I had taken some summer guests to the nearest Equinox once to sign them up. And we received an attitude from the overweight girl -- I'd say "obese" by international and medical standards -- doing membership enrollments there. I believe one of the first comment out of her stuffed mouth was "Can you afford this?".

Apparently, she needs sales training practice at McDonalds. Oh wait ..... she probably ate too much there. A prequel to "Supersize".

In NYC, Equinox has deals with a lot of companies/firms. These deals include waiving the initiation fees and lower monthly dues. The gyms are nice. The staff working them are often not. And many members seem to be there to pick up members (or set up their friends) of the opposite sex more than workout.