24 Hour Fitness

1261 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA

Address:	1261 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
Phone:	+1 831-454-0333
Site:	24hourfitness.com
Rating:	3.3
Working:	Open 24 hours Open 24 hours Open 24 hours Open 24 hours Open 24 hours Open 24 hours Open 24 hours

Location

Photos 17

Reviews 4

Near Nova

24 Hour Fitness in Santa Cruz is finally closed for remodeling (30 Sept. 2015 to 15 Oct. 2015) - and tented today (fumigated) to rid the vermin (termites, rats, lice, roaches). This review is based on the past three years. The facility has had no face lift since its opening 23 years ago (and most of the equipment was used when the building opened in 1992). I understand that they recently renewed the building lease from the property owner, the Canapa family. 24 Hour Fitness plans to increase cost to the "super sports" level - aprox. a 40 % increase in price once they reopen - with no added amenities, maybe a few new pieces of equipment? - the walk in rack rate will be $54 per month. The Costco 2 year "sports" level was priced at $369.99 ($15.42/month - the former club price) and the "super sports" two year price at Costco is $649.99 ($27.08/month - the remodeled club price). The Costco deal is listed as "new members only", but that has not been enforced at the Santa Cruz club in the past. I doubt that they will enforce a change as I was told that the local Costco was selling $6,000 per week of 24 Hour Fitness memberships just at the Santa Cruz Costco store, most likely more $$ in memberships than they were selling at the local 24 Hour Fitness. I was told that all the people that contracted a membership years ago for $99.99 per year will not have any changes and that there would be no change to the silver sneakers program - but best to confirm this information with the local club and to confirm that the Costco membership can be used more than once, before purchase (as the documents state for "new members only"). Santa Cruz 24 Hour Fitness had sunk to the lowest level of quality - and had been a horrible environment - with mold growing on all the walls - locker rooms that looked and smelled like dungeons - and a complete lack of basic gym etiquette by a small number of members that made it hard for all the others wanting to work out. The local staff was kind - but had no authority to do anything. The club was a like a homeless services center with people camping in the parking lot and living in the fitness center. The local county health department inspected the pool on a regular basis but did little to get the company to clean. The club frequently ran out of soap for hand washing - and would run out of toilet paper. No surprise as there are over 10,000 members at the Santa Cruz club with 2,000 - 3,000+ people using the club on a daily basis! There was only part time cleaning with no complete cleaning - ever. The locker rooms were so bad, most people refused to enter. As 24 Hour Fitness plans to increase the price - there will be an expectation that the remodeled facility will improve. Cleaning should be based on how many people use the place, not on some corporate formula that does not factor in that the Santa Cruz building is old with several small areas. Bottom Line - if you have 3000 + sweaty people using a fitness center EVERY DAY - hire more then one FULL TIME cleaner! Air handling systems need to come up to code - and there needs to be some air circulation - so that the mold does not grow on all the surfaces. How about using some AIR CONDITIONING when the temperature / humidity is high. How about enforcing basic club work out etiquette, like do not drop weights, or destroy equipment? Do not scream and scare people when you lift weights. Do not do your drugs or sell drugs in the fitness center! Hard to follow? Anyone agree? I have my doubts the place will change after the newness wears off - and will update this review in a few months. I want to be optimistic, but I am realistic. Good Luck if you use this facility!

Anonymous User

Simply intolerable. I signed onto 24 hour fitness just a month ago because Im a swimmer. Its cramped, dirty, and the staff is not personable. The swimming pool is too cold and the hot tub isnt even hot, not to mention they never clean the locker rooms. There is a huge clot of hair and snot over every drain in the locker room. Its gross. And if you think their hygiene is gross, wait until you find out how they treat their members. At the beginning of this month my credit card got stolen. I canceled the card, then called the gym right away to inform them of what happened and they reassured me that it was no problem and I could just bring in my new card when it came in the mail. So, I waited for the new card and in the meantime they froze my account and threw on a $15 late fee (mind you the monthly rate is $30). I asked to speak to a manager and explained to them that I had already contacted the gym and was reassured that the late fee would not be added and she was utterly rude to me and refused to lift it because it wasnt "gym policy" no matter what the reason and the grace period that my signing contract had was recently revoked. I thought it was unreasonable so I canceled my membership and Im not going back. Oh and once you leave they NEVER leave you alone. They call you every day, but with a automated machine so you can never tell a real person to take you off the call list. If you call the number back you cannot talk to an actual person either, so you have to just put up with them harassing you until they eventually stop.... still waiting for that. Do yourself a favor. DONT GO TO THIS GYM!!!

Anonymous User

If you go in the early to late evening, youll notice the mens locker room is usually filthy--it seems there is no clean up schedule past 8pm or so. I wish theyd install those mats with holes in them that allow water to drip through, putting you above the actual floor. The layout of the weight room is horrible and needs a feng shui treatment: equipment is placed w/o thought to traffic flow and spacing so you must navigate all kinds of tight twists and turns to reach the other side while quite often mindless gymbots are working out right in the ill defined pathway. My final complaint is about the behavior that is tolerated there by staff and members: a small number of folks do not put the weights back, a couple guys scream as they lift weights (unpleasant, even with an I-pod on), some members very slowly stride down the ill defined pathway with weights in both hands, pretending they are not in any ones way. The staff is friendly which is nice, but my experience is often negative due to the lack of cleanliness and the behavior that is tolerated there. I have talked with management, both onsite and in southern california, but nothing seems to change.

Emily Boland

I had never joined a gym before picking 24hr. fitness and chose it because no where else seemed to offer a pool on site, anyways....I was going pretty regularly 3x a week for a while, but finally got over it after a few different incidents. 1.) when using a piece of equipment upstairs a bolt fell off of it from somewhere, so I brought it to the front desk and no one seemed to know what to do about it (slightly disconcerting), a Few days later I went and used the same piece of equipment and noticed that the seat was totally loose and that it could swivel. NO one had even replaced the screw, or another one had fallen out, again I notified the Front desk and no one seemed too concerned. 2.) the showers there are pretty gross, someone had knocked a soap dispenser off of the wall and it sat on the ground for over a week, also the drains were so plugged up with hair that the shower would slowly fill with water, until you were ankle deep in stagnant soapy (someone else s hair) water. Otherwise it was fine, but youd think with how many members it has that the corporate office could approve a few updates. I mean the equipment is literally falling apart.!