Our daughter had a guest pass so I went to her gym, Bally’s Total Fitness with her. It was the worst gym in which I can remember being! I was given a very short tour with no hard sell. I was told that I could come as a guest four times a year. I was also told that I could join for $30 a month.
There is at least one other Bally’s in Los Angeles which is closer to where she lives; however she is locked into a 3-year contract so she can’t leave this retched place. Bally’s is located at 700 South Flower in the Macy’s Plaza at MCI Center. You can reach them if you dare at (213) 624-3933. I got in for free after leaving my license with a guy at the foot of this very large complex. I wasn’t sure I would ever see my license again but I got it back after assuring one of the salespeople that I wasn’t joining.
There are some pros so I will write this review in a pro and con style. As I wrote this I went back to add the following: This sounds like a fantastic gym but the few cons far outweigh the pros.
Pros
It’s large (2 floors) with so many pieces (hundreds) of cardio equipment that you won’t ever have to wait. We were there in the afternoon but my daughter has been there at all times and always gets a machine. All the cardio machines have televisions.
There are two areas for cardio equipment. The cardio equipment was in good shape with names such as Life Fitness.
There is a large abdominal workout area downstairs and some machines upstairs. The downstairs area has balance and stability balls.
There are large screen televisions everywhere; an area in which to sit and an area with decent looking food, snacks and smoothies; and a large clothing department.
There is a huge pool with two hot tubs.
There is a track that my daughter started out on. It runs around Bally’s so the runners don’t interfere with anyone else.
The free weights are down stairs with names such as Hammer Strength.
There is a kickboxing area.
Cons
There is no day care. I was told when asked that I could drop of my kid at Macy’s. I think I was misunderstood and perhaps there is a child care center nearby.
The facility is institutional looking. There is no warmth at all. It reminds me of probably one of the first gyms built in my area (for men but women were welcome) circa 1981 that was housed in a basement of a warehouse.
The locker room is large, very simple and very old. Someone was cleaning it but I still didn’t want to touch anything. There is no place to change so many older women were walking around nude.
The steam room and sauna were old and looked dirty.
The coin lockers are rusty.
Parking is validated but you will still have to pay a nominal amount in a lot or try to get a parking space.
Other thoughts:
So is that all I have to say negatively about Bally’s on Flower Street? It seems petty. After all some gyms don’t even have locker rooms. The entire atmosphere; however, was seedy. I held onto my things while I was on the machines. This wasn’t just my perception. As I said my daughter wants to leave and one of her colleagues suggested she just eat the money. This was the first gym in which I’ve been other than a 24-hour gym where there were security cameras.
