Equinox

I love equinox I was a member of the south beach location for a year and transferred/​renewed my membership to this location. To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. The weekend welcome staff isn’t welcoming at all. The locker room maintenance team makes you feel like you’re an inconvenience if you’re in there past 6:30(Saturday/Sunday they close at 8). I left a flat iron over night at one of the vanities and one of the attendants took it to the front desk where never to be seen again. Juice bar closes whenever they want, posting paper signs with inconsistent operating hours «today we’re closing at 5». These are things I would expect from PF paying $ 20, not equinox. I have never felt more foolish as I do when I pay this ridiculous membership fee every month. Looking into Boston sports club.

I have been a member of this Equinox for 6 – 7 months. During my time I have also been to clubs in CA, IL, FL, NY and NJ while travelling. Overall, this club is pretty good. The long-​term training staff are very friendly. There has been high turnover of some of the new trainers but the quality trainers are sticking around. Overall the gym has great ‘stuff’ overall, but can get a bit crowded/​is a bit small during peak times.
Pros specific to this club:
1. Outdoor terrace in the warm months
2. Sauna and steam for men. (Apparently women don’t have sauna, what the heck?)
3. Some good esoteric machines and gym paraphernalia such as the glute-​ham raise, stretch bands, a good set of stretching/​mobility equipment, a sled, an unlocked TRX (sometimes findable)
4. The trainers and sales staff that have been around are very good. Some of the new ones, not so much.
Cons specific to this club:
1. No sauna for women
2. No auto locks in the locker rooms
3. No hack squat machine
4. I like the new black boxes but wish they kept the sturdy metal boxes as well.
5. No neutral grip barbells (see Avery St location)
6. Sometimes hard to find the loose TRX
7. PACKED during rush hour, and getting worse
8. Only open until 10PM, not 11 like Avery

Before you do anything go to Sara, she is the best at what she does and will take the extra time to really help you get you started here.
She stayed an hour after she was off the clock just to help me get settled and she is such an amazing person!
I love the diverse classes here, the yoga seem to vary and so check out as many different types you can to see what works best for you (vinyasa and power yoga seem awesome) it’s kinda sad that they don’t have Bikhram yoga but they have classes that will make you sweat just as much and a hot steam room! :)

I visit Boston every few weeks and was staying near this gym and wanted to stop by for a work out. This was my first time visiting this Equinox. I went by tonight around 9:50pm and I wasn’t sure if the gym was closed or not because one of the entrance doors was locked so I gave a call. The girl at the front desk was super awesome and walked me through how to get in (spoiler alert: the other door was unlocked!) and actually stayed on the phone with me until I came inside. Then walked me through where to go once I entered the building. Not only that, but I was greeted with a smile and when I apologized and mentioned it was my first time coming here, she was so kind and say «no problem» and «welcome!».
This is probably the best customer service I’ve ever gotten in my life (with the exception of when I get stuff for free). No joke. Something you only see in the movies where the person on the other line says they’ll stay on the phone to make sure everything is fine. Not only that but I was greeted by a super friendly human being when I arrived at the front desk. She was very patient and just really helped me out. Thank you!
The gym itself was pretty spacious compared to the Equinox gyms in NYC. There weren’t a lot of people there during the last hour and the locker room was clean — which is always a perk. The smaller towels were a little hard to find (I found them by the treadmill on the opposite side of the free weights) but nothing to really complain about. All the weights were stacked, the benches are in place, and there is plenty of room to work up a sweat.
A++++ for customer service. A+ for the gym.
Thanks for helping me out tonight, kind person that picked up the phone and checked me in.

Caveat Emptor — I’ve been a member of Equinox Dartmouth (signed up at Financial District) for about 3 years. Previously I was member in Orange County, CA. Equinox Dartmouth does a lot to gain new members, but once you’re in, the honeymoon is over… they know that you’re locked in for a year. Right, I’ve been a member for longer than a year and am free to go, but where? Gyms in Boston are sub par… no competition in the high-​end gym market. Lifetime, when are you coming to the city? Renaissance Clubsport, thinking about expanding to the Northeast? CA has lots of competition, so the gyms do more to keep you.
Management makes changes based on… I have no idea, e.g. app sign up for classes. So, you had to get to the gym 30 minutes in advance to sign up… that means 30 more minutes to workout. Isn’t that why you join a gym… to workout. Now you have to sign up 26 hours in advance (10 min window before full) and you can cancel 35 minutes before the class. So, you sign up just in case, and then cancel, but at least you saved a spot. If you miss the window, you can take a chance that you’ll get in by showing up 30 minutes before class (old system), but if there’s no space, there are no more classes for the day… SOL.
There’s an exodus of top talent instructors… have lost 3 since I’ve been a member. Three more left… you know who you are… hope they don’t leave as well. They keep me hanging in there.

