Gold’s Gym

I don’t think I have ever been so frustrated by a gym. This is the second morning I have woken up at 430 and driven to the gym expecting to begin working out by 510. However, no one is here and there are about 20 people waiting either in cars or outside of the gym for it to open. This is entirely unprofessional, unacceptable and I hope they will either reimburse those waiting for a month of membership. If not, I plan to take my business elsewhere.

I want to start this review letting everyone know that I’ve read a lot of the reviews for this place and also have been a member previously at ACAC and before choosing this gym did trials long at Anytime and Snap.
First I have to address the people that complain about canceling. Any place like this with a membership contract it is clear what you have to do to cancel and depending on what plan you choose you may still owe if you commit to a year or whatever. Almost ALL gyms require certified letters to their billing department 30 days in advance so I have no pity for stupid people that don’t follow directions. Don’t sign contracts you cannot read.
All I can say is for the money this is a great gym. It has a wide range of classes, the MOST equipment for weight training in Charlottesville. In contrast with ACAC, which is 2 – 3 times the price, the weight areas at ACAC are small and cramped and though they have a pool in one location it’s gross. ACAC is also super crowded especially for weight equipment. And their locker rooms are dirty. But I digress I’ll save ACAC for another review.
Golds membership prices vary based on how long you commit, but it is basically the same price as Anytime Fitness and Snap and again beats them hands down with services and amenities. At Golds you actually get a locker room with towels. Those gyms don’t.
I’m starting to ramble but at least from my experience this has been my favorite gym in town.
If you are serious about working out and are there to work out this is the best gym in town. If you want to socialize with people that are there just to socialize, go to ACAC. I won’t knock ACAC for its focus on trying to be a senior/​medical-​friendly place, but…

I worked out here for a while and enjoyed my membership. It is a bare-​bones gym experience, no great amenities, good weight/​equipment selection, and small but decent Les Mills class offering.
In my opinion, it isn’t the best athletic club in town (ACAC), but if you’re on a tight budget it’ll do.

I have been a member at Gold’s since 2008. Since that time, I’ve experienced at least 5 different management teams. Unfortunately, the last three have been in the last year.
The positives about joining Gold’s is that you can travel to other Gold’s, they have the equipment that you need to get a good workout in, and generally have enough Les Mills classes.
The negative: by my count this particular Gold’s has lost at a minimum of 10 group fitness instructors in the past 2 and a half years. These instructors have not moved to a different area, but rather have moved to another gym. Heartbreaking as these instructors are very talented. I’ve spoken to the three different management teams in this last year with no obvious change. Instructors are continuing to leave.
If group fitness classes are a must for you, I’d recommend ACAC instead.

After moving from the Richmond area, I decided to join the Golds Gym in the Charlottesville area. I already had a Golds Gym membership in Richmond so I figured it would be an easy transition. When I spoke to the gym they were courteous and very nice. I told them that I was already a member in Richmond and that I needed to move my membership to Charlottesville. The membership representative told me he would take care of everything and I needed to take no further action.
About a month later, I decided to move back to Richmond. I returned to my old gym and told them that my membership had been moved to Charlottesville. After looking in the computer, the Richmond gym informed me that my membership was never moved and I have been paying for two gym memberships this entire time. This is where the tide turned. Long of the short of it, the Charlottesville Golds screwed me out of nearly $ 200 and threatened to take me to collections if I did not pay. They took no responsibility for what they did, nor would they would reimburse me for the amount of money that they cost me.
Each Golds Gym is individually owned. I would steer clear of this one.

I’ve been to this gym on multiple occasions since I’ve been in Charlottesville for work. I have had no issues. The staff has always been friendly. The facilities are well maintained. I’ve never had to wait for a machine or equipment to become open. The other guests are courteous and respectful. They have great hours at this location. I enjoy coming to this Gold’s Gym! I absolutely love it!

