How to choose the best gym in Şişli: hotel fitness room, membership and what to ask

What kinds of gym will you find in Şişli?

You will find three main kinds: independent gyms on the neighbourhood streets, chain gyms with several branches, and fitness rooms inside hotels.

Each has real strengths, and the question is which one fits your week.

An independent gym is often within walking distance of your flat or office, which makes a regular habit easier. A chain gym can let you train in different districts on one membership. A hotel fitness room puts the workout in the same building as a pool, a sauna and a steam room, so you do not need a second stop afterwards. We are not ranking the three. We want you to see which question matters most for which kind.

Someone who types "best gym in Şişli" is usually asking something more specific: which place works for my route, my hours and my routine? The answer depends less on the size of the gym than on your day. Will you train before work, at lunch or in the evening? After training, is a shower enough, or do you want a pool or a hot room? Can you build your own programme, or do you want someone to point you in a direction? Your answers to those three questions show you which sections below to read most closely.

We wrote this guide for Şişli and Osmanbey because Beatus Spa has a location in a hotel here that offers fitness membership to people from outside. For the general logic of joining a hotel gym (day pass or monthly, what to look for in a contract), see our guide to choosing a hotel gym and pool membership. This page sticks to what is specific to Şişli and to the Osmanbey location.

Can you join a hotel gym without staying at the hotel?

At our Osmanbey location, yes. People who are not staying at the hotel can take a day pass or a 1-, 3-, 6- or 12-month membership.

Other hotels differ, so ask each one.

Many city hotels build their gym for guests only and ask for a room card at the door. Some open it to outsiders and call that a "membership". So a hotel having a gym does not mean the gym is open to you. Before you decide, settle three things:

1. Does the hotel accept outside members, or only day visitors?
2. Which lengths are offered?
3. Which areas of the building does the membership cover?

At our Osmanbey location the options are a day pass, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. If you want to try the place, a day pass is the easy route. If you plan to train regularly, a longer length may make sense. The fitness membership page lists the four locations that offer outside membership, and a message to the location will settle which length suits you. We deal with the fee in its own section further down.

One more thing about choosing a length: be realistic about how often you will go. Do not think about how many times you hope to go in a year. Think about how many days a week you can manage in the first two months. The starter-month plan in our membership guide helps with this, so we do not repeat it here.

What does the membership cover: gym, pool, sauna and steam room?

At the Osmanbey location the membership covers the fitness room, the rooftop pool, the sauna and the steam room.

The hammams are open only to guests who have a treatment, during that treatment, and are not part of the membership.

This is one of the points people most often mix up. Hearing "gym with a spa", many people assume they can go into the hammam after training. But what the hot areas include differs from one place to another: in some, the hammam is part of the membership, and in others it is used only by appointment. At our Osmanbey location the hammam is part of a massage or treatment booking. If you want to try it, take a look at the rituals on our Turkish bath page and book a treatment.

There are two more facts about the pool. The rooftop pool's roof opens and closes with the season. Swimwear, a swim cap and goggles are brought by the guest; they are not sold at the location. A cap is not compulsory. For the rules and manners of using hotel pools, our hotel pool guide goes into more detail. If you want to know the framework behind pool water standards, the Ministry of Health's Public Health General Directorate explains that swimming pools are governed by the health rules regulation published in the Official Gazette on 6 March 2011 (No. 27866).

Ask what the membership covers in writing, because "pool included" does not necessarily mean the pool can be used every day of the year at every hour. Get the answer about pool hours and seasonal closures from the location, and keep a note of it.

Is there a trainer in the gym, and how do you get private lessons?

There is no trainer on the gym staff at our Osmanbey location.

Independent trainers who work with the spa give paid private lessons; if you want one, message the location and discuss it separately.

Trainer support is one of the most misunderstood parts of choosing a gym. There are three quite different set-ups: a trainer who is always on the floor and helps members; an introductory session included in the membership; and a private lesson from an independent trainer, charged separately. They are very different services. At our Osmanbey location it is the third. The trainers are independent people who work with the spa, not members of the hotel or spa staff.