I’ve been a member of Equinox for many years and, as I travel constantly between NY and Boston, regularly use this location, as well as others in both cities. This is by far the worst and, for me, it has nothing to do with how nice the staff is (they’ve always been very nice), how difficult cancellations are (haven’t had to do that here) or the availability of equipment (they mostly have what I need). What makes this place disgusting is the condition of the men’s locker room. Who cleans this place? It’s absolutely disgusting. The floors are always dirty; the toilets are as bad as those at Penn station — always filthy, always hair and other things all over; the showers reek of urine EVERY TIME;… Such a stark contrast to other Equinoxes, where an emphasis is put on cleanliness. Poor mgmt? Not enough cleaners? Both? This place is gross!

I scheduled an intake with a 3^rd tier trainer today (Very expensive), got my 8 and 9 y/​o kids ready and showed up when I was supposed to at the gym. I waited in a specific area as directed by the front desk person (who doesn’t smile). My trainer was late. I flagged down a person who looked like they worked there and they said they would find out what happened. 70 mins after the appt time, I sought out a «manager», who delegated to another «manager», to reschedule me with another trainer and give me a free trainer session. I didn’t feel like anyone really owned the process and frankly didn’t really care.
For those of with you with kids above toddler age, the kids club is a joke. There is nothing to do in the tiny room loaded with infants and todlers. Kids 5 y/​o and up are going to hate it. Today, there was one attendant with about 13 kids in the room. Looked pretty crazy and very loud. I spent a lot of money on this membership, so plan to stick around. But day one didn’t go so well.

Terrible, just read the other reviews they are correct. Nightmare to cancel membership, don’t get locked in here. Gone are the days of poor service Equinox, we are holding you accountable. Don’t join this place, unless you enjoy regretting your decisions. Shape up Equinox

Corporate gym. Going here is like working in a big bureacracy — it has everything you need to get the job done/​workout, but is very impersonal and at times combative towards its own members. The hours are among the best in Boston, a city which lacks 24 hour gyms. Most of the personal trainers are nice people and professional, but some may push their services aggressively and can dominate the equipment — so one has to push back and let them know when they are encroaching. The front desk personel are almost always friendly and helpful. The management staff are also courteous and friendly. Perhaps the most annoying daily encounters at this gym are with the maintenance staff. They are actually very nice, friendly people, but they have no training nor instructions from their management to be customer aware or that the overarching goal is to keep customers satisfied (perhaps that is not their overarching goal — which would explain alot).
Overall, a decent gym because of the lack of competition, but not a place where I feel welcome or even look forward to going if it weren’t for my friends working out there. I’ve experienced much better gyms in other cities, but for Boston its still among the better ones.

I will start off by saying I joined this Equinox and have been a member of other Equinox’s for the studio classes. I also use free weights, but for me you pay for the classes. I also workout in the AM so this is based off attending early classes… not including spin.
Cons: traditional barre and trx classes aren’t offered. The variations that they offer are not anything like a traditional barre or trx class, mostly because they aren’t equipped for it.
The instructors are so inconsistent. Some show up late, some you can tell are just reading a script and some are just plain lazy (ie not motivating or helpful). I’d say 80% of the instructors fall into this category.
The bathrooms are never kept up during prime time. Towels are not always available… which is totally unacceptable when you are paying this much.
Pros: nice workout/​free weight space, so it never feels busy. Lots of cardio. Machines are generally clean. Front desk people are always so friendly… that goes a long way for me.
I’ve been to other Equinox’s and this one just doesn’t seem to cut it for me at this price.

