RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center – Hamilton

I normally don’t like to write anything negative about fitness centers because they all try very hard to do the right thing. Plus, it’s very difficult to deal with the public in general, so I often give them the benefit of the doubt. But not in this case.
I got a call from someone who works at the RJW Fitness and Wellness Center located in Mercerville, NJ. who saw my resume online and wanted to reach out.
Let me first explain that Robert Wood Johnson does not own these fitness centers. Their name and affiliation is leased through the company called Fitness and Wellness, which is located in Princeton. They (fitness center workers) give you the impression that it’s the RWJ company, but it’s not. I had to figure that out on my own since no one was willing to give me a straight answer when I called.
After talking to the lady on the phone, I decided to go into the interview. She told me she was impressed by my resume (over 8 years of media/​hospitality industry experience) and said that I would be ideal for the position in «membership consulting «where I would be speaking to members about their experiences and the position would be more of a in office, customer oriented based position.
I get to the interview and the lady who was to going to interview me, was 25 minutes late. I sat in the lobby and the clueless young girls at the counter just kept on telling me to wait.
I was about to leave when the lady finally came and got me. She did apologize.
During the interview, she explained to me what the position was and kept on correcting me when I said the word «gym». She said that they are a «lifestyle changer» not a gym. I tried not to laugh and just kept listening to her. She tried to convince me that the wellness center was better then anything else on the planet and that other people just «waste their money and time» at other places. All this was going on while a club member was out in the lobby talking to a police officer because something was stolen from his gym locker.
When we finally got to the salary part, I almost passed out. «$ 18,100.00» is the salary she said. I asked her to repeat herself.
«And that’s for 45 hours, no overtime and no reimbursement for gas milage»
Yes, that’s right folks. A company that makes MILLIONS in selling their image to others, is paying $ 18,100.00 a year to sales folks to bring in people and charge them over $ 150/​mo plus membership fees to get them to work out.
I listened carefully and told her that I made that much PART-​TIME as a freshman in college.
She was not amused.
After I found out it was more of a sales position (with a VERY LOW commission structure) I told her I would think about it and get back to her. She was eager for me to start training but I told her I would get back to her in a few days. The next day, I sent her a polite «NO THANK YOU» email and never heard back.
Bottom line, be careful when applying for jobs at The Fitness & Wellness Centers or for that matter, joining the «lifestyle changing» place. They don’t pay well, they certainly don’t respect your work experiences and talents. And from talking to FORMER members, they just want people to come to their «lifestyle changing» place so they can charge crazy money just to work out. That’s right, no matter how glamorous they make it sound, you are JUST WORKING OUT. IT’S NOT A ROOFTOP PARTY. IT’S A GYM!
The bottom line is, you don’t need a fancy gym with a doctor or nurse on call to get into shape or maintain a healthy lifestyle. You can do ALL that on your own… and save $$$$ while doing it.

Great facility close to work. Good amount of equipment and classes range so they are not just focused on losing fat which is not a goal of mine.

My locker was broken into and got $ 80 and my wedding ring stolen from my pocket. Shame on me for not having a lock but no one that works at the gym seems to care. I would just expect employees to at least pretend they care about their paying customers valuables for an expensive gym like this. All that I was asked was «did you have a lock» to push off any accountability. Someone from the cleaning company was behind me when I put away my belongings. I am assuming it was this person as they most likely are fully aware no cameras are in the locker room. I asked the gym if they could ask the employee that was cleaning the room at the exact time and was told there are too many workers and they don’t know who it would have been. They offered nothing to help.
The gym is nice don’t get me wrong. Parking sucks. It’s the things like this where you would hope the employees are there to help but aren’t that ruins an overall experience.

Terrible. Where do i begin? (1) A specific personal trainer was recommended to me because of my back issues. Several months later, the same lady that recommended him told me i was with the wrong trainer (she is no longer there). I think it had something to do with her wanting to give the business to someone else. (2) The yoga studio is very cold and drafty over the winter — impossible for your muscles to warm up. I did not want to get hurt so I spoke up a few times. Nothing. Its an injury waiting to happen. (3) If you ever have an issue and need to speak with a manager, good luck getting a call back. They cycle through management like crazy. Revolving door. There is someone new in there. (4) shopping bags, purses and inappropriate clothing and shoes on the treadmills/​gym floor. Again, an accident waiting to happen.

