint and the NAC. And they've tons of plates. Plus they have two of a lot of machines, it's not like Westpoint where they just have one of most machines, so if someone is using something you want in TF you can generally find the same machine somewhere else in the gym. On a Monday and Tuesday night the place is a bit mad total chaos, I assume that's the same as every other gym, I'll be honest though, I try to avoid going those night if I can.

The poo in the pool thing...well, it happens. I worked in a pool for a number of years and let me tell you a little secret - the pool was never once drained when something disgusting happened in it. I've seen people poop, vomit and wee in the pool and we were always told that that's what the filters and chemicals were for. Gross I know and that's why I will NEVER swim in a public pool like that.

I can't really comment on the hydro-therapy pool etc coz I rarely, rarely use them (see reason above!! :pac:)

Hanley

Johnerr wrote: »

I cancelled my direct debit and joined total fitness.
I was initially impressed with the size and layout of the place, but after a few weeks became very fustrated with the place,
The changing rooms were a disgrace, there was a chinese man who worked there but all he did was hose the place down, I lost a pair of tracksuit bottoms in the changing rooms and about a week later, the chinese man was swaning around in a pair of tracksuit bottoms very similar to mine.
The weights room is like a pick and mix, which is full of steroid heads who hog all the weights.
The hydro area is very misleading, it looks very nice and clean but first hand its a kip. The pool was closed for a week before and no reason was giving, a fellow member informed me that faeces was found in the pool, the water was not even drained, they just added more chlourine. A razor blade was also found in the pool,
The sauna is alrite but sometimes its too hot, The steam room is a joke, you'ed be better off putting you head over a kettle. the tiles where where you sit on where falling off awel.
The plunge pool is good but i stop using it after a member told me he devoloped a fungus on his back after using it.
Overall its a good gym but needs to get its act together,

Lol... so you're complaining cos there's guys lifting weights in the weight room?

Angry because one of the staff had a similar pair of pants to the ones you lost...

The sauna's too hot, but the steam room's too cold??

I used the plunge pool and I've gained a lot of muscle since I first joined TF. Must be the plunge pool?? (you've believed a single guy when he said he got a fungus from it, so why not believe me too eh? I wonder what he even based it off)

Did you ever ask if you could use the weights the "roid heads" were using?

Did you ever bring up any of the issues with management? Or were you content just to complain??

I don't want to be rude, but if you did nothing about the last two points then it sounds like you suffer from "Irish Syndrome" (people who'll complain about everything, but not have the guts to speak up to the relevant people about it!!)

For the record, TF is one of the best gyms I've been in. The changing rooms are certainly cleaner than any other, there's a guy in there all day mopping and cleaning (not just hosing the floor).

Most of the "roid heads" (I assume this means guys bigger than you?) are more than happy to share weights, lend a hand or spot you i nthere if you just ask. Of course there's some knobs, but that's just life.

alices_wonder

Hey does anyone know anything about teh Crunch Fitness gym down by Aran Quay I think....any reviews? Does it have a pool? Many exercise classes.
I'm looking for a decent gym in the city centre area but failing that will turn to crunch in dun Laoghaire, not madly expensive but pool and decent running machines a necessity as well as extra firness classes for beginners.

chicken_food

Having been a member of two gyms in the States-i recently just joined westwood.
Firstly I went to Jackie Skelly Rathfarnham because it was closer-after a tour which lasted 2 mins, i had seen enough. There was alot of cardio machines but very little else. Then when the lady told me the price i was shocked-75e a month and 250e joining fee. I informed her that a friend of mine joined the previous week for no joining fee and 35e a month-she 'went off to her manager' to see what she could do.
5mins later she strolls back saying the manager had offered me a once off deal of 71 a month and 75 joining fee. As a relatively poor student this is a huge chunk of change for me!!
So i walked out of there a little disheartened-took a trip to westwood where i must say they have been very professional from the beginning.
Took a tour-chatted to a guy named alan, he wasnt doing the hard sell or over hyping anything. He was quick to point out the good and bad points. He straight away said it'd be 55e a month student rate and 99e joining-I couldnt really complain because it has everything i want and alot more. I've taken up squash, because i hinted at Alan that i wanted to try it-so after i joined a few days later he rang me and asked if i wanted to come up and he'd teach me the rules and have a whack about with me. This was above and beyond his duty-but the personal touch was very nice.
When im in the gym i prefer to keep myself to myself, but in Westwood its a great atmosphere and staff have always been helpful-chatty and not just 'entertaining' you.
Having been up there nearly every day since i've joined-you start to see some familiar faces, who will happily spot you,give some advice, and just help you out. I really enjoy it, and after reading some of the other reviews of other gyms, i think i'm doing very well out of it.
A month on and i've got nothing bad to say about the facilities or people. Yes they are undergoing refurbishments but it hasn't affected my program, training or others.

EileenG

I did a trial visit in Crunch in the city centre and as a result decided that there wasn't enough money in the world to make me join it.

The amazing golden thrones in the foyer were mind boggling, but good for a laugh, and the changing rooms seemed like a good sign, lots of huge mirrors, bright lights and loud thumpy music. Things went downhill when I got to the gym. That was dimly lit, had very few mirrors and the music was wind chimes. I swear, I'm not joking. There were lots and lots of cardio machines and a big wall screen showing goldfish swimming.

The gym itself was mostly machines, most with a screen and some sort of complicated system where you typed in your id and it showed the setting and weights and reps you were supposed to do on each machine. The free weights section was very limited (the women's section was a single bench and a handful of small dumbbells. The men's section wasn't too much better. Curling bars and dumbbells, but no bench press or squat rack.

When I went looking for the squat rack, I was told over and over again that the smith machine was a squat rack. Eventually, I used it, and put my back out. It's set at some odd angle that is a killer. It took three visits to a chiropractor and about 20 miles of walking to get right again.

And it's a niggle, but the stairs down to the changing room are black marble backlit with small blue lights, which I thought was an accident waiting to happen. When I mentioned this to the staff, they looked at me like I was an idiot and told me to take the lift to the changing rooms.

There is a pool and relaxation area, but I couldn't try them out as you were supposed to have some special lounging outfit that I didn't have with me.

ShaneU

After a torturous 25 page search, I still find myself asking the question, how much does a membership in Total fitness cost? (Malahide)