Equinox Bryant Park

Busy in morning, after work and at lunch. (Busy in an «I’ll cut you if you stand in front of my locker» way.)
Love the layout — if you’re intimidated by weights, go to cardio and watch the guys LEAVE THE WEIGHTS ON THE MACHINES then make your way down to the weight section.
Less women than men in the weights section. It’s not like that at all Equinox locations, so it’s worth a mention.
Classes are crowded.

I use to like this gym a lot. But now its so overcrowded that I can’t even enjoy the classes. I’ve been hit, kicked and have done it to others as well while in tight classes. Not on purpose of course but again because of so many people on top of each other. I do think the gym is clean and offer great classes but I cant with so many people. I had to cancel my membership because it was becoming too often that this was happening. Also, the spa only offers messages and no other services like the other gyms. I’s like to get a facial or wax while here but need to go to another gym for this.
All in all I felt the gym was very expensive for me not to be able to work out properly and be in such tight quarters.

Classes are too crowded. Also not enough variety…
Shower towels are way too small.

Yes, it’s nice. It’s clean. They have all the right equipment. And the bathroom products are Kiehl’s.
That said, the classes were always so full to the point that there was no way the instructors could see what everyone was doing. The rows of people were 8 deep! There were ALWAYS people all around me doing the moves completely wrong and FAST and with lots of weight — and the instructors had no clue. They’re yelling from the front. The music is BLASTING. And the only people they interact with are in the first row.
This was at Bryant Park but this is the SAME experience I had at SOHO years ago. It’s a shit show.
Also, my trainer was pretty aggressive, negative and said things to me that I found inappropriate.
Equinox is all about attitude. It’s not a place with positive energy. It’s for the layer of NYers who want to be/​fancy themselves models/​superstars/​finance douches, are models/​superstars/​finance douches or want to date models/​superstars/​finance douches. That’s fine. That’s a culture in NYC and that is what Equinox caters do. Not real fitness for real people.
And most definitely not real wellness for anyone.
This review may appear a bit vitriolic but Equinox courts that reaction from former members because there is so much hype, they charge A LOT, and they make it very hard for you to get out their contracts.

Great customer service, very accommodating. Amazing hot yoga room!!!

There is no heat in locker rooms, pipes are frozen, water gushing out flooding things, no one knows what they are doing, #equinox#disaster#flood#freezing.
You would think they would’ve smart enough to turn on heat in record cold lol

I’ve been an equinox member about 4 years now. It’s an expensive but quality gym overall. But this review is not about that, it’s specifically about the Bryant Park 41^st St location. I’ve used at least 5 – 6 of their gyms in Manhattan long term, with various moves and office locations.
This one has a very modern exterior that is next to an outdoor seating area between 41^st and 42^nd street, however the layout seems totally wasted in that only the entrance and small café is on ground level and the rest of the gym is 1 or 2 floors below ground level. Yes, in the basement with no windows. The space is overall fairly nice and has a good level of square footage overall compared to some other above-​ground locations. But it is a wide open space with the main area for machines and then a mezzanine level surrounding that for the treadmills and such. The walls all seem to be cement and this might have well been the inside of a basement parking garage 2 weeks earlier. There really needs to be some warmth added somehow.
Theres a decent amount of treadmills though, the locker rooms are fairly spacious with different alcoves to change in etc. Everything is clean that I experienced. I primarily come from work midday when it is very slow. Theres usually about 2 – 3 people on the 10 – 15 treadmills then, and it really could actually use some energy! I’ve read it gets crazy in morning and night, but midday is rather slow and perfectly reasonable.
Overall an okay spot, but my biggest complain is that since it is below ground there is zero, ZERO cellular reception. Mainly this means no incoming emails or messages to keep an eye on things. As much as I like to ignore that at the gym, sending or receiving msgs is essential for any lengthy time at the gym. They need to install a cellular data relay or something.

i had a pass to check out Equinox at Bryant Park for free with my fiancée who is a devoted member to the gym. At first I was a bit wary about all the hype of Equinox, but I am grateful I had the opportunity to experience equinox for the first time this past week. The facility gets a bit crowded but there are always plenty of machines available. The shower and Steam facilities were on point with generous Kiehls products (shampoo and body wash) also towels and eucalyptus towels in the workout area was great.
Everyone else on this thread has pretty much said it all, so I won’t repeat the praise :)
I don’t know if I will be extending my trial to an actual membership, because unless you have some corporate discounts it will set you back at least $ 200+ a month.
However I highly recommend you try it out.
The eucalyptus Steam Saunas, which are always clean, never crowded, is the most relaxing invigorating beautiful steam experience I have ever had in America

