Hotel Fitness Center Review – Intercontinental Times Square, NYC

Mentioned in this post

1. New York City
   City in New York

   
   New York New York
2. Theater District - Times Square
   Neighborhood in New York New York

   
   1-7 W 43rd St
   New York New York
   www.bigapplevisitorscenter.com/pitsq.htm

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Honestly, I’ve been disappointed by most of the hotel fitness centers that I’ve seen in New York City.  Though the equipment is usually fine, most of the facilities are squeezed into small, cramped spaces and are just not very inviting.  I rationalize and make excuses for the hotels – after all, real estate is at a premium and fitness isn’t really a number one priority for a tourist or business person visiting New York City anyway, right?

You can understand then that I wasn’t expecting much from the fitness center at the Intercontinental NYC at  Times Square even though I really liked the hotel (see review, here).

The fitness center is on the Third Floor, down a hallway of rooms.  I arrived at the entrance, greeted by a larger-than-life photograph of Paula Radcliffe running the New York City Marathon! The bib said 2008 – hey, I ran the NYC Marathon that year!

I opened the door to the fitness center and I was shocked!  This was perhaps the nicest hotel fitness center I’d seen in all of Manhattan! While there was no spa, or pool, or locker, the gym was fabulous – totally conducive to working out.

Size: Very large

Equipment: plentiful, modern, state-of- the-art, personal tv on each cardio machine; well-arranged with plenty of room between machines

Types of equipment: 6 Life Fitness Treadmills, 3 TechnoGym stairmasters, 2 TechnoGym bicycles, 2 TechnoGym recumbent bicycles, 1 TechnoGym step machine, 1 TechnoGym shoulder/arm machine, full TechnoGym circuit machines, full set free weights.

Cleanliness: immaculate

Air: fresh

Light: good light, plenty of windows

Mirrors: many mirrored walls

In addition to the machines, there were towels, refrigerated towels, headphones and water.

Even better, imagine you were running on the treadmill.  You look out the window at the street.  You see the world-famous Birdland and the people on the street.  The time flies by…

For those who like to run outdoors, the hotel is less than one mile from both Central Park and the Hudson River.

To summarize: this gym was great.  If you are fitness-minded and visiting New York City and looking to stay at a nice hotel with an excellent fitness center, I would absolutely recommend staying at the Intercontinental Times Square.

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