Best Fitness Albany

Fantastic experience: Everything you need and everything you could want. Want to completely wreck yourself in a HIIT or Spinning class? Want to have some fun with others doing Zumba? Need a certain training equipment and dont want to wait forever for others to finish? Want to be just left alone doing your thing? Want to train girly in a modern studio room? Or want to shred those muscles with some other packed aas dudes and beat the sht out of that punching bag? They got you! Man, they even got a sauna! This thing is like a Mary Poppins Bag of a building - or those tents in Harry Potter. Really undersells itself from outside but you go in and there is just more and more that you can do and a lot of great people! The staff is super nice and everyone training there wants to reach their own fitness goal and is motivated. The staff really has an eye for detail and do some nice things to engage with you - except if you dont want. No worries, they also let you just train and do your thing. Finally to answer to some other reviews here. First of all: Yeah the downstairs locker rooms are still being renovated but for you squeamish peeps they built some super modern restrooms upstairs besides all the other super modern studio rooms ;) You want your luxury? You got it. Second of all: Y'all old enough to understand the subscription models of fitness centers. Its everywhere the same. Thats how they can even finance themselves. Its not a billion$ company thats using its market monopoly to get more money from you. Stop pretending it is. Nobody is scamming you. If you dont cancel in time then guess what - thats on you. Stop blaming other people for not being organized and for your misery. ;) Baseline: You want a gym where youre actually motivated to go every day, every week or whatever your plan is? Go here. Even if you dont feel like leaving the house you can convince yourself by just thinking about that awesome Sauna - and then when youre anyway there you'll somehow be dragged into one of the fun courses. Oh and they have 7 days free probation training, so no excuses - go do something good for yourself. Youre on the way to McDonalds or Dunkin again? This time stop first at Best Fitness and get some real endorphines for once.

Fantastic experience: Very nice and friendly staff

Fantastic experience: Great gym. Whenever I visit Albany it’s my go to place to get a work out in. I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a well organized gym with up to date equipment.

Positive experience: The staff were very nice from what I experienced but this location is absolutely disgusting. First of all who has a carpet in a locker room? You cannot clean the floors effectively if at all from what I noticed of the stains all over the place. The shower stalls don’t even have doors on them they are plastic curtains that don’t fit the space so the curtain remains open. The shower heads hardly work. There are no shelves in the shower to put your showering tools so you have to put them were? The floor? That’s disgusting in and of itself. Update to this; I did receive a call from management (which was very nice of them and much appreciated) stating that this location would be renovated in the near future so fingers crossed the locker room will be in better shape soon.

Fantastic experience: Awesome facility!

Fantastic experience: Best gym in the area. I go to UAlbany, and they’re very good with student memberships. Wonderful staff, great equipment, and clean space!

Negative experience: Bad experience here. They invited me for a free session and had me sign the documents. They charged me months even after I cancelled my membership.

Fantastic experience: Very nice gym. Have everything u need

Fantastic experience: Great experience!

Fantastic experience: Best gym in the capital region! Great variety of equipment and very well maintained. Staff is always friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend to anyone especially if you are serious about lifting!

Fantastic experience: I’ve been a member of Best Fitness for over 10 years, and I truly love this gym. Currently, I exercise three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My favorite class is Befit Strength. It has been perfect for me. I’ve been taking it for almost four years now, and it has helped me build muscle and make me feel much stronger. I turned 70th last year, and will be turning 71 in a month. Many of my friends—and some group members I travel with often comment that I don’t look like someone in her 70s. I believe this class has made a big difference in how I feel and look. I truly know what I’m doing, and I’ve benefited greatly from participating the befit Strength training. What I love most are the amazing instructors I’ve had: Tim、Dylan、Jennifer, and now sometimes Emily. They are all excellent. I appreciate how attentive they are—if I’m not doing a movement with the correct technique, they immediately come over to guide me and help me adjust. Thanks to them, I’ve been able to improve my technique and see better results because of their professional skills and patience. Attending these classes has become an important part of my routine and daily life, and I plan to keep going. Thank you, Best Fitness, and thank you to all the professional instructors for your dedication and support!

