NoExcusesGym

•  Houston - Houstonian

Ironically, the top gym sits in what some polls call the country’s most out-of-shape city. The hotel’s 125,000-square-foot health club features 22 ellipticals, 16 treadmills, 14 upright bikes, eight step machines, 35 selectorized weight stations, 12 Hammer Strength free-weight machines. and a 25-yard outdoor lap pool.

•  Philadelphia - Park Hyatt at BellevueReceive complimentary access to the adjoining Sporting Club at Bellevuea, a 93,000-square-foot fitness behemoth with NBA-sized basketball court, huge surrounding balconies, more than 20 treadmills, nearly 20 recumbent bikes, 15 ellipticals, a dozen upright bikes, seven Stairmasters with plasma TVs, 50 selectorized weight stations, 15 Hammer Strength machines, eight benches, two squat racks and more than 90 group exercise classes.

Receive complimentary access to the adjoining Sporting Club at Bellevuea, a 93,000-square-foot fitness behemoth with NBA-sized basketball court, huge surrounding balconies, more than 20 treadmills, nearly 20 recumbent bikes, 15 ellipticals, a dozen upright bikes, seven Stairmasters with plasma TVs, 50 selectorized weight stations, 15 Hammer Strength machines, eight benches, two squat racks and more than 90 group exercise classes.

•  San Francisco - Four Seasons

The hotel’s fitness center boasts over 100,000 square feet in a museum-like environment, with a 10,000-square-foot weight training gym, the size of some health clubs. The facility includes Life Fitness 9700 series treads and 9500 series computerized bikes; StairMasters 4600PT model steppers; fixed weight barbells; Lemond spin bikes; and eight-lane lap pool.

•  Chicago - Embassy Suites Lakefront

Do not confuse this athletic-minded accommodation with its sister property on Ontario Street. This Embassy Suites sits on Columbus Drive.

The hotel includes a gym on the lobby level, but the Holmes Place Health Club next door is what put this Embassy on the Top 10 list. For a fee, receive full privileges to this “modern and swank” health club, festooned with plasma screens, light hardwood floors, plush locker rooms, “cutting edge” cardio and strength equipment, plenty of classes, a 25-meter lap pool. 

•  Las Vegas - The Venetian

Inside this enormous all-suite resort sits the independently operated, 69,000-square-foot Canyon Ranch Spa wellness facility, which includes a 40-foot rock climbing wall that shoots up to the ceiling.

Canyons also provides a cardio zone packed with treads, bikes, ellipticals and 4400PT steppers with attached plasma screens. Another section focuses on strength training with cutting-edge stack-loaded machines, computerized resistance machines, and free weights. Classes include cycling, yoga, and fitness testing.

•  Bellevue, Wash., (suburban Seattle) - Bellevue Club Hotel

The Bellevue Hotel and Athletic Club is private, private, private. However, its also huge, huge, huge, with a 50-meter pool; racquetball, basketball, squash and tennis courts; and cardio and weight areas.

•  Ponte Vedra., Fla., (Jacksonville area) - Ponte Vedra Inn & Club

Work out in this 300-acre resort’s fitness center and gaze out to the Atlantic Ocean. The 13,500-square-foot gym includes a  25-yard, outdoor lap pool that stretches to the sandy beach. You’ll also find more than 40 fitness stations with treads, ellipticals, Stairmasters, bikes, rowing machines, Cybex selectiorized resistance equipment, free weights and 45 group classes.

•  Minneapolis - Grand Hotel

Receive free privileges to the 58,000-square-foot facility owned by Lifetime Fitness Corp. The main fitness floors, with their  cherry wood paneled walls, Art Deco railings, plasma TVs and 30-foot ceiling, will remind you of a private theater rather than a public sweat house. The facility includes cardio machines, weight stations, free weights, classes, sports courts, and a 20-yard lap pool.

•  Orlando, Fla. - JW Marriott Grande Lakes

This resort surrounded by 500 acres of Florida Everglades near Walt Disney World features an indoor health club, 25-meter lap pool, 18-hole golf course designed by PGA golfer Greg Norman, tennis courts, treadmills with attached plasma screens, and “new, new new” cardio units with Precor ellipitcals.

•  Boston - Ritz Carlton Boston Common

Be sure to book the right Ritz. Boston sports two Ritz properties located on opposite sides of Boston Common. The Avery Street locale is the one you want, connected to the 100,000-square-foot Sports Club/LA.

And the holiday present is:

•  New York City - Le Parker Meridien

Guests receive complimentary access to the chic Gravity Health Club on the hotel’s lower level, accessible through a separate bank of elevators. Inside, the floor space is loaded with new equipment, including the 11 Hammer Strength machines and numerous stack-loaded weight stations.

Trans fat not wanted

And speaking of hotels and staying in shape, the Loews Hotel chain announced recently that it will ban by June 1 artery-clogging trans fat from restaurant menus in its 18 hotels in the United States and Canada.

The ban applies to Loews’  hotels in New York City; Denver; Nashville; Annapolis, Md.; Coronado and Santa Monica, Calif.; Miami Beach and St. Petersburg, Fla.; Orlando; Philadelphia; Washington; Tucson, Ariz.; New Orleans; Las Vegas; and Quebec City and Montreal, Canada.

Source: Nubella News