EcoFitness & Blue Turtle Yoga

I hate doing this, I really do. I got a Groupon with a girlfriend of mine — something like 1 month for $ 50 for two people. It seems like a steal, given that it is typically $ 60 a month plus a initiation fee of $ 70.
The convenience of this gym for my in the mornings can’t be beat. It is next to my parking garage, a quarter of a mile from work. It’s amazing. However, this gym lacks updated equipment, is dark and dingy and just needs love. The showers are gross, the open barre room is disgusting, and the floors are covered in crap.
I hope that since they were just purchased by Pivotal, updates will be coming soon. It is unfortunate that this is literally the only gym on the peninsula, so they can charge an outrageous sum of money just so that you can use their equipment. I’m seriously doubting I will continue with my membership once my Groupon is over.

When I first moved to Charleston, I joined EcoFitness. Their Mount Pleasant location is large and right by my place, but I quickly discovered I preferred running outside or paying per class at Revolution. Shame on me for even thinking that I might go to a traditional gym.
Hence, I stopped in the downtown EcoFitness location to cancel my month to month membership mid-​October. November was supposed to be the last time I was billed. Great. Imagine my surprise and irritation when I noticed a $ 59 charge hit my account in December.
I knew this was going to be a pain to deal with, so I decided I’d deal with it in person rather than attempting it over the phone. I walked in on a Sunday morning and told the front desk employee that I canceled my membership but was erroneously charged. She looked up my account and told me it was still active and had been since January 2015. Two issues here: 1) I didn’t live in Charleston in January 2015 so that’s impossible and 2) I canceled my membership and shouldn’t have been charged. She kind of seemed like she didn’t believe me, and I pointed out that I walked into this location on a weekday at lunchtime sometime in mid to late October and informed her of all of the cancellation confirmation details I had received. She looked at me cluelessly. I kept my cool and told her I was sure that they must have the cancellation forms on file and that she could pull those and go through them one by one for me. Girlfriend haphazardly looked at like 2 of the 100 forms and told me she couldn’t find it. She got my number and told me that a manager would call me to discuss the next day.
I will say that a manager did call me as promised and was very apologetic in getting all of this fixed. However, I do not appreciate anyplace that cannot be trusted with billing in the first place. I work hard for the money and don’t have the time or energy to go in and deal with incompetent front desk employees. Rant over.

Got a day pass (like another Unilocaler) while visiting from out of town. I was definitely not impressed by the whole experience.
Our hotel mentioned there was a discount if we showed our room key at Eco. However, the employee said there was no discount and acted like we were crazy for asking. I was shocked to hear a quick day pass for visitors was $ 15.00. Seriously?! That’s ¾ of my monthly fee at my home gym. I know the discount might have been some misunderstanding, but it is still hard to believe a gym would charge $ 15.00 for a quick workout.
On the positive side, they had plenty of treadmills and a relatively large space. Towels were available.
The weight machines were pretty cheap and lackluster. I found many of them hard to use.
To top it all off, they charge $ 2.00 for water at a vending machine by the front.
Definitely not impressed by this place, especially with their marketing tactics for out of town guests.

Clean gym. Decent amount of cardio machines. Not too crowded at 7am on a weekday. Around the corner from the King Charles Inn, which this gym is associated with. Guests of the Inn pay $ 5/​visit to use this gym. TVs on the treadmills as well as on the walls. Towels available to borrow free of charge.

Coming from suburbia where monopolizing on an industry doesn’t really happen, I’m used to paying 10 bucks a month for an AWESOME gym where it’s clean and if they don’t uphold a certain level of service and most importantly, cleanliness (!!!), you’ll walk right out the door to the other gym across the street.
ECO Fitness, however, has it easy. They’re practically the only gym on the peninsula and can therefore charge you whatever they want and you will have to submit to their ridiculous costs and rather terrible environment.
Their cardio machine selection is practically all treadmills which does so much damage to my knees so my other option there would be some ellipticals and a rusty dinky machine where the incline doesn’t even work… (Points for having an indoor rowing machine/​erg tho!)
The classes are good and will have you hurtin the next day but I took a yoga class and when I left, my feet were BLACK on the bottoms and TOPS! Gross…
Don’t even get me started on the showers…
All in all, if you’re reading this, no need to sign up here… Just get back to Unilocaling and eating at all the awesome places in Charleston; the beer belly will be more worth it!

Dropped in from out of town and needed a gym. Gym was clean, staff was friendly, and equipment was optimal for the allotted space. Plenty of free weights and even had a squat rack, which is a pretty rare occurrence for a smaller place like this.
Drop in rate was high but when are they ever reasonable?
Will use again if I’m ever in the area.

Newer equipment but never open on time in the AM. Never. They got rid of cardio equipment too since last trip. Not sure why.

I was not impressed. I was visiting from out of town and got a day pass. The selection of cardio equipment was OK but the weight machine selection was terrible. When I asked the person at the desk if they had a seated row weight machine, she kept suggesting chest machines.
They do have a nice big, padded room with a couple of climbing ropes and a punching/​kicking bag.
I pay less per month than I did for the day and I have a lot more selection at my home gym.
Also I’m used to a «lunk free» environment and there was this one lady who literally screamed at the end of her set a couple of times.

Absolutely love ECO! Been a member since 2006 and don’t see myself changing gyms. Everyone at the front desk is helpful and knowledgeable. I absolutely LOVE the spin classes they offer, my favorite is Catherine’s class during lunch hour. I have also been taking advantage of having a personal trainer, and Erin Hopkins is the absolute best. Everyone and everything this gym has to offer is AMAZING !

Great gym!!!
This gym is clean, well-​equipped with the latest machines. The friendly staff is always there for a pleasant «hello» when you arrive and to ask any questions.
I have worked with Tory — he is a knowledgeable and extremely helpful.
The classes (Yoga and Spin) are great… A favorite is Grimy Wednesday with SJ.

Went to Eco Fitness this morning while visiting Charleston (the one on Wentworth St) — it was a short walk down the block from our hotel. Modestly sized facility, equipped more in the way of machines and less in the way of free weights. Much of their square footage looked like it was devoted to aerobics or fitness programs. Treadmills, stationary/​recumbent bikes, and elliptical machines are available.
I thought the visitor/​walk-​in rate was a little steep at $ 15 (as opposed to the $ 10 on average I pay elsewhere and in numerous cities around the US), especially since I got no personal attention. For that price, I’d expect to get a tour or familiarization with of the facility by the staff, but I didn’t. There was no interest in what I was doing, and perhaps most troubling — no concern as to whether I might have had any medical conditions that the staff should be on the lookout for. I didn’t even sign a hold harmless waiver. There was little in the way of any convenient means to clean up after yourself; usually, gyms will position spray bottles of disinfectant along with towels throughout the gym to make it easy on clients to reach for a bottle and clean up the machine that they just soaked with their sweat. Not here — just a box of wet wipes up at the front desk that I doubt anyone actually takes advantage of.
Bottom line, it served its purpose as a place to get a workout in during the short time I’m in town. Loses points for lack of professionalism and for being too pricey. The stars say it all. «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»

Great yoga studio located right off King street on Wentworth. I happened to have an extra day in town and dropped by for a 75 minute «Hot Detox Flow» class for a mere $ 10 (it’s $ 15/​class if you’re not staying in one of their «partner» hotels in the area). Mat and towel rentals are $ 1 – 2 extra. Their website has an updated schedule for whenever you need a yoga fix.