There was a time when the hotel gym was banished to a basement, with sad-looking equipment shoved wherever it fits. Not anymore.
No longer an afterthought, a hotel’s gym is now given as much consideration as the penthouse or the fine-dining restaurant. High-spec and higher-tech, some have cool custom kit, others have recovery gadgets worthy of a pro athlete — but all have the kind of space that makes you want to work out, even when on vacation.
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Equinox Hudson Yards
New YorkWhen the fitness brand with a cult-like following opened its first hotel in 2019, it was always going to have health and fitness woven into every inch of the place. Equinox Hudson Yards is the flagship property, and even the guest rooms are shaped around optimizing health: bedding is temperature responsive and the minibar is stocked with supplements. The Equinox Club is enormous — 60,000-sq-ft over two floors — and has a 15,000-sq-ft outdoor pool with a sundeck as well as a 225-sq-ft indoor saltwater pool with views of the Hudson River. There’s a weight training floor, pilates studio, and an outpost of Earthbar, the beloved smoothie bar from LA.
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The Houstonian Club
Houston, TexasAs the saying goes, everything’s bigger in Texas and that’s certainly true at The Houstonian Club. The health club spans a huge 185,000 sq ft and its reputation as one not only one of the best gyms but also the most exclusive is not without merit — it’s a Platinum Club of America (meaning it's in the top 5 percent of private clubs) and is the only Platinum Club in Texas. Surrounded by a 27-acre woodland, it has a pretty staggering list of stats: 300 plus pieces of equipment, 180 classes per week, 25 plus personal trainers, four indoor, and five outdoor tennis courts. Even the air has health benefits — its ventilation systems have a technology installed that introduces ions to fight pathogens.
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Four Seasons Resort Hualalai
Kailua-Kona, HawaiiA location-appropriate indoor/outdoor design, the sports club at Four Seasons Hualalai has weight-training equipment and the cardio machines (stairmaster, treadmill, bikes, and rowers) face out towards the pretty gardens for a distracting view as you sweat. But if you want to train alfresco there’s an outdoor space with equipment set up. There’s also an 82-ft lap pool (swim coaches are available). No padel as of yet, but you can get your fill of ball sports with the seven tennis courts and three pickleball courts. The resort caters to active guests outside the gym, too, with manta ray night time snorkelling and an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.
See: The Personal Trainers Trusted by Olympians and A-list Stars
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Aman New York
New YorkA fairly legendary outpost deserves an equally legendary gym. Aman New York sure has that — the 3,000-sq-ft Fitness Centre overlooks 56th street and is surprisingly serene considering its location. It’s full of Technogym equipment and while classes include the to-be-expected Pilates and yoga, there’s also T’ai chi and Qigong. Not all gyms have the stuff to help you recover — you usually have to visit the spa for that, and even then it’s in the form of a massage or a sauna — but Aman’s gym has infrared body rollers, a hydrogenated water station, and Cellgym (a biohacking therapy that uses Intermittent Hypoxia-Hyperoxia Training to help with resorting energy and regeneration of cells).
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1 Hotel South Beach
MiamiDecidedly different, the gym at 1 Hotel South Beach is stripped back and cool with its exposed pipes and steel beams (on which you’ll find several punch bags swinging from the rafters). The gym is called ‘Anatomy’ which hints at the vibe — classes are structured around ‘the science of strength conditioning’ and the personal trainers are known as ‘body architects.’ It’s big on culture and community, which means absolutely no filming and no tripods so you can workout without the fear of being in the background of someone’s Instagram post.
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The Maybourne Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California One of the more stylish gyms, The Maybourne Beverly Hills fitness center has some rather aesthetically pleasing equipment — crafted by Pent, the pieces are made from American walnut, stainless steel, and leather. Not just style over substance, either, there’s advanced machinery including Woodway treadmills, Peloton bikes, Technogym, and Wattbikes. It’s located adjacent to the spa, which is the largest in Beverly Hills. Head there to recover — the immersion pool is particularly picturesque with gilded mosaics and a sky-lit ceiling.
See also: These Elite Fitness Resorts Want You to Train Like a Pro Athlete
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The Bellevue Hotel
PhiladelphiaThe Sporting Club at The Bellevue Hotel is massive. It’s one of the world’s largest hotel gyms at over 100,000-sq-ft and it has quite possibly everything you could need under one roof. Its facilities include (deep breath): an 82-ft, four lane lap pool; two international regulation squash courts; NBA-sized basketball court; pickleball courts; spin room; reformer Pilates studio; boxing studio; 10,000-sq-ft fitness floor; an indoor running rack; additional studios for classes (there’s around 225 per week); and a ‘golf pavilion’ with TrackMan 4 golf stimulators and hitting bays. There’s also a barbershop, a cafe, and multiple lounges (include one on the terrace).
