I'm surprised they have enough weights for me in this gym, because I'm literally one of the strongest people on earth. My pectorals be popping here... The shakes make my biceps stronger than ever... The Zen Den allows me to meditate and think about all of my side pieces that would be proud of me. I can bring unlimited guests too, just be cautious bringing your wife and your mistress on opposite days I'm sure someone will catch on... Great staff and clean facility. read more

Michelle is one of the best employees you guys have customer service always A1! I love working out at this Retro read more

Retro Fitness - Gyms Near Me - Belleville, New Jersey

I go to this gym purely out of convenience, but I do not recommend it. The staff is generally unfriendly and rude, showing selective kindness depending on who you are. I'm a regular here and get along well with most other members. While I don't have issues with most of the staff, there is one particular employee who constantly stares at me with uncomfortable, dirty looks. I've ignored it for a long time since he was hired, but it has become increasingly unsettling. I finally confronted him and asked why he keeps staring at me. His response was incredibly rude and dismissive--he told me, "If you don't want people to look at you, don't come to a gym." I've been a paying member for over five years and have never encountered anything like this. Unfortunately, complaints go nowhere here. The management has an unprofessional attitude, acting like they don't need your business. I would leave this gym, but I no longer drive, so my options are limited. I've stayed quiet about this for a while, even though the looks continue. I also suspect they treat me differently because I previously called them out on Facebook. If you're considering this gym--don't. Spend your money at Blink instead. It's a far better experience. read more

friendly staff. I've recently joined and noticed that the cleanliness could be better! please get the hairballs off the red padded floor area!! read more

Not happy at all. This location is always so busy. Equipment is not well maintained. I can smell the person next to me as they cram all the equipment into this little location. My worse experience was my last experience when I popped in for a protein smoothie while running late for work and very hungry. There was no one at the counter, when I finally got the managers attention, he went in the back and asked a girl to come out to take of me. Apparently she was on her break, cause she walked out holding her food container in one hand while shoveling a fork full of food into her mouth with the other. She finished chewing, while placing her food down. Wiped the side of her mouth with her hand, than rubbed it on her pants. What happened next was what really did me in. With no washing of her hands and without a glove on, she proceeds to make my shake. She opened the protein and grabbed the scoop inside and began scooping away. I quickly looked around for the manager who could not be found, then told her that I would be right back that I needed more money and walked out without returning. I tried emailing them, calling them and nobody has returned my calls regarding my complaint. This location I will never go to again for a shake or to work out. They don't care about health, just wealth. read more

Retro Belleville is cheap, the staff is friendly, and the atmosphere is good. Been a member for years. The issue is that the gym has deteriorated. Many machines are broke. Broke machines are in use and some of the issues aren't apparent until you have weight on the machine and [the adjustable seat slides down]. Place is getting a little dangerous. Many machines are stacked so close together that you have to be careful not to get hit by someone working out on another machine. Needs some repairs. read more

I DO NOT recommend this location with the current management there. The manager Joe Justo is very unreasonable and all he seems to care about is his bottom dollar, not customer service. I went there twice to cancel the membership and had to wait til he was there because I wanted a refund for the annual fee since the account was only open for a little under 2 months. When I finally spoke to him he said that there was nothing he could do. Afterwards (since only had under a week to make it back to the gym to cancel) I got busy with work and life so didn't make it into the gym to cancel before the next charge. I then asked him to reimburse me that new charge since I had come in twice before that charge to cancel and had to wait for him.... He again said there was nothing he could do. I am a reasonable man and I have to say that Joe "you are very unreasonable and unprofessional caring only for the money aspect of business." Well good luck with that. I am Very unsatisfied with his performance as a manager!! read more

The place is a lil run down and isn't well cleaned. The equipment isn't cared for or look liked its been thoroughly cleaned. In a pandemic in a high contact areas, cleaning is really important. Besides the general dirt, the seats on machines are cracked and broken. It felt like working out in some random garage gym. read more

