The Sports Club/LA - New York On The Upper East Side

Bottom line: this place is a dump. \r \r Don't be fooled by the air of exclusivity and pretension they force down your throat when you inquire. They promise you an upscale, clean, modern place to workout and relax, and to cater to your every need. However, as soon as you shell out the money for a membership, the curtain drops and you see the real LA Sports and Fitness.\r \r This gym is in terrible need of an update. The lockers, machines and carpeting are in particular need of repair/replacement. Aside from this, the membership seems to be populated by children running around and playing on the machines presumably while their parents work out. It feels like a day care half the time.\r \r On top of it, there isn't even a track. They promise tons of space but it seems to be very inadequately used. When I need something, it's impossible to get the attention of management, as they are strangely disinterested and RUDE. For the premium price of this gym, I shouldn't have to feel awkward and as if I'm inconveniencing someone. Very disappointing.\r \r If I wanted treatment like this, I'd join the YMCA. I have canceled\r my membership, needless to say. There is huge competition in this city when it comes to gyms (Blink, NYSC, etc) which is why I cannot fathom why la sports carries on with such dated facilities and embarrassing customer service. \r \r I am looking forward to starting over with a place that values me and gives me a clean, functional place to work out. more

I needed to cancel my membership because moving out of town - wow, they were absolute jerks about it. I would advise anybody to really think twice before signing up here, because they will pound you with negative energy when the time comes to go another way. AVOID. more

Dont believe all the hype this gym is just like any other-really rude sales and management, broken treadmills, classes that are over crowded, except that you are playing $172 a month unless you got a under 30 discount and are only paying $130! They harass you about guest passes, billing issues this isnt't worth the money more

This was a great gym before the current management, a greedy real estate corporation, took over and started it on its path to ruin. What was once a clean, well run facility, is now a completely run down sorry excuse for a gym with ancient equipment that is in total disrepair, with a staff that cares little for the membership or for their jobs for that matter, preferring to chat on their cell phones instead of doing the job they were hired to do. Management cares little for membership and only for collecting membership dues were are extraordinarily high and for what, crap service and lousy equipment. Honestly folks, you will get a bigger bang and a grateful thank you from the folks at the Y. But if your a snob and can't tolerate the thought of joining a club that possibly might be perceived as not as acceptable with your pathetic friends, then you'd better join Equinox at least its better than this shameful excuse for a sports club! more

First, the pros. This is a nice facility with lots of space, and they even have a pool. I lucked out when I joined because they waived the insane application fee and allowed me a month-to-month membership. The best part of the gym is definitely the roof deck lounge. For the most part the workers are incredibly nice, and I had a great private trainer for my free session. The class instructors are mostly nice and supportive, although one of the pilates guys was kind of a bitch. Now, the cons. Obviously, you are going to get a lot of snotty a-holes on the UES, so it's no surprise lots of people ignore the ""please don't talk on your cellphone"" signs and come to classes late without apology. I was a bit annoyed to find gum in one of the showers, and the pool could stand to be cleaned more frequently. Also, the pool is incredibly small-only two lanes and half the time some guy is hogging the bigger lane by giving kids private swim lessons. But the real problem- my cancellation. I gave my notice in writing on July 30th that I would be leaving the gym due to a move. It took days for them to get back to me after two e-mails and a phone call, but I was assured over the phone that my cancellation would be processed and I would not be billed for the month of September. Come September 3rd (a Friday before a holiday weekend, of course) they charged me anyway. I called immediately and was told I was being reimbursed and that I should see the refund on the 4th. Knowing this was bunk due to it being a Friday, I expected the money to come through on Tuesday the 7th after labor day. But-shock!-no money returned to my account. I called the gym again, uber pissed at having my budget so screwed up. I requested e-mail confirmation that my account was actually going to be refunded. Never got it. Went to the bank, spoke to a rep, no indication of a pending refund. Wrote to the gym again. The only person who has contacted me has been the woman who signed me up- She was incredibly apologetic but has nothing to do with cancellations and refunds. She also e-mailed the cancellation guy with a CC to me and requested confirmation of the refund as well. Still nothing. I gave them the following options: 1) provide written confirmation immediately 2) cut me a check so I don't have to keep waiting for money that never should have been deducted from my account 3) piss me off more by ignoring me and have me contest the charge through my bank, and file complaints to customer service. Obviously options 1 and 2 didn't happen, because here I am. My wallet is the bull- I am the horns. Even with the deals I got, this is in no way shape or form a cheap gym. Considering the money I have invested in them over the past 11 months, this is completely unacceptable. Of course they don't care about keeping an ex-member happy, but they should because word of mouth is an important marketing tool. After this review I plan to send scathing letters of complaint to every level of customer service I can find contact information for. Do yourself a favor and get your workout for free by walking in the park. more

My husband and I were members at this club for years. The original owners sold the club to a large, real estate firm and things went down from there. In an effort to cut costs, the club took away the industry-average sized towels and replaced them with what looked like hankerchiefs. The gym facilities began showing wear - so, for your sky-high membership dues, you got to enjoy dirty, torn carpets, poorly patched walls and they took away the flowers in the reception area - all for cost-cutting reasons. Then, and this was the capper, I and several women members had problems with another member (male) who would only use one particular piece of equipment. This guy was a nut. If you were using ""his"" piece of equipment he would literally stand or sit in front of you, while you or another woman member was exercising, until you or the other member left. And this guy would do this when there were twenty other treadmills free. Several of us went to management to complain but the ""manager"" in charge did nothing but ""have a chat"" with this member who then continued to behave in the same way. I, my husband and a number of other women members decided to leave. So we joined a Sports Club LA competitor and have been happy ever since. Pros: Large facility Cons: Junior staff promoted to management positions more

