Best Fitness Centers in America 2007

Fitness Centers are important places in the lives of frequent business travelers. Those of us who spend our working lives on the road, eating and drinking too much on the expense account, tend to pack on the pounds. Especially if you aren’t getting on the treadmill. Exercise is really important, and it can be difficult to keep a regular routine when you travel. I personally despise fitness centers, I’d much rather find a park or someplace nearby to work out, but in this cold and rainy time of the year they are a must.

Athletic-Minded Traveler is an active lifestyle media company based in San Diego. The company operates a “healthy travel site” online. Today they released the results of the 2007 poll for “The Best Hotel Gyms in the U.S.” The winners were selected after ongoing research of over 3,500 hotels and anonymous personal tours by the editorial staff.

The top 10 were choses based on facility size, equipment quantities, multi-sport options (e.g., lap pool, sport court, etc.), cost and overall ambiance/atmosphere. To be considered as a “hotel gym”, the facility must be located on hotel property or within an adjacent building.

You can get much more information, including details and discussions about each property at athleticmindedtraveler.com.

The Best Hotel Gyms in the U.S. for 2007 are:

1. Houstonian (Houston)
2. Renaissance ClubSport (Walnut Creek, CA)*
3. Park Hyatt at Bellevue (Philadelphia)
4. Four Seasons (San Francisco)
5. Embassy Suites Lakefront (Chicago)
6. Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine (La Jolla, CA)*
7. Westin Atlanta Perimeter North (Atlanta)*
8. Grand Hotel (Minneapolis)
9. Broadmoor (Colorado Springs)*
10. Venetian (Las Vegas)

* denotes a hotel’s first appearance in the Top 10.

I’ve got to tell you, I absolutely would have voted for the Westin in Atlanta. All you need is to take your earbuds and plug in to watch Oprah (or whatever) while you shed the pounds. Or if you don’t want to be in public (although I’ve never found crowding to be a problem in this particular hotel) you can get the fitness equipment right in your hotel room.