I filled out a recent survey and one of your employees sent me a rebuttal in regards to what I said on the survey. That action alone, frustrates a fair terms contract. For community relations, your gym doesn't provide discounts to veterans, disabled, or any civil or public servants who are Baltimore blue collar; just cops. Then there is the "young professional rate", when my wife and I signed up, we never heard of any various rates for contract discounting from the employee who set up our contract. So Merritt gyms provide selling point discounts to young professionals but not disabled veterans, great selling point Here is a google review about your offers you provide young people, just not old people, or people who are considered too old for a discounted or specially rated for being young. A young urban professional is the old cliche of 'yuppie', your gym has a yuppie rate but not any social contract rates, or grass roots rates for anyone in Baltimore but yuppies or cops? 20% of Baltimore is made up of students, you marginalized 20% of a market practice which includes a gargantuan university student population, but you would give a young professional discount a club discount before a medical student in residency? Here is that customer's review and go ahead and relish in your discriminatory practices for discounting members: Claire Tiffany 4 reviews 5 years ago I really like Merritt especially their classes and instructors but I feel like the gym is getting more and more crowded. Even with the new parking garage it’s difficult to find parking some evenings. I’m ending membership not because of the crowding but because of their price increases. When I initially joined I was able to get the “young professional” rate and I was promised that each year after my monthly rate would only go up my $5 a year until it reached the current rate. However, I recently got a letter stating my rate would go up to the current rate effective may 1st. I called to ask about this and to remind them what I was promised only to be told this is legally what gyms are allowed to do with rate increases. Awesome. With such an overcrowded gym you would think they could fund the facilities without hiking up everyone’s rates and breaking their promises. To the owner: Are you too cryptic to contact me as your member rather than telling me you are sorry and incorrect. Cut and pasted is another members story, that you probably are sorry about too. I do have the correct information and you don't need to say you're sorry about a google review, feel free to publish your email you sent me asking me to visit the gym to talk about the google review, because your email suggests your policy is messed up. If you are the owner nice try ... . Response from the owner 2 days ago We are sorry but you do not have correct information. We also offer Senior Discounts, Active Military discounts and First Responder discounts. Young Professional is not the only discount we provide.

SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE AND AVOID THIS GYM. Pros: - Some kind and helpful employees - Lots of towels if you care for this. - Rooftop pool - Certain gym classes like cycle - Aesthetically pleasing if you care for this. Cons: - The only con you need to know is that you shouldn’t get into business with anyone who has the reputation of not keeping their word. And this club just proved that. - They DO NOT RESPECT THEIR OWN CONTRACT TERMS. And they purposely leave it vague so that they have the leeway to make any situation work for them against someone who doesn’t know better or doesn’t care to pursue action against them. - If you’re military or have medical issues, YOU WILL NOT BE ACCOMMODATED with proper documentation as the freeze policy says. - With proper documentation, You will only be accommodated for 3 months then for the remainder of your medical/military leave your freeze is treated like an inactive freeze (meaning paying $36+ but you cannot use the gym); and that’s if you even write them to let them know you need to extend the freeze - even though the documentation originally provided tells them the length of freeze needed. If you don’t remember to write then from your post or sick bed after 3 months, you get charged full price again. Even though your documentation clearly stated how much time you needed off. This is counter- productive, dishonest (not what contract states) and just not worth the trouble. Makes you want to end your partnership with this entity and make sure anyone you know never steps foot there again. - Employees and managers give very contrasting information at different times. - Way overpriced for the value provided. They could use some improvement on the skill levels of the personal trainers that you have to even pay for as an extra cost. And that wouldn’t be an issue if they let you have guest passes so you can work with your own trainer from outside. But they don’t. They’re not there to help you but help themselves. - Can only bring guests once for free. Every other time is charged. -Even Planet fitness will serve you better if you’re looking to live healthy. Forget this. EDIT: **Replying to Merritt** - Thank you for your reply. If you’re saying this now then I suggest education to your team is necessary. I have received 2 different accounts about your policy. One of them corroborate what you’re saying in your reply and the second one corroborates what I explained above. A manager at canton - DH - told one of the staff while I was on phone with them that regardless of my documentation, I would need to 1. Call/email again after the first month of my medical freeze (regardless of how long my doctor indicates I need the freeze for) and if I fail to call again after the first month then I would receive an inactive freeze treatment (1/3 of monthly). This greatly affected my decision to end my contract with Merritt.