I’ve never been compelled to write a
review before — until I visited this gym. I am a member of a Gold’s Gym in another city and LOVE my gym — staff are friendly, facilities clean and equipment always in working order — so this is not a bash at Golds Gym — but rather an expression of extreme disappointment in Golds Gym on Hydraulic Road.
As a member in another city, I called this gym a week before my visit over the holidays. I asked what the policy was for using this facility as a member of another Gold’s Gym. I was told I would simply need to give my information at the desk, they would call my home gym to verify membership, and I would be given a travel pass, which can be used for 14 visits/​year — simple as that! You guessed it — not that simple. The first day I asked about the pass I was interrogated as to why I hadn’t obtained this from my home gym. I was then told «I should call your gym, but I’m just gonna take your word for it» and was asked to record my name and information on a clipboard. Day 2, I’m interrogated again, asked why I didn’t get a «card» with my name on it (the person behind the desk pulled out a box of handwritten cards I’d never seen before), some repeated head shaking, telling me «the holidays are always when people try to cheat the system» and asking me «who I spoke with on the phone» (no clue) and «who let me come into the gym yesterday?» (no clue) clerk records my name and phone number on a handwritten card, and places it in the box — no clipboard today. Day 3, Walk up to the counter, say «I have a travel pass» and present my key card from my home gym. The person behind the counter attempts to scan it, tells me I’m not a member and when I repeated that I had a travel pass, demanded to see it. I reiterated to her that I had been given nothing — day 1, signed a clipboard, day 2, a card was created with my name on it. She quickly thumbed through the box of cards, and when she couldn’t find mine, again told me that «people try to cheat the gym during the holidays and sneak in». I told her she was more than welcome to call my home gym, to which she replied «no. just go in.» I then asked what I could do/​obtain to ensure that this experience didn’t happen again and was told «nothing, you’re fine».
The facilities were far less impressive than mine at home, but after the way I was treated at the front of the gym — that was the least of my worries. Needless to say, I purchased a 6 punch pass from ACAC and completed the rest of my workouts there (where I will be giving a VERY positive review!)
I am truly sorry for all of you who call this your home gym! Glad to be back home:)

I’ve been a member of the Gold’s on Hydraulic for a little over a year now. I’d say my favorite part about this gym is the childcare facility and the group fitness classes. The childcare has experienced employees that take the time to get to know your children and are respectful. If you are afraid of group fitness, this place will change your mind! Tracey and Curtis have great Tabata and Insanity classes! My least favorite part of being a member is my discomfort around the Classic section so I usually use the Lady Golds section while doing weights (a plus to the gym!). Also the customer service can be a little terrible at times.

Equipment is often broken, usually no towels available, website has inaccurate hours, parking lot is pothole riddled and is too small which forces you to park at Kmart during peak hours. The group classes are the best thing the gym has to offer. Hurry up with construction YMCA!

*WARNING– BAD QUALITY GYM THAT MISTREATS ITS MEMBERS*
If you are someone who does not care about cleanliness or class– this gym is perfect for you. If you even the slightest bit of self-​respect, you should look elsewhere (ACAC, UVA’s gyms, Anytime Fitness, Carver, Snap Fitnes). The owner is cheap and a crook– and does not respect his customers whatsoever.
I have been a member in the Charlottesville Gold’s Gym for less than a month now and unfortunately I have had a mediocre experience to say the least.
From the tour that I was given on the first visit, I got the impression that it was not very crowded, organized and tidy (the tour took place at 11am). Subsequently, all of my visits have been either before work (7am) or after worm (5pm) — during which the gym is an absolute zoo.
There is rarely any machine that is free, the main area smells bad, and the bathrooms are often dirty. I understand that with large facilities comes obvious setbacks such as maintaing the place in a tidy manner. While I acknowledge this difficulty on your part, I honestly do not feel comfortable being a paying member of a gym that is in such condition.
I hold nothing against the workers there. Just the facilities. They are dirty, smell bad, and often overcrowded.
Update:
I have since gotten in touch with the owner, Kevin Gustafson, to complain and ask for a partial refund and all he did was warn me not to complain.
This is not how you run a business– perhaps someone experienced in customer service would have reacted differently.

Went in today to take a look. The staff very unfriendly. The gym was dirty and the equipment outdated. It seemed a bother for the fitness counselor to give me tour. This place did not give me a good vibe… and if you read the filtered reviews you will realize why.

Although I loved some of the group fitness classes here, I cannot support this gym due to their dishonest billing and cancellation policies. 30 day cancellation policy even if you’ve moved? That’s ridiculous, as I can’t be using your services from a different state, so you are effectively stealing from me.

I haven’t worked out here since about 2007. Since then, they’ve expanded the weight room and added a daycare and Cardio Cinema. In the Cardio Cinema, they have some of the taller machines in the front which block the view of those behind. It needs moving ventilation (ceiling fans) since it’s a small, dark, enclosed room. There are two good treadmills in there, but in the rest of the gym, the treadmills are outdated and make you feel like you’re running through quicksand.
They don’t open until 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. Too LATE!

Simple functional and the Holiday Inn gave me a free pass for the week because the hotels gym in the worst I have ever seen — Gold’s has free Wi-​Fi and great staff.