Update since I joined 4 months ago!
Cons:
–Yoooo baby, your towel game weak these days. Please toss out the yellow ones, they’re gross. Also, there are stains.
–New members are sloppy & mad disrespectful. Don’t walk into the yoga room with your shoes, purse, & your phone on. THERE’S A LOCKER ROOM & SHOE CUBBY. I am glaring at you, fyi.
–On the new members thing, I’m pretty new myself, but the showers were cleaner when I first used them a few months ago. Now there’s just shaving cream everywhere, hair all over the walls, & razors aren’t thrown away. Look wealthy people with a lot of disposable income, I get that a lot of you probably hire a maid to clean your house – which is completely fine because I personally hate cleaning the bathroom, but I’d rather spend that money on food – but please don’t forget how to clean up after yourself. Throw your razors away. Grab your hair & toss it in the trash. Wash off the shaving cream you managed to paint the walls with. YA NASTY.
–Smoothies downstairs are expensive. Yo, if I’m going to pay $ 165 a month for one gym, I feel like I should get some free juice or smoothies once a week or something. Or at least pay a discounted rate because I’m a gym member. I know they’re probably not associated with Equinox, but gosh man, I bet most of their customers are Equinox members!
Pros:
So, I’ve taken a lot of classes since I joined & I wanted to point out some of the instructors to my favorite ones. I mostly take yoga classes, because sometimes I’m just not ready to get my butt kicked in Tabata.
–Bathroom locker area isn’t really small to me. It’s a good size. The one at Marino is really large, but it’s also gross, so… yeah.
–Unlimited classes, so no additional fees. If you wanted to dedicate your entire day to taking all their classes on X day, you pretty much could. Although there’s like a 4 hour gap, so take that time to leave the gym & live your life.
–Really nice greeters! I love coming to Equinox.
–KIEHL’S, YOU GUYS, KIEHL’S. IT’S THE BEST. My hair… my poor damaged hair, is just so beautiful after I take a shower at Equinox. Thank you, Kiehl’s.
Classes:
–Yoga classes with Adena & Sarah are my top 2 favorites. Adena’s class is more intermediate to advanced, so if you need to be challenged, take her class. Also, if you don’t work up a sweat in her class, you’re just doing it wrong. Sarah’s class is more beginner to intermediate, with the flexibility for advanced poses. Arm balances, y’all! Their classes have roughly 10 – 12 people in them on average. They’re both very hands on, so they’ll help you get the most out of your poses if it looks like you’re not being challenged enough.
–I thought I didn’t like Vito’s class at first, but I’m wrong. I enjoy his class & I like that I strengthen different muscle groups with his class than others. Get there early because it’s one of the most crowded classes. Like, max capacity amount of people.
–Not the biggest fan of Ian’s classes, but again, if you don’t work up a sweat in that class, you’re doing it wrong. It’s challenging & a little too quick for beginners (intermediate for sure). The pace is more stressful than soothing & the class gets really full. He’s really energetic though.
–Rachel’s class is quickly becoming a new favorite. I also thought I wasn’t a fan of her classes, but I gave her another go & I find that it’s really good if you’re looking for a more laid back, relaxing, yet challenging class.
–Alyson’s class is nice. I enjoyed taking her class & I’m very thankful whenever she corrects my poses. Great for beginners to intermediate level yogis.
–Amy’s class is perfect for beginners & first timers. The class is 1 hour & 15 minutes long. I took Josh G. to this one because it’s the easiest one of the bunch & he felt like he was in physical therapy all over again (this is a good thing though).
–Dan’s class is also really great. He’s crazy though, as in crazy good. Watching him do these advanced poses is hilarious, mostly because no one else can do it & he just does them like it’s as simple as walking. It’s both a relaxing & challenging class.
–Pilates with Megan (teaches in the afternoon on Wed & at 5:30) is my favorite pilates class offered. It’s traditional pilates, so you’re not doing ridiculous dance moves. I do wish she’d put some music on, but it’s not a dance class.
–Core Synergy with Josie is great!
–I took one Tabata class. It was awesome. My ass = kicked. I need to go another one, but I just… look I’m not ready yet, okay? Please don’t judge.
–Elimin8tor: not that bad! Would probably do it again & it’s actually fun. Definitely will work up a sweat & challenging, but not as challenging as Tabata.

