The room you use on every visit
You might use the cable towers twice a week, but you use the changing room every time. In Abu Dhabi it often holds more than a gym bag: a laptop on the way to the office, a kandura or abaya that must not crease, and in summer a full change of clothes, because even the walk from the car leaves you damp.
This guide covers the changing area alone. For the whole building, use the gym tour checklist. RPM's facilities page shows its keypad lockers, so you can look at one real changing area before you start comparing.
Lockers, tested with your own bag
Bring the bag you actually carry on a workday and put it in a locker. One that fits gym kit but not a laptop bag sends you back to the car park in July.
The lock types you are likely to meet, and what to ask about each one.
| Lock | Day to day | Weak point | Ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keypad | You set your own code each visit and carry nothing | A forgotten code, or a flat battery on some models | How staff open a locker when a code fails |
| Key on a wristband | The key stays on your wrist while you train | Lost keys and a replacement charge | Whether a lost key is charged for |
| Your own padlock | You lock a plain locker with a lock from home | Leaving the padlock at home | Whether lockers are emptied at closing |
| Card or electronic band | Your membership card or band opens the locker | Locking the card inside the locker | Whether one card opens the door and the locker |
- Height: can a kandura, an abaya or a suit jacket hang at full length without folding at the bottom?
- Depth: does a laptop bag or handbag go in flat, with the door shutting easily?
- Air: vents or slatted doors let damp kit breathe, so your office shirt does not come out smelling of your session.
- Day use or rental: ask whether lockers can be rented, and whether anything left at closing is removed.
- Position: lockers inside the changing room keep valuables out of sight, while lockers on the floor are quicker and more public.
Showers and towels: see them, then ask
How do I choose a gym with lockers and shower facilities?
They are two checks on the same visit. For lockers, test the size with your workday bag and ask how the lock works and whether lockers are for the day or rented. For showers, ask to see them, then weigh the number of cubicles against the crowd at your hour. Check the water pressure and how fast it warms, doors or curtains that close fully and a dry spot to dress. Ask in plain words whether towels are provided or whether you bring your own. A gym that shows you both without hesitation usually has little to hide in either.
Showers show a changing room's age first: slow drains, loose fittings, a cubicle taped off for weeks. Look at the grout and drains rather than the tiles, which are easy to wipe. If you would shower before work, ask how the room copes when many people want hot water at once.
Towel arrangements differ from gym to gym. Some hand one out at reception, some charge for it and some expect you to bring your own. Any of these is fine if you know in advance, so get the answer before you build a before-work routine around it.
Benches, hooks and the after-work crush
Space to dress is the part of a changing room that runs out first. When a class finishes just as the office crowd arrives, the benches fill with bags and you end up changing in a corner.
- Count the benches against the people in the room at your hour, not on the tour.
- Look for hooks beside the showers as well as the benches, so clothes stay off a wet floor.
- Check for a dry zone between the showers and the lockers, with mats that are changed rather than left sodden.
- See whether bags must go in lockers or may sit on benches, because that rule decides how cluttered the room gets.
- If it affects you, ask whether children may use the changing room with a parent, and up to what age.
Privacy inside the changing room
A changing room can sit inside a women-only section and still feel exposed if its door opens straight onto the benches. Stand outside and watch the door swing. What can someone in the corridor see each time a person walks in?
- Changing cubicles or curtained spaces for anyone who prefers not to change in the open.
- Shower doors or curtains that close fully, with a hook inside for clothes.
- A ban on photos and filming that is posted on the wall, not only mentioned at the desk.
- A clear answer on who cleans the women's changing room during opening hours, and whether a sign goes up before staff enter.
Sightlines, windows and staff routes across a women's section are covered in what makes a ladies gym feel private.
A workday morning through one changing room
Run your own routine through the room, step by step. This example is a weekday session before an office start.
| Step | What the room has to give you |
|---|---|
| Arrive with a gym bag and work clothes on a hanger | A locker tall enough to hang them, or hooks you trust |
| Change for training | An empty bench or cubicle in the busiest early hour |
| Lock away valuables | A lock you can work with sweaty or wet hands |
| Shower after training | An open cubicle within a few minutes, and water that warms quickly |
| Dry off and dress | A dry floor, a towel you brought or were handed, and a hook for it |
| Dry your hair and get ready | Hairdryers and mirror space when everyone else wants them too |
Where a step fails, decide whether you can work round it. Bringing your own towel is easy. A locker shorter than your kandura is not something you can fix.
RPM's changing area: what is known
At RPM's single club, on Level 4 of AD HUB Sports Complex in Al Manhal, the changing area has keypad lockers, and there is a grooming hub, a vanity area with hairdryers and products, which you can see on the grooming hub page.
Showers and towels are not confirmed here, so ask about both before you plan a routine that depends on them. Women who will train in the women-only Ladies section should ask which changing room and lockers they would use, and walk the route to it. On a free guided tour, a walk-through with a member of the team rather than a workout, bring your workday bag and try a locker.
Questions, answered.
Should I bring a padlock to the gym?
Only if the lockers take one. Keypad and card lockers need nothing extra. Ask before your first visit so you are not carrying your phone and wallet round the floor.
Can I leave my things in a gym locker overnight?
Ask, because the rules differ. Some gyms empty day lockers at closing, and some rent lockers for longer. If you train before work every day, a rented locker saves carrying shoes and toiletries each time.
What if the showers are busy every morning?
Move your session a little earlier or later so you finish before the rush. If you cannot, the changing room is too small for the crowd at your hour, and that belongs in your comparison.
Which is better, a keypad locker or a key on a wristband?
Neither wins outright. A keypad leaves nothing to carry or lose, and a key never depends on a code you might forget. Pick a code others cannot guess, and check the door has locked before you walk away.