I really wish there was a way to give ZERO stars.
So, I am fat. Not like a little fat, like I needed to lose 140 lbs and hopefully get rid of the Type 2 diabetes I just got diagnosed with fat. I got sick of it and decided to change my life. So, on my own at home just through food habits and taking walks, I managed to drop 35 lbs in the last 3 months. I told myself that after I hit the 30 lb mark, I was going to take the next step to invest in my health– joining a gym.
I called every gym in Cville to weigh my options. Every place I called was polite and helpful, and gave me pricing options over the phone. Then I called Gold’s. The receptionist sounded polite enough, but then they transferred me to some guy to discuss membership options. The very manner with which he answered the phone was hostile from the onset, and when I asked about pricing options, he said they don’t talk about that over the phone. I asked why not and he stammered some excuse that corporate records all their phone calls. I hung up.
Then I got to thinking– why would such a business refuse to discuss their business over the phone? Could it be because they want to size a customer up and see what they can squeeze out of them?
I was still genuinely interested in joining (it is the cheapest option in town, it seems), but I also wanted to investigate and see if my gut instinct was correct.
So, I enlisted a highly attractive/​petite friend of mine who was thinking about joining with me to go in by herself, get the tour spiel, and find out what current membership costs were. She was quoted $ 34.99/month on a 2-​yr contract and $ 39.99/month on a 1-​yr contract. She said the membership guy was super friendly.
Then I went in 5 minutes after she walked out. You know, the fat lady. I got the tour spiel, the membership guy and I talked since we have ties to the same school, and then we began to talk turkey. Throughout these exchanges, he avoided eye contact and his attitude/​tone was dismissive. He then told me that the cost would be $ 41.99/month on a 2-​yr contract and $ 51.99/month on a 1-​yr contract. I asked if there were any deals/​specials or if there was any way I could get a lower price, and he said no.
I told him that I found that interesting, and then I told him why. He stammered and attempted to back-​pedal. I walked away.
I then explained what had just happened to the person at the front desk. I asked him if he thought that was an ethical way of doing business. I also asked him if he thought that was an acceptable way to treat someone. To both questions, all he answered was,” I don’t know.” He also seemed like he was having difficulty keeping from smiling like he thought the whole thing was funny.
These douchey wanna-​be-​frat-​boys obviously seem to think it’s a perfectly acceptable business practice to price-​gouge customers who are overweight or they consider less attractive. Am I surprised at a place with a reputation like Gold’s? Not really. Do I wonder how many of their customers are forking out an extra «fatty fee» every month? Yep. Am I pissed? You’re darn skippy. I am not offering to pay your company money every month to look pretty so I can titillate the mouth-​breathing no-​necks that work out there. I am changing my life– which is incredibly difficult to do– to SAVE my life. I take this very seriously. It’s sad that a place which supposedly is a proponent of fitness and health, doesn’t give a rip for the health and fitness of those who need it most.

Value for money. Great weigh training equipment. Good line up of classes.

Great gym, great classes, great employees. Poor rating only because of their TERRIBLE finance/​billing department!!! I can’t tell you how many times my account was charged early — causing overdraft fees and service charges. I terminated my account and received a notice 5 months later saying I owed $ 70! They claim to have left messages and emails but have no records. Not worth the headache.

Not a bad facility, although they are a bit sparse on dumbbells and the bikes could use tvs. Still, it’s rarely crowded and good place to get a workout in.

Ok, ok, ok. Per Unilocal,this gym seems to have a bad rap for having out of date equipment and is apparently «dusty.» I really like this gym and I find that it fits my needs perfectly. The pricing is better than any other gym in the area (I pay around $ 35 a month, didn’t really pay a start of fee). The classes are at good times and it is easy to get a spot. The gym can be busy during after work hours but there is always enough equipment to go around. There is a separate weight room for the ladies and a dark TV cardio room, as well. As with all gym memberships, please read all the terms and conditions before signing up.

I joined Gold’s after a painfully underwhelming experience at the large other Cville health club. I feel like joined a family and I’m completely happy with my experience.
Sure, the gym itself is a little dated and the equipment could use a refresh. But I’ve never found the gym to be excessively dirty or even crowded. My fellow gym-​goers are respectful and don’t hog machines (like the other Cville club). Its a younger crowd with more energy and more willingness to share and chat.
After a few months as a member, I hired a personal trainer. It’s been a life-​changing experience. I’m meeting my fitness goals and exceeding them. And my trainer is introducing me to other gym members. Its a family.
The front desk staff can be a bit aloof and maybe even standoffish. But they’re fine people so don’t be afraid to say hi or stop and ask a question.
This is a good gym and maybe one of the nicest crowds I’ve experienced. I’ll take the slightly dated equipment and the non-​fancy décor for a fun, energetic young crowd any day of the week. Fuddy-​duddies, you can head to the ‘health club’ down the street.