Gym Review - 24 Hour Fitness Hillcrest

24 Hour Fitness Hillcrest is an "Active" class gym in the family of clubs. Located in a shopping center in the heart of Hillcrest, home to a large gay community, you have to park on the third level down in the parking garage. I went to the gym in the middle of day, so parking was plentiful. But, you have to get your ticket validated twice in order to get free parking. Once on the third parking level and once in the gym itself. Take the elevator up to the mail level and walk through the courtyard to the main entry.

This club is using the fingerprint admittance system as well, so just breeze right in. Configured oddly, sort an abstract L shape to the layout of the gym. Right away you'll notice the Cardio workout room as all the cardio equipment is wrapped around the outside of the room either facing in or out. However, there are six TVs to watch in case you aren't interested in what's going on in the cardio room. This gym also features a separate spin class room and a Kids Club as well.

The cardio equipment available in this gym:

- 7 Precor Elyptical EFX576i Trainers
- 6 Precor Elyptical EFX546i Trainers
- 22 Precor Treadmills
- 10 Startac Recumbent Stationary Bikes
- 9 Startac Upright Stationary Bikes
- 5 Stairmaster Stepmills
- 6 Stairmaster Freeclimbers
- 1 Rower
- 4 Nautilus Tread Climber TC916

Out of all the cardio equipment, only two were out of order.

One thing about 24 Hour Fitness is they do a good job on educating you on what the different machines are for. Every gym features a prominently placed sign color coded to identify what body parts a machine will work, and all this equipment is crowded together:

Black - Chest: 7

Grey - Back: 9

Purple - Shoulders: 6

Abs - Pink: 5

Maroon - Arms: 11

Green - Legs: 6

In addition, 24 Hour Fitness Hillcrest has several Free Motion machines: Chest, Cable Cross, Row and Bicep. There are a number of hand weights, barbells, benches and assisted squat machines, as well as the large Body Masters machine.

The Ladies locker room offers 104 lockers and 12 coin-operated lockers. Throughout the gym there are eight outlets with one counter besides the sink area. Just outside the entrance to the locker area you will find an area for stretching, crunches and some ab balls. Across the aisle is their 30 minute Express Zone Workout, perfect for time crunched fitness.

Overall, this gym feels crowded and cramped. They've made the best use of space as possible. However, they don't have a ton of ab equipment.

I'd give this gym a 7:

Parking: 8

Staff: 6

Equipment Selection: 7

Locker Room: 7 (could have rated this higher if there had been more outlets)

Cleanliness: 7