Hi - I am about to leave for a semester abroad in Madrid, and I would like to join a health club. The previous posts on this topic have been very helpful for names of gimnasios, but can anyone tell me the cost per week or month? (I would be joining for 3 1/2 months)

Thanks! And please email me as I am not sure when I will get a chance to visit this site again.
Lauren

ldr7tnns@yahoo.com

Hi Lauren,

I paid for the whole year at once at a very good (US quality) gym called Class near the Plaza de España. It ended up being around $30/month I believe, but I you obviously get a break for paying for the whole year at once. I think for 3 months it costs around $40-45/month. I can look into it further or give you better instructions on how to get there if you´d like.

Steve

More details would be great! I am not sure where my host family lives yet, but somewhere central is fine I'm sure. How does this gym compare to others besides being "US-style"?

Thanks!

The gym is very good. It´s not always easy, in my opinion, to find a good gym in Spain that is spacious with a wide selection of machines, free weights, stair masters, spinning classes, etc. This particular gym, Class, has all that and is far better than other gyms I checked out.

You might also want to look into the Holiday gyms. It´s a chain of gyms with locations all over the city and you can even buy a membership that allows access to all their locations. Check out their website www.holidaygym.es for mor information. I looked at the one near Princesa (near where I live) and that it was too cramped, but I have other contacts who tell me that other locations are quite good.

Steve

Hi!
Steve, I have a holidaygym membership. Yes, some days it gets too crowded but the prices are quite good (about $500 for two years, free access at any time and any activitity).
The biggest dissadvantage is that you have to join the club for long periods of time, I don't think there's a monthly rate, so they earn a lot of money from people how sign up, pay for a year and then, after one month they don't show up again.

Lauren --
Something else that you might want to consider if you already belong to a health club in the USA... Check and see if they have some sort of "premium" membership that you can upgrade to. When I belonged to Bally´s in the States, I joined their "premier" level which gave me access to a network of participating health clubs around the world. In many of the clubs, the access was either free or a minimal charge.

Just something you might want to consider!

Lauren, have you seen the " Madrid:Fitness Centers & Gyms " thread from last month in this forum?

Booklady mentions a gym her son visited a couple times. It was The Body Factory . Visit their website and they might have prices listed... or maybe you can contact them via email.

Good luck! Saludos, MadridMan

P.S. I just moved this thread to this forum.