Bally Total Fitness

The only reason I come here is because I live so close by. Otherwise, I would pick a cleaner, more well-​maintained club to frequent. The club is nothing spectacular, but it has everything that a person would need to get a good workout. The main problem area is the lack of maintenance. The bathrooms are a joke; the showers, more often than not, are either not working properly or the drains are plugged. Cleanliness should be a main selling point of any gym, but not at this place. I’m not sure how they pass the health dept. checks.
Oh, and most of the people that go here are nice and friendly; I’ve made several friends here. If you go in the evenings, not only is the place super crowded, but you get your typical teenage cocky «wanna be» tough guys strutting around trying to impress.

My workout this morning was my worst ever. Treadmill machine.3 broken. 1 has a sign that it is out of order (its been out of order for over a week now). I jumped from 1 treadmill to the next but both made loud banging noises. The men’s locker room was extremely filthy. I hope another gym opens up near my house. So frustrating.

I have been a member here for about 18 months or so. It is a simple basic gym with no bells and whistles and gets some points ONLY because it is less than ½ mile from my house. My company pays for this so I can’t really complain about value for the dollar.
PROS:
Friendly members and Bally workers
Early hours during the week. opens 5:30 AM
CONS:
Saturday and Sunday not open until 8 AM
Equipment is very old
Bathrooms are filthy
Management not very caring
There are many better than this for sure.

Everything is good, but the woman’s locker room… GROSS!!! They need a cleaning crew there from the time they open till closing… Please! Please! Clean that place… I’ve never seen such filth…

I used to come to this gym when their spin instructor, Melissa, was teaching. She’s been gone for awhile. So I come here when I happen to be driving from Cerritos/​Hawaiian Gardens area. And when I don’t feel like running around my neighborhood. It has an indoor track, so one star for that. I guess I’m just trying to put my all access to Ballys location to use.

I have to say — This is not the first gym I have belonged to. I certainly only joined here because it is literally 2 blocks from my house. I dont have to deal with the parking situation. which is always horrible.
The trainer I am working with has been fantastic. He is the main reason that I have continued to frequent this Ballys.
The gym is small… yet. the employees seem to always be friendly. and for the most part. helpful. The indoor running track is a very nice touch.
The one thing that I have a MAJOR complaint about. is the lack of maintenance to different aspects of the facility.
The steam room in the men’s locker room does not work. This will be a breaking point. At the end of my membership. I will not be renewing because of this. Since I have been a member here… It has not been working. How can you have a gym with a pool, hot tub, cold tub. and a BROKEN STEAM ROOM?! Really?
I certainly hope that management reads this. There is nobody at the gym around 9pm when I am able to go.
The only other thing that I can really complain about is the fact that it opens at 0530. Do they not realize that people have to be AT work by 6? This does not leave any time for a morning workout. Please consider fixing your facility, and opening an hour earlier. These things would go a long way to making. at least THIS member, very happy.

Came here on a 7-​day guest pass to try-​out this gym. Here are my thoughts…
Pros:
Location.
Friendly staff that doesn’t hard sell their memberships &personal training packages.
Cons:
Super tiny, cramped.
Old equipment, that are usually broken entirely or don’t work correctly.
Hard to get on a machine after 5pm weekdays. Doesn’t help that most machines are needing repair.
Weight selection seriously lacking.
What’s up with all the older men wearing jeans to the gym?
Tips:
Avoid bathrooms at all costs.
Afternoons or weekends not as crowded.
Overall:
Better than NOT going to the gym; however, there are MUCH better options out there.

Out of the 7 Ballys I been too this ranks 6^th. By far the one in Downey is the best except that it can get crowded. 2^nd is the one in Costa Mesa and third is the one in Tustin. The only thing good about this place is it doesn’t get as crowded and it has an indoor track.

I’ve had my membership with Bally’s over 20 years, I only go to this Bally’s because it’s close to my house. Place is filthy, in order to save money, Bally’s fired all their cleaning crews. Someone now comes in a few hours a day too wipes down the machines and pick up trash. You never see anyone mopping floors or shower areas with soapy water or cleaning stuff.
This Bally’s is too bad for me to even give it one star, but I had too because Unilocal would not allow me to post.

I havnt been to any other public gyms besides military facilities so i dont have much to compare with but this gym is kinda grimy most of the time. There are times when its cleaned up but its pretty rare. I ve been coming here since march 09 and i like it even tho its not that clean. It has all the weights and machines i need plus a dry and steam room a pool and a large spa and even a cold dip… i love the cold dip rite after using the dry sauna. It gets pretty crowed and smelly sometimes but hey its a gym used by many sweaty people. Juss finish off with a nice hot shower and get over it.

I only go to this location because it is close by but if I happen to be in the area of another Ballys, I always prefer the other one!
This location is dirty. I literally saw poop smeared on a toilet seat! Gum left in the treadmill water bottle holders and a dusty workout room are just to name a few more things.
The staff in general is not very friendly or helpful either. Ive let them know on numerous occasions about the condition I had found certain things in and nothing ever changes.
The people who go here are mostly very old and on a daily basis you see people working out in jeans or slacks and even sandals!

I’m currently using the 7 day pass. I didn’t really have much interest in joining the gym since I’m only home here for winter break. I just signed up since it was free and I just wanted to gym somewhere while home.
This gym has a decent amount of equipment and everytime I go I can get a cardio machine. But this place is SO CRAMPED! All the machines are pushed right up against each other and there aren’t really aisles between so it’s not that easy to walk around.
Also personally I feel uncomfortable working out with old people because I always feel like they are staring at me. And most of the people that work out at this location just seems to be a creeper. I don’t know whether I’m being vain or not but that’s just how I feel.
But something that I thought was cool was that there a small track upstairs that you can run around. I think thats kinda cool especially for someone that doesn’t like to run on treadmills.
I say check it out if you want to do the 7 day pass but I would NOT recommend this place to be your permanent gym!

