GoodLife Fitness Hamilton Upper James and Rymal

Fantastic experience: The staff make this place like home!

Positive experience: Grate gym. Plenty of equipment and options so waiting for equipment is rare but when it happens it's usually a short wait time.

Positive experience: It's decent, but definitely not worth the price compared to other options in the area.

Fantastic experience: I’ve been a member of this gym since 2019, and I’ve been to multiple locations throughout the province. I started hot yoga in November 2024, and I go every single day. This past month, I have been practicing intensely at Cynthia S’s hot yoga and hot Pilates classes, and I think this combination has been an asset to the gym. I would love to suggest that we please keep Cynthia’s classes as they have been for the past month, as her energy brings the masses to her classes, and this can be directly reflected as a positive business move. Her classes are always full and this is a testament on how great she is. I keep seeing more and more people attend and it’s really inspiring

Fantastic experience: I would love for this review to reach General Manager George McPherson. First, I would like to give a shout out to all the lovely folks that welcome us at sign in. Everyone is kind, and energetic. I signed up with Alejandra, and she has gone above and beyond to make sure I feel comfortable in the gym. Her attitude is amazing, and she truly makes you feel part of the Good Life family. Now, my main focus at the gym is hot yoga and hot pilates, and I cannot say enough amazing things about Cynthia S. She has transformed my body and attitude with every single class. She has single handedly built a community of people that follow her to every room. I personally feel very sad when she's not the instructor. Her pace is perfect, she takes the time to correct our poses, and she always does the loveliest meditations, where her words feel like magic. Everyone else is amazing too, please don't get me wrong. Angeline is a queen. But this month under Cynthia has been transformative. Ps. Can we PLEASE keep her hot pilates classes?? All of them!

Negative experience: I don’t know why people shave their beard at gym change room, don’t they have mirrors and water at home. Whenever go to use washroom, somebody is doing his shave. Soooo awkward. ‍️

Negative experience: This gym is dirty needs to be cleaned better

Fantastic experience: If you’re looking for a real cardio workout, go to Joe’s cycling class on Upper James every Tuesday and Friday. The energy Joe brings is amazing—you’ll feel like you have your own personal trainer! Iryna M

Fantastic experience: Great staff. Convenient location.

Fantastic experience: recently as of august 28th it’s been a year since i became a member of goodlife fitness and honestly i love it! the staff along with the people there at the gym are really kindhearted and genuine which has made my one year experience all the more enjoyable and even moreover rewarding as well! not only that whenever i’m at the gym by myself i keep to and focus on myself and the motivation i feel of putting in a minimum 2-3 hours at the gym is exponentially at its peak and i’m overjoyed for having joined this gym and i wouldn’t change a thing if i could!

Fantastic experience: I've been working with Joe Bayliss for more than two years now, most of which has been at this gym (which I commute to from Burlington), and would recommend him highly to anyone looking for a trainer. Besides depth of knowledge and a great sense of humour, he's got great instincts, and knows when to push you harder and when to talk you out of making a mistake and hurting yourself. He also runs a low-intensity boot camp that's excellent for beginners, and a lot of fun too. On this gym in general, having worked with Joe at other gyms, I have been impressed by the range of equipment available here, which accomodates a broad range of fitness levels. I've found the staff friendly and welcoming, but not pushy or intimidating. Taylor in particular is a big contributor to the positive environment, and my review of this location would just feel incomplete if i didn't mention him. On the franchise, I originally came to Goodlife because my trainer got a job here, but I've also been to the location on Stone Church once or twice, with no complaints. My abstention from the Burlington location (which is closer and more convenient to me) is coincidental, and should not be interpreted as disparaging to the said location.

Fantastic experience: Great gym and great classes!! Lots of equipment sometimes you do have to wait depending on what time you go.But if you time it right, you basically get the gym to yourself!!!

Fantastic experience: Really good place to workout. Free weights are almost always available pretty quickly.

