Over the past few years, luxury gyms and wellness clubs have completely transformed the fitness landscape in Toronto, but the members of one club suggest that it’s not all smooth squatting.
The 2021 arrival of Winnipeg-based “social wellness club” Altea Active in Toronto was a revelation for the city’s fitness community, leading to the immediate formation of a near evangelical fanbase for the gym.
Opening up shop in an expansive 89,000 sq. ft. space at Liberty Village’s Novus building, the gym boasted a virtually unmatched suite of offerings, from aquatic training, fitness classes, open gym training, a restaurant, recreation and child care.
With memberships, at the time, starting at $95 per month (which have since been increased), for many, the suite of offerings — on top of the gym’s high-calibre instructors, who fostered fan bases of their own — more than justified the lofty cost.
Recently, though, members have noted some changes around the gym, and not everyone’s happy about them.
“They cancelled the swim programming […] then they removed all family programming (events and camps),” one member, who’s been at Altea since 2022 and who remains anonymous for the purpose of this story, tells blogTO.
The member also claims that the gym reduced the operating hours of the daycare, from being open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., to a split schedule that saw the centre close down between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
She could easily look past each of these changes individually, she tells blogTO, but over time, they’ve begun to add up.
“I have loved my membership with Altea the last 3 years,” she tells blogTO.
“I’ve been through two maternity leaves, and the daycare has saved me. The staff are so amazing with newborns and babies, and the service of two hours for such a reasonable rate is a godsend to parents needing to get out the house, stay fit and maintain their mental health.”
Despite that, though, the removal of much of the childcare that proved so advantageous to her initially has now led her to second-guess her membership.
“I work at a university gym with all the amenities and have a gym and pool at home, but Altea was always worth it for me because of the community it provided, but now I actually feel uncomfortable maintaining a membership with a company that is clearly more concerned with their bottom line than people,” she says.
Another member, who goes by the pseudonym Sara for the purpose of this story, tells blogTO that, on top of the changes noted by the earlier member, she’s noticed an overall decline in quality at the gym over recent months.
“Shower and bathroom stalls don’t lock. There were Dysons when I became a member in 2021, and now those are gone,” Sara tells blogTO.
“There have also been a lot of other changes lately with reducing class schedules, removing the restaurant and replacing it with Hyrox, removing Top Golf and replacing it with reformer pilates,” she adds. “Many of these things are the reason why members chose Altea, especially the child care.”
Sara and the anonymous member aren’t alone in their feelings about the gym, it seems, as a number of recent Google Reviews reveal similar gripes.
Perhaps more shocking, though, are the allegations from some members that they’ve received messages from staff at the club that seemingly threaten to cancel their memberships should the members refuse to take down their negative reviews.
A reviewer claims his membership was revoked after he failed to remove a negative Google review.
One review, which appears to have been edited numerous times from its original version, claims that a favourite instructor of his was let go by the gym and, later, that the gym’s management terminated his membership when the reviewer failed to remove the review.
Screenshots of an email conversation that allegedly took place between the member and the gym’s membership further illuminate the supposed exchange.
A screenshot from the alleged email conversation seems to depict the club threatening membership termination.
“While we understand that you may have concerns about recent changes, we want to be clear that decisions regarding our team are made with careful consideration and in the best interests of our club community,” the email, which allegedly came from the club’s general manager, reads.
“We respect your right to share your opinion; however, publicly misrepresenting the club in a way that is misleading or damaging is not aligned with our member code of conduct or policies. If you choose to keep your review up, we will take that as confirmation that this club is no longer the right fit for you, and we will proceed in terminating your membership […],” the email goes on to read.
A number of other one- and two-star reviews of the gym do bear public responses from the gym, a number of which bear variations of a similar statement found in the email, that changes made around the gym are done in the “best interest of the community.”
At the time of publication, Altea has not responded to blogTO’s request for comment on this story, and has not substantiated any of the claims made by its members.
Altea Active is located at 25 Ordnance Street.