Positive experience: Upon moving to albany from long island, my boyfriend and I decided we wanted to join a gym. We selected this one because it WAS located near our apartment. A couple months into moving we decided to relocate as we did not know about how bad the area was..we went to the gym MAX three times. The gym was not as advertised.. It was a safe but not clean environment. People would used the machines and not wipe them down, staff was not even attempting to clean.. they were at the desks talking and laughing on their phones. We didn't like the gym or area; and informed the gym that we were moving and wanted to end our membership. We were both told that our membership was all cancelled out and we were all set; I was under the impression that our membership was ended since we were verbally told it was. As month(s) passed by we noticed money missing from our account. We contacted them and assumed it was a mistake that they must have not taken us off autopay. We then were told there was a 100$ cancellation fee, MONTHS after the fact even though we were told we were cancelled out and no longer had ties with this gym. It seems that staff members aren't trained correctly to know generally information about the gym/memberships and we were wheeled in by false pretenses. I will be disputing charge(s) for the months that I was charged and not actively going to this gym; as I expressed to them I now live a whole county away. If you sign up for this gym please be aware of the contract and do not trust the staff! It seems this company will do anything to squeeze a few extra pennies out of people. I would not recommend!! Revised:A manager from the company reached out to me within 24h of seeing the review-- they were able to waive the 100$ fee to cancel membership ("as a courtesy"); we were still charged the 30$ for the month(s) we did not go. This leads me issue to be semi resolved so I will be increasing my review by 2 stars but my prior review still will stand to prevent situation happening to another person.

Negative experience: Not a fan of the policy of this place. You shouldn’t force people in to a payment method. I moved recently and went to a different gym and these people stay stealing the monthly membership out of my account, and charge a 100 dollar cancellation fee. Very medieval way of doing business in 2025, I’d give them 0 stars if I could .

Fantastic experience: Very friendly staff, knowledgeable, and welcoming! I recommend to anyone in the 518 looking for a place to workout!

Fantastic experience: Great staff & clean space. would definitely come back again!

Fantastic experience: Great place good people

Negative experience: I went to the gym and asked about a stretch. I was.asked to set an appt to see the trainer ao he could show me a couple. Someone else showed up and said he doesn't really know stretching. Try youtube. He was there to evaluate. I explained I don't need services just a stretch he could offer me. After 45 min, I left. I returned in the evening a week later and asked another trainer. He too said he doesn't know and maybe I should try youtube. If you can't sell a trainer, No One will a answer a simple question Instead referring me to youtube. You should have a sign stating, "questions cost...youtube is free."

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym. Always my go to when passing through the area.

Fantastic experience: Great place!!

Fantastic experience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Best Fitness is hands down one of the best gyms in the area. The facility is always clean, well-equipped, and has a great energy from both the staff and members. A special shoutout to Hayley Macken — she’s truly a standout! Her passion, professionalism, and positive attitude make a real difference. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to push your fitness to the next level, Hayley has a way of motivating you and making you feel confident every step of the way. She’s knowledgeable, approachable, and genuinely cares about helping you reach your goals. Highly recommend both the gym and working with Hayley if you get the chance!

Negative experience: Brian the head of personal training is a scam artist. he over promises and under delivers. he just wants your money. and he charges me another month and made it seem like he did me a favor

Fantastic experience: Came in for the first time for a spin class and had a great time!! Clean gym with a great atmosphere

Fantastic experience: Nice gym

Fantastic experience: Their staff is so friendly and accommodating and the facility has the best machines.

Fantastic experience: amazing gym, amazing help

Negative experience: Not understanding why this gym has not been open on time Twice this week. Been coming here for years.

