Court House to open second fitness centre
Court House gym will on Monday unveil its second fitness centre, based in a luxury office and apartment block.
Court House West, in the new Belvedere Apartments next to the iconic Bacardi building off Pitts Bay Road, features a fully equipped gym and a squash court.
Sue Pell, manager at Court House, which has a long-established gym on Victoria Street in Hamilton, said: “We have had a lot of interest — at the moment we haven’t advertised that we’re open for business, but had a lot of interest from the corporate world and individuals who like the idea there are two clubs for the price of one.”
Ms Pell added that Court House owner Richard Burns approached West Hamilton Holdings, the developers of the new block, after he heard that a gym was planned for the ground floor of the building.
She said: “With companies moving out to that end of the city, it seemed like good sense to have a gym over there.”
And she added: “The market that we attract, there is definitely room for growth.
“We also found that companies are more worried about the health and fitness of their staff and the cost of healthcare, so they are more interested in getting their staff involved, depending on what they like to do and there’s lots of choice for them at Court House.
“With Bermuda’s high rates of diabetes and heart disease, it’s important that everyone on the island works together to get health costs down.”
Ms Pell added: “We have definitely noticed things getting better — more people have a little bit more disposable income and they are becoming more health conscious so they’re willing to spend the money to get fitter and get more active.
“We’ve definitely seen a slight increase in the economy.”
Ms Pell said: “There have been a lot of facilities opened in the last couple of years, but none of them are purpose-built fitness centres. Both of our facilities are purpose-built and include not just a gym, but the whole experience, including squash.
“Court House West has a studio designed specifically for group cycling and all of our equipment is Technogym, an Italian company and the leaders in the industry by far.”
The gym offers Group Cycle Connect, which includes virtual rides where riders can connect with their bikes through an app which downloads a range of data from their workout to their mobile devices.
The new gym will also feature circuit training classes run by a trainer from the original premises, while the nutrition expert Catherine Burns will provide Nutrafit and Beat the Couch programmes.
Other equipment available includes treadmills, grinding machines and hand-held equipment like kettle bells and exercise balls.
Belvedere Apartments, which was officially handed over to West Hamilton Holdings at the end of last month, features luxury apartments and a penthouse area, occupied by reinsurance firm Qatar Re, who were existing tenants of the company in the Belvedere Building on Pitts Bay Road, with the gym occupying most of the ground floor.
Ms Pell said that both Court House gyms would be available to members of either, adding to the choice of exercise regimes available.
She added: “It really gives flexibility — there is equipment at Court House West which is slightly different from the existing gym, so it gives people a different experience.”
And she said: “We’re trying to offer real value compared to other facilities. People think of us as expensive, but when they look at what we offer, 24/7 access, 365 days a year and everything in Court House is included in the membership fee, it is impressive.”