Venice Fitness

Do not get the groupon deal!!! They force you to give them your credit card information for after the 3month trial, even if you only want to go for the 3 months!!!

I was visiting family in Toronto from August 13 — August 17, 2015. I’ve read countless reviews and asked on countless forums if anyone could recommend a decent gym. NOT ONE mentioned Venice Fitness. I don’t know if people were just trying to keep Americans out of their beloved hidden gems, but I’m soooo glad I found Venice Fitness, sadly on my last day in Canada!
Upon walking through the doors, I encountered a screaming match between a customer and a young woman who worked at the front desk. My guess is she was Filipino (like me) or some other kind of Islander/​Asian. The gentleman had a question about his membership, and she was responding in a very rude manner. I did not witness the whole exchange, but I could tell she was frustrated. I’m not faulting her for acting on her frustrations, but that’s not exactly settling to see as a new potential customer at this gym. I mean, she was YELLING. But anyway.
One of the trainers there (sucks I forgot to get his name) greeted me and told me the price was $ 25.00 for a day pass. I called ahead that morning and a young woman (presumably the one in the current screaming match) told me the price was $ 15.00. I told him this, and he said «Oh yeah I forgot. It’s $ 15.» Hmmmm. The reviews I’ve read mentioned some shady/​sketchy money practices at Venice, so I paid for the day pass in cash and prepared to train.
He had me fill out a form and asked if I’d been there before. I told him no, and he offered to show me around.
This place is HUGE. Almost unnecessarily huge but it’s AWESOME. Venice was stocked with just about every machine possible. Sure, some were older, but who cares? Arnold didn’t get his muscles from the fancy-​shmancy BS some gyms have nowadays. There were maybe 10 – 12 assorted benches tucked in a corner for the free weights, which wasn’t a lot considering the size of the place. Reading the rest of the reviews, however, I guess the majority of natives don’t like this gym, therefore no waiting time!
The trainer then led me to a hallway with a huge fountain in the middle and two rooms for yoga and boxing on either side. The bathrooms had two stalls, but only one working stall, and sinks with lion head fixtures. Unnecessary, but hilarious. I noticed the steam room/​sauna/​jacuzzi, but didn’t bother checking if they were functional since I don’t use those amenities anyway (it’s a GYM people, NOT the spa).
The crowd was friendly enough, like most Canadians are (compared to Americans at least). One guy even offered to spot me while I was on the decline bench. With how huge and unpopular as this gym is, I never had to wait for a machine or bench.
IN SHORT — -
Venice is an amply-​stocked gym for lifters. Packed with machines and dumbbells up to 160 (I think?) lbs. Cardio bunnies and group fitness fans will like it as well, as they have rows and rows of cardio equipment and a decent class schedule (not that I got a chance to try them, but they offer a lot). Seriously, this gym has EVERYTHING. 5 stars just for that.
The customer service sucked; point blank, and that’s why my review is only 3 stars. The trainer who showed me around was friendly enough, but the price thing threw me off a bit. That screaming match between the young woman and the customer never should have been happening for as long as it did. I’ll definitely return to Venice on my future visits to Scarborough, as it is literally THE ONLY gym in Toronto that caters to lifters and the gym-​goers were very friendly.
Not saying to fire that chick, but she definitely would benefit from some customer service training, is all.

I wouldn’t recommend this place at all. They quote on quote «needed a last month payment» to close my account. I obliged. Only to find out that they continued to charge me for two months consecutive. And I only realized this when my credit card balance wasn’t adding up. I called them to figure this out and they requested «proof of closing account». I showed them the transaction on my bank statement and all they said was, «this proves you paid for a month, but doesn’t prove you closed the account». They were literally refusing to do anything about it because the gentlemen who dealt with my account charged me a month, for the sake of charging me. They never closed my account. I don’t EVER recommend this place. The integrity of the business is weak. I wouldn’t trust a place that does that to their customers.
They continue to make unauthorized credit withdrawals from my account. Incredible.

I was really disappointed with Venice Fitness we tried it on a wagjag or groupon or something a while back and it was a nightmare trying to sign up my husband didn’t even bother because they kept pressing for his credit card. I didn’t have as much of an issue signing up.
The ladies changeroom was awful, the whirpool was shut down the whole time and it all smelled moldy.
& I still have not been able to get my deposit money back from the pass

They have a good selection of weights and machines + a decent amount of cardio equipment as well. Membership prices are reasonable.
However, Goodlife and Wynn fitness have much better showers, steam rooms /​saunas. change rooms, chiropractic and health facilities.

I’ve been a member at Venice Fitness for about half a year now and signed on for the rest of the year. I wanted to try the gym for a while before commenting in order to give all of you a fair assessment.
I’ve been a member of several gyms (Extreme Fitness-​Pickering, Premier Fitness-​Beaches and Good Life-​Morningside) over the past 10+ years and hands down Venice Fitness has to be thee best of all of them – and for a very reasonable price as well.
Venice is a very large and spacious gym. They have more than enough strength training machines, a mix of both old and newer machines. The machines are very well maintained, which I found to be an issue with the other gyms whereas the leather/​padding would be ripped or worn-​out. If you do encounter any issues, you simply have to bring it up to their attention. They also have a large abundance of cardio machines; in fact as soon as you enter the main gym area, there is two separate sections of cardio equipment 3 levels high. There are about 10 more cross training machines on the other end of the gym. And more in the separate mademoiselle area. The only down side has to do with the cardio equipment and some of them not working, but in my experience, this is a common occurrence with all gyms mainly because all cardio equipment have a lot of moving parts and see a lot of use, it will fail after a period of time.
I’ve never had to wait for any of the equipment. Even if I did want a particular machine to use, there are more then one of the same type of work out machines. For example there is about 4 different Preacher Bench style workout machines from different manufactures… the 2 names that come to mind are Hammer Strength and Cybex.
The Mademoiselle Only area for ladies does not cost any more money.
There is also a boxing ring, wellness centre, smoothie bar, tanning lounge within the same facility – which really gives you an idea how big this place is.