I joined EQX early in 2015 after coming over from BSC. I joined fully aware that this is an expensive gym.
The membership experience is different than that of other gyms I have joined, you are assigned a «membership coordinator» which, make no mistake is a salesperson. Their job is to sell you your 1 year commitment. As in all sales, everything is negotiable, so do what you can to negotiate. The good thing about htis coordinator, is that they are assigned to your account to manage for the duration of your membership. Traveling to another city for a weekend and want to use that city’s Equinox? Ask your coordinator to get you on that gym’s «guest list».
The gym itself is very spacious, and there is a LOT of equipment. 3 different sets of dumbbells (up to 120’s), 2 squat racks (with deadlift platforms), 1 smith rack, 4 flat benches, 2 incline, 1 decline… countless precor (plated and pin ones). They also were very smart and have an area towards the back that is very open and encourage people to do walking lunges, rope work, etc… in that area as to not take up space on the other area of the floor. They have a very large spin room, yoga room, boxing room, pilates room, and a immense fitness studio. All of which you can take classes, or use the rooms when a class isn’t in session.
All the cardio equipment is in tip top condition. I think I have seen something out of order ONCE, and was fixed the next day— treadmills, treadways, stairmills, ellipticals, bikes, rowers and pretty much anything else you could think of.
The locker rooms are pristine and are constantly being cleaned by the «Maintain» staff. Tons of large, fresh towels, and anything you might need to be ready for post-​gym. (Razors, deodorant, q tips, hair spray, blow driers, and even mouthwash) There are both a steam room, and sauna, and about 10 large teak bottomed «rain fall» style shower stalls equipped with Keihl’s products. The locker room even has a ‘lounge area’ that has a TV and newspapers should you want to relax for a bit after your workout.
EQX has trainers… .everywhere. Sometimes it feels like there are too many of them sometimes, but they are all friendly and are willing to lend a hand (or a quick spot if you need one).
I go about 5x week, and perhaps that is to feel like I am getting my $ 160/​mo worth… but hey, if thta is what keeps me going… great.

Unbelievable. There’s plenty of space to work out, always SO, so clean, and the class instructors are amazing!

I have been a member of high end gyms, AND THIS ONE IS BY FAR THE WORST.
— classes are not impressive. I would rather go to core power yoga, soul cycle, and pure barre for my classes.
— the bathroom/​locker room is TINY and usually over crowded.
— I am not kidding when I say that the towels are DISGUSTING. They are small white bath towels with gross stains. They are gruff, scratchy, and grainy. No one towel is the same shade of white. It is truly embarrassing for them.
— THEY WILL NOT RESPOND TO YOUR EMAILS unless you contact them multiple times. Even the manager.
— The people who work at the front desk are not particularly nice.
— IT IS TINY AND THEREFORE CROWDED AT THE NORMAL WORKOUT TIMES.
— They will do everything in their power to slow down the cancelation process. EVERYTHING.
Truly, when I say this place is so below the standards of the nice places I go, I mean it. If you sift through these ratings you can see they have advertisers for the gym rating multiple times to bring up the stars (example: Tiffany b). Why on earth would you pay 160 $/​month for a 3.5 star rated gym? I wouldn’t pay 60 $ for it. If you’re looking for a real, clean, respectful, well kept, worth the price gym though, go elsewhere. If you don’t believe me, join for a free week. I’m sure you will be far from impressed.

The best equipment, trainers and locker rooms in Boston. Never crowded like the other gyms even at peak hours because of the spacious design.
I cant imagine attending another gym after this one.