See all

This review is for retro fitness 50 south park st Montclair nj This gym i wouldn't recommend because i was injured at work gave them a note told them i couldn't workout from my doctor , and they charged my card anyway without my approval. I clearly said as soon as I get the ok Ill reactivate my account they didnt listen or they just wanted to do whatever they feel is not the thing to do. I called spoke to Sam Sammy front end manager she was arguing with me and couldn't assist besides that the front desk are clueless no idea what there doing so please stay away from this gym in montclair nj. They are nice when you walk in but when it comes to do your job try to help with membership clueless thanks stay away read more

I actually love this gym people are very friendly and it's not a fashion show in there. You can't beat the price I mean I was a member of another gym close by for manny manny years and before you know it I'm over $500 a year ouch no gym is worth that, I walked in Retro free workout ‍ next thing you know I'm a member for half the price and best part no knuckle heads. I highly recommend this gym if you want to go work out and go on with your day, very clean I will recommend this location to friends and family a must read more

Just a basic gym but does the work. I must say that compared to other Retros this gym can use a little updating. I would prefer to go to other locations if I'm coming from work such as the one in Paramus which I think is so much better. The place can get pretty packed after 5 to 7PM so try to avoid these time if you can. Some weights are missing and sometimes are not properly arranged. The staffs seem to be nice though, always greeted by them with smile everytime I check in. read more

This gym makes you feel like you're working out with Snookie, J-Wow and The Situation, minus the sand. There's enough orange-skinned guidos here with their water gallons full and hair gelled up to fill in for the entire Jersey Shore cast. But as Marcus X. reminds us, we shouldn't care about the people at the gym. We should care only about the reason why we go: to work out. (Sorry Marcus, I'm not a grunter.) Still, this place was always so packed that getting the machine you wanted sometimes involved a wait. My real problem with this gym - and by default, the company as a whole - is the contract. I left the area to go to a 3 month job training and they wanted to see proof of residence showing that my new address was not within a 50 mile radius of another Retro Fitness. This was the only way they'd let me break my contract. The only problem was my employer paid for my housing while I was in training so nothing was in my name. No matter how many times I explained that to them, they were unwilling to break my contract. In the end, I only owed them $60 for the 3 months left on my contract, but that was worth the fight for them. Fortunately, my employer has a gym on premises so I don't have to ever go back here. read more

This club should be absolutely embarrassed for the personal training program that is run through here. Please whatever you do, DO NOT even think about signing up or agreeing to take the "free body assessment" that is offered upon sign up. "Element Personal Training" is nothing but a bunch of thieves who do a fantastic job in selling you a wonderful personal training program. Me & my gf personally met with trainer Mr. Daniel Rizzo who honestly seemed down to earth and a person who genuinely seemed passionate about helping people achieve their goals. After completing a free session and with reaching our personal goals in sight, we agreed to sign up. We both individually had to put down $150 for the first month (1 year/$100mo contract each person and $50 "education fee" each person so the trainers can receive more training) We had scheduled our first training session for the following week. Upon showing up for our first official training session with Mr. Rizzo, he was absolutely nowhere to be found nor did the gym or fellow trainers know about his whereabouts. I attempted several times to call and text him on the number he gave and did not receive any response. Days followed and I was still met with radio silence, clearly being ignored as his clients. When we went back to the gym a few days later, we were given the number to Regional Manager named "Mazi" who I left a voicemail and texted but was also ignored and received no response from. At this point, all we wanted to do was cancel and not even continue to with this program but was told "Mr. Rizzo is in charge of handling that and who has access to do that". Mr Rizzo also took over $400+ upfront payment from my sister who he also has ignored and never showed up to the first scheduled training session. When my sister brought this matter to the Retro staff, we were told management was going to call which they never did. It truly is absolutely disgusting the way business is being handled here and the way clients are being basically robbed from a training company that retro is endorsing within their own facility. Even further, it's a shame how Retro themselves don't care to assist or even attempt to help rectify the matter in providing some type of information or guidance on how to have these issues resolved. Please whatever you do STAY AWAY from this establishment, it's a club that in the end does not care about its members or the false services that it's members are spending their hard earned money on. read more

