Fitness With Frills, or Without?

While I have happily upgraded from saggy, low-quality, inexpensive workout pants to the insanely fabulous ones that cost a lot more over at Lululemon, increasing reports about the rise in gyms with fewer frills and lower monthly dues got my attention.

After all, when it comes to a place where you can clamber aboard a treadmill or elliptical trainer, it doesn't matter all that much to me if there's a mini-fridge of perfectly-stacked, perfectly chilled eucalyptus-scented hand-towels or if there are 200 different group fitness classes offered every week.

That's the thinking behind places like $20-a-month Blink Fitness, a new spin-off from high-end chain Equinox: Blink gyms offer no group classes, no on-site trainers, not even hand towels with which to wipe your sweaty brow. (It's BYOT! Or, get one from a vending machine.)

While there are only three locations of Blink so far, I started thinking about the things I really need in a gym, and whether I'm paying more than I should. For me, my top priorities are: 1. plentiful, good equipment (i.e. machines that work and are repaired promptly), 2. cleanliness, and 3. location. If it's dingy, broken-down and too far from home, I am never going to get there. But beyond that—all those wacky classes, dozens of muscled trainers milling around, luxe lotions in the locker room—it's not that important to me these days.

Does going to a plush, amenity-laden gym motivate you? Do you prefer the old-school clank and clamor of some community gyms? For those of you who hit the health club, what are the top three things you look for?