If you want to get your energy sucked, deal with rude and ignorant STUFF, deal with rude and ignorant MANAGEMENT. This is the place for you My wife and I Quit after 7 years because of unresponsive and ignorant managers. BE WARE!! Pros: Always empty Cons: Always empty more

I absolutely love my gym and the staff! By far the cleanest gym in the city but also pretty costly. You do get basically every class included and all the facilities are open to you. Food court is a little over priced and not that tasty but it's all healthy I assume. Take advantage of their week pass, you have to ask because I never see any ads just tell my friends to ask for it. Pros: Everything Cons: Costly more

feel poor and ugly while working out with professional athletes, models, and ""employees"" of Scores. Nice facility and great family day on Sunday. Pros: Facilities Cons: Getting a bit dated more

I was a loyal member to NYSC for 7 years. In that time, I had 2 weird billing issues. The first was partially my fault, but since their billing/customer service department and their clubs do not communicate very well, it was really hard to resolve it. It literally took 5 visits to the club. Then my last and final billing issue, was when I froze my account to take karate lessons, a manager from one of the clubs froze it, and told me just to contact the club when I wanted unfreeze the account. But then the following month I noticed I was billed for the entire membership fee - no more freeze. I contacted the club immediately and asked to be reimbursed and put back on a freeze, they said I couldn't get reimbursed without paperwork (which the manager didn't even mention - she just made the changes on the computer while I was in the club). They offered a credit to my account, which did me little good because I wanted to cancel my membership completely. They told me the only way I could get reimbursed is if the manager could contest to the fact that I did want to freeze my account longer than 1 month. They contacted the manager, but she was no longer with the company (1 short month after the transaction) I filed a complaint since I thought it was unfair for them to not consider my circumstance, or the fact that their employee who was no longer with them might have made a mistake (since i contacted them the same day they charged my account). i also thought that if my complaint went to higher management, maybe they would help me resolve the situation - wrong!!! They were entirely stand-off-ish in their reply and did nothing to help my situation. Their reply was just an edited version of what happened that was probably in their computer system. No sympathy what-so-ever for my situation. more

I have been a member for about five months now and the facilities are excellent. Locker rooms are great. The personal trainer that worked with me gave me the best workout I have ever had too. I am the type of person that really doesn't enjoy working out and this gym in particular has two nice basketball courts. Unfortunately, they aren't available when I want to use them on the weekends. The club is actively looking to rent this floor out for children's parties. I have no problem with them doing that but this was never explained to me when joining. I was asked to leave the gym three times because they also don't post when the gym is rented either only on the floor itself not on their website. Pros: Great facilities, a lot of equipment Cons: Facilities are not available all the time more

I am a person who hates to exercise....or at least I used to hate exercising. This gym is amazing- it's huge and machines are always available, even in the busy time after work. It's very clean and the locker rooms are clean too and the amenities are fantastic. It is pricey but well worth it. As someone who used to belong to one of those other gyms, the decision to join was a no-brainer...it is a pleasure to start my day there and always look forward to going again the next day! The classes are FANTASTIC! more

I recently visited the spa and had an amazing facial with Francesca. I have never felt so comfortable with an esthetician before. It was my first time going to her, and she made me feel so important. I have been to many many spas before and almost feel rushed through my service and made to pay and leave. But not here. Fran spoke to me about my skin, analyzed it, and treated my problems. She let me enjoy the experience and relax afterwards by handing me flavored water. The prices are a bit expensive, but I would definitly reccomend trying the spa out. more

I have been going to the Splash Spa on the UES for more than a year now and I have always had a wonderful experience. I attribute this to my facialist, Janice, she is amazing. I have sensitive skin, and hers are the only facials that have never resulted in a break out. The atmosphere is highly relaxing and most importantly, she doesn't feel the need to chatter at me while she is performing the facial. They are not always right on time, but I think 15 minutes is the longest I have ever had to wait and I have always been offered tea and water so it hasn't struck me as a major inconvenience. Pros: atmosphere, skilled staff, cucumber water more

Just the kind of gym I wanted: bustling with activity, yet always a machine available; the classes are excellent and facilities are clean, with fluffy rolls of towels everywhere you look. The pool is tiny, but is okay for laps. The locker room is huge with carpet and blowdryers and wooden day lockers and big showers with all the good stuff (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving stuff). TV's on machines if you bring headphones. Squash is extra, as well as east-coast or bi-coastal or executive memberships. A regular health membership (month-to-month) is $150/month not including signup fees which are $250-$700 depending on promotion. Pros: excelent staff, modern equipment, excellent classes Cons: expensive more

I have been a member of the sports club LA for years now and decided to try the spa for the convenience of it being rite downstairs after my workout The first time I went was for a massage- it was horrible- so bad I just wanted it to end- ive never wanted a massage to end. it was terribly overpriced. next i had a facial- that was disappointing as well nothing special and my skin was basically the same when i left next i had a body wrap again waste of money. the staff was obviously not trained in the services they performed, as well had no product knowledge. the staff was not even friendly ive left feeling as if i wasted money and feeling as if i annoyed the staff in the spa by simply having to innterupt them on their cell phone calls to pay my bill.. Pros: inside spots club LA, thalgo Cons: rude staff, inexperienced staff, overpriced for bad se more

I joined the gym after I got engaged last year to get myself into shape for my wedding I never get bored of the same routine as there is so much variety at the Sports Club LA. My trainer Cindy has been able to get me into a great program and in six weeks I'm already achieving the definition & weight loss I need to look great for my big day!!! more