Honestly probably the best gym around. Definitely don't go to CRUNCH. Craig is the best and helped me with so much. But this gym is so nice and clean and just fun. I actually have made a few friends just by randomly talking to people.

CONVENIENTLY LOCATED GOOD AESTHETICS PLENTY OF ROOMS. YOU HAVE EVERYTHING ONE COULD WANT IN A GYM AS WELL AS A GREAT LOCATION, GREAT STAFF. PERSONAL TRAINING FEATURE IS FANTASTIC - PERSONAL TRAINERS ARE GREAT PROFESSIONALS IN THEIR AREA. Merritt Clubs Canton has 2 pools - one indoors and one outdoors. They also have plenty of group classes to offer: Unleash Studio for group trainins like Body Pump, Body combat, Body Attack, Revive - Yoga, Barre; and Xcelerate - cycling studio. They offer free coffee at all times. There is plenty of parking, and there is also a garage available for 3 hours for all the members. Gym staff organized big events like new launches, challenges, pool parties with food available and specialty cocktails for purchase. There is also a point program (Perkville) that gives you discounts (hotels, concerts, movies) and freebies (such as free smoothies, free month of membership). Locker rooms are newly renovated and have plenty of space. If you have a question, there is always somebody from staff to help you! I love starting out my day at Merritt Clubs!

Extremely disappointed by the pool management at this facility. Lifeguards are consistently doing Homework and listening to music on their EarPods while on duty. The pool also has no policy indicating that lanes should be shared so you can expect to wait to swim if , like today, someone “doesn’t feel like sharing a lane”. the aquatic staff (lifeguards and the aquatic manager) are dismissive and invalidating to these concerns. I’ve been to gyms where the cost is half as expensive and have gotten 10x better customer service.

Great wide open space you never have to be in anyone else's personal space. They have 3 count them 3 Jacob's Ladder...my favorite machine to get the heart rate up and help me to sweat. I loved their TRX station. I may think about joining, but the price is astronomical and keeps rising according to my friend who is a member. I came to try it out.

I love Merritt I’ve been going here for 5 years. Hate that it increases once your 25 especially being a loyal customer here. What I can say that I don’t appreciate is how expensive the rooftop bar is. The food and drinks are a bit much especially when we’re paying so much for the gym as is every month. Things should be like 5.00. I got 3 drinks and two basic meals yesterday and was charged 100.00. Like wow. Other than that I love the locations aside from Owings mills. Very limited.

Great gym and everything that comes with it. Only complaint is that for the price we pay a month ,the guest pass is only free 1 time per guest and also the guest fee for the pool being $50 for the day bc if you have to buy a guest pass as well you’re paying $25 guest fee AND the $50 pool pass($75) total. A little absurd considering the price we pay a month for it not to be included with the membership

Round of applause for the Merritt pool staff: the employees that check-in the guests, bartenders (guy with the sick beard!!), servers (Jules!!), and lifeguards. Everyone does their best to make sure you have a great experience (they are so friendly!!) There is a good balance of families and young professionals, so it doesn’t get too rowdy (although in the past two weeks I’ve seen two people taken away on a stretcher from overconsumption of alcohol - the staff does great in these emergencies) The facilities are always clean and there are plenty of towels available. The only thing that would make this place perfect is a better menu. Sometimes the food arrives missing important ingredients or over cooked, so I don’t purchase food there anymore.

Elite gym. Massive selection of weight machines, free weights, cardio machines and freelance workout areas. Beautiful facilities.

My home gym is Towson location but I come to the 24h gyms when I get off work early mornings. I came to canton location as it was closet to my job and house and I loved it! It was 2 something int he morning and none was there so this review is from another stand point versus the day I can’t speak for. They do have child care here and it’s a plus. Stuff was super friendly and I can’t wait to try the other clubs out. I’m currently getting back in the gym slowly so I don’t know much about slot of the equipment but the options of everything they have to offer is a lot!

I used to go to La Fitness down the street but this gym is something else! I am motivated to go this gym 3-4 times per week and LOVE to take the Body Pump and Cardio workouts.