Gym not open during stated hours. Crowd of people waiting outside. A sign of disregard and poor management. In response to Arun D, this was not the first time I was unable to get into the gym at opening time. Would not have posted a review had that been the case. read more

This is the worst Retro I've ever been to if not the worst gym period. A minimum of 6 to 6 things are out of order all the time, there is hardly any plates, dumbbells are never in order, Smith machine hasn't worked in months, and maybe 25% of the members have any type of gym etiquette. It's sad because the Wallington and North Arlington ones are nice. This place needs new ownerships and corporate should step in. Should be illegal how this gym is kept. read more

One of the poorer decisions I made when I moved to NJ was joining Retro Fitness. Whether I came early in the morning or later in the evening, it was crowded so that you had to wait for cardio machines or weights...and the small stretching area was always packed! Exercise balls, free weights and so on were either all in use, or missing. Once, a trainer had set aside a pair of weights I wanted to use while the client used another set; I asked if I could use them while they weren't, and she said no! They didn't use them for about 15 more minutes, more than enough time for me to do my reps. It is loud, loud, loud and obnoxiously bright inside. The music they play is so loud that when you are using earphones on the cardio machines, you have to turn it extremely high just to block out the crappy music! Okay, so crowded, loud, way too brightly lit, rude trainers (the one I worked out with was awful too)....and once I moved away from NJ I called, planning to just let my year's contract run out....turns out they do an automatic yearly renewal, so there was no way my contract was ever going to run out. And if I just cancelled, it would somehow take two more billing cycles to go through. The only way I was able to get out was by sending my lease in Montana, and with that they were able to cancel it right away. It would've been nice if had been informed of that when I signed up....I looked through my contract too and couldn't find that information anywhere! read more

When I first joined, it was pretty good then just started to get crowded. Last time I was there I had to wait for machines. Kind of not worth it since you lose your momentum. I moved so I wanted to cancel my membership. I emailed them on 6/2/12 & haven't heard back since. I have emailed a few times, called their financial institution, to no avail. Definitely will not join back up if they build one closer to me as they left a bad taste in my mouth with their unprofessionalism. read more

Been a member here for the past two years and haven't been too disappointed. Overall in the morning seems to be the best time to go - right when it opens @ 5am. Most machines are open as well as cardio equipment- except for the beginning of the year with all those new year resolutions. It can get quite crowed in the evening. Equipment for the most part is always working properly and there isn't too many meatheads around. Can't be disappointed with a gym I pay $20 for and then get reimbursed from my insurance. I use the crossfit area, weights and the cardio machines so I can't speak to the classes, tanning, or locker rooms. Everywhere I've used seems well maintained. I'll stick to it - don't really care about much else or the staff. read more

For $20/month, you can do so much better than this crap-hole. I have a membership at Platinum Fitness, but I moved kinda far away from them, so I've been looking for a gym that's a bit closer to me. I did a trial at Retro Fitness, and I was less than pleased by my experience. Here's a list for you: 1) The first thing that caught my attention was the smell. It smells like a landfill. Or a dumpster. The smell gets worse towards the back of the gym. 2) I went to warm up on a treadmill. The first treadmill I approached, I went to put my water bottle in the holder, and the water bottle fell to the ground and cracked. That's when I realized that the bottle holder on the machine HAD NO BOTTOM. So I moved to the treadmill next to it. I put my water bottle in the holder, and ok. It didn't fall to the ground. I hit start, and nothing. Machine was broken. Third times the charm: that machine actually worked. 3) A lot of machines were broken, actually. 4) Machines are coated with filth. I wore my favorite workout shirt that I had for a while, and I found a big black grease spot on it. Gross!!!! If you don't mind the drive, go to Platinum. For the same monthly payment, you get a clean facility and updated machines that actually work. read more

