Equinox

Great customer service when you join. I found the staff to be friendly and helpful at first. Then it started going downhill, the gym schedule is erratic and the customer service spotty.
It’s been like the 7^th circle of hell trying to get assistance on the phone. I called to get a statement for my work reimbursement plan. Some snotty guy on the phone wouldn’t connect me to anyone who could help and promised to have someone call me. Never did. After a series of mishaps I decided to cancel my membership when it expires next month. When I called attempting to arrange it, the person I spoke with told me I either had to come in person to cancel, or go to the Post Office and send them a certified letter. Are they serious? As in, let’s make it so difficult for you so you cannot cancel. Dante’s Inferno. When I asked to speak to the manager, I was told «That’s what you agreed to in your membership contract. There’s nothing you can do to change that.» On top of that, he never sent me the statement I requested and the manager never did call me as was promised. (Every time I had called asking the speak with the manager they told me he was in the restroom. Poor guy must be seriously ill.)
My 5^th phone call seeking help I was finally transferred to Ryan who was great and helped me out entirely. Too bad it was too little to late. (Find another company Ryan!)
After paying $ 170/​month for a year, I didn’t expect to be treated like I’m dealing with the DMV. This place is a bad joke. Cannot wait to move on and put my gym money elsewhere. All the eucalyptus scented towels in the world can’t make up for crappy service.

Everything about this gym is top notch — friendly staff, motivating instructors and well-​kept amenities.

Continued unsolicited SPAM emails from Kyle Slavin,
, have ensured that I will never patronize an Equinox gym.
I have asked Kyle multiple times to remove me from his over-​eager solicitations. He assured me that I would no longer be contacted. I have received at least four or five new messages since. Are you guys really that hard-​up for new clients?

This place is a rip-​off. They do not tell you that your membership will INCREASE every year. For $ 175 I expect my own TV screen on whatever machine I am working out on and I also want to choose the program I want to watch. If I wanted to watch a sports channel on 5 overhead screens or CNN on four overhead screens, I can walk across the street to LA Fitness. The machines are out dated nor are they regularly sanitized. The yoga classes are overcrowded and the class I went to the instructor failed to ask (1) my yoga level and (2) if I had an injuries SHE should be aware of. That’s irresponsible. Yoga classes (and the gym for that matter) should be FRAGRANCE FREE. I don’t want to breathe in toxic cloyingly sweet perfumes which worsen when the room heats up. And don’t members know how to shower and use a bar of soap? So, they provide Kiehl’s — is that really a selling point? The pool staircase is dangerous and is rarely wiped down. Beware — you could slip. Surely out of my $ 175 membership fee Equinox could afford rubber caps on the staircase (s)? The staff and trainers act with such superiority when one considers they’re working in a gym!
Until I moved jobs, I went to a private gym everyday in Brentwood: complimentary towels and toiletries, my own TV screen and 36 channels to choose from, a cleaning lady who swept the floors and wiped down the machines the entire day. The staff new my name. The trainers offered free advise if they saw you doing something wrong. The machines were current. And it cost a fraction of Equinox.
Don’t waste your hard earned money on this overrated establishment unless you have money to burn and you need to be seen.

This is the closest EQX to me and I really enjoy it! The front desk are happy folks. The retail shop has a nice selection compared to other locations. The layout is also interesting because there’s a few flights of stairs. You need your own lock for the ladies room. The views at this location can’t be beat and it’s never really busy which I appreciate. I admit I don’t come here during peak hours so maybe that’s why I can always find a machine. While the pool is smaller than West LA, it’s never really crowded between 2 – 4 or Sunday afternoons. There’s also a good mix of folks and no one hogs the equipment or slams weights. It’s a similar vibe to the Downtown LA location. The group fitness room is oddly shaped (long rectangle) and the class selection isn’t the greatest. The parking is free for 2 hours with validation. Make sure you check the time or else it jumps to $ 28.

If you are over 45 just know that Equinox does not give a sh_​_​about you. They can not be reasoned with and do not care if you stay with the club. They have quite a following and those of us who are «over-​thee-​hill» do not promote the image they want to exhibit.

