VIDA Fitness

A breeze compared to the lord of the flies customer service I was treated with when I used to attend WSC in Columbia heights. I did lose some shades I left in the locker room but that was on me. Someone stole your bag? The skip to and look at footage.

Amazing workout experience from the membership consultation to the quality of the facility. Paul Leiby understood my fitness goals and listened to all my concerns as I came from another gym franchise. I fully endorse the quality of the experience and I guaranty you will see results in your fitness goals.

Absolutely love the gym itself. The facility is large and has a dedicated floor for compound lifts filled with squat racks and deadlift platforms. Unfortunately, personal trainers usually dominate this space and use it for calisthenics and TRX workouts. Granted, they seem very focused on ensuring their clients have a great experience, just at the cost of other members. As a result, there is almost never an open rack or platform.The locker rooms are top notch. With a sauna, steam room, and showers that have excellent bath products, there is amazing attention to detail.The rest of the facility is nice as well. Although, it is devoid of some typically essential equipment such as seated leg curls. These spaces, to include cardio rooms, are often overcrowded and only seem to be less trafficked from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.Overall, the facility is great, to include the rooftop pool. However, these seem to be used as selling points to encourage new members and after joining, the organization only is invested in trying to get members to spend more money through personal trainers, nutritionists, etc. rather than ensure members spending $180/month have an enjoyable experience.

The staff at the pool party this Friday night was nice (the servers). Chris Kinlaw and the other girl serving, they were awesome. However, there was a manager on duty who had on a yellow shirt who was nasty to myself and all of the other patrons. She cursed at us, told us that we were not welcomed and then closed the kitchen and limited communication and admitted she did not want to work that day. Please be mindful of the management you hire. It was really disheartening.

A/C necer works and worth the amount you pay monthly if management can’t fix the leaks or keep the ac working during peak summer

Overall: Solid gym, nothing is overtly missing. You can do everything you need to do.Summary: Basically 3 floors, cardio floor, machine + dumbbell floor, powerlifting floor (w/ dumbbell rack).Good: The ambiance and vibe is good. You feel like you are working out in a cave with a bunch of people.Bad:- Working out from 5-6/7 sucks. The gym is too small to serve the load of patrons at rush times. There aren’t enough benches & benches for presses so you find yourself waiting for major lifts.- If you go any other time that is non-rush it is a solid gym- The benches are way too close to the mirrors, you can’t do heavy lifts and drop weights. It just feels cramped. You have to maneuver around people doing heavy lifts and there are just personal space issues (when squatting I don’t want anyone near me, we have mental bubbles).- Maybe picky but the dumbbells are decent ones. I’ve used better with more grip (steel handle with a mesh pattern etched in). They are a bit narrow in grip and have plastic handles with decent grip. This nuance is kind of annoying and grip is worse so I just do few dumbbell movements now.I’d give ~3 1/2 stars but I imagine there is a huge constraint on real-estate within the city so a gym can only be so large, etc (can’t compare it to gyms I’ve been to elsewhere).But at ~$120/130/mo you’d want more space and just…more. But this was the closest complete gym option to me (.8 mile jog) and the vibes are good.Edit: Have visited all other branches. Nice to be able to switch up gyms on a day you have time to jog farther. Great branding & vibe consistency. Great value add if you want to switch things up and drop in other gyms.

Pros:They have an entire floor dedicated to power lifting that has squat racks and platforms so you don’t have to wait! One always opens up within 3-5 minutes even at peak hours.The roof top pool is great and so is the food as well. I love those friggin’ wings and drinks!They also never run out of sanitizer, sprays, wipes and towels.Great hours is also a plus. I have a second membership at a competitor for later hours when my schedule entails but vida is definitely my preferred location.The members are super friendly and great and I never see anyone not masked or sassy when they’re required; I’ve made many friends at the pool so keep that in mind.Value is a plus; I’m used to spending ~150-300/mo for other premium/lux gyms and I feel what they charge is very fair.Also a barber in the gym is great and they have quality cuts.Cons:Their billing department is deficient, I’ve never had a issue with a gym not being able to schedule recurring charges, and it seems they have been unable to properly due so.The $150 sign up fee that gets rolled over into credit to use at the gym, it took two months for it to get added into the barber account. I had to follow up about it several times to make that happen. Very frustrating and not a very luxurious feeling to have to deal with that as a new member.Each month billing cycle roles around and i ask them (FD) if everything is squared away and they say yup/yes you're all good. Yet for the past two months in a row they contact me weeks after it’s due saying I have late fees and haven’t paid. Even when I’ve called and spoke to them each time on the phone after the first warning they still don’t properly process it and it ends up back after 10 days in a email; you have late fees, it’s very disappointing.I know they’re able to process my card; they’ve charged that same card “no show fees” when I’ve booked for the pool and it’s canceled due to rain. So it seems sus.It took about 3 weeks of my effort of calling, emailing and talking to the front desk to get that squared away to refund the “no show fee” when they closed the pool due to weather. In that process many emails were not answered.They did however eventually reverse the charges but it wasn’t easy and the communication was absent until finally getting ahold of the billing manager in person as she was taking out trash one day. She was very kind and apologizes and seemed to be the person who gets things done. If I were the owners I’d give her more tools or people to work in her department to make their billing staff efficient, or let someone else take out trash so she can better allocate her skills to where they’re most needed.The rude front desk manager in other posts is most likely John/Jon, he doesn’t listen to guests and always responds with attitude. I tried to review my account today and was met with “well maybe you should try paying your card so it doesn’t decline”, like dude I’ve never carried a balance, and when I paid it with the same card today in person there was no issue. I definitely did not appreciate his less than helpful personality. I would like this late fee reversed but I would happily pay $10 to not have to talk to John/Jon again.**Communication** Forget about trying to leave a message anywhere, inboxes are full at their billing specialists, pool inbox, everywhere on their phone tree. Emails aren’t answered, so your only chance to have them resolve any issue is in person, provided you find someone willing.Penthouse reservations; weekend slots for premium seating are booked quickly and often occupied primarily by their employees; seems sus. If you want a spot; set a alarm for 167.9 hours before you want it and immediately book when it changes to 168 hours, else lose your chance to vibe on a daybed or cabana on the weekend.In summary: it’s a good place and I’m sure they're doing the best they can during this pandemic, but boy it can be frustrating. If it gets better I’ll be sure to update this review.BestRob

My favorite place to focus and improve my athletic performance! Very welcoming and attentive staff (the pool club manager in particular) continuously monitor the facility for cleanliness. Always happy when I get to come here!!

This is my favorite gym of all time. Have a ton of free weights, squat racks and accessory equipment to help keep variety in your fitness program. Plenty of space and the gym doesn't have a problem with doing Olympic lifts.

The level of professionalism at Vida U St. is commendable. My personal trainer, Emma Krieger, goes above and beyond the call of duty as a trainer. She is very well informed about fitness and nutrition and encourages me to work hard to achieve my personal fitness goals.