Cambridge Athletic Club 215 First Street, Cambridge, MA 02142

"A great place with lovely people! We searched and found a drop in place for our kids to play basketball while it was raining. They made us feel welcome! Will certainly return"

"My housemates and I loved this gym! It was always well cleaned and machines were up to date. The classes offered are fun as well, shout out to Julie from Body Balance. It is a little cramped, but they do their best to space out machines/classrooms, exercise space. Women’s gym was well maintained and full of machines/equipment. The only reason we cancelled is because we’re all moving out of Cambridge, and the cancellation process was straightforward. Hoping to find a gym as good as CAC next!"

"I love the gym - it's in a cool building and has all sorts of amenities like towel service and wet/dry saunas. The staff maintains the equipment very well - if a machine breaks, it's never down for long."

"Gym has everything I use: Locker rooms with plenty of space/storage, well kept machines, and plenty of space during the off peak hours I use the facilities. I tried a few classes and thought they were fun, but not for me. I would highly recommend this gym for people who love fitness classes or for people who live in the area and just need a no frills fitness space."

"Been working out here since about 2019. Generally pretty happy with it. Helpful and available staff when you have questions or want your billing receipt. If you do want to cancel, there's a 2 month transition window but that's it: nothing like the big chain gyms. Five power racks are great, but during rush hour expect them all to be taken up. Like all gyms, there's an issue of people just sitting staring at their phone for 10 minutes between sets, doing nothing. Or super-setting half the machines in the gym. They have put up signs asking people to be respectful but I haven't seen any behavior changes in this. Going off hours is much less busy, but then you have to deal with the cleaning staff mopping right around your feet. Trying to squat when you have slippery floors isn't very safe at all, I've had to start getting a towel from the front desk to dry the floor to I don't kill myself. Cleaning staff should stay away from anyone using a squat rack, including the area near the sides where we change weights, otherwise it's just a slippery mess. The main negative and my reason for only four stars is access. Before COVID, we could walk right in the First Street or the Linksey Way entrance. During covid the building locked the Linksey way entrance, which is annoying as you have to walk around the block to the front. However, they eventually locked the front entrance, too. Gym members don't have access badges to the outside door, so we had to ring the visitor doorbell. That was annoying enough, but now they not only make you ring the door bell but have to speak to the security guard. The intercom is completely unintelligible and you have to shout 'I'm going to the gym!' to be let inside. Not a great experience during winter, or in the rain, since you are not covered. They really need to make getting inside easier. The gym is a tenant of the building, we should be granted come/go access through all doors without having to wait for security to buzz us in."