This place is basically my second home. I love all the Equinox’s but this is my «home club» and definitely has my love.
I’m here every night after work — so clean, great people, this place keeps me motivated. I’ll never work out anywhere but at an Equinox.

I don’t really care about price so much as I care about value. I don’t feel $ 170/​month of value here. Let me explain why.
I’ll start with the good. It’s air conditioned. It’s very clean. Parking is slightly annoying but is free for two hours.
But those should be requirements of Any gym – not a luxury gym. Also, for all their luxury, they have Barbasol shaving cream in the locker room. You know, the stuff you’d buy in middle school to spray on each other on the last day because it was absolutely the cheapest shaving cream of all time? That’s your luxury gym toiletry product. (They also have watered-​down Kiehl’s in the showers, and I admit that it’s still nice.)
They don’t have many weight machines; per their own staff, they try to get you to do form-​heavy freeweight exercises (squats, bent-​over rows, deadlifts) that are more likely to require personal training. There are considerably more machines (and a greater variety) across the street at LA Fitness, although you exchange them for a working air conditioner system. God Westwood LA Fitness sucks.
The Equinox pool is nice, but it’s only two lanes. They have an odd rule that only two people can share a lane – or this is a «rule» that has emerged among the clientele. In any case, the total occupancy of the pool is FOUR. This is a busy location and it’s frustrating to go for a swim workout at your $ 170 gym and not be able to get in the water because four other people in the entire Westwood/​UCLA area had the same idea as you, but got there sooner.
My first comparison is David Barton in Century City. That gym also has two hours free parking, is clean, is air conditioned, and actually has more machines than Equinox despite having a smaller footprint. It doesn’t have a pool, but like I said it’s a crapshoot whether you can get in the pool at Equinox. The thing is, David Barton is about half the cost of Equinox. You’re basically paying extra at Equinox to use a pool you can’t use – which means it is significantly overpriced.
My other comparison is LA Fitness Playa Vista. That gym has two hours free parking, is clean, is air conditioned, has more machines, AND has a six lane pool in which you can swim probably four to a lane. They don’t have free toiletries in the bathroom, but it’s THIRTY dollars a month. So you’re paying SIX TIMES AS MUCH at Equinox for BARBASOL.
No.
PS: They refer to it as a salt water pool, but that just describes the mechanism by which the pool is chlorinated (electrolytic separation of water containing salt – NaCl – to create chlorine). So it’s not like swimming in a lovely seawater pool. It’s a chlorinated pool. The Kiehl’s products don’t remove the chlorine from your hair, so you’ll still need to bring your own Ultra Swim shampoo.

Overall I like the gym but more and more I am getting annoyed by their hours, especially holiday hours. The gym already closes early at 7 on Saturday and Sunday then even earlier during extended holiday weekends.
This year for thanksgiving, the gym has reduced holiday hours extending through Sunday.

I can’t even describe the feeling of soothing, cooling eucalyptus towels on my balls after a workout.
But I’ll try: «Oh! Ohhhhh. Ooooooooo-​aaaaaaah. Yeah. Yeahhhhhhhhhhh. Now that’s the ticket, olé’ chap.»
Kudos, Equinox!

I wanted to start Thanksgiving day out right… With a great morning workout so I could justify that extra piece of pumpkin pie later in the day. Luckily, equinox provided just the tools.
This has been my regular gym for a while now. They have a juice bar, a store with surprisingly cute athletic clothing, a pool, spa and all the other standard gym equipment.
The staff is always smiling, friendly and eager to help.
I find the layout of the gym a little vertical and spread out, but overall they offer everything I need to get my sweat-​on.
I usually do cardio, abs, arms and a bit of stretching. I’ll occasionally swim.
For $ 200 a month, it’s a high price but I love knowing I can work out at almost any equinox in the country and I’ll be guaranteed a certain level of gym with clean showers and nice equipment.
Plus, now I get that extra piece of pie!

