Planet Fitness- Austin

I'm not gonna lie. When we first moved to Austin back in December of '10, I would hear radio commercials for Planet Fitness. I thought, "USD 10 a month for a gym membership? Man, that place must be crappy...". We'd drive by it several times (as this location is only five minutes away from us), never giving it a 2nd thought. Then, one day, my husband saw a full body picture of himself and the next thing I knew, he was buying us memberships. The fitness center in our apartment complex was becoming a poop hole. I went from working out 2, 3 times a week there to never again because it was miserable. So, the fact that we now had memberships perked me up a bit. But I was also afraid of what to expect. Is this gym gonna stink? Will it be too crowded? OMG I don't want to be in the elliptical section with a bunch of hotter looking chicks... After signing up online, we visited the reception area to pick up our cards. It was quite busy that afternoon (Friday after 5pm), but the lady attending us was very friendly and professional. Though she was manning the desk alone, she didn't let that frazzle her. Husby and I got our cards and agreed to come in Saturday morning. From the door, it looked tidy, clean and DID NOT STINK! yay! To be honest, the times I've been here, it's not that busy. There's plenty of ellipticals, treadmills, bikes, arc trainers open. My husband's only complaint is there isn't enough weight-lifting equipment during the busy hours. We tend to come in during the week (Mon, Wed, Fri) right at 5am. He has no issues with weight-training then. If we come in on the weekend, it'll be Sundays right when they open. It'll start filling up an hour after opening (which by then, we're done and leaving). What I truly appreciate is the cheery, motivational front desk guy that's there 5am Monday, Wednesday, Fridays. It's just nice seeing a smile that early :) The equipment feels clean (because you really ought to wipe down with the spray and paper towels provided when you're done). The bathrooms are great. I walk out of there feeling refreshed and pumped up. Not icky, sweaty and gross. The people that work out here are a wide variety of people. From grandparents to college students, I don't feel like it's just an exclusive bunch. We're all here for one thing: to get healthy. It's nice to know that we all have that one goal in common. This is the only Planet Fitness we've visited. I really do hope all of them in the Austin area are the same. If not, they should all live up to this particular location's standards. I'm very happy here and feel guilty for poo-poo-ing in the first place...