Filth, Indifference, and Meth: What’s Happening at
Planet Fitness North Hollywood
Unsanitary Conditions, Ignored Complaints, And Firsthand Reports Of Crystal Meth Use Inside The Facility Raise Serious Questions About Safety And Accountability
By Vic Gerami
In Los Angeles, gyms don’t need to try very hard to stay full. People will sign up regardless. And when business is booming, something predictable happens: standards collapse.
That collapse is hard to miss at the Planet Fitness location in North Hollywood.
After nearly a year of going there, what I encountered wasn’t the occasional bad day. It was a pattern. The facility often felt dirty, neglected, and poorly maintained. Locker rooms that should be routinely cleaned felt unsanitary. Restrooms were frequently in unacceptable condition. Equipment areas lacked the level of hygiene any paying member should expect.
This is not nitpicking. This is baseline.
When you’re running a high-traffic gym where people sweat, share machines, and use communal spaces, cleanliness is not optional. It’s the bare minimum. And yet, too often, that minimum was not met.
But the bigger issue is not just the condition of the space. It’s the indifference.
Complaints don’t seem to matter. Concerns don’t lead to change. Whether raised to staff or management, the sense is the same: nothing happens. In a saturated market, the assumption appears to be that members will tolerate it or simply be replaced.
And then there’s what pushes this beyond poor management into something far more serious.
I personally witnessed individuals smoking what appeared to be crystal meth inside the locker room. This was not subtle, and it was not isolated. Management was made aware. From what I observed, there was no meaningful response.
Let that sink in.
A gym where members are expected to focus on their health and well-being, yet drug use is happening inside the facility, with no visible urgency from those in charge.
At that point, this is no longer about customer service. It’s about safety.
Planet Fitness built its brand on being a “Judgement Free Zone.” But a judgment-free zone does not mean a standards-free zone. It does not mean ignoring hygiene. It does not mean looking the other way when serious issues are brought forward.
In a city like Los Angeles, where gym options are endless, complacency is a choice. And so is ignoring the people who are paying to be there.
The question is simple: does anyone at Planet Fitness, from local management to corporate leadership, actually care?
