Planet Fitness – Chicago – Streeterville

First of all if you’re driving here… double back now! No seriously… turn around. The creepy parking garage is a hassle to get to on upper Illinois if you’re coming from Lincoln Park (I’m not gonna lie, I confusedly circled a few times)/IN & OUT of because there is no access to the gym from it. Yep you heard me right none, zip, zilch. You’ll have to walk down to Whole Foods then around & back up the stairs, or you can be a dare devil like me & walk up the same access ramp as the cars… those are your only 2 choices. This was validated by the less than attentive staff… unlike my parking… Yeah I’ll hit that gem up in the next section.
You could cheat & buy something from Whole Foods to get 2 hr parking access which would be the best idea seeing as how the gate timers in this particular garage run fast and probably won’t hesitate to charge you the same $ 14 that it just charged me. I came in at 8:49, put my ticket in at 9:49 & it asked me for $ 14 registering the time as 9:52. So much for my «free» black card member parking. I would have rather purchased some over priced «Whole Paycheck» bottled water for $ 14 because its filtered through Himalayan gargen hoses, fights against free radicals, has antioxidants, electrolytes, omega 3s, probiotics & bioluminescents to get 2 hr parking than just being cheated out of it by the PF parking garage. I mean come on… that’s almost as much as the price of a whole month of black card membership in itself! I’m totes being cheap rt now… but why do you think I’m a PF member in the first place?
As far as the set up with equipment… pickins are as SLIM as I’m tryin’ to be. I came during off hours & that was a good thing because I didn’t realize that this PF was so «quaint.»
Severely dissapointed. My final word; avoid this PF there seems to be plenty more popping up in the city anyway.

You’ll be very limited with what you can do here. The benches can only fold up to a certain angle. There is no squat rack or bench press or many other usual machines — only two Smith machines that are nearly always occupied during busy hours. Machines only go up to a certain weight that might be good for very early beginners but is otherwise limiting. Most notably, the space feels condensed, which for weight training can be fine if there’s only a couple of other people working out, but makes it impossible when the place is busy. Parking is only validated for 1 hour, which makes a workout+a shower not practical. The front entry is covered with cigarette butts and employees don’t seem to mind keeping it that way.

I’d been going here for several weeks. In that time I managed to try out most of the machines; I always found them to be in working order. The facilities were generally kept in clean condition, too. In that time, however, I have encountered two NOT so rockstar employees. One is a fair skinned black guy with dreads; dude ALWAYS has a STANK attitdue (ALWAYS), but he does try to feign advocacy when the pressure’s on. Still, his attitude STINKS like hell. Then there’s a tiny Hispanic dude (he dresses in khaki and black, unlike the others). Notwithstanding that I’d been let to use the hydro beds since signing up, when I asked him go turn one on for me he promptly said I was not allowed to use that area of the gym because I wasn’t a «VIP» member. Tf? He then tried to claim that the only reason I’d been able to acces it before was because «it was a promotion last month.» Lies. I found this HIGHLY unprofessional of him. A consummate professional would’ve apologized for any misunderstanding about policy and simply allowed me to use the bed but with the understanding that I wouldn’t be able to use them next time unless I upgrade to this new «VIP» status. But, alas, this was not a consummate professional I was facing. I shook my head and walked away. Chances are I will not be renewing my membership here — these two have rubbed me entirely the wrong way and have completely undermined the good customer service I’d received from the other reps. Bye felicia! SO, FYI, IF YOU SIGN UP FOR THAT $ 10/​MO DEAL: YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO USE SOME OF THE GYM EQUIPMENT, NOT ALL OF IT — HYDROBEDS, FORGET IT; TANNING ROOMS, YOU CAN PROBABLY FORGET THAT TOO. YOU’LL BE TREATED LIKE YOUR MONEY CAME TO THEM STAINED WITH DOG POO. NO MA’AM. NO THANK YOU. I’LL SPEND $ 100/​MO SOMEWHERE ELSE BEFORE I GIVE THESE UNPROFESSIONAL FOLKS ANOTHER RED CENT.

Brand new location now open conveniently above whole foods for all your pre/​post workout noshing needs!
Very gym newbie-​friendly space open 24÷7−− LOTS of cardio machines (especially treadmills), standard machines, but a smaller free weight area. There’s also an area for 30-​minute circuit workouts with a green/​red light system. As of now, the gym and locker rooms are impeccably clean and I really hope it stays that way as more people start signing up. BYO towel and headphones.
Regular membership is $ 10/​mo with no commitment, or you can opt for black card for $ 19.99/mo which gives you unlimited guest passes, massage, and tanning, among other things. Not gonna lie– those hydro massage beds look pretty amazing.
–1 star because there’s no squat rack :(