Lifetimefitnes club (Dallas, Plano, Garland: amusement park, YMCA, school)

[need2bfit]

Any experience with this place? Would you recommend it?

[mikestrong]

Originally Posted by need2bfit

Any experience with this place? Would you recommend it?

It is an absolutey outstanding health club. We went there for 2 years. Its just real expensive for a family membership. It was about 179 a month. We changed over to the YMCA. 59 a month for family membershipt. Not as fancy, but I can get my workout in, and my eleven year old can play volley ball and basket ball on their leagues.

If money, is not an issue then go with Life Time. You will love it. The Allen TX club is fantastic.

[nsumner]

They have a very good reputation in DFW. As Mike said, they are pretty expensive though. If you're in the Plano area, check out Gold's Gym too, they are just as expensive and very nice.

Naima

[ClarenceBodiker]

Lifetime is really nice and has a lot of equipment. It's definitely my favorite big box gym. As mentioned, it's a bit pricier than 24 Hour Fitness, L.A. Fitness, and so-on. A gold membership for a single-person is roughly $65 per month, $80+ for a Platinum membership, and, I believe, $109 for a single Onyx membership. They also have a cheaper Bronze membership, but it will only get you into the North Dallas club which is west of the Tollway on Trinity Mills Road. Unless that location is the most convenient for you and you won't use the other clubs, a Bronze membership is useless. The types of membership don't have as much to do with what you can do at a single club as much as which clubs you can visit. North Garland, Colleyville, and Flower Mound are all Gold Memberships, so you need at least a gold membership to get into these clubs. Allen and West Plano are Platinum clubs. The one Onyx club is the Lifetime Athletic located by SMU and Mockingbird Station. You might be surprised that none of these clubs are too different from each other in what they offer. The Onyx club has a better cardio room, a boxing area, and more hot tubs, but that's about it. They also serve alcohol at their cafe, although I find a high-caloric buzz a little useless when you're trying to workout and lose weight. The Bronze Club is a little smaller and only one story. Not much else too different about them.

Tennis courts are available at some clubs like Plano (if I'm remembering correctly) and Colleyville. Others like North Garland have a soccer field in its place with some caveman/strongman training equipment such as a heavy tire, sledding tires, and kegs to throw.

Overall they're very nice. I really enjoy that they have a lot of activities for members of all ages and ways to be involved. They go above and beyond simple cardio classes involved at a lot of clubs. Staff to member interaction is great. The BIGGEST problem with these places, and depending on which club you're at the enforcement varies, is the lack of supervision of minors running around the place. Children aren't allowed in the child center once they turn 12, and at that point parents will just let the kids run free. Often I'll see the same children there all different hours of the day leading me to believe parents just drop their kids off to keep them out of their hair. I don't want to generalize every child, but a lot of them leave behind destruction and filth everywhere they go and are only there to goof around like it's an amusement park or something. Lots of other members have complained, and the staff might go as far as having a word with the kids or their parents, but in the end nothing really ever changes. That is my BIGGEST problem with Lifetime Fitness.

[BigDGeek]

I'm a member of the Mockingbird Station location (aka Premier Place) and it's OK. For what you pay I think it's a bit of a ripoff.

Sure it's nice having TVs on all the cardio equipment and the place is absolutely SPOTLESS. The locker rooms even have carpeting and you don't have to bring your own lock, your own towel, even your own mouthwash. The facilities are very very nice. However it's not $90/month nice, not to me anyway. Also I find that I'm injuring myself on their weight machines and the trainers aren't very helpful in giving quick advice...nooooo, they always want you to book a session.

The staff are also usually extremely courteous and pleasant. I haven't seen kids running around unsupervised but that may have everything to do with the times of day I usually visit the place.

That being said, I'm about to cancel my membership there and go back to scruffy old 24 Hour Fitness. It's cheaper, more conveniently located, and I don't feel like paying all that extra money for the extra bells and whistles...most of which I do not use or can live without.

But it's a very nice club.

[ClarenceBodiker]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I'm a member of the Mockingbird Station location (aka Premier Place) and it's OK. For what you pay I think it's a bit of a ripoff.

Sure it's nice having TVs on all the cardio equipment and the place is absolutely SPOTLESS. The locker rooms even have carpeting and you don't have to bring your own lock, your own towel, even your own mouthwash. The facilities are very very nice. However it's not $90/month nice, not to me anyway. Also I find that I'm injuring myself on their weight machines and the trainers aren't very helpful in giving quick advice...nooooo, they always want you to book a session.

The staff are also usually extremely courteous and pleasant. I haven't seen kids running around unsupervised but that may have everything to do with the times of day I usually visit the place.

That being said, I'm about to cancel my membership there and go back to scruffy old 24 Hour Fitness. It's cheaper, more conveniently located, and I don't feel like paying all that extra money for the extra bells and whistles...most of which I do not use or can live without.

But it's a very nice club.

True, a lot of trainers aren't going to give you a second of their day for free. Being rude is not a very good way to build a customer base, IMO.

And, yeah, I wasn't really thinking about the Mockingbird location regarding kids. I think the fact that its not in a suburban location, more expensive, and a little more difficult to just walk in off the street helps the Mockingbird club. Go hang out at the Colleyville, Garland, or Plano club regularly after school hours and it's a different story.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

True, a lot of trainers aren't going to give you a second of their day for free. Being rude is not a very good way to build a customer base, IMO.

And, yeah, I wasn't really thinking about the Mockingbird location regarding kids. I think the fact that its not in a suburban location, more expensive, and a little more difficult to just walk in off the street helps the Mockingbird club. Go hang out at the Colleyville, Garland, or Plano club regularly after school hours and it's a different story.

I believe you; I've never been to any other location but places like that in the 'family friendly' areas of town are usually lousy with unattended/poorly supervised children.

[Debsi]

My girlfriend belonged to Lifetime and loved it. I think she quit because of the price.

[momof2dfw]

We've been a member of LifeTime for about 5 years. It's really nice and even our kids have liked it. It's always super clean, friendly staff, etc and I have not had a problem w/ the running wild unsupervised children and this is at the Garland location.

[MurphyPl1]

When the one in Garland opened up, I looked into it. It was too pricey for what I was looking for. But if I had kids at home, I probably would have pulled the trigger. It reminded me of having a club membership - not just a gym membership, but more like an activity club where the kids could hit the pool, I could layout, workout, we could climb the rock wall, etc.