gyms…
Scott Portugal Photography
After 30 years of visiting Mykonos for my birthday in September one expects I would make it to the gym, but Terelj, Mongolia? That’s right, I have worked out at in the gym at the Terelj Hotel located within the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park in Mongolia! It is one the best equipped hotel gyms I have worked out in anywhere! In fact, it is one of the finest resort hotel I have been to anywhere in the world, beautiful luxurious rooms, a world class restaurant, indoor and outdoor pools, big enough to swim laps, and hiking along the winding river to Turtle Rock. The famous Przewalski’s wild horses are only a few hours away in the Altai Mountains.
One of the most important steps I took to becoming the man I am today was joining a gym in Lexington, Kentucky in 1978. It wasn’t just the outward physical body changes, it was also the changes taking care of myself physically resulted in emotionally and yes, even spiritually.. As a result, working out has become key to my physical, emotional and spiritual fitness. It is the reason I founded DavidUnbound Fitness Travel. I want to share it with others. Given the importance of all that is it any wonder I always find a gym when traveling longer than three days? Below are some suggestions for gyms around the world. If you find yourself in need of a workout on your world travels, in addition to the Terelj Hotel, I can recommend the following.
Many Marriott properties around the world have good gyms onsite. Among some of the best I have personally visited during my travels are: Marriott Marquis, Washington, DC, Courtyard by Marriott, Miraflores, Lima, Peru, JW Marriott, Hong Kong, China, London County House Marriott, London, England, Renaissance Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland, Courtyard by Marriott, Seam Reap, Cambodia, and Renaissance Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. The Axel Hotels in Barcelona and Berlin have very usable gyms, but beware the second Axel Property in Barcelona, TWO does not have a gym or offer access to the gym at the flagship Axel Hotel. When traveling in Central or South America I find Smartfit Gyms (Academia Smartfit in Brazil) everywhere I go. They are always clean, affordable and have everything I need. Most cities will have multiple locations usually with at least one in the gay neighborhood of major cites. In Montevideo, Uruguay I went ZonaFit Gimnasio mutliple times over my two weeks there and Buddha Fit, a very friendly gym, in the Uruguayan beach town Punta del Este. A London favorite, for both the equipment and hot guys, is Sweatbox, Soho.
When traveling throughout Europe, I workout at the very well equipped McFit Gyms in most cites. Like the SmartFit chains, most cities will have at least one location that is mostly gay men and a good places to meet locals. The two in the gay neighborhoods of Barcelona and Madrid, Spain are packed with many OnlyFans stars if you are into that kind of thing. Another very interesting gym with an active bathhouse on site is Universal Gym, adjacent to the The Louvre, in Paris. My favorite gym in Mykonos, Greece, is PUMP GYM because it is walking distance from my favorite hotel The Rochari, which has a very small gym of its own. The BodyWorks and Mykonos Gym are also good. You can walk from town to BodyWorks, but it’s a bit of a hike. Mykonos Gym is not walking distance from town.
I hope you find this information helpful as you travel the world. Please feel free to contact me directly with questions or for additional information.