Ask yourself what that means for you. If you know what you are doing in a gym and can follow your own programme, the lack of a staff trainer may make no difference. If you are new to training, or want guidance towards a particular goal, discuss private lessons and how they are scheduled before you join. Questions about a trainer's training or experience go to the location and to the trainer. We have no information on trainers' qualifications or experience, so this guide does not make any claims about them.

If this is your first time in a gym, our first-time gym guide covers everything from what to wear to how to plan a first session.

Are there yoga, pilates or group classes?

No. Yoga, pilates and group classes are not offered at our Osmanbey location. The gym has cardio machines and a free-weights area.

The answer is short but it matters, because you will not want to find it out after you have chosen a length. If you like to train by following a class timetable, the plan "I will just follow the classes" will not work here. If you build your own routine on cardio machines and free weights, those are the first things you look for. Whichever applies to you, look around the gym before you pay and judge it with your own eyes.

How do you get to the Osmanbey gym, and what are the hours?

The location is in Osmanbey. The nearest metro station is Osmanbey on the M2 line, about a 4-minute, 300-metre walk away. Ask the location for the gym and pool hours.

According to Metro Istanbul's line information, the M2 runs between Yenikapı, Seyrantepe and Hacıosman, and Osmanbey is one of its stations. The nearest exits to the location are the Pangaltı and Dolapdere exits. You enter through the hotel lobby: the spa is on the 7th floor, and the pool and the gym are on the 8th. If you come by car, the hotel car park is open to spa guests and there is a valet service. Ask the location how parking works for members.

Opening hours are one of the most important criteria for a gym, and we can't give you the gym or pool hours here, because we have not been given them. What we do know is that the last treatment appointment is at 21:30. That is not the closing time of the gym. Work out which hours you would really train, and write to the location: "I would like to come at these times; are the gym and the pool open then?" Keep the reply.

How busy it is also comes down to the hour. It is hard to know in advance how full a gym is in the morning, at midday or in the evening. The most reliable way is to see the place yourself at the time you would want to train. We are not given the gym's capacity or the number of members, so it would not be right to call it quiet or busy.

What if you are coming from Nişantaşı, Mecidiyeköy or Taksim?

Our location is in Osmanbey. We have no location in Nişantaşı, Mecidiyeköy or Pangaltı.

If you are coming from one of those districts, time the journey yourself on a map app.

Someone who searches for a "gym in Nişantaşı" or a "gym in Mecidiyeköy" is using a district name as a place. This guide does not suggest we have a location in those districts. The only figure we give is the one we have been given: about a 4-minute walk from Osmanbey metro station to the location. Districts that border each other can still be a very different walk or ride, depending on where you start. If you are looking for a spa day near Nişantaşı, our Nişantaşı spa guide covers the Osmanbey location separately.

Please do not confuse the Osmanbey location with our Harbiye one: the Harbiye location has no fitness room and no pool. If you are looking for a gym, the Şişli option is Osmanbey. If you live on the Mahmutbey or Güneşli side, see our guide to gyms with a pool in Bağcılar, which sets out how to plan a gym and spa day there.

Direction matters as much as distance when you choose a district. A gym on the way to work in the morning builds a different habit from one on the way home in the evening. If your calendar is not flexible, choose the hour you will call in with that in mind.

In what order do you use the pool and the sauna after training?

A calm order is a short cool-down and some water first, then a shower, then the pool, and the sauna or steam room if you want it.

Keep your time in the hot rooms short and leave at once if you feel unwell.

At the Osmanbey location the gym and the pool are on the same floor (8th) and the spa is one floor below (7th). That makes the step from workout to pool easy, while the sauna and steam room are on the spa floor, so you walk down one floor for those. A visit could run like this: warm-up and workout, cool-down, shower, pool, then the sauna or steam room one floor down.