Let me preface this review by the fact that I’ve been a member of Equinox since 2010. Today, after a 5 year relationship, I broke up with Equinox. Why? The first reason is cost. I just could not in good faith justify paying $ 160/​month for what that gym offers. In addition to being sky high already your price will get jacked up every 12 months, on the dot. They claim that it’s to «keep up with the highest standards of service» This year their price hike was justified by «an addition of HDTVs to the floor» (why do you need HDTVs in a gym?), «fastest wi-​fi so you can watch videos and listen to music» (again, this is a gym! I don’t love Netflix that bad!) and «state of the art fitness monitoring system that sync with with Apple Fitness» (I have an Android and I am pretty sure I am not the only one). I will admit that there are some decent classes but not all (e.g. every yoga class I’ve been to sucked, despite a really fancy studio space). The «improvements» they claim to make are gimmicky at best (e.g. fancy rowing machines that get used for 10 mins in 2 classes) and no significant improvements have been made to either the locker rooms or the fitness equipment since I joined. The floor is ok but the equipment is about the same as you’d get at any decent gym. There is no pool. The girls locker room doesn’t have a dry sauna and the wet one is broken half the time. The locker rooms are not always clean and the floors are ridiculously slippery all the time (and that’s with the staff always hovering around). I am honestly shocked that someone hasn’t slip, hurt themselves and sues Equinox ass off.
But hey one might argue that since I’ve been willing to pay for all of this for the past 5 years I shouldn’t be complaining now. Touché. Except… I am moving to a new city. The said city doesn’t have an Equinox gym. I’ve been out of contract with Equinox for the past 4 years. So I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to cancel, right? WRONG. Even though I am moving to a place with no Equinox gyms they are refusing to waive the 45 day cancellation policy. For someone who has been out of contract for 4 years and your customer for 5? For someone who is moving across the country to a city with no Equinox gym? You got that right. And no, they can’t do anything for me, like maybe offer a gift certificate for the store or the SPA or something! Nope, we are just going to take your money. With that level of customer service you are not creating any goodwill.
All in all Equinox is the Mercedes of gyms. Full of pomp and fake prestige with no value.

I absolutely love this gym. I make a modest amount of money and was stunned at my behavior when I allowed myself to get roped into joining here at $ 165/​month. Here’s why I’m ok with it…
I have belonged to about 5 gyms in my time. This gym has EVERYTHING I could want, except for a pool. I wasn’t about to pay extra to use the other location that has one, I’ll live without it.
The facility looked sparse to me at first. Once I started working out there I realized it’s because it is designed to give you lots of room to do what you need to do, they do it on purpose.
Locker rooms are super clean and well stocked with excellent products and towels, razors, q tips, hair products, everything.
One of my favorite things is that you can use any of the group fitness rooms (spin, yoga, general) when there are no classes is there. I used to teach spin so I love to use that room by myself.
Staff is excellent. Only gripe is the prices of private training. OMG. Holy sticker shock. I’ll stick to my own workouts and group fitness

Immaculately clean, incredibly friendly staff, decent amount of space. It feels like an upscale hotel gym, which can be good or bad. They have a ton of classes, with a handful of really good ones (Chad’s, for one).
Note that the tile surface in the shower area is incredibly slippery, and I’m pretty sure the tiling they used is not rated for flooring. Bring flip-​flops. The steam room is a joke: its the size of a closet. In the end, these are minor gripes… Equinox remains, for better or worse, the only decent option in the South End/​Back Bay area.

I think that this equinox is probably not as high end as the others. I have done it all here from spin to yoga to Bootcamp and boxing and think that they could step it up. I have just fallen in love with spin and the equinox instructors are making me hate it. All of the male instructors are terrible. None of them know spin at all and they are very annoying. Richard is loud, obnoxious, and bashes other instructors. Jeff is not very motivational due to his size and tries to run more of a Broadway show than a spin class. He is loud, sings old songs, and doesn’t know the words. He barely ever hops on the bike to ride. If you want a good spin class shandell is the way to go.
Their bathrooms and products are nice but the staff hovers. They have so many staff in the bathroom that you feel smothered.
The boxing class, BootCamp class, and Pilates is pretty good. My personal trainer Alexis was awesome.
They would do much better hiring better staff to meet the caliber of the institution and the cost of going.

I visited this Equinox while in Boston for a wedding. I’ve been to six or seven of the Equinox outposts in New York… as much as it pains my New York pride to say, this one beats all of them hands down.
I was shocked at the amount of floor space. It just keeps going and going, from the cardio machines through the weights area and the stretching mat, around a hallway to a huge back room with fully stocked kettlebells, therabands, etc. There’s the usual short supply of power racks and other more serious weightlifting equipment, but that’s pretty standard for Equinox (except for one in NYC, which I’m keeping to myself). Along the wall are doors to an enormous patio, where there’s equipment to do various bodyweight exercises on sunny days (something that’s a true value add, and not something I’ve seen at any of the New York outposts). The locker room was large and clean. And, during the middle of the day on a Saturday, there were maybe 15 – 20 people there!
Eagerly looking forward to trucking my sneakers and shorts with me on my next trip to Boston. Wish this one was in NYC!