Charlotte Athletic Club

I recently moved from Denver, CO and joined Charlotte Athletic Club primarily for the location and walkability to Uptown. From signup through cancellation, the experience was consistently poor. The signup process was unnecessarily difficult. You cannot sign up online or over the phone and must come in person. I arrived during hours I was told a manager would be present, only to find they had left early, requiring an additional visit to complete enrollment. The gym charges $150 per month per person, with additional costs for lockers, an extra month (extra $150) due on signup, and a facility improvement fee every six months. Despite the price, there is no coat rack or place to store even a jacket. Communication is “you must pay an extra amount for lockers each month” even though lockers are framed as an optional amenity. Charging for lockers in the first place is grubby. Every gym I’ve attended in the past includes them for free. Pool access is advertised. The pool is actually pool access passes included in membership to the Omni Hotel pool, we were told it was to be opened fall 2025, it has remained closed. This was communicated after signup. The equipment itself is fine, but there is no water bottle refill station, and the water available specifically says “don’t fill your water bottle up”. It’s a gym. Who wants to use a small paper open top cup when working out. Bathrooms are often not clean. If you’re coming in in the afternoon for workouts, the gym maintenance and cleaning happens then, so expect some vacuuming and hammering happening most days. But my primary issue is the staff experience relative to the price point. Front desk staff are often disengaged. A trainer instructed us to re rack weights that we didn’t use. When we told him they were there before we used the machine he communicated “clean them up anyways”. I rack weights when done using them. For $150 a month, if another gym member leaves weights behind, and this is noticed by the staff, I’d expect gym staff to care for the cleanup of other members weights left behind. And especially the first time, just unnecessarily hostile and unfriendly. There are many more similar interactions like this with staff. After I canceled my membership and requested my wife’s remain active, a manager approached her requesting credit card information, the implication being “don’t forget to pay” in a way that felt inappropriate. This is acceptable at a lower priced gym. Again, it’s not what I expect at this price point. This is a premium priced gym with a good location and adequate equipment, but the service level does not match. I’m switching to another gym in the area.

I was excited to possibly join this gym after reviewing the website, but what happened to good customer service and price transparency? I was contacted by Rachel, who I was told is the point person for new members. Unfortunately, she refused to share pricing upfront, which I found both odd and unwelcoming. When I asked further, she mentioned I was speaking with the district manager, then later said she provided his email, which turned out to just be the general info email. That felt misleading and dismissive. I’m honestly glad I had this experience before joining. I’ll be staying with my current gym. it’s a little farther away, but the service is excellent, the staff are transparent, and the facility is spotless. No need to make the switch 😊

Posting without my real name as I still actively subscribe to this gym; there’s nothing else near me. One star: $150/mo, I’m evaluating this like a premium gym given the premium price point Staff is rude, typically on phone and slouching when visit Could only sign up with Rachel, other staff just told me when I visited twice I had to come in when she was in to sign up. And then she wasn’t there during stated hours causing me to have to come in three times to sign up Cleaners are always at the gym in the late morning or afternoon, running vacuums, drumming loudly etc No water refill stations, and only provided water in locker room tastes like yeast as if they don’t clean Generally bad vibe; gym feels soulless As soon as there is another open gym near me within a 10 min walk im switching

Really good gym and great location…BUT desperately need new management (normal employees are great, just management). I pay $130 a month and they just randomly decided to close over the weekend the other day. Today I got kicked out of the place because the Duke University band has it rented out until 9pm……Yes, the band has the gym rented out….insane

Giving a five star purely based on the joining process and 1st day. Gym was clean, has a ton of equipment options and every person that I encountered was incredibly friendly and welcoming all the way from management, the front desk, cleaning staff, trainers to even the members. It wasn’t overly crowded which was a plus to me. It is a little pricey so I decided to take a trial strength and conditioning class conducted by one of their trainer’s Cain and let me just say that the class was everything I was hoping for - I felt strong, I felt challenged and I was encouraged. Directly after class D who runs the membership portion of my experience got me all set up with enrollment, easy breezy and I left the club feeling good, pumped and excited to return.