(+) Good class/​time variety (I did the spin class and, although not the best I’ve ever done, it was still good)
(+) large locker rooms
(+) large workout areas
(+) locks on lockers — you don’t need to bring your own like other locations
(+) clean!
(+) people are very nice — I was very lost and asked some members for assistance and they were more than happy to help (even though they didn’t work there)
(+) it is in a really great area
(-) Check-​in is on the ground floor — the rest is in the basement
(-) week day mornings are a ZOO — if you don’t run for a shower, you will have to wait in line and then wait again later to use a blow drier
(-) people leave their belongings on the blow drier spots to save it when they go in the shower — it is VERY crowded and seems a bit rude to leave your things around. Everyone is already trying to squeeze in everywhere to rush to get ready for the morning so this definitely does not help
Overall it is a good club, but make sure to try it out during the times you look to use before joining to make sure you will have enough time to get ready.

I’ve had an all access membership to equinox for about 2 years but most exclusively attend the Bryant Park location. Over the past couple months this club has increasingly gotten more and more busy. Last night I had to wait 10 minutes to get a locker, by the time I received a locker, the class I wanted to attend had already started. I decided to run instead, I then had to wait 10 minutes to get a treadmill. After moving to the mat to stretch I then needed to wait another 5 minutes until someone freed up enough space. This gym is overcrowded and seems to be getting worse. I would not recommend this gym. As a New Yorker, time is invaluable.

Location is convenient — right by a bunch of trains, but the layout of this location is awkward (not much space for stretching). I come here pretty often for the hot vinyasa yoga classes– unlike the Brookfield Place or the 53^rd st locations, this room retains heat really well, probably because the classes are always packed.

Equinox Bryant Park! Huge fan and long time member of equinox!
Convenient location– literally right near every train you can think of in times square.
Clientele– mostly a mix of working professionals living in the area. generally one of the more crowded locations
Spa, yoga studio (hot yoga yes!), main studio, cycle studio, free weights, cardio machines, weight machines, shower & steam rooms, vegan café.
All the typical equinox things here– main studio, yoga/​barre studio, spin studio, tons of free weights, tons of machines, everything you can imagine. All the machines are new and in excellent condition and are up to date with the latest technology.
Some of the trainers here are great– good tip– if you see people in light blue shirts– they are actual trainers! they walk around and are there if you have questions, most people don’t realize they are actual trainers and are there to help people out!
LOVE LOVE LOVE the group fitness classes. They are so much fun and the energy is always high. Instructors are enthusiastic and challenging. Love that this is 1 of the only 2 studios in NYC to have yoga. Tip– try Metcon with Marie monday 730am, hot power yoga thursday at 415 or studio cycling with Tarek wednesday 530pm
Locker rooms– typical Equinox amenities (towels, q-​tips, cotton balls, shaving crème razors and of course KIEHL’s bath & body products — shampoo, conditioner, body wash, crème de corp moisturizers) You do not need to bring a lock here which is awesome, all of the lockers have built in locks.
TIP:
If you are thinking of joining, best way to get the best rate is to go thru a current member. My advisor who I have known for over 10 years is the best, he is upfront, honest, not pushy and will get you the best deal. He always throws in extras. make sure you try the gym before you make a huge commitment.

This is the best Equinox location out of all the ones I’ve been to, hands down. Here are the cliff notes:
PROS:
— Warm and friendly staff. I know, crazy for NYC but it’s true! Everyone from reception to the cleaning crew and the training staff are all amazingly friendly.
— Great layout. Cardio equipment is on a separate floor from the weights & functional training portion of the gym.
— Big space for NYC. The functional area & weight room is one massive space which is so much easier to work out in than the small, multiple-​floor layouts that other gyms tend to have in Manhattan.
— Separate yoga studio that filters outside noise pretty well
— New lockers with the DIY code — no need for a lock!
— Great shower area with the wood panelling on the floor for safety & hygiene.
— This is sort of a flagship location, so they usually have all of the latest & greatest amenities (such as book-​a-​class).
— Christoph in account management is the best. He really takes care of his clients!
CONS:
— It’s kinda crowded… but that happens with all great things. Oh well.
— Needs to be open on weekends!!! Currently only open Sat until 2pm and closed all day Sunday. Now that membership has increased, I am positive that if Equinox added classes on the weekends then people would come, and they would have enough volume to justify keeping the lights on on the weekends. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!
Just my 2 cents :)

