The buzz: Sir Richard Branson’s famed fitness chain finally opens here—the first in Southeast Asia.
The vibe: The whole setup looks straight out of a sci-fi flick with state-of-the-art facilities and metallic finishes. And they’ve gone a little overboard with the red (Virgin Active’s corporate color), though the sprawling floor space makes it less intimidating than it should. There’s a Zen-like Relax and Recovery Zone on the first floor, a lounge-cum-healthy food and drink bar on the second, and the main workout area on the third where all the high-intensity action happens.
The goods: The gym comes fitted with Technogym’s line of Android powered machines known as ARTIS, which operate on cloud technology so you can monitor your progress closely each time you hit the gym. By simply plugging in a USB device, you can access training records and even follow specific exercise programs. Tech talk aside, other features like the salt room for meditation classes and sleep pods (hello, power nap), as well as classes like anti-gravity yoga make this the new gym to beat.
Why you’ll be back: It’s a flat rate of $170 per month, $42.50 per week, with access to all facilities and classes. Not cheap—but no hidden costs, no hard selling, nada.