Date of Workout: Monday, January 15, 2007
Location: 24 Hour Fitness – Horton Plaza
Arrival Time: 6:00 am
Departure Time: 7:45 am
My first review is of the 24 Hour Fitness at Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego. Usually when I go to this gym (I’ve been a member of 24HF for about six years now and have a smoking deal on my membership) I park in the garage, but today I was able to find street parking on 1st street. And since it was before the meters went into effect I grabbed the spot. As I walked to the gym I saw a couple of shady characters, but that is what is to be expected downtown. I didn’t feel threatened, but nevertheless, you have to be on your guard. It was freezing cold this morning and I expected attendance at the gym to be light. I was right.
After I got through the new Ez-In check-in system, I noticed that there were about a dozen or so people on the cardio machines; I would expect that there would be twice as many people on a normal day. Also, the spin class that started at 5:45 am was lightly attended. That was probably due to the extremely cold weather San Diego experienced that day.
The 24 Hour Fitness Horton Plaza is a big gym. Considered a “Sport” model, this gym features an aerobics room; a spin room; spacious locker rooms (at least the women’s are*); co-ed sauna, steam room and whirlpool; and a large selection of cardio equipment, weight machines and free weights.
So, I stowed my gym bag in locker 74 (the ladies locker room features 99 lockers that you can secure with your own combination lock and 12 lockers that you can pay to use) and hit the treadmills. The cardio area features six tvs usually set to local channels, ESPN, CNN and MTV and the machines all feature that nifty device in which you can plug your earphones into to listen to what is being broadcast. I spent 30 minutes on a treadmill alternating between watching the local morning news and reading the latest Domino.
The cardio area downstairs features:
– 9 Lifefitness Elyptical Machines
– 12 Precor Elyptical Machines (two were out of service)
– 10 Lifefitness Treadmills
– 10 Startac Pro Treadmills
– 10 Lifefitness Recumbent Bikes
– 7 Upright Stationary Bikes
– 4 Stairmaster Freeclimbers
– 4 Stairmaster Stepmils
– 2 Concept 2 Indoor Rowers
– 1 Sprint Torso Ergonomic
Which is pretty great! There is really something for everyone. I prefer the elypticals, but sometimes I mix it up on the stairclimbers or recumbent bike.
Also downstairs, adjacent to the cardio area, they have a nice stretching area where some people do sit-ups. But this 24HF also has a pretty nice ab area which features nine The Abench’s and eight other pieces of ab exercise equipment.
Upstairs, is all the weight machines. They have pretty much everything you need to get a good weight workout in. I prefer to do my leg routine at this gym. They have several machines that work for me and plenty of floor space to do walking lunges and squats. The free weight area tends to get a little too crowded for me and I often feel like one of the big guys is going to drop his 75 lb weight on my feet.
As far as the staff goes, they seem like competent people. I was greeted when I arrived and wished a good day when I left. Other than that my interaction with staff was limited. There was a small cleaning crew working this morning and at times I was annoyed with the vacuuming – sometimes you just need quiet in the am – but good to know that the equipment had recently been wiped down (I can only hope).
After completing my workout, hit the locker room to get ready for my day. I have to say this is by far one of my favorite 24HF locker rooms. It’s huge and spacious. I don’t think I would ever feel crowded or that my personal space was invaded. Plenty of showers with HOT water. The only drawback, especially on a cold day like today, is that gyms never turn on the heat and with the tall ceilings at a 24HF, rooms like the locker areas tend to be COLD. As long as the water is hot, I can’t complain. The shower area seemed clean. No hair bunnies clogging the drains and no mold growing in the corners. But, I really try not to look too closely at the corners. 🙂
The other fantastic thing about the women’s locker area, besides the sink area which featured four outlets, were the two additional vanity/mirror areas which featured eight outlets AND there were four more outlets on the walls thrown in for good measure, for a grand total of 16 outlets! Nothing annoys women faster in the morning than not having enough outlets. We all have dryers, curling irons or hot rollers that need electricity. And sometimes women don’t like to share. But as far as the other women in the locker area, there were none. Maybe one or two other women getting ready. Not like at some gyms where the same six women are there every morning and know each other well enough to ask about families, work or life.
Over all on a scale of 1 – 10, with 1 being poor and 10 being Out-Of-This-World-Fantastic, the Horton Plaza 24 Hour Fitness averages out to a 7.8.
Parking (plenty and free if you park in the garage): 10
Staff: 5 (average)
Equipment Selection: 8 (would be higher if they had this one piece of equipment that I consider a favorite)
Locker Room: 8 (large, spacious with plenty of outlets.)
Cleanliness: 8 (on the surface it looked clean)
* As I’m a girl, all of my reviews will be of the ladies locker room areas. I’m going to make assumptions and generalizations that the men’s locker room areas don’t have any more or any less amenities.