Definitely one of the newer Equinox locations, and this one is just as impressive if not more so then the rest. The locker room is large with the typical Equinox amenities-​hot towels, Kiehls products, and plenty of mirror space. I went after work on a Friday and had no trouble finding open cardio equipment. As with many gyms in NYC, the gym is underground and has a dark, almost club-​like feel.
There are three things that differentiate this location in my opinion. The first is that unlike some other clubs, you don’t have to bring your own locks. The second is that the treadmills have TV’s in them, so you can plug in and watch anything live on your own treadmill rather than just watch whatever is on the master TV. The last thing is the larger-​than-​normal showers, which have a changing area and a shower area for each stall.
I really liked this location. It was large, the locker rooms were incredibly clean, and the people-​to-​equipment ratio was spot on.

I hate working out. If it wasn’t for my soul crushing vanity brought on by insecurities stemming from having way too many good looking people in NYC to compete with, I’d be morbidly obese and perfectly happy with it. So I joined Equinox simply because it’s the closest to my work. I’ve been a member for a over a year… I joined the day it opened so I’ve been at this gym since the beginning.
PROS —
Great instructors. The personal training staff and the spin instructors are wonderful. Very helpful and constantly look out for people who are lifting weights in terrible form and help them out.
Machines are new and clean. There is never any broken equipment, nor is there ever long wait times to use it. Some machines get occupied more than others, but that’s the nature of gyms.
Lot of people are complaining about overcrowding…*ahem*…8 million in people in NYC, 4 of which congregate in a 9 mile island called Manhattan… what did you expect? Crowding is much less than other gyms. I use to go to Bally’s Fitness in Herald square a.k.a Satan’s anus of a gym. That was overcrowding.
The equinox app is also very user friendly.
Overall it’s a nice facility filled with people who want to get in and get out. Thankfully, there are no meatheads, crossfit bros, lurkers, or idiots who read magazines on machines. The members are focused and disciplined.
It doesn’t smell… honestly, this is one of the main reasons I signed on. It has a «gym» aroma to it, impossible not to, but I’ve been a member of nearly every other chain brand and they all had this funk of sweat mixed with heartbreak… this facility doesn’t. THANK GOD.
CONS —
Free wi-​fi is weak as hell. Most days it just plain doesn’t work.
Men’s locker room are poorly designed. The large tables in between the lockers are absurdly huge and create a terrible bottleneck.
The music in men’s locker room is overly romantic. After a long day of work I need angry, violent, music to pump me up… not Norah Jones, who sings 2 decibels above comatose. I don’t want to change quietly near other guys while a soft ditty about romance plays. Awkward.
No real juice bar. I couldn’t careless for cold press juices. Needs a real juice bar.
CONS WHICH AREN’T THE GYM’S FAULT —
Guys who take eons to get dressed. Most of the members are very polite and nice but be prepared to run into one d-​bag who’ll lotion his entire naked body right in front of your locker or check his entire work emails while hogging important locker space.
Too many attractive members… I know, stupid complaint, but seriously. I don’t mind the beautiful ladies, but even the 60 year olds dudes here are rocking a six pack and 2% bodyfat. Some of us are paying $ 160+ a month to feel an ounce of less shame about the food horrors we induced on our body, so too many cut up dudes strutting around is disheartnening.

I wanted to like this place, Ive been going for a year now and I feel like I’m always trying to justify to myself why its not that bad. I think most people give it the benefit of the doubt because of the brand. I know I did.
It all started the week after I joined, I showed up on Sunday morning only for the gym to be closed, I can live with that but it would have been nice for them to give me the heads up BEFORE I joined, when I brought it up of course they gave me an attitude about it.
After a couple months I decided really needed to get at least one workout in on the weekend. I asked if there was another gym I could upgrade too… yes, if I would like to pay twice as much… also not helpful.
To add insult to injury the gym also closes rather early on week nights (10pm) as if that’s not enough be prepared to have some dude spraying out the the showers, dragging a hose around and trying to clean up around you at least an hour before closing.
To top it all off last week there were no towels in the mens locker rooms at least two nights out of the week. All and all just totally unimpressed!

