VIDA Fitness - City Vista

Great gym with state of the art equipment and nice amenities. Always very clean. Staff is friendly and helpful from what I've experienced. I'm not sure what the bad reviews are about!

Consistently broken equipment and overcrowding since Galleey Place Closure

I have notified management at least three times about one specific Woodway treadmill that has been broken for well over a month. There is still no sign stating an ETA for repairs.

Additionally, very simple shower repairs in the men's locker room took months. Beyond that, the steam room is functional maybe 25% of the time.

Since the other Vida at Gallery Place closed, City Vista is very crowded, even during off-peak hours.

I recommend other gyms until this Vida gets their act together. Look at the other recent reviews--all note the same issues.

Not accessible, and despite having submitted a doctor's note to cancel my membership, they refused to provide a refund. Definitely just after the bottom line.

It's great to see the improvements made for the gym opening on time. Thanks for taking action to make this correction!

Love the bike racks in front of the gym, I usually bike and then take an amazing instructor led course followed by the steam room, sauna and shower that is extremely clean with the best soap and scrubs available compliments of the membership. Also the shampoo and conditioner smells so good and makes my hair soft. There is a smoothie bar and tons of options for gym equipment.

I've been a member for a little over a year now. The gym is well run with a friendly and knowledgeable staff. They have a great selection of equipment to choose from and a great quantity of the most common equipment (treadmills, elliptical, etc.). I've never had to wait for a machine, which is nice.

Like all gyms the peak hours can be a little hectic and a little noisy. I try to avoid those times when possible. The cardio equipment was recently updated and most pieces allow you to log in to save your workout stats, watch Netflix (subscription required) or watch live tv.

There's also an impressive variety of classes available. There is a group fitness studio, Pilates studio, spin room, etc. You can find and sign up for classes on their app - super convenient!

The facilities are pretty nice - and about to get a whole lot nicer! The locker rooms are currently undergoing renovation. While its slightly inconvenient, they are allowing you to access any location during the Reno, which is a very generous compromise.

Like all gyms in DC, it's not cheap to be a member. You'll pay North of $105 for a single membership. This isn't as crazy as some of the yoga and spin studios for sure (or Equinox), but still a little steep.

Couple of suggestions: pay close attention to the shades because it can be hot when the sun is pouring in. Also, I've noticed the stairs are being vacuumed or mopped a lot in the morning which is a hazard.

Other than the price, I like my neighborhood gym!

After living in the Navy Yard and trying out a few classes at Vida, I really enjoyed my experience there. When I moved closer to this location, I caved in and finally got a membership. I got a pretty good deal back in December before everyone started their new years resolution.

I've never met the general manager, Erik, but he seems very transparent by emailing members at least once every two weeks to send updates about machines, classes, etc. which I appreciate. Courtney, the Membership Coordinator, was very helpful in showing me around the gym. The front desk staff is always friendly and Alden is super nice and addresses me by my name.

I mainly take the classes (Circuit Training with Will, Barre with Jonathan, Assets with Shiloh, Yoga with Alex) - they're all great! The gym as probably with most gyms gets crowded around 5:30/6pm when everyone is getting out of work so if you like having your space or not wanting to wait for certain machines, I suggest coming during the off peak times. The locker rooms has a dry and wet sauna so perfect post-workout.

I believe they are planning to do updates to the gym, so that's good to hear. For $99 a month, yeah it's on the pricier side but if you think about how much classes are around the city AND you take advantage of everything Vida has to offer, it's worth it.

Came here to try it out for a day and I have to say it's pretty nice! I was visiting a friend in the area and wanted to gym and saw that Vida Fitness had day passes. The place itself is very big and spacious and had a lot of equipment. I really liked the open area and the different weights and cardio machines they had. There was also a good amount of squat racks which I really enjoyed. The place was still under construction but it didn't bother me and the staff there was very friendly.

I received a lengthy update email from the GM. I'd never received an email like this from a gym. They took the time to tell their membership about exciting staff promotions and updates to the gym equipment. I love that they invest in their own talent team and share the excitement with their membership. And it's great to know where all my $$ in membership fees are going towards (improvements to the facility)! I'm a new member and I highly recommend.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU SIGN UP OR READ YOUR CONTRACT VERY CAREFULLY! If you want out, you have to sacrifice a virgin or worse. Hide your kids, hide your wife... hide your friends.

Before I tear this place apart, I will say the gym cost me $100/month, which is a reasonable (albeit expensive) DC price to charge for a pretty nice gym. Good equipment, good facility, qualified trainers, steam room, sauna, etc. in a decently convenient location. However, they trap you in the membership using contractual fine print and the greediest policies I've seen of any gym.

I have NEVER encountered a gym or subscription service in my life that, by contract, charges you after you have cancelled the service and doesn't even ALLOW you to cancel whenever you want to. Pretty sure even sketchy stuff like porn sites let you cancel when you want, they just make it hard.

1. I tried to cancel this membership when I no longer wanted to go as I received great gym benefits from my employer. I was told that I wasn't ALLOWED TO CANCEL, believe it or not. They said that the only acceptable situations in which I can cancel are if I move or if I get a job elsewhere. I had a 1 year obligation under the contract I signed, one they do not advise you on and expect you to read their extensive terms and agreements. Do NOT sign up for this gym unless you are sure you will absolutely go regularly for a whole year. If you are of the 1% of mankind who shuffles through terms and agreements over anything but your housing or car lease, good for you. If you are not, you're effed.

2. Before the year was over, I did, in fact, move. So I tried to cancel again. They charge you a $25 cancellation fee AND said that because I hadn't cancelled close enough to the next billing period, I will get charged for the NEXT MONTH, so another $100. I cancelled my membership 8 whole days before the next billing period. Which raises 2 questions:

1) WHAT THE HELL IS THAT $25 FOR?? I'm paying you $25 to NOT cancel my membership?

2) How is 8 days not a reasonable amount of time for you to process my cancellation and make it final? YOU CAN WALK FROM WASHINGTON DC TO NEW YORK CITY AND BACK IN 8 DAYS and you can't cancel my gym membership?

3) So if I move in the middle of May, I still have to pay $100 for the month of June? Even though I physically cannot go?

3. When I complained, the staff were not friendly, They defended their policy as fervently as a German officer from the 1940s would defend the concept of Aryan dominance or Tom Cruise would defend Scientology. It's set in stone, and they encouraged me to file a dispute, but threatened to send their collections agency after me. Go ahead. I have the money, but I won't indulge them with the satisfaction of victory and enabling them to perpetuate this shady business practice. Take my credit score instead.

Never ever ever. There are other nice gyms out there if that's what you need. Do not come here. They don't even have a pool or a hot tub. Or a monthly free massage. That's the least they could give you for being a black hole for your wallet.

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SEE BELOW for a staff's response to my request for an immediate cancellation. He:

1) Compares the policy to that of a LEASE. Apartments ask you whether you will be resigning the lease. They ask for their keys back. They want to know if they have to look for a new tenant. That is why they want to know in advance. The gym should not be comparing itself to housing. It should compare its policy to that of other gyms.

2) Details the steps to effectively cancel, which are comparable to the process of trying to acquit yourself of a felony.

3) He claims the business policy as "not greedy" because they want to keep their doors open and maintain a budget? Guess who else wants to do that? EVERY BUSINESS. I'm a customer, not an investor. I don't give a rat's a** about your budget and your doors. Chinatown liquors wants to keep their doors open but they don't lock you in their store until you buy a bottle of Cuervo. Survival is not an excuse for greed.