I love this place. It is palatial relative to the Equinoxes in NYC that I’m used to.
It has a serene pool for laps, a great spin studio with great classes (bring your own shoes though or you have to use the little strap-​in things which kind of suck), a great yoga studio with awesome instructors, and two floors of equipment. The women’s locker room is nice and it has a steam room and Keihl’s products, which are great. They also have cold eucalyptus-​scented towels which are very relaxing.
I come here just about every day and usually take a spin or yoga class or swim. The trainers are also great (shout-​out to Frank!) and everyone is friendly.

Convenience is key and this club offers just that considering i work in this building. Such a pleasant experience to be able to get some laps in and take a warm shower then literally take an elevator up to the office. Convenience along is a five star.
I had to sign up at the Pasadena location for the all-​club access since Westwood does not offer the all-​club access that includes Irvine and literally every other club. I travel often so i need my access without any reservations.
The price is a bit of a sting but well worth it if you have a business and want to network. Definitely a great place to build clientele and this location is perfect!
The staff can be friendly but again they are focused on business as well and at times can overwhelm you when you want to get a quick workout.
I often use the open room to do some basketball drills (the best workouts for my athletic frame) and haven’t received any slack for doing so just yet so thats another plus.
Overall great gym with just a few minor qwerks that can be over looked thanks to the spectacular view.

I recently moved back to LA (so, 7 months a year not 3 months as for the past 5 or 6 years) and desperate to lift weights and steam. Unfortunately, my «All Access» 205 /​month from New York’s 63^rd St location doesn’t allow me to go swim at West LA (formerly the Sepulveda SCLA, the first location of the club that eventually made its way back to New York). I also can’t go to Century City. It’s 275/​month if you want a truly all access pass. (I froze SBAC, so will save 110 with the 25/​month freeze, but love Westwood so much I don’t intend to upgrade.)
As long as I was here only 3 months a year, I didn’t need an LA club. I could walk outside and do my own strength training at home. But now I’ve that left Santa Barbara (yay) and living full-​time in my two favorite cities in America, I need to be going to a gym regularly, not just swimming at my mother’s pool or walking at Will Rogers State Park. The pool looks tiny in the pictures and by CA standards, it is both small, shallow, and narrow.
But for a little pool with two lanes not really shareable, it’s exquisite. The temperature is *perfect* and if you don’t mind turning around a lot (90 lengths to a mile it looks like, though I didn’t see a sign and none of the people I asked seemed to know), it’s a gorgeous space. The views throughout this palatial, multi-​story club are probably the best in any LA health club. I am told that after 6:30PM this club is absolutely deserted as it mostly serves the offices in Westwood and the high-​rises on the Gold Coast, whose inhabitants are probably not late night exercisers.
The ceilings are high everywhere and you can see the mountains as you lift and do cardio machines. I gasped when I walked in, as no pictures I’d seen do it justice. I posted a 20 picture album on FB calling it «palatial.»
The locker room is *much* nicer than SCLA. They did a truly crappy job of updating it when Equinox took over and it looks as it did in the 1990s. But Westwood has no jacuzzi and the West LA jets are top notch. As someone with dance injuries and tennis elbow, I am really bummed that Westwood has no jacuzzi. The steam room is good, though, and the cold in the shower is really cold so you get some of the therapeutic effect of a cold plunge (63^rd Street on the Upper East Side is the only Equinox in any state with a plunge – see my review for more on the history of the Barbizon hotel on Lexington).
When Equinox took over SCLA, they updated the women’s locker room and attempted to fuse the SCLA and Equinox décor, with the result that it looks like neither and reminds me of houses that put on addition over the garage that looks like a box glued onto the main house. This is a truly beautiful space with much more luxurious showers, dark wood lockers and sea green tiles. Very peaceful and zen.
The trainers are happy to help a New York member find machines and the desk people are extremely friendly.
There is one and only one flaw: the AWFUL old Precor elliptical machines. They need to replace those stat. I have seen and used many models and this is without question the worst. One made funny noises. It’s hard to adjust and the movement is awkward and bumpy.
Happily, the new treadmills are the best I’ve ever used. You can even do a New Zealand guided run if you chose. I don’t run but the special technology (I forget the name) makes you feel like you’re walking on air.
And outside is a grassy area you can stretch but not smoke. Vaping seems to be fine and one guy was smoking in front of a «no smoking sign.» I love people like this and we had a nice long conversation about obnoxious LA anti-​smokers.
This club makes me so happy to be back in my hometown over half the year. It’s enormous (though smaller than West LA) and you can relax and read or write in one of many common areas with comfy chairs. The music is much quieter than the New York locations, which is also nice. Members are smiley and attractive. This has to be the happiest club I’ve ever been in LA.