Negative experience: I was genuinely interested in signing up and had even done some research online that required my number to see the pricing. I was reviewing other gyms before committing but wanted to go here. However, the constant pressure changed my mind.. I’ve received up to five calls A DAY for an entire week and a half begging me to sign up which feels excessive and intrusive. The aggressive follow-up has completely turned me off from joining and I'll be going elsewhere. Update: its been a month and they still harass me every single day. I've blocked their number but now they're calling from other numbers. This is insane.

Fantastic experience: Lot of amenities and friendly staff. A great place to workout!!

Fantastic experience: Very nice gym, was helped out by Alexa . Was trying out the gym for the first time and was very impressed i recommend everyone come down and try it for yourself

Fantastic experience: Always love coming here. Staff is super nice

Fantastic experience: Great Gym!! HALEY at the front desk was very helpful

Fantastic experience: Excellent staff - Ms Alexa was amazing Good equipment Downstairs lot of equipment friendly environments

Fantastic experience: Good service I like the place beautiful spot to work out

Fantastic experience: Great gym facility and friendly staff! Equipment is great condition and pretty much has everything you need. 10/10

Fantastic experience: Has very clean amenities and a lot of up to date equipment.

Fantastic experience: Awesome spot. Great people.

Fantastic experience: Amazing staff, and great gym

Fantastic experience: I joined in mid-December and waited a few months to review. I primarily attend the Fuller Road and Central Ave branches. I had a membership to Planet Fitness but didn't like the lack of free weights and smith machines that always had lines since most of the venue was for abs and cardio. I came down to Vent and Best. Both had great features and the rates/amenities for Vent are a little better but I visited right after I had the Best Fitness tour and Vent was really, really busy. In the end chose Best due to location(s), reasonable costs, cleanliness of Fuller Road, lack of crazy long lines for equipment and really value the BFitt classes. When exploring fitness locations I saw complaints about Best for early termination fees, but they were very clear with me what they were, and reiterated it several times. Also others criticized the BFitt classes repetition, I have not found that to be the case at all...or when it has it's been appropriate. These classes have been my favorite aspect of Best--special shout outs to Emma, Emily, Guy, and Dylan with whom I've taken most of the classes with and have really valued them, noticed changes in my body composition, endurance, and strength over the past 5 or so months. I recommend!

Fantastic experience: Very nice employees, took care of me right away

Positive experience: I love my gym. Wish it was 24 hours though that’s the one thing that bothers me and makes it difficult for me to keep a consistent routine.

Fantastic experience: I joined Best in October and am really enjoying it. Very clean and the staff is super nice. I particularly love the Zumba classes with Emma, she is awesome!

Fantastic experience: Had a great experience when I dropped in for the day. The facilities are spacious and the staff was very helpful!

Negative experience: Can you cancel my membership, please?? I called in yesterday to cancel it, and was told I needed to come in in person after 8am because that is the policy. So I went in today, after 8am, and was told that a manager was not there so they could not cancel my membership- and to come in after 8am on Monday to see one. Before I left I was also given the number of a financial company that I can apparently call to cancel- what about your in person cancellation policy? I really did not think it would be such a hassle to cancel a gym membership- please just cancel mine! I will take down the review if my membership gets cancelled and no fees are incurred.

Fantastic experience: Great experience at Best Fitness today! Alina was very helpful!

Fantastic experience: Great gym with multiple levels. Has all of the cardio machines, a full suite of weights, & very clean

Fantastic experience: Best health club gym if you want to gain strength and cardio endurance. The Personal Trainers know what they are doing and are very knowledgeable. Many more benefits that can be mentioned. A+ Especially the Central Ave location in Albany.

Fantastic experience: Great! Alexa was the best

Positive experience: They have a good amount of machines!

Negative experience: Scheduled a consultation for a personal trainer with a staff member over the phone. After inconveniently traveling to the location, I find out upon arrival that I was given incorrect information about the process. They had no idea that an appointment had even been scheduled for me because apparently it wasn’t the proper procedure to even do so. If they can’t follow their own procedures, I don’t trust them with my health & fitness.

Fantastic experience: Great gym, has all the equipment I need and is not to busy.

