Gold's Gym - Midtown

Just over a year old as of this writing, this Gold's in downtown D.C. has like-new equipment and modern facilities that give it unique flavor. The appealing decor and modern gear are nearly sufficient to conceal the gym's problems with cleanliness, unracked free-weights, overcrowding, and poor management. Perhaps the powerful halogen lights hung from the high ceiling shine too brightly upon these issues.

The internal volume of Golds' facility is unusually large in proportion to its available square footage, meaning that while the gym is very open, there is not a lot of room on the floor for equipment and people. It is nearly impossible to find an available piece of equipment on Mondays during peak hours from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. Regardless, management recklessly continues to market it memberships (mutual funds close to new investors when they become too large).

Crowding conditions generally improve over the course of the week, as people become lazy and choose Happy Hour over working out. Be careful, though--the gym approaches (and likely exceeds) their legal capacity a couple of times each week.

Management refuses to direct its friendly staff to periodically rack its extensive selection of free weights and disrespectful members refuse to place dumbbells in their proper locations after use. The outcome is chaos around the dumbbell section making it difficult to locate the desired weights and, more significantly, creating perilous trip hazards.

Gold's is filthy. Dust accumulates on low-traffic surfaces and becomes airborne. Staff does not periodically wipe down equipment and frequently fails to place towels next to squirt bottles of the mystery cleaning solution, preventing even courteous members from cleaning. A couple of janitors perform their duties everyday during the after-work rush, meaning that access to surfaces in need of cleaning are frequently inaccessible because they are in constant use. Management does not recognize the need for cleaning at least twice daily, before periods of heavy volume.

If you're here to flirt, keep in mind that the facility is located near a large homosexual population. Because of its location in the business district, however, there are many young heterosexual professionals as well. The gym's 3-floor layout results in a separation of sexes with a predominantly male lower level and upper levels mostly occupied by females.

The gym's fresh equipment deployed in an open, well-lit, and attractively designed interior are all that is required to sell memberships. As such, you won't find many other positive qualities (it's all about the Benjamins at Gold's - Midtown). If you're satisfied by aesthetics alone or are just using the gym while on a business trip, Gold's - Midtown may be a perfect match. Prospective members inclined to dig a little deeper, however, should take full advantage of any trial period offered before joining.