Fantastic experience: Personally my favorite in Hamilton

Negative experience: loved working out at this gym and the staff are amazing people! the only problem is the ripeness in the gym of body odours.

Negative experience: The machines are old, there is very little cleaning in the common areas, the weights are never in their place and one suggestion is the use of deodorant and personal hygiene for clients, it is difficult to train with strong odors and more so in a closed area. People do not clean the machines

Negative experience: The staff is always great. However, the smell of body odor has become so much worse in the last year.

Negative experience: Its nice but actually these days is literally they return it to day nursery unfortunately

Negative experience: The worst experience! Their personal trainer leadership with a temper tantrum and biased approach. Hope to see an improvement in their customer service skills.

Fantastic experience: Arvin is the best

Fantastic experience: This is a huge goodlife with lots of equipments and trainers

Negative experience: Girl at the front desk was so unnecessarily rude.

Negative experience: Good gym, all the Indians that go have zero hygiene and stink like horrible body odour

Negative experience: It was a decent gym until they started the teen program. There are groups of 3-4 children piled around machines and horsing around. Makes it near impossible to get a decent workout in. Definitely disappointing especially with the price tag a membership comes at.

Positive experience: Some of the equipment is very old..needed replacement

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym very large lots of different machines never have to wait

Fantastic experience: Still has an old school gym feeling with great equipment which is hard to find these days.

Positive experience: This gym has everything and more then enough equipment. I would give them 5 stars if they fixed the one fountain that has low pressure and replaced the one downed massage chair or got rid of it. They need to replace them all but they get the job done. Great staff and friendly environment

Fantastic experience: Gavin “personal trainer” is the BESTand Tomasso is the most politest person ever☺️

Fantastic experience: During my experience at this location Tommaso was a great help and provided me with the greatest customer service I’ve ever had I love you

Fantastic experience: Tommaso has been such an incredible help with getting a membership, everyday he has been such an energetic person whenever I see him. Amazing place to be at everyone should check it out

Negative experience: Always love to workout here, but today as I went to downgrade my package, as I am not using the service, they force me to pay $22, as this terms never discussed, I ask politely that I do not know about this term, and the best rude answer I ever heard is "so now I am telling you to pay" downgrade fees, It's not the matter of money, this is the matter to be polite Love for goodlife forever ❤️

Fantastic experience: Best gym in the hammer !! Tommaso and Pat are the best gym workers out there . The vibes are great in the morning people need to experience the GoodLife !!

Negative experience: staff can be very unprofessional, just a reminder guests in the gym can over hear your conversations and you should treat them with more respect.

Negative experience: This gym has serious odour issues which needs resolving. Nothing worse than walking in and the scent of bodily odours hitting you in the face

Fantastic experience: My favourite GoodLife in the city! Clean, well maintained and big enough to not be waiting on equipment. Sauna is big and spacious.

Fantastic experience: Was a very nice and friendly area to first start working out, Alex was very nice in helping me and my friend feel comfortable and welcome for our first time there.

Fantastic experience: The gym is always clean. The staff are friendly and helpful. The equipment is varied and well maintained. I work with Joe, a personal trainer who is very careful with my numerous limitations (knees back and shoulders). With his guidance, I have managed to drop a waist size in 2 months, and I feel stronger.

Fantastic experience: Morning gang

Fantastic experience: I needed something in my life to help me feel better, and Goodlife is helping me do that. Do yourself a favor, and if you sign up, use a personal trainer... ask for Dean.