A word of caution on hot rooms. Harvard Health Publishing's article on saunas lists general precautions: avoid alcohol and medication that affects sweating before and after, keep your time in the sauna short, and cool down gradually afterwards. The same source says that people with some health conditions should talk to their doctor before using a sauna. If you are unsure whether the sauna, the steam room or hard training is right for you, ask your doctor first, and tell the specialist at the location. We explain the difference between a sauna, a steam room and a hammam in this guide.

Make one rule for yourself: do not step straight from a hard workout into a very hot room. Let your breathing settle and drink some water first. The pool, and then the sauna or steam room if you choose, tends to go more comfortably after that.

How much exercise is enough, and how often should you go?

The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week for adults. The NHS adds muscle-strengthening activities on at least two days a week.

These figures do not tell you how often to use a gym membership. They are a general framework. The WHO fact sheet also notes that a large share of adults worldwide do not meet the recommendation. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) repeats the same advice, 150 minutes of moderate activity and two days of strengthening, and adds that the 150 minutes can be split up, for example 30 minutes on five days. The NHS describes moderate intensity this way: you can talk but you cannot sing.

You can carry this framework into your choice of membership. If you will go two days a week, build a programme that covers cardio and weights on each of those days. If you can go three or four days, you can split the days. What counts is that you can keep it up. Rather than starting with too much enthusiasm and stopping in month two, pick a frequency you can really manage. That is why we suggest asking yourself, "How many days a week can I go in the first two months?" when you choose a length.

There is something we do not want to do here, which is to promise a result. Training and membership affect people differently, and this guide makes no promise about body weight, muscle or any other physical goal. If you are unsure about starting to exercise because of a health condition, ask your doctor.

What should you check before you join?

See the place first, ask what the membership covers in writing, and get the contract terms from the location in writing.

A membership is a consumer contract, and unfair terms in consumer contracts are void.

A gym membership is a contract. Under Article 5 of Turkey's Consumer Protection Law (No. 6502), an unfair term is one added to a contract without negotiation with the consumer that, against the rule of good faith, creates an imbalance to the consumer's detriment. Such terms are void. That does not mean you can sign without reading. It is a reason to read. Article 54 of the same law requires the list of tariffs and prices for services to be displayed where people can see it, and says that if the listed price and the till price differ, the price in the consumer's favour applies. So keep the information you are given in writing.

We do not give the terms of a membership contract in this guide (for example about leaving, pausing or extending), because we have not been given any such information. Ask the location for the terms in writing.

What to check on site is a short list:

• Changing rooms and showers: the lockers, the cubicles and how clean they are kept. If you want a shower after training, this is critical.
• Equipment: do the cardio machines work, and is the free-weights area enough for the exercises you want to do?
• Pool and hot rooms: see the areas that are said to be included, with your own eyes.
• The journey: try the route at the hour you would go. Trying it once is better than giving up after three months.
• Asking questions: the International SPA Association (ISPA) suggests calling a spa before you go and asking all your questions. The same approach works for a gym.

How do you find out the fee?

This site does not list prices. You can get the current fee and the terms of the membership from the location by WhatsApp.

The location also displays its price list on the premises.

The fee depends on the length, the areas included and the type of service. We explain in general what affects a price in how massage and hammam prices are set, and a similar logic applies to membership. In your WhatsApp message, say which length you are considering, which areas you want to use and which days you would come, so the location can give you the right information. A sample message could be: "Hello, I would like information about outside gym membership at your Osmanbey location. I am thinking of a 3-month length, and I would like to use the gym, the pool and the sauna. I could come three days a week in the evening. What are the gym and pool hours and the membership terms?"

You do not have to write about your health in the message. If you have a health concern, tell the specialist at the location in person.

Which questions should you ask before joining? A decision table

The table below puts the questions you can ask at any hotel gym next to the situation at our Osmanbey location. Wherever a cell says "Ask the location", this guide does not know the answer.