Fantastic experience: I had the best time here and the workers are amazing.

Fantastic experience: Had great service and great equipment. Enjoyed my time at the gym.

Fantastic experience: Great gym, great experience, great staff

Fantastic experience: I always come home and come to this gym because of how i’m treated , the cleanliness of the facility, and the overall respect and help i’ve given to make my trip back to albany as simple and easy as possible. Quality equipment, great community, and the best staff money can buy!

Fantastic experience: This is a great gym, the facility is so spacious and clean, and all the members are so nice and helpful. Steven especially was so kind and gave us a great tour.

Fantastic experience: Friendly, flexible, good crowd

Negative experience: I want to like this gym, but one really unfortunate thing bring it from 5 stars down to 2 stars — the treadmills. While multiple of them don’t work at all, I have a few times been running 9mph or faster and it just comes to a dead stop. They tell me they stop automatically if it’s been 30 minutes, but I was only like 5 minutes into my run. It’s dangerous. They shrug their shoulders. So, careful going here if you like running on the treadmills. The bathrooms in the men’s locker room are also not in the greatest shape, but it’s not too bad. Other than that, they have power racks, a large weight room, a turf area and a bunch of kettlebells, to name a few things.

Positive experience: Steven was very helpful in orienting me as a new member. This is one of the few gyms in the capital region that offer pilates and barre classes. The instructors are professional. While the main floor is renovated, the locker rooms could be better.

Fantastic experience: Great staff, and awesome classes!

Fantastic experience: great place to work out. Machines are awesome

Fantastic experience: The classes here are amazing. The trainers are so good. And the gym manager is always very helpful.

Fantastic experience: Great staff

Fantastic experience: I recently had the pleasure of exercising here. The staff is very friendly

Fantastic experience: Great service

Fantastic experience: Great place work out great environment. Great staff love the machine. Wouldn’t change the gym for anything.

Fantastic experience: I cannot give enough stars to the excellent staff at Best Fitness in Westgate Plaza. After a long illness I found myself in terrible shape both physically and mentally. From the moment I walked in the door every staff member I encountered was friendly, encouraging and knowledgeable. After doing a comprehensive fitness analysis I was paired up with a personal trainer and began a customized fitness plan. It is a very holistic approach. I’m very pleased with my progress! I would especially like to thank Peyton-Michele and Brian for all of their support and encouragement!

Fantastic experience: Great service and staff and hygiene gym ever

Negative experience: They stole money from me for close to an entire year before I got an email saying “your card was declined please update your method of payment and pay our penalty fees” this is after I called AND walked into the gym to cancel in person. When I inquired they said that the corporate office rejected my cancellation request. When I addressed it the 2nd time they gave me a prepaid debit card containing the amount of money they had been stealing from me over the past several months

Fantastic experience: Fantastic service

Fantastic experience: Staff are amazing and always helpful navigating memberships, schedules, equip, etc. Group EX instructors are the best!!!!

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym!

Fantastic experience: Visiting from out of town & wanted a few gym visits. Very accommodating staff, clean facilities & all the equipment needed. Lives up to its name!!

Negative experience: Worst experience ever They won’t accept the fact that you want to cancel your membership

Negative experience: The weary of the terms and conditions of the of this gym. They offer memberships which do not refund payment upon termination, although initially advertised as such. As usually a diligent and skeptical monitor of terms and conditions, I was surprised by how much I needed to pay in the end. Word to wise (r?)!

Fantastic experience: Switched over here after some typical PFit excessiveness... it's been great. Location may be slanting my opinion because it's so convenient for me, but it's generally never over crowded, it's clean, and everyone is knowledgeable. I needed to add some things to my leg workouts and Brian was fantastic for that. I also spent some time working on new core exercises with Peyten and it was rough in all the right ways. 10/10 would recommend the added expense and limited hours over PFit because the trade off has been 100% worth it. If you do schedule a trainer, let them kick your but all over the gym, you'll leave exhausted but feeling accomplished af. (Leave nap time available after, I needed it )

Fantastic experience: This place is really clean staff is very helpful and friendly I would recommend to anyone in the Albany area. Very great workout very comfortable. Wouldn’t go anywhere else!!!