Negative experience: I used to frequent this location regularly with my partner. On December 24th 2023 my partner was workingout and the bolt from one of the benches flew out and all of the heavy weight he was benching fell on him. Luckily he is strong enough to hold up the weight but his body took the shock of the fall. There was another member close by that saw the entire thing happen. Goodlife filed an incident report and someone was supposed to get back to us about this very serious safety concern. Over 2 weeks later someone finally reached out named George. I believe he is the manager or something. He was extremely condesending and tried to rudely imply that because we had been going to the gym after the incident it must not have been that serious. My partner is a body builder and more then capable of handling heavy weights which is the only reason why goodlife is not facing a wrongful death law suit. I gaurantee if it happened to anyone else they would have treated the matter muvh differently because the injuries would be much more severe. After waiting for almost a month for someone from coorporate to call us, we recieved a call from George again today stating that apparently the pin was not in place properly. A witness close by saw a bolt not a pin flying out of the bench. Goodlife's own staff checked the bench at the time of the incident and confirmed that the pin was indeed in place and locked in properly. This is obviously a serious safetly concern and goodlife has continually tried to minimize their liability. My partner has been working out for over 15 years I am pretty sure he knows how to operate a bench with a locking pin. The customer service we recieved after this very serious occurance was horrendus and we will not be back to this location. The equipment is extremely old and outdated and the machines are always dirty and water is seen leaking on the groundd close to the cable machines. Yet another safey issue. I would recommend to stay as far away from this location as possible for your own well being. The Stone church location and ancaster are much cleaner, safer and have newer equipment. My next call with be to the health and safety board to request an inspection. Hopefully this location will be shut down until they can provide the proper safety standards to their clients.

Positive experience: To preface this, I used to go to crunch and hated it because the equipment was always broken and they randomly tried to charge me $300... I switched to GoodLife and the facilities are great, HOWEVER don't join here unless you are ready to be borderline harassed. I know what I want to do in the gym and what fits my lifestyle and what I can sustain so it makes me frustrated when someone tries to tell me what is right for my body and to get hundreds of dollars from me that I don't have. They WILL try to sell you a personal training plan sooooo hard, it's ridiculous. They will even call you about it. Hope this helps you to choose the right gym for you.

Fantastic experience: Thankyou very much for all you do on daily basis. Merry Christmas to the whole team. ❤️

Fantastic experience: Great customer service, especially at the front desk. The personal trainers however can't say the same for them, some of them look angry, but the front desk staff are fantastic which is the reason for 5 star review. They always go above and beyond in extension to being friendly without coming off as disingenuous. I want to say a special thank you to front desk employee Alejandra, she was working real early over the past Dec.8-10 weekend, maybe around 6:00 am. Was very professional and did a great job representing GoodLife the brand. These type of staff matter, also the only Goodlife in the Hamilton area that has a boxing bag. Amazing!

Negative experience: Need improvement

Fantastic experience: This has been my regular go to place for the past 2 months. Great crowd. Good staff. Clean locker room and lots of equipment.

Fantastic experience: I had the good fortune of visiting the 1550 Upper James location in Hamilton for membership. I was warmly greeted by Tomaso who introduced me to Laura for the membership process. I would probably run out of word space if I attempted to share all the accolades I have to describe my experience with Laura. She was welcoming, super friendly, informative, knowledgeable, in short, any doubts I may have had to join quickly disappeared…I was convinced this was where I wanted to workout. She introduced me to Mahdi who also greeted me warmly and offered to work with me as I have a total knee replacement. I am grateful for Laura’s friendliness and professionalism, as well as Tomaso and Mahdi for their welcoming manner. I would recommend their location to all!!!

Positive experience: A lot of members don’t use the equipment as it is intended to be used. Many people use the platforms for rows or with benches which is improper. When I raised this to a trainer he said they would not do anything about it. Even trainers do this which sets a bad precedent for new members. If trainers and staff refuse to enforce these rules, then they shouldn’t act surprised when members use the PT area. But that’s what happens when staff are paid minimum wages. Why would they care?!

Positive experience: It’s fine

Fantastic experience: Has all the stuff you need.

Fantastic experience: Old stomping grounds, still a great gym

Fantastic experience: Amazing service, the girl at night was extremely nice. Her name is Alejandra. Amazing service, thank you!