I got a flyer and check them out last week. Be prepared for a hard sell if you go in. A little like buying a time share in the Bahamas. They will offer a discount but only if you sign up the same day. Very high initial fees. I’ve experienced better.

Yesterday, I was in the sauna with another member and talked about how great the Johnson Fitness Centers are and how lucky we are to have them now in our area. I enjoy the flexibility of being able to go to any of the centers.
The owners have been generous with soaps and spacious surroundings and excellent building materials. Well done!

My major complaint for this gym are the weekend hours, I find the 7pm close too early. Also, the child care closes even earlier on the weekends. In addition, they have «summer» hours for child care where it becomes even more inconvient to work out with kids in toe.

Far and away, the best gym/​health center I have ever seen.

I am a 2 year+ member here and have mostly rave reviews of my experience so far.
I primarily joined because I needed an early AM workout during the fall & winter to take the place of outdoor running. I began taking the 5:45AM classes (and there are actually multiple choices at this hour) and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I began to really gain the physique I had always wanted, conveniently just months before my wedding! The members are an extremely friendly and committed group of people and will keep you on task (i.e., asking you where you were on Monday when you decided to snooze in). The instructors are at the top of their game — extremely knowledgeable, dedicated to their attendees’ health and motivational.
Through RWJ, I discovered all sorts of workouts that I wouldn’t have tried on my own — boot camp, yoga, Spin, swimming, etc. I don’t spend a lot of time on the machines, but for the most part, they are usually in great condition. One of my gripes is that the fitness center has a paltry number of tv stations available through their tvs — not entirely motivating for getting on the treadmill.
I also love bringing my daughter to the Parent & Me swim class — although it’s an extra fee, it’s one part music class and another part baby swim. So much fun. I also plan on using their childcare once she gets a little older (huge convenience).
The locker rooms are extremely clean and have numerous large lockers for all of your gear. The showers are usually well maintained (at least early morning) and are not the flimsy gym showers one might recall from their high school days. It really felt like my home away from home.
Prior to my membership, my running routine would go through lulls — I can say that I rarely miss a class and most of the members are pretty much the same way. I won’t even buy a smart phone, but find that the fee is a totally justifiable expense due to the results. Helpful hint: watch the sales process that RWJ follows — it is negotiable, contrary to what your «counselor» will say.

Clean facilities, knowledgable and helpful trainers and staff, well maintained equipment, huge facility, great café.

I switched over to here from the New York Sports Club even though I had a sweetheart deal there. The level of service in the RWJ Center is excellent as they make that the centerpiece of your membership. The free, regular meetings with the staff nurses or trainers are helpful to anyone trying to fix themselves up, and the bulk of the people I see in there are people that attend regularly. If you’re about free weight stations and hard core bodybuilding you’re probably better off at a Gold’s or something similar since half the gym floor is filled with cardio equipment. There are (mercifully) few grunters in the free weight area, but there’s no shortage of trainers. For parents, there’s monitored children care area on site (you can monitor the camera feed of your kid while on your bike or treadmill), and there’s a decent sized pool and saunas in the locker rooms as well. It could use a few more weight machines and rowing machines, but it’s clean, and the people are nice.

I joined this gym on a whim because they sent me a promotional card in the mail to the house I had just moved in to. It is amazing! The staff is friendly, the group exercise classes are abundant (over 120 of them each week!) and the personal trainers are amazing. As part of your membership, you get to meet with a trainer every 6 weeks to give you a new workout plan. In addition, you get to meet with a nurse every 12 weeks to give you your body fat composition, hydration levels and general fitness overview. I loved going there and sadly, I moved up north so I had to discontinue my membership. I paid a student price monthly and a pretty large start-​up fee but in my mind, it is totally worth it if you want personalized attention and to feel like you belong to a family. Also — the gym doesn’t smell like a gym. I encourage anyone to go check it out! I wish I could still go! Much love for RWJ Hamilton.