For most people a holiday is a chance to escape from the gym — well, it certainly used to be for me — but for longer-term visitors who want to work off the bia hoi, or gym addicts, Hanoi offers a selection of gyms, both cheap and pricey.

The cheapest options may not suit everyone.

Aside from exercising in the park, the cheapest options are the local gyms. For the equivalent of just a dollar or two entrance fee you can use basic equipment in a somewhat grubby testosterone-fuelled environment. Club Olympia is the most popular place for non-locals, by all accounts, and is located on Tran Hung Dao Street, south of Hoan Kiem. It has both weights and CV equipment and I’ve heard it also runs aerobics classes.

Or head to Gym Club G on Xuan Dieu – it’s a measly 20,000 VND but only has a poor range of free weights and a few weights machines. Still, it does the job if you just want to build up those pecs. There’s another branch in Cau Giay which gets better reviews, but it’s quite a trek.

Unfortunately gyms in Hanoi are either dirt cheap or ridiculously expensive: so to the expensive…

NShape Fitness, towards the Daewoo Hotel, is very well rated: it’s small, with just one studio for classes, but has high-quality equipment and a decent changing room with sauna and steam room, and is cool and immaculately clean. A six-month membership is $100 per month, with no joining fee, or buy a day pass for $17. Price includes use of all facilities.

Elite Fitness, on Xuan Dieu, is the new kid on the block. Its high end facilities extend to a swimming pool and spa but at a price: 22m VND ($1,100) for six months and 600,000VND ($30) for a day pass. Look out for promotions on longer term memberships.

Alternatively try the hotels: most top end places offer daily membership of their fitness centres. For example, the Daewoo charges $25 and Fortuna Hotel is $21, both including use of the spa and swimming pool — a better deal than the gyms.

Club Olympia
4 Tran Hung Dao, Hanoi
T: (04) 3933 1049

Gym Club G
Alley 31, Xuan Dieu, Tay Ho, Hanoi

NShape Fitness
5th floor, Vuon Xuan building, 71 Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Dong Da, Hanoi
T: (04) 6266 0495 / (0912) 348 555
sales@nshapefitness.vn
www.nshapefitness.vn/

Elite Fitness

51 Xuân Diệu, Tây Hồ, Hanoi (next to Syrena Towers)

T: (04) 3718 6281

E: info@elitefitness.com.vn

http://elitefitness.com.vn/index.php

Daewoo Hotel

360 Kim Ma Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi

T: (04) 3831 5555

E: reservation@daewoohotel.com.vn

http://www.hanoi-daewoohotel.com/index.php

Fortuna Hotel

6B Lang Ha Street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

T: (04) 3831 3333

E: fortunahanoi@fortunahotel.com.vn

http://www.fortunahotels.com

More still
» Previous post: Saigon’s The Crescent
» Next post: A cycling adventure with Saigon Cycles

Disclaimer
Travelfish.org always pays its way. No exceptions.

Tags: exercise, fitness, gym, spa, weights