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I am pretty sure they have different levels of membership. My son has a membership at Palm Valley and he pays $50 a month. Except for waiving an enrollment fee (or is it initiation fee?) they are pretty strict about what they charge (in other words, don't count on any discounts). You could always join at Palm Valley and use Scottsdale - I think they are transferable??
The Scottsdale location is a platinum club (the most costly type of membership and I believe it gives you access to any of the clubs). The $90 / month sounds about right ~ since it's already a platinum club you don't really have a choice to level down in membership. The only way you could join Palm Valley's club and use Scottsdale's club without incurring additional fees is if Palm Valley is a platinum club too. If it's a bronze or silver club, then you would have to pay to get into the Scottsdale location every time you walk in it.
Not to be rude but you don't join Lifetime Fitness to save money. That is like someone shopping for a Mercedes and asking to pay Camry prices. It just doesn't work. Lifetime caters to a different crowd so if you are seeking to pay LA Fitness type of prices, it will never happen. Lifetime offers more services and is more upscale but it comes with a price. In terms of Gym exclusivity and prestige in the Valley it goes like this
Most Prestigious ->The Village gyms(Village on Camelback etc) ->Lifetime Fitness-->24 hour Fitness and LA Fitness-->Golds Gym--> Pure Fitness, Ballys, YMCA etc
Your best bang for your buck will be LA Fitness particularly if you work out at one of their newer clubs. The drawback to LA Fitness is the crowd and staff. Since membership is cheap, the clubs are always packed and full of non-professional people. The staff is also often high school and college age kids who are not very mature or professional. The bathrooms are often dirty, the equipment is often out of order and the staff can be rude as they are used to dealing large numbers of people; they are essentially the gym version of the Walmater greeter so they become numb to providing good service.
Does this sound about right for Scottsdale Lifetime Fitness?
I was quoted for a single membership of $89.95/month and they offer no discounts as in corporate or military discounts. Seems pretty expensive considering that price is almost triple the amount you would pay at any other gym.
Thanks
For that type of money per month, I'd be happier at a crossfit affiliated gym.
Not to be rude but you don't join Lifetime Fitness to save money. That is like someone shopping for a Mercedes and asking to pay Camry prices. It just doesn't work. Lifetime caters to a different crowd so if you are seeking to pay LA Fitness type of prices, it will never happen. Lifetime offers more services and is more upscale but it comes with a price. In terms of Gym exclusivity and prestige in the Valley it goes like this
Most Prestigious ->The Village gyms(Village on Camelback etc) ->Lifetime Fitness-->24 hour Fitness and LA Fitness-->Golds Gym--> Pure Fitness, Ballys, YMCA etc
Your best bang for your buck will be LA Fitness particularly if you work out at one of their newer clubs. The drawback to LA Fitness is the crowd and staff. Since membership is cheap, the clubs are always packed and full of non-professional people. The staff is also often high school and college age kids who are not very mature or professional. The bathrooms are often dirty, the equipment is often out of order and the staff can be rude as they are used to dealing large numbers of people; they are essentially the gym version of the Walmater greeter so they become numb to providing good service.
I'm a member of LA Fitness and am very pleased with them. I admit, some of their gyms are newer and have nicer facilities than others ... the ones that I work out at (NW Valley) are very modern and clean, and the staff is very helpful and friendly. LA Fitness offers just about everything you need (well not towels, but it's no biggie for me) ... there are classes for yoga, pilates, kickbox cardio, and others that involve strength and aerobic workouts. I'm sure Lifetime Fitness is more upscale and offers more services, but I'm not willing to pay their high membership costs. LA Fitness suits me fine for $24 per month.
We went to Lifetime and really enjoyed it there. My husband and I were paying I think $90 a month. It's really worth going if you go regularly. Loved their saunas!
24 hour fitness generally has the lower gym membership fees, and you can buy a membership thru Costco cheaper than in the clubs themself. Its either them or LA Fitness if one is watching costs.
I'm a member of LA Fitness and am very pleased with them. I admit, some of their gyms are newer and have nicer facilities than others ... the ones that I work out at (NW Valley) are very modern and clean, and the staff is very helpful and friendly. LA Fitness offers just about everything you need (well not towels, but it's no biggie for me) ... there are classes for yoga, pilates, kickbox cardio, and others that involve strength and aerobic workouts. I'm sure Lifetime Fitness is more upscale and offers more services, but I'm not willing to pay their high membership costs. LA Fitness suits me fine for $24 per month.