I was sexually harassed by a personal trainer here who I paid a lot of money for. They promised me a refund for non used sessions (even though I barely went, and they should be giving me a refund for all) and I spoke with the manager in person about that. Well the refund NEVER happened and I’m disgusted with the lack of concern this company has for sexual harassment of clientele. If all I can do is write a review to get someone to notice me then I will.

Equinox used to be amazing and the facilities speak for themselves. With the rapid expansion, the quality of customer service had declined rapidly. With the expansion, it’s not surprising to see the membership price go up successively every month. Which if you can afford it, is a small price to pay. Mid 200s per month will get you access to all the Equinox membership.
With the expansion the quality of managers and representatives have gone on a steadily decline. The West LA branch itself had had in the past 6 months, the sacking of several managers and representatives. In all honesty, one could assume that could be a nice change. However, the result is, managers and trainers who are not even familiar with clubs own policies.
This is with regards to the WesTwood
The facilities themselves are worthy of a 5, so why the sudden decline? I figured I’d hire one of their «personal trainers» 6 months ago. The trainer himself would flaked on three separate sessions. When I brought it up to management, they informed me that the so called trainer is no longer working there.
As compensation, they claimed they would credit me the lost sessions. So during that time, they paired me with a new hire, who also stayed with the club less than 3 months. So then they paired me up with another trainer. Finished the sessions, never got compensated for the lost sessions. I said whatever.
So I had good results with training. So I said I’d do another 24 sessions, 12 sessions with Trainer A and 12 sessions with trainer B. After I made the purchase, the trainer informed me that trainer B also quit. I said whatever. I’ve worked with trainer A before, so I will just complete me sessions with Trainer A.
After one session, trainer A then informed me that he got a «promotion» and that he will no longer be working at the club. So I signed up for 24 sessions with two specific trainers who will no longer be available. I requested that I get refunded my money back since I had signed up with one specific trainer. Their response was «Equinox under no condition will refund the money»
I emailed and called management for 2 weeks, back and forth phone tags. The assistant manager responded ones and then stopped responding to all email and phone messages.
This is the kind of service you get for being a loyal member for 2 plus years, you have the monthly fee going up each month, I’ve witnessed the changing of managers and trainers, high turn over. Now, I won’t get a refund of my money. I suggested if I could possibly at least work with three other Trainers. Their response, they are too popular and they are all taken at the 6 am slot.
This organization does not give a damn about their clientele and I’m stuck in a situation where they won’t refund your money, (despite the fact that their own trainers quit, «promoted», moved.)
Then you are left with new hires, and they won’t even let you pick any other trainer of your choosing. So I signed up and paid for a tier 3+, and they wanted to pair me with tier 2 or tier 1 trainers. For the same amount of sessions.
I never realized to what extent this organization has rapidly declined. Their practices are very alarming. In the past two months, I’ve easily seen a loss of 6 trainers, and 5 managers…
The facilities are amazing, the lockers are clean. But be very very careful with the Westwood and West LA locations. There is a dramatic decrease in quality and huge drop in customer service. More importantly, the manager does not even reply or respond to emails.

They should have a written policy posted or distributed to customers that if they run out of equipment in the class (e.g. VIPR), people can not take the ones in the training rack/​area.

