I came to Seattle for a conference and am literally staying at an athletic club.

Sounds perfect for tri training.

When I signed in I was told I had access to two of the fitness floors. I didn’t recall which, and looking at the map I saw there were 4 options! I took my best guess and went to the women’s floor. They said I would have to pay. I tried the coed area. The fellow at the desk asked for my number and I was in!

But he tracked me down moments later. Apparently he was asking for my member number…not my room. I would have to pay for entry.

I told him that I have been told there was two floors I could use and asked which they were. He said to go to the 4th floor and that there was some equipment there I could use. However, all I found on that floor was a basketball gym. After inquiring further I was informed that there was a track upstairs above the gym (I had failed to look up or open the random door to get upstairs).

Once I found my way, it did have some equipment I could use, but I couldn’t figure out how to use the bicycle and the track was 20 laps around to make a mile which didn’t sound fun. At this point I gave up and decided I should go run outside.

The entry for the fitness areas is nearly $20 a day. I would consider that for a really great class but it’s pretty steep for a dreary run on the treadmill that I hate anyway. And I didn’t see any good quality spinning bikes.

I don’t do city well, and was in the rain with only a tank top. (I could/should have prepared differently, but I was so warm upon getting to my room that I thought I should be fine). It was wet, crowded on city streets, slow with red light stops – I was picky about not taking many turns in fear that I would get lost – and there was plenty of pot smoke inhales along the way. I only managed 2.5 miles before showing back up at my hotel.

Baah! Travel fail.

I will have to venture and figure out what other floor I can use, and now that I know my options I suspect I will better be able to utilize them and the elliptical maybe in my future.

I am not sure what is up with these athletic clubs but have different areas for different genders. This is the second hotel I have stayed at with that kind of model. I would venture to guess that it is a relic from the past but both seem to be doing quite well so it may be something that people really enjoy.