I currently go to the DOC fitness, it's not super high tech, there's one experienced trainer, use to be a government gym but now I think it's open to anyone. It's 200$ for one year.

I prefer this over any gym with young guys regrouping around machines, watching each other and talking about their glorious weekends.

You can always registered every Tuesday, maybe call ahead to see, but they probably have enough space left for the year. Opening hours are closer to work hours, it's a corner away from my work, so it's the easiest for me.

I go to Premier Fitness at Carlingwood. It's a smaller gym I think, but perfect for myself and my husband. The hours work for our schedule, open 6am to 10pm during the week and 8am-6pm Sat, 9-5 Sun. We got a good deal for signing up together, so it's pretty good. It's also just a 5 minute walk from our house - big bonus! They're like every gym though, wanting to sell you packages, etc.

I should have specified that I live in Sandy Hill and would like a place that wouldn't require long periods of time spend on buses. My current gym is a 10-minute walk from my place.

I've also heard a lot of bad things about Premier Fitness... http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2011/01/07/con-marketplace-gym-complaints.html?ref=rss

I have heard about some people having a rough time cancelling their membership there. I will however say that my membership there has been good. I haven't had any issues. They try and get you to purchase personal training sessions during your fitness evaluation but that's pretty normal. That sucks that some people have had a rough time, but like I said, I've not experienced anything like that.

I'm a Goodlife girl, simply because it's convenient. There are two that are halfway between work and home, so I go to whichever one is more convenient that day...usually at one particular location though. I agree that it is overpriced, but again, because of the convenience I pay the regular monthly rate. Some of the staff is nice, while some are chatty and unprofessional. BUT the machines are decent.... all told I love that fact that you can go to any one in the city with one pass.

I just joined Greco. My wife has been there for about 7 months. It is expensive but it is a really good workout. Each class is instructor led and it is set up like circuit training.

I used to go the the Jewish Community Centre (you don't have to be Jewish to go there), but they were closed for all the Jewish holidays and from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, which was annoying for me. They do have a nice pool, sauna, steam room, gym, gymansium and squash courts though.

My job has since required me to leave by 6:45 a.m. and I like the option of working out early in the morning, so I searched for a new gym. I ended up joined Snap Fitness, which has gyms in Westboro, the Glebe and Kanata, with more opening. You can go to any one of the gyms and they are open 24 hours. I pay $49 per month, but I could pay a bit less if I paid a year in advance.

I like their equipement (it's their own brand) and there's always free equipment. I love the excercise bikes as they are the Expresso ones, with a video screen where you can follow the course. You steer the "bike" and when there are hills on the screen the bike acts as though you really are going up and down hills and you can change gears as you need.

I also ran into your problem with getting a free fitness assessment and the sales pitch. The trainer was really quite nasty when I said no. She even had the nerve to ask me how I would stay motivated without a trainer!

The only other downside is they don't have showers. I prefer to shower at home anyway.

I go to Goodlife, it's my favorite. I've had memberships at other gyms when I lived in another city but am very happy to be back at Goodlife. I usually go to the HuntClub/Merivale location or the Strandherd/Woodroffe one. I am addicted to RPM spin classes and I like the women's only section at Hunt Club. The staff is always helpful, showers/washrooms pretty clean and I feel the price is appropriate for what I get as I go there 5 days a week.

I went to the OAC years ago. Nowadays I go to Curves (it's not the old lady gym I thought it would be lol.) I was considering GoodLife (all I really wanted was somewhere with a recumbent bike) but Curves was closer to my house (if I had to ride the bus every day I probably wouldn't end up going so this is better.) It's a good workout. A positive environment. Plus it's ladies only which is nice. It's only 50 bucks a month I think.