LA Fitness, Anytime Fitness, Bally's, Snap Fitness?

I use LA Fitness.  There are no perks to this gym.  It's just a basic gym with a pool.  The pool (at least where I go) is 4 lanes and I rarely have a problem getting a lane.  I pay $34.99/month, which is the cheapest gym with pool in the area.  I don't have any complaints about the place, but then again I can't sing high praise for the place.

Well, apparently some do.  Çheck out Max O's post.

I'm in agreement on LA Fitness - that's been my experience exactly.  The only major downside is that the pool is strange.  There is a current, so one direction is fast and the way back is slow.  I've experienced this at THREE seperate locations in Minnesota, so I have to think this might not be a coincidence and something about how they do their pools.

LA Fitness is pretty new in our area, so the locker room was really nice and shiny when I first started going.  Now it's quickly showing wear with hair/mildew in the showers, dirty lockers, etc. 

You really can't beat the price, if you don't mind no frills.  In fact I really like the treadmills and bikes because they have built in fans that actually work (for now anyway)   But in the end  I decided to go back to Lifetime because I apparently will pay for the bit nicer service (towels, suit spinner, etc).

Have you looked into the YMCA?  I have made extensive use of the Away Program which allows me to use almost any Y in the country.  Of course sometimes the pools are icky but you would be suprised at some facilities.

http://www.ymca.net/get_involved/visiting_other_ymcas.html

None of the other Y's I have been to have charged me or restricted the hours I could use their facilities.

Ask for a free trial (at least a week). Most places will be happy to give one at the prospect of the a new client

J

 Reason enough to join.   I bet they put something in the pool water there.

I think it very much depends on the specific gym, even more so than the chain.  Several people, for example, mentioned the Y.  The Y locally in Reading is a pit, and in a very scary area, which would strongly dissuade me from using it. The Y in Phoenixville, where my sister in law lives, is very nice, and she goes there.  There is also a really nice one in Harleysville, about an hour from me, near my favorite dive shop, that is gorgeous, from what I hear, that used to rent its pool to the dive shop for training (the shop just relocated and will have it's own pool now for that use).

I belong to LA Fitness, since they are very close to my house, and have a cheap pool.  There is a bigger gym about 2 miles further away, but they charge as much for the pool alone as LA Fitness does for the whole shebang. It's still pretty clean after several years, and other than the usual January crowds, easy to get to use the pool and the elliptical trainer (that mrs gearboy prefers).