Here are my impressions to help gym goers:

The only good thing I can say about it is that it has, by far, the best selection of quality equipment in Chiang Mai. No where else even compares. This is enough to keep me going there, but the negatives might put off many foreigners. The space itself is good enough, although I suspect the locker rooms will be crowded during peak periods.

It is loud! I couldn't stop myself from confronting the farang boss in from Bangkok with the certainty that the employees would suffer permanent long term hearing loss from sustained exposure to music over (what I am estimating as) 100 decibels. That did a lot of good, as you can imagine.

It is full of "personal trainers"and their clients. I don't want to assert anything I am not completely sure of, but I suspect they are briefly trained with no degrees in exercise physiology. They have no idea of or interest in gym etiquette and its annoying to work around them. Of course the "personal trainers" are actually very nice people doing what the California Wow system has hired and trained them to do.

There is no towel service and almost no one wipes down machines after use.

There is no set price and marketing techniques are questionable with dubious high pressure sales and pricing techniques etc.

The minute a hotel opens here with a quality gym I will be gone from California Wow. Until then, for me, all things condidered, its the best we have got if your exercise program, like mine, includes aerobic exercise on steppers, elipitical trainers and tread mills, and strenth training on fixed weight machines.

sounds like crap. i just paid 4.5k for yearly membership elsewhere; havent used it yet this year, but apparently they've serviced all their gear, and the pool's nice and big.

sounds like crap. i just paid 4.5k for yearly membership elsewhere; havent used it yet this year, but apparently they've serviced all their gear, and the pool's nice and big.

SoloFlyer, Would you mind sharing which gym you've joined please? I can't go to a gym as it bores me to tears, but my girlfriend is looking for a place. TIA

LRB, done viaPM

where is it?

top floor of airport plaza - lot's of fun if you own a car and want to go on a Saturday afternoon!!

Thanks SoloFlyer!

California Wow is everything you'd expect from a luk-krung demon child bred with the worst of the US sales tactics and hype smashed together with the pomp n show of Thai culture. The sound level alone is bordering on persecution. It's pretty much ready to go now, all staffed up and glitzy. Yeah, the equipment is new n plentiful, but so is the pressure sales and the looking good factor. It's the worst of CA fake, n Thai fake outward appearances mixed together. It's soooo not for me.

I can see by the equipment and rooms that some intense yoga, aerobics, cardio kckbox, n spinning classes can take place there. Maybe that's good for some ppl. I just don't need the flash, the insane amount of noise, or the price. I believe it's like 15k /yr. Maybe more. My gym is like 6k /yr, low budget, not flashy, and gets the job done. I don't need to pay for exclusivity or looking good. I do understand that many THais have jumped ship from my gym, and that staff from Powerhouse has joined the Wow team. It just suits some ppl better than others.

I walked thru 2 days ago just to see how it looked since last time I walked thru during construction n early sgin-ups. They really ddin't want me to walk thru n look without giving my name, sitting down, getting measured and then getting the sales pitch with suggested mmebership prices. NO THANK YOU ! I just ignored the girl and barged in to look. That's all I wanted. I don't need fancy talk and calculators pulled out to sell me on a gym membership. Just let me look honey, that's all ! The wall of stars and then one particular sign summed it all up for me. The words that I remember were "Tendy" and "Sexy." I told the girl in Thai that I was sorry it's just not my kind of gym. I told her I'm just not trendy or sexy enough to belong... which confused her. After exiting the gym, back to the relatively tolerable level of Airport Plaza noise I began to calm down from the instant anxiety that place gives me.

Excellent post! It is hideous and I am constantly evaluating whether I can tolerate it. Maybe in another week I won't be able to set foot in the place. I bought a four year membership for ten thousand baht from a friend leaving Thailand so it's very cheap for me.

I have hopes for the new Sofitel. My problem is I hate working out on creaky crappy equipment.

The words that I remember were "Tendy" and "Sexy." I told the girl in Thai that I was sorry it's just not my kind of gym. I told her I'm just not trendy or sexy enough to belong... which confused her.

I bet that if I had told her that she wouldn't have been confused!

Here are my impressions to help gym goers:

The only good thing I can say about it is that it has, by far, the best selection of quality equipment in Chiang Mai. No where else even compares. This is enough to keep me going there, but the negatives might put off many foreigners. The space itself is good enough, although I suspect the locker rooms will be crowded during peak periods.

It is loud! I couldn't stop myself from confronting the farang boss in from Bangkok with the certainty that the employees would suffer permanent long term hearing loss from sustained exposure to music over (what I am estimating as) 100 decibels. That did a lot of good, as you can imagine.

It is full of "personal trainers"and their clients. I don't want to assert anything I am not completely sure of, but I suspect they are briefly trained with no degrees in exercise physiology. They have no idea of or interest in gym etiquette and its annoying to work around them. Of course the "personal trainers" are actually very nice people doing what the California Wow system has hired and trained them to do.

There is no towel service and almost no one wipes down machines after use.

There is no set price and marketing techniques are questionable with dubious high pressure sales and pricing techniques etc.

The minute a hotel opens here with a quality gym I will be gone from California Wow. Until then, for me, all things condidered, its the best we have got if your exercise program, like mine, includes aerobic exercise on steppers, elipitical trainers and tread mills, and strenth training on fixed weight machines.

I stopped in to get a price list for membership....they don't have one, and were not very customer service orientated. Have you tried the gym on the 4th floor of the Duangtuan hotel?...it's not bad, pretty good equipment, plenty of free weights, plenty of towels, pool, steam and dry saunas. (My only complaint is sometimes they don't clean the jacuzzi often enough). However, not crowded and the staff are freindly.