Actual Rating: 2.75 stars.
Sigh. Eye roll. Sigh. It’s the overcrowding issue. The facilities are nice, the machines are new, the staff is nice. Not only are there too many people who attend this gym but also the people just aren’t nice. I’m just trying to get to my locker okay? Saying «excuse me» to walk past someone does not warrant so much attitude. Damn.
The size of the gym and the studios is not meant for the actual traffic this gym gets. Which makes it really frustrating when you’re paying so much money every month.
Notes: See my Equinox Santa Monica, CA review.

I love this Equinox location the most. It is super modern and has the latest and the greatest machines and updates. The huge downside is the overly packed locker rooms during rush hours. The space is just way too small to fit all those people who pay so much money to push themselves to work out. That’s sort of the last thing to have to worry about; if you’ll make or miss a class because all lockers have been taken. Expansion would be a wise idea if possible of course. The instructors/​staff are amazing and the classes offered are unbeatable by any other gym around.

Like most NYers, I’ve joined a lot of different gyms in the city over the years. NYSC, Crunch, NYHRC, different yoga studios, Brooklyn Bridge Boot Camp, David Barton, Equinox, 24 hour Fitness. Equinox is my favorite by far, but it’s expensive. You have to be able to 1) afford it, 2) use it. Basically, it’s not for everyone.
Bryant Park isn’t my favorite but it’s fine. Like all other Equinox gyms, it’s clean, Kiehl’s products, good showers, eucalyptus towels, nice looking crowd, good service and say hey to by name. But this location isn’t open on weekends, is below ground, and way too crowded during rush hours. Morning wait for the showers can be 10 minutes and the women are very territorial once they’ve locked down a hairdryer and mirror. It’s a lot of obnoxious 20-​something office brats that hog the mirrors and give you the stink eye when you just want to use the blowdryer quickly or grab a cotton ball. Very much a corporate gym catering to the midtown east worker bees. If you want more space and civility, I say go to Wall Street. It’s older but the women’s locker room is spacious and the people are polite.
Classes: They have opened up more hot yoga classes but it’s totally crazy that you have to arrive 20 minutes early and still might not get a mat. Hot yoga teachers are awesome but it’s so cramped and not always enjoyable. I’m not sure why there can’t be a sign up system for yoga with a maximum number of people. Or perhaps pre-​laid out mats and once it’s full, it’s full. But otherwise for hot yoga, there are good instructors and they clean the mats and floors like rockstars as soon as class is over. The cleaning people are amazing. Boot camp on Tuesday with Will is awesomely intense and an awesome workout. All of the instructors are top notch and if you go for classes outside of rush hour, you might like this gym.
If you have the all-​access and are not relying solely on this gym, my favorites are Soho, Greenwich Ave, Brooklyn Heights, Wall Street.
Cancellation: Oh, and I have to end my review with this. I’m deep in cycling season and biking to work everyday. I can’t justify paying almost $ 200 a month just to use their showers in the morning. I have a corporate membership and just emailed this morning to cancel. I was expecting a long stupid process like I had with Crunch and NYSC, but instead, I received an email back within an hour saying I was all set, no further deductions, and can use the gym through ⁵⁄₃₁. No questions asked. Anyone who has had a bad experience cancelling with them, that’s a shame. I couldn’t believe how easy they made it. Awesome customer service. Nice work Equinox!

I love that I have two Equinoxes that are within close proximity to my office. This location and the one on 43RD street. Even though the one on 43^rd street is literally right across the street from my job, this Equinox is so much better in many ways. Here are the pros:
1. Space is a lot bigger and machines are newer. I love the LifeFitness machines now where the TV channels are actually in front of you on the screen. The one on 43RD street still has the large LCDs hanging above from the ceilings.
2. Don’t need to bring your own personal lock. They have built-​in combinations on each locker. You just got to remember what combo you dialed… kind of like a safe deposit box.
3. Showers are plenty (at least 10) and amenities (razors, cotton balls/​swabs, tampons) are always replenished.
4. If you have the money to spend, you can shop at their Shop. I don’t go there to buy stuff but it’s nice to peruse around especially when you’re waiting for a class to start.
Personally, I also enjoy the Cyclesanity class here on Weds at 12:30pm by Jillian Wright. Love the vibe and energy she gives out, even though it’s prime lunch hour and typically not a full class. Who needs Soul Cycle when you can just cycle just as hard in Cyclesanity?