Racquet Club Bangkok Gym Review
I figure it’s been a while since I reviewed a place, this week’s honor goes to the Racquet Club. A leisure center style gym based in the heart of Bangkok. For other gyms in Thailand check out my gyms in Bangkok article.
What is the Racquet Club?
The Racquet Club is a gym for affluent Thais and expats living in Bangkok (such as Paleo Robbie). I say this because their pricing is pretty expensive and from my time there the clientele seems to be rich kids who make money online and older working professionals.
Their center is pretty sick, they have 4 rooftop tennis courts, basketball court, 12 badminton courts, 4 squash courts, two swimming pools, a gym that has everything you want, spin classes, yoga and much more. Once you become a member you do not need to pay for any of the classes, they all come in with your membership. You get one personal trainer trainingand the rest cost 200-400 baht I think.
You can also get racket coaching from 300-400 baht an hour.
they offer towels, have changing rooms, showers and saunas. Racquet Club even has a shuttle bus that drops you off at Phrom Phong BTS every 45 minutes.
A full list of what they have can be found on their website here. If the manager is reading this and you feel like giving me a wicket discount for this review, feel free to contact me here.
What I like about the RQ CLUB
What I enjoy most about being a member of the RQ Club is that the gym is usually always empty.
Except for Mondays, the gym is pretty much quiet most of the week meaning I can do whatever I want. There is usually always a free court available (tennis can get busy), the bench is always free and classes are never that full that you can’t get a space. The towels and shower rooms are very clean, the staff speak good English and provide a pretty good customer service standard overall.
RQ Club even allow you to hold your membership once a year for 30 days in case you’re going back home.
What I don’t like about the RQ CLUB
The location. Racquet Club is located on Sukhumvit Soi 49. It takes you around 15 minutes to walk to the gym or 30 baht on a motorbike taxi. This can get annoying if you don’t live on Soi 49 as you always need to get transport to the RQ Club.
I found that every 20 minutes there’s a shuttle bus from Samitivej Hospital that picks people up on Sukhumvit 51 and drops them right outside the hospital. The hospital is only 30 seconds away from Racquet Club so it’s a free lift.
But I mean other than that, Racquet Club is a cracking gym.Oh and I wished they would have more of their lessons done in English (like yoga).
Price
To become a member of the RQ Club is not cheap. A year’s membership is around 21,400 baht and even more per month if you opt for a shorter membership, as the monthly rate is even higher. At first I thought it was a bit pricy, but their pricing model is like this to keep it ‘high-end’ and full of desirable members.
I enjoy the Racquet Club, think it could do with a quick paint job but overall the service is great and I enjoy my time in there.
Are you a member of the Racquet Club? If so leave a comment letting us know of your thoughts.
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I’ve been to this centre a few times and agree with everything Harvie’s mentioned. The owner/manager is very friendly and approachable, and the rest of the staff is nice, too.
I would definitely sign up if I lived closer to the area.
At least they put the price up on their website. What grinds my gears about the franchise places (Fitness First, True Fitness, WE Fitness) is you have to chat to an agent and ‘negotiate’, i.e. see how much they’re going to try to rip you off
http://www.fitnessfirst.co.th/en-GB/membership/ “Membership rates vary depending on the type of package that is best suited for you. Please contact your local Fitness First club where our staff will be happy to discuss all of their membership options and any special offer”
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/702525-we-fitness-ekamai/ WE fitness the same, no prices online, people on forums say they ending up paying 20k / year
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/596452-recent-signup-costs-for-membership-at-true-fitness/ True fitness, same deal, ‘what the seller thinks he/she can extract from you ‘
All of those are worse than the Racquet Club, lower weight dumbells and less varied facilities
Great links and research Mr Jspill.
its a nice place but a bit far from BTS like you say
also the price was about 4k for onemonth or sth crazy… uwotm8
haha yes, like I said, to keep the riff-raff out 😉
are there any decent, affordable apartments close by?
the ones i checked out were all a gazillion bath per month and also booked out for the next couple of years apparently… or maybe they just smelled my lack of money
My buddy lives at one at the end of 49, it’s old and dated but rooms for around 4k a month up, don’t know the name sorry.
I live on thong lo and this gym sounds interesting, thanks for the info!
Do they got thai boxing classes or only yoga?
Do they have kettlebells?
They have two Thai boxing classes a week but they are rather basic. Not sure on kettle bells, they have a second part of the gym that I never visit, they may be there. Best to ask.
if i just wanted to join for racket sports, do they charge guest fees? thinking if i can chop the membership with a friend.
thanks!
Hey mate, it’s around 450-550 for a day pass to use everything.
I love the raquet club and joined for year with my partner which actually made it very cost effective. I want to renew my member ship but for 4 months only which is now very pricey, especially since I only ever used the pool. A swim only membershil would be ideal!! I also did not know about freezing for a month as I went home 3 times last year for a month each time and could have made use of that extra month whikst here 🙁