Not the best Bally location, but it’s the closest one to home. It’s a lot smaller than the rest. Has a kid’s area. Everything I need to workout is here, but regardless, I would like a bigger gym. As far as Bally goes, this one is pretty average, besides that it is a very small facility.

Actual conversation heard in the locker room this afternoon:
Cute girl in a workout outfit: this place is disgusting
me: tell me about it
Why on earth do people keep signing up here and why on earth do I keep coming back? Yech.

This is the place I go to run off everything I write about on Unilocal.I used to have a membership at LA Fitness and have gone to 24 as somebody’s guest. All in all, I will say, yes, those gyms are better than Ballys. Equipment-​wise, size of the gym, parking, other fellow gym members, cleanliness, etc, etc they’re all better than Ballys.
However, one thing that I do appreciate from this Ballys is the close location to my house, the cost of a membership blows both 24 & LA out of the water, and they have a track. I don’t know about you, but running on a treadmill can get pretty boring and start to make you feel like a hamster running on one of those big spinning wheels.
The staff at the Del Amo Ballys are all really nice and friendly. I’ve also had a trainer here before named Will, he’s an Asian guy with spikes. I consider his training method to be reminiscent of those ‘Insanity’ workouts you see on those infomercials. He’s really great at what he does and its no surprise why he keeps getting promoted and why his prices continue to increase.
So unless I have to I wont be changing gyms, but then again I will have to soon since I’m moving. :/​
It can get pretty packed here, especially from 4−8PM, but if you’re able to like I am, come here anytime before 4PM and you’ll beat the crowd. Although you will be working out with a bunch of senior citizens, so just don’t try to use the bathroom too much, but if you do… try to look straight ahead without really «looking» or you’ll be left with some slightly disturbing images.

I used to go to this gym about 2 yrs ago. Funny thing is a live 1.5 mins away from is (Across the street from Artesia High School) and i would still drive to this location.
Parking here sucks.
Gym is real small. This place is more for people that want to do personal training.
peak time is usually 5pm-​8pm.
I would consider this one of the cleanest Bally’s i’ve workout at next to the one in anaheim (near angels stadium)
I left this gym due to the retarded contract deal they offered me back in 2006. ($ 42 a month, back then that was month to month unless you get a 3 yr contract from $ 6 542 194 545 495 dollars, unlike now)

I came to Bally’s yesterday on their 7 day trial pass… and I won’t be returning. I was expecting an extra grungy gym from reviews but the main floor room was actually clean – perhaps it helped that there was a woman walking around the gym cleaning all of the equipment and machines. However, the cleaning seemed to stop at the main floor room.
Flaws?
–There are only 6 televisions or so, placed in the middle of the room. And they’re placed quite a distance from the machines and the screens are somewhat small, so that it’s hard to make out what’s going on on the screen.
–There aren’t many machines… AT ALL. Something like 14 treadmills, 6 ellipticals, 8 crossramps, etc. Most of the machines are old too. This is no bueno and I hate to imagine what this place is like during peak hours… yikes.
–The pool area didn’t look clean, and judging from the smell of the pool room, the water was actually OVER chlorinated.
–I felt dirty coming out of the sauna room (didn’t look like it had been cleaned in awhile) and nauseated sitting in there from the chlorine fumes that wafted from all the old women coming in from the pool. sick.
–Women’s restroom/​changing room/​showers. OH. EM. GEE. GET A JANITOR! SO GROSS. I’m talking dirty walls and pubic hairs everywhere. I even complained about this to a staff member and they acknowledged and agreed that the women’s restrooms did need to be renovated/​cleaned/​etc and that they were «working on it” — my ass.

I cannot add on much to what has already been said, I came here from early 2005 to early 2008. I recently used a guest pass because I need a track to run on. Plus its convenient locations in LA, OC, LB near freeways and plenty of parking.
Machines are crowded, sometimes you have to split reps with people after waiting to get your workout done. If you come Sunday or Saturday morning you should find open machines/​weights much easier, less crowded running track and lots of space to swim.
I had no idea of the cleaning staff being let go, back in 2005 – 2008 I remember seeing people in bathrooms and showers cleaning.
in 2005, thier running track helped me slim down to my ideal weight, and now in 2009 looking to do the same, so I may be back if they offer the right deal. Otherwise, I may seek other gyms.
other than that, this gym is ok.

I like this location! You don’t need to make an appointment for childcare which is a great!
But there arent enough machines and the machines seem out dated compared to the ballys in Downey (which I LOVE!!!).

If you’ve got a BTF membership to any location and you’re in this area… well let’s just say that you’re better off going to Downey or even North Long Beach.
It’s been around for a long time (used to be Holiday Spa back in the day), and it pretty much looks like that there haven’t been any renovations since the day that it’s been built. Okay i’m kinda exaggerating. The actual size of the place is pretty small with a small selection of both free weights and machine weights. Also the amount of cardio equipment is pretty sparse compared to the other locations. If you go at peak hours, its usually a bit of a wait to get a machine. The women’s locker rooms are on the border of horrendous, and a lot of the actual lockers are rusty, dented, and some of the loopholes for the locks have been ripped off. Also, the «mandatory workout towel» policy seems to be nonexistent here.
I will, however, give the club an extra star for the class instructors because they’re actually pretty good. Well, at least the ones that you don’t have to pay for!
The Downey location is brand new and HUGE, but there’s just so many people there, its just as much as a bust.
Go to 24 hour… you’re wayyyy better off there.