Fitness Club venues

A fitness club is a sports club centred on a weights and cardio floor, group classes and personal training, which offers wellness facilities such as a sauna or a pool to complement this. The difference from spa centres lies in the priorities: the main reason for the visit is exercise, and the wet areas are there for relaxing after training. The type covers the sport-focused clubs among fitness and wellness clubs.

Training and relaxation areas at fitness clubs

All the fitness clubs in the listing have a gym and a sauna. Most have yoga and meditation classes, and some have reformer Pilates, an indoor pool and a steam room. The club in Ataşehir is inside a hotel and offers a Turkish bath, a jacuzzi and nutrition advice alongside the sports area; the club in Yalıkavak, Bodrum combines outdoor sports areas with a sauna and a cold plunge pool. Some clubs also offer massage; however, at fitness clubs massage is often a service charged separately and not included in membership.

Who joins a fitness club

A fitness club is the choice of those who exercise regularly a few days a week and want to relax in the sauna or pool after training. For those who see the spa not as an occasional outing but as part of their weekly routine, the membership model makes more sense. If you are only looking for a massage, a hammam or a one-off spa day, a wellness centre or a day spa may be a better place to start.

Fitness club, club with spa and club with sauna

Fitness clubs, clubs with spa and clubs with sauna come under the same parent type, and a club can belong to more than one type; the club in Yalıkavak is listed both as a fitness club and as a club with sauna. The main differences are:

Membership, trial visits and house rules

At fitness clubs, use of the wet areas usually depends on membership; whether there is day entry, a trial class or a guest pass varies from club to club. At clubs inside hotels, also ask which areas hotel guests and outside members can use. The membership fee usually varies with the length of membership, the hours you can use the club, and whether group classes and personal training are included. It helps to find out from the start the rules on towels, slippers, swimwear and swimming caps for the sauna and pool, the arrangements for women and men, and the opening hours of the wet areas.

Where the fitness clubs are

Two of the fitness clubs in the listing are on the Asian side of Istanbul, in Maltepe and Ataşehir; the third is in Muğla, on the seafront at Yalıkavak in Bodrum.