If I had to sum up this gym in one word, it would be basic. There's nothing to write home about here. The staff is nice for the most part...I'm always greeted with a friendly hello when I walk in, and I usually see the manager walking around when I'm working out. The locker rooms are clean and for the most part the machines are in working order. The nice thing about this location is that they always have the best movies showing in the cardio theater. The downside to this gym are the patrons. I usually go in the evening and it's always packed. I'm lucky if I can get to all the weight machines and/or a treadmill. I've also had an issue with money being stolen out of my purse in the locker room. The manager I spoke to about it was beyond unapologetic. My advice if you're going here: bring a lock and your patience. You'll definitely need both. read more

They're nothing but a bunch of crooks. Waited 2 months cancellation process and got charge for a 3rd month. Shame on you. read more

YESSS they got new staff! I think the ratio of times I get kindly greeted at the front desk to times I get snubbed by people working the front desk is now at an acceptable 1:1. A vast improvement. One of the trainers even let me use a rounded medicine ball after he saw me get on the strugglebus with those weird handle-sporting medicine balls they put out for patrons to use. It was probably the nicest thing that has ever happened to me at this gym. Yep, for real. I've found that the place is a teeny bit cleaner than before. I see more and more people wiping down machines after using them, and there's a large selection of mats in the big floor area where the squat rack is. Movin' on up, Retro. Maybe it'll reach 4 stars by the time I move away next year! Only time will tell. read more

So you get what you pay for. Crowded gym with muscle heads and girls wearing full face of makeup on cell phones while working out. The parking isn't great but it's a gym, I don't mind walking from next parking lot. At least it's not across the street. My main issue with this place is the staff. Rude, unhappy, unfriendly. Also the machines are a bit dated. Even the tanning machine never works. I should add I have not been here in a year. I joined another gym further away that I am much happier with. I guess the owner/ manager is not concerned with all the negative staff reviews. This helps validate my decision to leave. read more

Love this gym. Staff are friendly and helpful and the equipment is not bad either. Been working out here for a couple of months and no problems at all. A lot of the people are also really helpful and friendly. read more

As much as I love this location due to its proximity to my home, management clearly does not pay attention to customer concerns. There is absolutely no reason to have 7 elliptical machines, yet only 1 of them possesses a working television monitor. This problem has been persistent for weeks. Where is the concern? Where is the urgency to resolve this and have machines that are fully-functional? It's bad enough that their front desk staff is socializing during nearly every visit, but at least tend to the machines and make sure they work! The ellipticals may as well have mirrors attached to them, because the only thing being displayed on those screens is my reflection. Do better. This location is in shambles and management/ownership should be ashamed. read more

I have been a member for years. I left Retro for two years just recently resigned thinking things have changed NOPE Machines still down not working, dirty, fan in movie room never on people just sitting around talking! I go here because it is right down the street......Employees should be checking and cleaning machines and checking movie room half the time I walk in there the lights are so low you cant even see where you are walking and fans are never on... read more

I was a member of this facility for about 2 years. The equipment is always broken, ripped, or worn out. Almost all the benches in the free weight area were ripped open, equipment is old, and even though they added 2 stairmasters while i was a member (giving them 4), 2 were always broken. I also felt like the gym was always dirty, and when they cleaned during open hours the staff would try to clean around people exercising. The only good thing about the gym is the back room with two extra squat racks. Ended up quitting and finding a better gym with the same monthly membership fee. read more