Fantastic experience: This Goodlife location is awesome! The staff are super friendly and the gym is always clean :)

Fantastic experience: Good service. Really good facilities. I liked the tour that Alejandra gave us, she has an amazing customer service ❤️

Fantastic experience: This gym is surprisingly big on the inside and has so much to offer! Lots of things are included in the membership and there are great classes and trainers!

Negative experience: I was doing personal training and they told me when I had to have a surgery I could pause my membership, instead they charged me anyways and said I needed a doctors note. When I gave them a doctors not saying exactly what they asked to be on there they said it wasn’t sufficient enough. They have been charging me with no help whatsoever to arrange something that could be later on instead of now when I’m not physically able. They are money hungry instead of worried about health

Positive experience: Excellent equipment, staff and locker rooms with showers and sauna. Compared to Crunch that has broken equipment and lockers that came out of a 1970s high school!!

Fantastic experience: Best gym around! Great machines, lots of weights, clean, friendly people, and lots of variety! Love the pool, hot tub, cold tank, and sauna as well! Found my new home! Haha

Fantastic experience: I've been to a number of goodlife locations over the years, and unfortunately this one was while I was visiting a friend in Hamilton. I say that because I wish it was closer to me. It looks like it wouldn't be very big from the outside but every time you go around a corner it gets bigger and there is more equipment, also some unique pieces you don't see often. Wicked gym to go to.

Fantastic experience: This location has a cold plunge and hot tub (huge bonus for me), plus a pool for swimming laps (about 4 lanes), and a sauna. The gym is large and spacious, well maintained, and very clean.

Fantastic experience: Facility is always clean including the changeroom. Employees at front desk have been immensely helpful. I had an issue with training arrangements at another location and Chris stepped in immediately and they were addressed. Training with him has been extremely informative and helpful. Highly recommend this gym!

Negative experience: You would think with the pool , cold tub and hot tub being closed for a week they would atleast clean the sauna. You guys should be ashamed the sauna smells like mold and sweat , 100 people in a time and you idiots don’t figure to clean it properly. Terrible all of you. And this isn’t coming from me , you had many complaints and everyone that goes in the sauna walks out because you let it turn into a filth den

Positive experience: Average GoodLife gym. Lots of equipment and space. Ideally the employees don’t leave members waiting at the front for 10 min not knowing if there is even an employee at the desk. A simple sign that says they will be back would be a good idea.

Fantastic experience: I have been working out here since 2014, my first gym ever. Been to other locations in Hamilton, mississauga and brampton but this location is best goodlife fitness I've ever visited and will not stop going. The environment is super clean, staffs very professional, welcoming and friendly, not too packed with people even if packed, there are always alternate equipments to choose from/use people who workout here are very matured, friendly and considerate. Overall, I highly recommend this gym ❤

Fantastic experience: I have been a member at this location for 13 years. Staff is very friendly and always greet you coming and going. They recognize you and offer a warm welcome. It is well maintained and clean. Special mention to Christine Yanke, a hot yoga instructor at this location. Not only is Christine a master of her craft, she is also very fit, very approachable and all around excellent instructor. She reads the room very well and is always providing options to every level of participant in the room. She is warm, kind and motivating. Thank you Christine.

Fantastic experience: Retirement and Upper James GoodLife = longevity and vitality!! Have to be honest, I was a little uncomfortable cheating on my home gym (Jackson Square) but now that they are closed (so sad that had to happen) Upper James has now become my favourite! From the excellent management and support staff (George is the best as well as all the reception staff!) to all the loyal and dedicated FITNESS instructors I've had the privilege to experience (Cindy, Christine, Angeline, Paul, Rene, Joe, Shirley and Simarjeet) and PERSONAL TRAINERS (Mike W is the ONLY one I'll train with!), it's the place to work out at and a great "active" family to hang with! There is TONS of space and ample machines to use and they offer the best selection of group fitness classes to plan your week! Come join this incredible team!!! They'll make you feel like family in no time!