That's assuming you can find a treadmill that is available at LA Fitness. That is the catch. It's cheap but guess what, it's also crowded. I worked out the LA Fitness on 83rd and Union Hills in the NW side and you had to wait for exercise equipment and the free weights were always packed and you couldn't find an available bench without waiting for it. It was newer than the one on 59th and Bell but it had many of the same problems.
At Lifetime, I've NEVER had to wait for a treadmill or a stair climber. Their equipment works. They update their equipment often and their treadmills have IPOD jacks and LCD screens. They have multiple televisions with the latest sports on. At Lifetime Fitness, they can't change the television channels in the gym because their channels are fixed to certain channels at their corporate office. That is inconvenient. I remember the World Series was not on one of the tv sets or even football on Sunday. They had CNN, ESPN and NBC on their televisions. At Lifetime, they had 6 different stations playing and the local sports team was always on one channel so if a game was playing, it was on. You don't see steroid freaks in the gym; people are professional. Lifetime has its own cafe with freshly prepared hot meals and sandwhiches. They have three swimming pools. The one in Chandler has tennis courts. You never have to hunt for parking as the parking lot is large enough to accomodate everyone. The person who checks you in immediately greets you and swipes your card; it's not a teenager who is chatting with his coworker and takes his or her time checking you in. The locker rooms are clean, they have a small unisex bathroom for parents with small children who need to take their children to the pool. Each locker has it's own built in security system that works with your membership card so you never have to bring a lock. They have free daycare that watches babies as young as 3 months and they have special divisions within the daycare for different aged children. They have Mac computers and educational devices in them.
In short, you get what you pay for.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 09-29-2010 at 12:34 AM..
That's assuming you can find a treadmill that is available at LA Fitness. That is the catch. It's cheap but guess what, it's also crowded. I worked out the LA Fitness on 83rd and Union Hills in the NW side and you had to wait for exercise equipment and the free weights were always packed and you couldn't find an available bench without waiting for it. It was newer than the one on 59th and Bell but it had many of the same problems.
At Lifetime, I've NEVER had to wait for a treadmill or a stair climber. Their equipment works. They update their equipment often and their treadmills have IPOD jacks and LCD screens. They have multiple televisions with the latest sports on. At Lifetime Fitness, they can't change the television channels in the gym because their channels are fixed to certain channels at their corporate office. That is inconvenient. I remember the World Series was not on one of the tv sets or even football on Sunday. They had CNN, ESPN and NBC on their televisions. At Lifetime, they had 6 different stations playing and the local sports team was always on one channel so if a game was playing, it was on. You don't see steroid freaks in the gym; people are professional. Lifetime has its own cafe with freshly prepared hot meals and sandwhiches. They have three swimming pools. The one in Chandler has tennis courts. You never have to hunt for parking as the parking lot is large enough to accomodate everyone. The person who checks you in immediately greets you and swipes your card; it's not a teenager who is chatting with his coworker and takes his or her time checking you in. The locker rooms are clean, they have a small unisex bathroom for parents with small children who need to take their children to the pool. Each locker has it's own built in security system that works with your membership card so you never have to bring a lock. They have free daycare that watches babies as young as 3 months and they have special divisions within the daycare for different aged children. They have Mac computers and educational devices in them.
In short, you get what you pay for.
What time of day did you usually go to LA Fitness? I mostly work out at the one on 83rd Ave and Union Hills -- sometimes at the one at 59th and Bell --and generally I find roughly from mid morning to early afternoon the gym isn't crowded at all. I can always get a treadmill and the free weights and machines are available with no waiting. But of course, I've seen that the gyms do get crowded in the early morning and evenings during the week ... naturally many people fit in their work-outs before heading to or after returning from their jobs. On weekends I've never found it to be crowded whatever time I've gone.
Lifetime Fitness sounds wonderful if you can afford it. I cannot, but I'm perfectly satisfied with being a member of LA Fitness as it totally meets my needs and I don't experience the same issues you have with it or care about the extra things you mentioned that Lifetime offers. But that's me. Whatever works, I always say :-)
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