Since I can't seem to get anyone to respond to my email, reach anyone by phone or get any one to return my phone call, I am writing this review. I am a very fair person who strongly believes that communication is key. That is probably the biggest issue I have with how my situation is/was being handled. I have been at Retro for a few years and have had great personal trainers. I signed up for a trainer again in March 2019. They were charging me $320 per month for 6 months ($1920 in total). I had surgery in May 2019 and they did freeze my account, and I am grateful for that. But I made my 6 payments (March, April, July, August, September and October). I had an email exchange with a supervisor and I informed him that October 9th, 2019 would be my last month. Well, what do you know, they charged me another $320 fee on November 9th, 2019. This is significant because I am planning a wedding and simply, $320 was incorrectly debited from my account. I don't have money to give away. I am sure nobody does. I emailed the supervisor with copies of bank statements on Saturday, November 9th, 2019 to show that I had made the 6 payments. To date (Wednesday, November 13th, 2019) no one from management has responded to my email or my phone call. My trainer responded to my inquiry but it isn't his responsibility to handle this. Simply, all any one had to do was respond with, "Ms. Orange, we are sorry for the inconvenience and will handle this issue expeditiously." I would have been satisfied. My trainer (WHO IS AWESOME, by the way) was the intermediary between his supervisor and myself. I applaud his efforts. He informed me today that a refund would be processed and the money should be back in my account in 3-5 days, which is funny since my money came out of my account in 3-5 hours. Go figure.....I have a few more sessions left and suffice to say, I think that my tenure at Retro Fitness has come to an end. I hate to say it because I have met some nice people there. But this situation really rubbed me the wrong way and is just an example of how important communication is to people, and this 48 year old in particular. read more

I am a person who likes to workout and also watch movies at the same time. This is one of the reasons why I signed up to this gym. But I don't understand why these mediocres can't press play. I would spend an hour doing other workouts and still, no one would bother to come press play. They would rather talk than pay attention to what's happening. read more

Definitely the worst retro I've been to so far. All the equipment and machinery are old and worn out, there is no stair master, and the employees are kids who don't care about their job or any of the customers. Worked out last night and one of the employees went on the intercom and told everyone to get out 15 minutes prior to the actual close time and continued talking until everyone started to leave. Granted it's COVID and everyone's doing their best but his attitude was just down right rude and unprofessional. Will NEVER go to this gym EVER again!! read more

Let me be clear... I have never visited this facility. The only interaction I had was with a very nice young woman over the phone. Here's my issue. I read all the negative reviews which this gym seems to have a lot of. I then tried a different gym after seeing the negatives here. That gym gave me all the information I needed over the phone without forcing me to come in for info. I decided to give retro a chance and hear what they have in order to compare. I was told nicely over the phone that they are not allowed to share that with me on the phone and I must come in. All I wanted to know were, what packages they have and what's included in the package. Why is this a big secret? I now know I will be going to the other gym. read more

Ok if you go doing off times and avoid the crowds at peak. Seems they just comtinously let people join, but the place is too small. Decided to end my contract and went over to signature fitness. Ending my contract wasnt easy. Needed to put in writing and they required 2 months notice!! Crap. Glad I left. Signature isn't perfect, but it's better than retro even if I am paying more. read more

horrible, they do not let you out of the contract, even if you move. I sent them the requirements such a bill with my new address, then they say that is no good, then I sent my new drivers license then they say that isn't enough. This has been going on 4 mths. It's only $20/mth but they should stick by the cancellation agreement. read more

