The good and bad hotel fitness

PrettyandPolished

I plan on doing a lot of traveling for my company this year and I'd love a thread of good and bad hotel gyms.

I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn in Dundee, MI and the gym was horrible. They had a recumbent bike, a treadmill that sounded like a freight train, and a cross trainer that didn't work.
Plus it was set up to where I felt like a zoo animal on display. Everyone checking in or out just stood there watching me sweat!
They had a decent water park but their pool (which is separate from the park) was dirty and disgusting. It was full of hair and cloudy and it only got 4 ft deep. Not a good option for swimming laps.

Trista87Marie

I can't help with the gyms but I love that your polishes are your ticker picture!!

ww1900

Yeah, it feels like a lot of hotels just have a “fitness center” so they can check that box on an amenities list. Sometimes it’s better just to go for a walk or jog, or do a workout in your room with a video on your phone or laptop.

mdcoug

I've brought my Insanity DVDs with me and also if you google "Melissa Bender," she has probably hundreds of HIIT workouts that are 15-30 min. ea. There is a nice variety on her site. On one trip, I got a really good burn by doing one of her workouts just once and then going for a 1.5 hr. long walk. I wasn't planning to go so long, but I felt good, so I kept going!

Slamdunkpro

I can list 3 good ones:

Luxor in Las Vegas - good sized gym with the usual universal machines + Cardio treadmills, bikes and ellipticals. Big plus for real free weights and a squat rack.

Sheraton Kansas City - Decent - Treadmills and bikes. Dumbbells and circuit (Lifefit) weight machines.

Borgata in Atlantic City - good sized gym with the usual universal machines + Cardio treadmills, bikes and ellipticals.Some Free weights bot no barbells or racks.

Since I've gotten into heavy lifting I make it a point to ask about the gym facilities. In most cases I've been better off finding a close by gym that offers day or week passes.

Bakkasan

The only thing you can count on for hotel fitness is that you cannot count on it. I spent two years on the road for work and stayed at THREE hotels that had anything more than a broken gym station and a bike.

Now the Hilton Dulles had a full Olympic setup, that was an awesome week.

fit4lifeUcan2

Skip the hotel gym. They're terrible. I would suggest bringing your favorite work out DVD and some stretch bands. They weigh next to nothing and fit easily in your luggage. Also go for a run or long walk if you can. Its a good way to get a look at the area you're staying in as well as getting in your exercise. When I stayed at a casino in AC I got up early and walked the board walk from end to end every day. They also had bike rentals so one day I rented a bike and went for a ride instead of walking just to switch it up a bit.

scubabum52

Definitely hit and miss; a lot of the Hilton's and Marriott's have upgraded their workout facilities; I was working in Buffalo, NY and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, they had a good choice of elliptical, treadmill, free weights (dumb bells), and cable machines. I will also carry DVD's (p90x) and resistance bands. I just recently invested in a TRX suspension system; you can get a good workout, but I am finding some hotel rooms do not always have adequate space when it is attached to the door. Another option is to see if they have a free pass to a local gym. The Hilton Northeast in Atlanta had free passes to an LA Fitness right around the corner. My biggest challenge is staying on a good nutrition program. Good luck!!

twoss9112

Yeah, it feels like a lot of hotels just have a “fitness center” so they can check that box on an amenities list.

No, that isn't why.

Each hotel brand, even if they are under the same corporate family, likely have different "brand standards" that they must follow. If a fitness center is not a standard, but it's there because the property used to be a different hotel, then the hotel doesn't necessarily "have" to include updated equipment etc. That's just one example. It also depends on the hotel management, how well it's run, what their budgets for various departments are, etc.

The property I work at, fortunately, has decent equipment. There are always folks in there. My last property had a STELLAR workout center, and it was far away from peeping eyes, in it's own quiet area.

Good news for fitness folks - Intercontinental Hotels Group (Intercon, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, etc) is launching a new brand, called Even... based solely on travelers being able to keep up their health and fitness routines while on the road - including fitness equipment ** IN ** the guest rooms.

http://evenhotels.com/facts/why

glaecia

Echoing what others have said...don't rely on "lucking up" on a good hotel gym. Get accustomed to working out under any condition. Hotel gym sucks? Have a DVD in your bag. Laptop breaks or forgot the DVD? Be prepared to run outside. Too hot/cold/scary outside? Have a "workout" playlist on your phone that you can do you're own choreographed routine to.

For example, my playlist consists of 9 songs that get me PUMPED. During the verse I do one exercise (say jumping jacks) and during the chorus I do another (like squats). Every song works on two muscle groups. I've done it so often that I know the exercises by heart. But before I memorized them I wrote them down so I wouldn't forget.

I'm the kind of person that would use any excuse to get out of working out. Now, when I travel I have NO excuse. There's always a way to get a good workout it.

Good luck!

felipejose74

I'm currently in a high end NYC hotel with no fitness center and it's snowing pretty heavy outside. Thankfully I've got my P90X DVD's with me. Nerdfitness.com did a piece a few months ago on "hotel room" workouts using existing room furniture to perform exercises. It made me realize that there's always SOMETHING you can be doing.