fitness first sheung wan

thinking of joining. anyone going there care to share how much they pay per month? It's a stress there is no "fixed" price at any gym..sigh...wish they would just print out a price list and stick to it....so don't want to get ripped off! thx all!

I just joined last week so here's some fresh info for you: If you only plan to go to ONE of their centers, you can choose "Home" membership. For minimum 12 months "Home" membership it costs HKD508/month, or HKD408/month for minimum 24 months. There was also a joining fee HKD1000 but they discounted that to a nominal HKD50, and they waived the administration fee of HKD400.


If you join for 12 months, upon signing you need to pay the joining fee and the 1st month’s monthly fee, the rest is then by autopay once a month.


If you join for 24 months, upon signing you need to pay the joining fee and the monthly fees for the 1st, 23rd and 24th month, the rest again monthly autopay.


If you want to use all FOUR of their clubs in Hong Kong (Harbour View in TST, Grand Millenium Plaza, Olympia Plaza and Taikoo Place on HK side) and their 540 clubs worldwide, you should choose “Passport” membership, HKD538/month for 12 months or HKD438/month for 24 months.


If you want to terminate your membership earlier than the minimum period, there's penalty of HKD1000, and if I remember right, for the 24 months membership you can only terminate it after completing the first year, but I could be wrong about this time limit...


The fee includes towels and drinks (water, coffee, soft drinks) and they have daily newspapers and also a selection of DVDs that you can watch with your personal earphones during for example a treadmill workout.


They also have an optional "Bodyfirst" package to help you get started; it includes 3 x 60 minutes personal training sessions and costs HKD638. This fee is REFUNDED to you if you fullfill the following conditions: Within the first 28 days, complete the three PT sessions and exercise at the club on five other times. Within the 2nd and 3rd 28 days periods, complete 8 exercise sessions for each period. After this, the club will issue a refund voucher for you which you can use to pay your monthly fees.


You can request a free one time trial to check the actual facilities. The gym says there are no queues to equipment or showers even during peak hours, and based on my so far two visits after 6pm on weekdays this was true at least of the TST branch.


Please note however to ask VERY CAREFULLY for all the details of the payment! What happened to me was that they charged my credit card for the fees, and only after that I got a paper to sign that showed the full details of the minimum membership period and the early termination penalty. I had been under the impression that I could cancel my membership with one month notice by simply cancelling the autopay, and their sales staff incorrectly confirmed this to me. This mistake nearly resulted in me not joining them after all, but after long discussion with the branch manager – and a promise of free rental locker for 3 months for the mistake – I relented and joined them anyway.

Wow Christelita thanks so much for all that detailed info, that's a wonderful help appreciate that. Please keep us informed of how you are finding it there! Out of interest did you go for the 12 months of the 24 mths?

Glad to help! I agree with you, HK gyms are absurdly secretive about their prices so it's good to shed some light on the matter here.


I chose the 24 months package with Bodystart, and so far I am satisfied. Had my first PT session yesterday and they started it by checking my height, weight, blood pressure and pulse. You stand on a scale that not only gives you the cruel thruth about your weight but also measures your BMI, fat percentage and calculates your ideal target weight.


Then came questions about any possible health problems that might affect the type of exercise to be done, a brief history of past exercise / diet regime and what one's targets and expectations are.


Then it was off to warm up and exercise which the PT supervised. It's amazing how you can do 3 x 15 reps of leg presses while talking about what pets you have, and not quite even notice you're getting an effective workout while at it!


I did not (yet) check how much would additional PT sessions be but have to admit that this could be quite addictive. You're being supervised to make sure you go thru the right motions, and getting motivated and enjoying your time also. Two thumbs up so far!

... and cannot stop myself from adding; previously I have been a member at Physical and their instructions to get you started were limited to showing you how the machines worked, and a simple format how to calculate ideal heart beat rate based on one's age... add to that the mouldy smelling shower cubicles with slimy walls, and it's easy to understand why they were cheaper...

thanks again Christelita, actually years ago I joined Physical too but in the end it was just too depressing to go and listen to shouting housewives in full make up and sunglasses, carrying handbags even,sitting around on the dirty old equiptment gossiping loudly in Chinese. When I wanted to go on the equipment I'd have to interupt thier shouting match and say "excuse me may I use this equiptment?"! Then having to see them naked and shouting when in the changeroom again while they looked in the mirror for hours! Maybe it was because I went at the housewife time around 10-11am.It was a miserable experience, plus I never really knew if I was using the equiptment correctly. But it was way cheaper I think $199 a month at that time (5 yrs ago). I did join seasons for a while, the location was not great and I don't swim, and they pushed and pushed for selling the PT which annoyed me but it was quite nice and okay but overpriced I thought (about $800 a month)...

HAHHAHHAHHAA! Yes that description of the loudly gossiping Chinese housewives is soooo spot on! That was my pet pieve with them also. I am sure the center had received complaints because at some point there appeared notices in Chinese and English in the sauna room, reminding users to be quiet and let others relax in peaceful environment.


Once there was 5 tai-tais there, sitting on the floor and lying on the benches, applying copious amounts of massage oils and stuff on their skins - and on the floor, and on the benches... - and yackety-yackety-yacking all five of them at the same time. I could not hear my own thoughts, so I asked them to be quiet, pointing at the notice on the wall, in case they did not understand English. They looked at me like I had two heads, appalled beyond belief that someone had dared to interrupt their gossip session, and then proceeded to loudly ridicule and curse me in Cantonese. At that point I have to admit I lost my temper and cursed back at them in Cantonese, telling the busybodies to go f**c their m*****s. That was not welcomed either but while not shutting up, they at least left the saunaroom soon after...