Going to speak objectively as possible here... Firstly, it's extremely unkempt. I've never seen employees clean the mats, machines or floors therefore dust occupies most of the underparts of machines and crevices of the place. Also, you feel lucky when you reach for soap or anti bacterial and it's actually there. One of the dispensers broke once and it took over two weeks to replace. Secondly, the guest WiFi gives out when there are more than 10 people in the gym at a time so it never works, though it's adverised on their website. Mentioned it a few times to management, but just like the poor sanitation, they don't care enough to fix it. Thirdly, there are not enough machines (or space) for the intake of members they currently have and many of the machines they do have are old and low quality. If the machine breaks, don't bother checking to see if it's repaired for at least a month. There's one punching bag yet there are tons of members who're interested in using it... I'm better off shouting into a void than addressing this to the clueless management. Fourthly, ABC financial, the place who manages their accounting and membership sucks. Horrible customer service and I've had BS penalties charged to my card on file that I've disputed and won each time. I've been to other Retros and they don't suffer from the staggering amount of problems that this one does. I will say the women who work the front desk are polite and friendly; however, that is the ONLY silver lining. One time my membership didn't scan properly and when i walked past the desk one of the dudes aggressively ran me down and demanded I don't start my workout... you'd think after being a member and them seeing my face for 2 and a half years they'd approach that situation better, but of course not! How do you expect the employees to be trained well when management lets this dump continue to dilapidate. read more

This is about the Retro Fitness in Bellevile, NJ. any business that has CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT SUCKS will not succeed in my opinion. I complained about a $30 late fee they charged me because I had forgotten to update my card on file because I had changed banks. They had some company called ABC, ROBOCALL me constantly. I didn't know who this company was, especially since there are so many SCAMMERS out there emailing and calling people pretending to represent their banks, credit cards, etc to make you send a payment to some fake website address. So when I went to Retro Fitness in Belleville, NJ to ask them about it, they verified that it was their billing company and not a scammer. Well, I paid my dues and said I wanted to speak to a manager about this late fee charge. I explained that had a PERSON contacted me, I would have come in sooner to update my card on file. I also received ONE letter in the mail AFTER they already charged me this $30 late fee. I ended up speaking to a female, manager on the phone, who was no help whatsoever. I was a great customer who even pre-paid 2 years of membership dues in advance. Then this past year I had gone on a monthly plan, but forgot to update my card on file. They couldn't make the exception to waive the $30 late fee. I even referred 2 of my friends to them last year as they are new members now. I left a message for the owner, who I was told was named Arum, but never heard from him. I am wondering if the manager even passed the message I left to the owner. I was ESPECIALLY disappointed at the Customer Service, because I had watched the "UNDERCOVER BOSS' show and I just loved how the founding owner cared about good customer service and making gyms affordable. The gym is great, the customer service is NOT. read more

Terrible gym. The staff is unfriendly and extremely unprofessional, this gym lacks an effective management staff, the gym is also dirty and the daycare room looks like it was never cleaned. I used to go to golds gym in jersey city and that gym is 100 times better then retro fitness of belleville. Golds gym had a lady cleaning all day, wiping down machines, vacuuming, etc... i doubt if anyone cleaned retro gym all week. DO NOT JOIN THIS GYM, you will be highly disappointed and could also contract ring worm disease. CONSUMER BEWARE! read more

After reading some of the other comments, I don't care about the people there when I go to the gym. I'm not interested in people's personalities or to meet others. I go to the gym to sweat, grunt, and workout. The place seems in order and is a great deal. Parking can be a challenge on peak hours but other than that, it's a GYM not a SPA or Health Club. $20 is still a good deal if you know why your there. read more

In the past, i would have given this retro a 1 star review, but I have to be generous and bump my 2.5 up to a 3 star rating and here's why. This gym used to be an absolute dump. I'm talking stinky jock strap stench, guido grunting, teeny tiny, gross establishment. Now, however, they have expanded (some time ago), so there are a decent amount of cardio machines and a much bigger weight machine section. And, since this is not my home club, I can't say that they've completely gotten the screaming guidos under control at all times, however, whenever I seem to go its a non issue. When I'm up in this area, and don't feel like going over to West Orange, this is just the ticket for a quick workout. read more

I use to live in the area and went to this Retro fitness which was horrible. The staff was absolutely rude and very unprofessional on numerous occasions. I moved away from that area (not because of the gym) started going to Retro in Kenilworth WAY BETTER. The Belleville location just sucks. read more

Decent equipment...need to bring your own towel though...best times to go are in the mornings, when it's not that crazy...can't beat the price either! read more