Canceling a gym membership with Merritt Canton is a more intense experience than requesting a tourist visa to North Korea. Do yourself a favor and avoid joining this prison so you never have to attempt the Shawshank Redemption of fitness I just went through. Editing due to owners response: it’s not your contract that is miserable, it’s the way your employees handle a cancellation request. I was physically at the location 3 separate occasions to request a cancel, called and was transferred multiples times and told I had to come in AGAIN, then finally told I could email a manager. I was told managers would call when they never did, I was told conflicting information by every employee I spoke to - no one knew what they were doing and everyone had an attitude about it along the way. Hence why the EXPERIENCE cancelling was so terrible.

It’s a bit pricey but, You get what you pay for… indoor pool and outdoor pool. Meet amazing people, and it’s nice and clean.so glad I joined this gym

Been a Merritt member for 5 years. When they changed their plan, I did not do the "platinum membership". Two years later, I tried using the Canton club ONE TIME as I was near the club for a prior engagement. $25 for 1 day or upgrade for $360 per year. No exceptions. Not feeling great about my Merritt membership at the moment. Not much customer loyalty here.

The easiest way to cover up a harassment complaint: terminate the victim for swearing while being harassed. General Manager David Hannibal is extremely aggressive and disrespectful. Honestly made me feel actively unsafe and unheard during the mediation. Staff has no skill in conflict resolution. Cannot recommend membership for queer+black bodies.

Excellent pool. Lifeguard Nina taught me a lot about breathing techniques and helped me in a major way. If you need a teacher ask for her! Very knowledgeable staff at the gym. Everytime i go I learn a lot.

Clean. After years of attending multiple fitness centers in multiple states, the one detail I notice is the locker room: the cleanliness, the space, the smell. Merritt clubs passed all three with flying colors. A small thing, perhaps, for some of you, but huge in terms of recent history

Great gym with great equipment, but it's hard to give this gym any higher than a 3 star when they close at 8PM on the weekends. For the price of this gym, it's extremely inconvenient to not be able to go to the gym after work.

I agree with the other reviews that the management here DOES NOT RESPECT THEIR OWN CONTRACT TERMS. We were told when adding a member to an existing membership that was not under a contract, that ONLY ONE OF US would be locked into the 12 month contract. When we needed to cancel due to a move out of state, we are told that BOTH OF US are under contract and have to pay the $250/person cancellation fee. They lied to me when signing the contract FOR ONE PERSON and were inflexible despite the courtesy I gave them and clear reasoning. The management here act like COMMON GRIFTERS and prospective customers would be wise to look elsewhere for their gym. This isn't the first time I have had a bad experience with contracts at this gym conglomerate. I feel bad for the frontline employees who have to enforce these loose contracts (and contracts that a customer never signed). There are better gyms out there that aren't out to extract every penny from you. Find a better gym and you won't owe a full month's rent on your way out the door.

Really clean, spacious facility, and the lap pool (where I always get my own lane coming at slightly off times) and relaxing summer rooftop pool are such huge pluses for overall well-being. The front desk staff are welcoming and kind and other members are very respectful. Slight hiccup with not realizing I didn't qualify for a discount I thought I qualified for so be sure to check the contract when you sign up, but that's certainly not enough to dock a star. Versatile gym with great energy.

The best gym in Baltimore. I love lounging on the rooftop pool with my girlfriends. Friendly staff and folks at the gym. Reasonable priced drinks and food.

I actually love this gym; specifically the Canton location. Great equipment, nice spacing, and most of the staff members are friendly. One shortcoming of the gym is that the saunas are very small for the size of the gyms. Hard to find a space during peak hours. Also, if you're looking to relax in the sauna, you can forget it as someone will undoubtedly come in playing loud music on their phone. I've complained a few times about it, but nothing has been done to address the matter. But aside from that, Merritt Canton or Fort locations are the best gyms in the city.

Great club! Massive facility, lots of equipment and friendly staff! The price is great because it includes pool access! My only issue is the parking garage. I've never been able to get the parking pass to work.

Two month update: so far so good. Awesome facility with awesome staff. Will helped sign us up and gave us a great tour when we stopped in after moving to the area. Well worth the price of admission.