Pure Fitness is commonly known as the higher-end gym chain in Hong Kong. They provide more than just a gym as they also have their own yoga chain, Pure Yoga. I have had a month free with Pure Fitness and Yoga as they gave out free memberships to existing members as a promotion. This article will be focusing on reviewing the gyms under the Pure brand.
I would say their services are solid but the monthly fee may not be worth it for some people. For certain locations, the views at the gym are very instagrammable and enjoyable for those who do cardio.
Locations:
Pure Fitness currently has 12 locations, 4 in Central, 3 in Kowloon (Ngau Tau Kok, Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui), and the rest are scattered around Hong Kong Island. They’re yet to expand into New Territories. (Probably because big offices are not there yet?)
Price point:
Short term contract with one club access: Around $2000 HKD per month
Long term contract with multiple club access: Around $1300 HKD per month
People coming from major banks and corporations may have a discount, so please check up with your agent if you can get a cheaper membership!
When you sign up for the membership, the agent may tell you that you can get another free month of access if you can refer a friend. So, you might want to drag a friend to come along!
How to join?
Pure Fitness offers 1 week free passes for people who have never joined their gym before. From time to time they also offer cheaper promotional prices for those who are interested in joining them for the first time!
Joining them is rather simple, you just have to go to their website and book the trial. After the trial, the agent will follow up with you and see if you want to join their club! You can choose different membership plans according to your preference. There are packages that only allow you to go to one specific club and there are packages that allow all-club access. Note that they have cheaper monthly memberships for those who sign a longer contract or have a corporate plan.
Classes:
Pure Fitness offers classes to members! They have cycling classes and fitness courses from Les Miles. Recently, there are TRX courses as well. They are free of charge and you just need to sign up by downloading the Pure app after signing up. I recommend signing up as soon as possible as they do get full pretty quickly!
Clientele:
I’ve been to all 4 of the central branches and in my own experience, people who go after 6 are mostly those who got off work nearby. I would say most people who go there are quite fit to begin with and they are very courteous. You can expect to do your own workout unbothered. I’ve seen a very international group of people and most of the staff can speak English to cater to this community.
When Fitness First announced their withdrawal from the Hong Kong market, members were assigned to Pure Fitness to carry out the rest of their contracted membership. So you may recognize some familiar faces if you used to go to Fitness First!
Equipment:
In every Pure Fitness gym, you can expect a large cardio zone with a moderate (if not amazing) view. For free weights, I see a lot of benches and ample dumbbells, kettlebells and other equipment for your accessory movements. If you want to do squats and deadlifts, most platforms and racks get occupied very quickly so you may have to avoid visiting the gym during peak hours. However, I do appreciate that people can actually deadlift on deadlift platforms freely. Their plates are not calibrated, but for your average gym-goer, they are more than enough to achieve your fitness goals. I would say Pure Fitness has a lot of isolation machines in each gym and the pleasure of having variety can spice up your workout!
You can also find boxing rings with a sandbag in many of their branches!
Special Branches:
- ICBC Tower branch, you can find a swimming pool for its members!
- K11 Musea branch, the best view you can find in a gym!
- Mong Kok branch, HOW IS IT SO CROWDED ALL THE TIME?
Changing room and toilets:
I think all Pure Fitness changing rooms are top-notch in terms of cleanliness and facilities. You can find a sauna and steam room in certain branches which can be relaxing after a workout! I never faced a problem where I could not find an empty locker or bench for me to use. All of their lockers use the digital lock, so you would not need to bring your own padlock to the gym like the old days. If you can’t manage to open your locker, the staff are helpful (yes, I have forgotten my passcode once).
Personal thoughts:
When it comes to equipment, I cannot critique Pure Fitness as you can see they put in an effort in maintaining the gym and designing it in a way that anyone can find something fun for them to do. They are pretty much top of the commercial gym game as they manage to have their gyms at prime locations, and might I add, instagrammable locations. I do not think Pure has to go 24/7 to compete with other gyms as I really appreciate their staff and how helpful they are to each member. Even the janitors were friendly when I approached them for help!
However, I do understand not everyone would want to pay over 4 digits a month for a gym membership. I personally do not have a Pure membership because I do not live or work near any of their locations, I also have no need for a fancy vibe when I do my workout. When I visited the Mong Kok branch, I noticed that every isolation machine, rack, bench rack, bench in the free weight zone, leg press, cable machines were all in use. It was quite funny to me to see so many people who paid over $1000 a month having to queue to have something to do. But that was just the Mong Kok branch during peak hours!
People once told me to not join Pure because the people at Pure are generally “snobby”. Well. To a certain degree, I do agree some members can be obnoxious about going to Pure as they brag about it face-to-face or on social media. However, during my month with Pure, I actually do think most members are quite nice and not snobby at all! You just have to find your own crowd in this gym I guess.
Would I recommend Pure?
Yes! Most definitely if you have the budget for it!
Ratings:
| Cleanliness | 10/10 |
| Staff quality | 9/10 |
| Equipment quality | 8/10 |
| Instagram factor | 9/10 |
| Price | 5/10 |
| Overall | 8/10 |