Fantastic experience: It’s been a couple years since I left a review, just want to let everybody know that reads this how fantastic the hot yoga has been. It’s a great compliment to Sports and weight training. I love all of the Instructors, special shout out to Christine, I’ve listened to her book on Audible and can’t say enough great things about her. Highly recommend anybody To check out the gym, and the hot yoga.

Fantastic experience: It's a great and spacious gym, lots of equipment. Adore the vibes from the overnight girl, she gives excellent and friendly service, keeps things clean and organized and the bottles of sanitizer full. I constantly see her checking the paper towels during my workouts and she's always nice to talk to, greets when you come in and out. Would love the gym to have a belt and pendulum squat machines tho

Fantastic experience: Went to this location for the first time and loved the staff, everyone was so friendly and helpful! Got in a great workout!

Fantastic experience: Fabulous gym ,clean,helpful staff ,lots of equipment and my favorite part is Goodlife is giving students free two month membership. Thank You Goodlife for giving our youth this opportunity

Positive experience: Not the usual goodlife that u would expect. Minimum number of group fitness classes. There is that oldish vibe and little less bright for my liking. Good personal trainers and nice helpful folks at the front desk.

Positive experience: The staff are amazing specially Lisa ❤️, but the gym needs to upgrade the equipments. For what Goodlife charges, they need to invest for members to stay and refer others to join.

Negative experience: I would give this gym zero if possible. Our car key and then and in turn our car was stolen from my husbands locker. Today his shoes were stolen. This gym clearly has a major security problem that no one is able rectify

Fantastic experience: the staff here are so inviting and soso nice!! each one i've spoken to are willing to help in anyway and no to mention, the gym is so clean!!! would recommend this location to anyone!

Negative experience: Always enjoy my time workout here, but today one of the personal trainer take and put back weight from my beach, when I AM DOING bench press. The bench was shaking, it is not safe. Ppl need focus when they doing weight training. Very UNPROFESSIONAL. And the new guy she trained hold bar unevenly, she even didn’t try to fix that. Hope this will not happen again.

Positive experience: Today was my first training session with Daniel. Great motivator, great instructor, excellent trainer. I'll probably dislike him in the morning, when I wake up and can't move. But I'll be back tomorrow.

Fantastic experience: great facility, one of my favourite locations in hamilton. The gym has a variety of equiptment and is very spacious. The staff are very friendly and accommodating, especially Chris; he was extremely helpful in aiding with my form and providing me with efficent exercises. Chris goes above and beyond, catering to your needs:) I would recommend a visit!

Fantastic experience: Hands down my favorite Goodlife! From the moment you enter the gym, the staff is friendly and accommodating. The facility is kept clean and has a lot of different equipment. This is the only location in Hamilton that has hot yoga which is a highlight for me.

Negative experience: Its with a heavy heart I must give this poor review. Ive been a long time good life member and have been going to the Upper James facility for 8 years. When i first started going the gym was full of life. Personal trainers and staff at the ready for the best experience, professional to say the least. Now it is plagued with young staff that is rather unprofessional. One instance that come to mind: I was signing in in the common area where it is high populated and the main entrance and exit for the establishment. A young goodlife employee accompanied by 3 co-workers were in this same area speaking very loudly and aggressively. a female was addressing a male about their personal relationship that had previously expired. it made the main lobby a very tense and awkward spot to be. the co-workers did nothing to try to reclaim professionalism and stood by to do nothing. It hurts my heart to see my favourite gym head down the toilet. Over the years there has been alot of personnel turn over between staff and personal trainers. i believe there should be more turn over until the staff is better equiped

Fantastic experience: It’s been almost 6 months since joining GoodLife and all I have are good things to say. Staff at this location are always super friendly and always say hello and goodbye. They are always super eager to help answer any questions I have about anything. Love working out here, the facility is large with lots of CLEAN equipment, and classes are always fun!