Fantastic experience: Great classes and staff.

Fantastic experience: Great time, went as a guest. Very helpful staff

Fantastic experience: I’ve been going to this gym for 5 years. They are the best!!

Fantastic experience: Staff was super helpful and accomodating. The gym was very clean and a great selection of gym equipment!

Negative experience: I’ve revised my review as I’ve been around the two gyms one in fuller and one in central for a longer period They should have their staff to start working on keeping the weights area (specifically) neat. Too many weights left out and empty bottles and paper towels scattered about. I know their is a maintenance team who seem to do a good job keeping the floors and restrooms neat but the front staff are rarely on the lower level (central ave gym) taking a look around (it is required that members put eights back) or even present. Too many staff people standing around yapping or just doing nothing.

Fantastic experience: Fully equipped gym with lots of space and friendly staff.

Fantastic experience: They have a great staff, good communication, environment is well taken care of as well as the equipment.

Positive experience: 6.14.23 I hate leaving this review because I don't want it to take away from my previous post, but I can't take it any longer. In the time I've been coming here I have not seen a maintenance person or a cleaner! I have seen the manager cleaning one day, but a facility this size......that's alot. Getting projects done here take forever, the floors, bathrooms, the long awaited childrens/juice whatever.... .......but let's get new bathrooms and never clean them. I've even found gum stuck to the bench press. It's just a dirt facility. Members dirty it and members clean it. What can be expected from the facility? I feel the get more (dues/fees) than they give. Now the staff is still amazing shout out to Annie, JENNY, Alexa, Emily and Rachel they truly keep the members coming. Creating an amazing environment as soon as you walk in, but this place is dirty. I have photos I'm trying to figure out how to add them Annie at the front desk makes my workout not feel like a workout. She welcomes me and gives me a feeling and a sense of community right from the start, as soon as I walk in. She sets the mood and mindset I need to get my workout in. For some working out is what they love to do, for me it's a chore, seeing Annie's face and her Genuine care and personality makes me successful. I'm not stretching it when I say I look forward to working out. I have set goals knowing seeing her will help me accomplish them. Great place to come because they have the equipment and the person!!!!!

Negative experience: Black mold, ripped curtains and exposed BX cable from drop tile ceiling in the men’s showers. I don’t understand why the Albany location is so far behind Schenectady in terms of basic upkeep.

Fantastic experience: Great gym with a friendly atmosphere! I was in town visiting family and had to get a workout in, so I took advantage of their free day pass. I only rode the exercise bike but they had lots of equipment and I saw signs for group fitness classes. Place was very clean and the front desk people could not have been nicer. AND it seems like they have a gym dog...I'd go to a gym just for that, LOL. I would definitely join this gym if I lived here.

Fantastic experience: I have been a member for 10 years in this gym. Love everything about it! Multiple classes for my choice on weekly basis, staffs, instructors are professional, friendly! I benefit greatly from it! Strongly recommend it to anyone

Fantastic experience: One thing that is important to me is transparency. That is what they exactly. I leave with the same expectation I arrived with. I enjoy how clean and spacious this facility is. Have a personal training with group class can be expensive monthly but you get what you pay for. Dollar per dollar this place is a value!

Fantastic experience: finally i actually found a gym that ive been looking for! They have all of the classes that i like and a gym i can just use for when im not taking class. employees are super cool too!

Fantastic experience: Conner and Garrett were the highlight of my day whenever I would arrive. These two young men are always respectful and kind and genuinely curious as to how your day’s going. I just needed to make sure they get the recognition they deserve

Positive experience: First off.. if you are looking for accountability in keeping your Butt in the gym, JOIN! They literally will call you if they don't see you all week. I just got a congratulations email for going to the gym more than 5xs in the first month. At first, i was like “omg annoying!” But when they called me and left a VM saying, “we havent seen you in a while..” I was like oh yeah, let me get my Butt in to workout! The facility is clean, a lot of different options. I do have the about 50$ a month package so i can join unlimited classes, they have YOGA, HITT and others. The only thing i would complain about would be… nothing! Its a GYM Sign Up Today !