The evening VIPR class is popular. So there was a time I borrowed a lighter VIPR from the training rack and returned it back after the class. Then one evening there’s this female trainer who stopped me. No one is using the DARN thing! It’s just sitting there. So I talked to their manager and he agreed with the trainer. I pay top $ at this gym and the company keeps on increasing their fees as years go by and bragging about all their investments and improvements.
Well, what a way to de-​motivate someone who fought traffic to get there looking forward to a good VIPR work out but only to be told you can substitute dumbbells instead? Really? There’s a reason why it’s called a ViPR class!
I don’t know if this is just Equinox Westwood policy. The point is— have all the members be officially informed. Post a sign and/​or send an email informing us!

ENVIRONMENT
This location is on many more levels than most locations, but if you’re here to work out, it works out. Same features as most locations, Earthbar, shop, spa, eucalyptus towels, studios for classes,
BUT THIS LOCATION HAS A POOL. Just plan on sharing a lane, or come really early or late if you want to swim alone.
CLASSES
TREAD AND SHRED
Justin Rubin — This class is one of the hardest at Equinox, but Justin is a great motivating instructor.
YOGA
Alex Dawson — the best Yoga instructor at Equinox. She’s cool, relaxing, and once played an instrument that that nailed the vibe.

I’ve been a member for almost 8 years. With an all California pass, I’ve been to most of the Equinox gyms in the southern California area: South Bay, Palos Verdes, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, Downtown Los Angeles, Marina Del Rey.
I typically come in before work. You usually run into the same 5am crowd. Pretty dedicated bunch as I still see them at the gym even after almost 8 years.
Parking is in the structure next door, validated for 2.5 hrs. Walking from the structure and into the gym, you’re hit by the sweet smell of eucalyptus steam. I’m assuming it’s the locker room exhaust vents. When you first walk in, you’re greeted by an Earthbar which has some very tasty shakes.
First Level: Front desk, membership offices, and the lower gym (cardio, boxes room, stretching pad, cycle room, and some machines), Kids Club
Mid Level: Two lane pool with bathrooms
Top Level: Locker room, Pilates, yoga studio, free weights, lots of machines, multi-​purpose cardio room, stretching area.
Out of all the Equinox locations, this is the cleanest. Locker rooms are close to spotless and have a clean eucalyptus smell with a hint of steam and chlorine. It may not be the largest out of all the locations, but it’s the cleanest. With the new locker room renovations, it’s only gotten better.
Maintenance workers are continuously vacuuming, dusting, and wiping off the mirrors and machines. Free weights area on the top floor is adequate with space for about 5 benches, two squat racks, plenty of machines, tread mills, rowing machines, and bikes. I’ve rarely needed to wait for a squat rack to free up, but the free weight benches do get crowded during peak hours.
One of the most impressive pieces of equipment that they have: An olympic platform with padding, olympic bars and bumpers! The padding definitely makes the sound of dropping weights bearable in such an enclosed space, especially for people on the bottom floor.
I’ve taken a couple yoga classes here, but the view from the studio windows is not that great: a parking structure and cars. The studio is long, length wise, which makes it a little challenge to watch or hear the yoga instructor demo a yoga pose.
What’s interesting is that each Equinox location has a different atmosphere/​feel. Clientele mainly consist of older professionals (lawyers, doctors, business), some college students, and the typical gym DBs.
Cost isn’t that bad considering I take an average of 3 yoga classes a week, and usually shower here before work.
Overall, 5 stars! Thank you Equinox.

Equinox DTLA is my home gym but went here once and would never join this location. It feels very dated, does not have the new and fresh vibe other locations have. This locations needs a remodeling.
I found the layout strange. The second floor has 2 cardio areas separated by a weight training area. Why not have it all in one area like the BH or DTLA location? My treadmill was practically falling apart, I had no space to put my phone or water bottle, I was shocked.
Now onto the locker room… BH and DTLA have lockers with automatic locks, super easy I don’t have to bring a lock. This location doesn’t have this. So I just hoped and prayed no one would steal my bag as I worked out.
One positive, I found the trainers to be very helpful. I asked one trainer for ankle weights which they did not have HOWEVER he showed me a variety of exercises to do and made sure my form was correct. I appreciated that!