Positive experience: I've been to a lot of goodlifes and this one is ok! The equipment is a little old, but it has everything you need, so that doesn't bother me as much. The biggest issue, at least for me, is cleanliness. The washroom/change room area is kind of dirty, and there are not enough spray bottles, which is somewhat surprising in light of covid. You shouldn't have to walk across the room to wipe down a machine. To be honest, I would expect this kind of cleanliness in a discount gym. The staff seems really nice though! Most of the issues are pretty fixable.

Fantastic experience: Great club, with a wide variety of equipment. Reasonably priced membership plans and a fabulous Hot Yoga studio.

Fantastic experience: Great gym. Very clean. Never super busy and all the staff are amazing and super helpful.

Fantastic experience: My place to workout always clean and great.

Fantastic experience: Best good life in Hamilton, there are a variety of machines and the staff are awesome!

Fantastic experience: Members at this location are courteous & friendly and the club is kept super clean & tidy at all times.

Fantastic experience: Great collection of equipment. The one thing is missing no hot tube. This location has more equipment than the others.

Fantastic experience: I just want to mention a few words about Tomasso. It is a pleasure to see him carrying so much about the cleanness of the gym and change room. He collects the towels left behind by the members, is replenishing supplies and is cleaning/sanitizing benches, mirrors, countertops, etc... Always so courteous and pleasant! A big thank you to you Tomasso for your outstanding work ethic!

Fantastic experience: All the equipment works very well and the staff are all very kind and helpful. Aswell as a nice big space and very clean for having loads for members!

Fantastic experience: Love my gym over 20 years. Lots of free parking. Good workouts. Great staff at gym.

Fantastic experience: I come here all the time, the staff is really friendly as well as other gym goers, and the place is always clean. Everyone at the gym, including staff, wipes down the machines regularly. The equipment is great, I've never had issues here.

Fantastic experience: I’m going to this gym about 2 years and I usually go at night, the gym is really clean and the staff is amazing and so friendly ….

Fantastic experience: Absolutely exceptional gym! The service was beyond amazing, shoutout to Ahmed especially who was super helpful and informative, I never usually leave reviews but the service I received was amazing, once again thanks Ahmed

Fantastic experience: Love the upper James GoodLife. Great staff and unique selection of equipment. Best gym in Hamilton by far.

Fantastic experience: Love this gym. My favourite goodlife in Hamilton by far. Great friendly staff. Great layout for all the machines and great variety.

Fantastic experience: Over the years, I have had memberships at various gyms such as Premier Fitness, Nation Fitness and the Fitness Firm. I have obtained the services of personal trainers at each of these clubs and sometimes with multiple different trainers at each. After joining this club and working with Daniel as my personal trainer, I can say without a doubt that he has been the best personal trainer I have ever worked with by far! He is incredibly knowledgeable in regards to his trade. He is very friendly and professional. He seems to really care about your goals and to work with you to best achieve them. He is motivating and makes you feel good when you hit that new milestone. He doesn't make you feel like a number or merely a client, but as a friend. Working with Daniel has been a breath of fresh air. I would also like to touch on the club itself. All the staff I have had interactions with have always been friendly and helpful. The gym and equipment are beautifully cleaned and maintained.

Fantastic experience: I appreciate the welcoming atmosphere that the staff create. Ahmed is very dedicated to his work & takes the time to connect with people. I used to have a personal trainer here & they are all very encouraging. Mike seems to really care for his clients & he ensures people are safe during their workouts.

Fantastic experience: I love this gym. Been to both the Ancaster and Upper Ottawa locations and this is by far my favourite. The staff is so nice, and make you feel so welcome/wanted there! The night time front desk staff and my buddy Ahmed are always so chatty - I actually look forward to coming here :)

Fantastic experience: Love going to this gym! Come here everyday and get greeted by the most amazing staff! Excellent equipment and excellent customer service! Special shout-out to Ahmed the fitness advisor who never fails to put a smile on my face :)

Fantastic experience: Facility is fairly large, a good amount of equipment, and very friendly staff :)