Fantastic experience: I was visiting town on business and used their trial membership to keep up on my workouts. Nice gym, friendly, helpful staff. I used the free weight room in the basement. They had everything I expected from a good gym, all equipment was in good condition and fully functional. Not too crowded at 6:00 am, I didn’t have to wait for any equipment. While I didn’t use the cardio equipment, that room was also well equipped with plenty of machines that all appeared to be in great shape. Thanks Best Fitness, I had a great workout.

Fantastic experience: As a local coming back to Albany after several years, I was really impressed with Best Fitness! The gym was clean and inviting, with all the equipment in great shape. But what truly made the difference was the staff. Annie and Connor were absolutely fantastic! They went above and beyond to welcome me as a first-time guest, making me feel comfortable and right at home. We even got a selfie together, and they hooked me up with a protein shake as a parting gift! It's clear they take real pride in creating a positive and supportive atmosphere. If you're looking for a great gym in Albany with amazing staff, Best Fitness is the place to go! Joshua Reid IFBB Professional Athlete

Fantastic experience: Had a terrific experience! Staff was terrific! God bless all of them and their families!Amen!

Fantastic experience: Great gym with lots of equipment! When ever I visit home I always workout here!

Fantastic experience: My trainer is patient and pretty. I’m very happy with the progress.I Thank all the people who greet me when I enter the gym.

Negative experience: If I could give this gym zero stars I would. This gym is terrible the machines are outdated and have not been inspected for safety of usage. I’ve been going to this gym since 2017. Some of the cable machines are broken. Takes very long time to get em fixed. The treadmills belts lag and makes you trip. I complained numerous times to staff, but no one listened. Today I hurt my knee on the treadmill and was taking to the hospital (see pictures).

Fantastic experience: I’ve been working with Emily as my personal trainer for the last few months and the results have been amazing! Emily has been a great resource and a wealth of knowledge for my overall health. Highly recommend!

Fantastic experience: It is a modern clean facility with a really helpful staff that are dedicated to helping you! I highly recommend going here!

Negative experience: I don't know if it's because Hayley is the most inconsiderate human being on this planet or we were just discriminated towards in some way but me and my sister were swindled into $160 (myself) and $130 (her). When coming in January 17th I made it clear I just wanted to try the gym out and Hayley brought up the 30 day free membership trial. She never once specified if we signed anything we'd have to pay a $100 cancellation fee plus the $30 for the month on top of it. NEVER ONCE. I'm a 20 year college student who's taking care of a sick mom, $100 doesn't fall from the sky, I would have just gotten a day pass or something of the sort. She told us we'd only have to come in and sign, and that was it. Not that we had three business days to cancel, or that if we don't we'd be owing them this much money. She said we had till the 17th, we came in the 13th! The employees who work here are all self entitled, clearly money hungry on commission who could care less about others. And I say this because it's true! She didn't do her job, didn't even apologize when we were shocked and insisted we didn't listen to what she said. I have no reason to lie, it's dumb I even have to justify myself. Now I have to pay this off, even after calling the billing company, a young man named Brandon said it's up to the manger to waive the $100 fee and you can't even contact her! I believe her name is Rachel? Whoever she is someone needs to speak to her too. This man said if he could waive it he would because what they did was wrong, and they should be retrained. On top of it she said she but a hold on my account (she never did), and the even said the only way you can cancel a membership is there in person which is also a lie, you can absolutely do it over the phone. These are dishonest, money hungry people with no respect for you. DO NOT HOME HERE! DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING! I've learned the hard way to never trust anyone by their word, even at a gym! Edit: Noticed that everyone who has the same complaint is also a POC, that's not just a coincidence.