Wellness / Vol. VII Best Of Updated September 22, 2026

THE BESTHOTELGYMS

Plus the four-piece kit that turns any bad one into a workout.

The hotel gym with the only stair-stepper in the city — The reason I book it

Hotel gym mirror selfie among the machines

Holding a dumbbell in a gym with floor-to-ceiling windows

is there a stair-stepper? →

Lauren tested

Words & testing · Lauren Fowler Open story ↓ Photograph · Lauren

Filed under
Wellness / Fitness / Best Of

Tested over
3 years · 40+ hotels

Published
September 22, 2026

Best by Lauren may earn a commission when you shop through certain links. Every product here was bought with my own money or tested for at least six weeks. No brand has paid to be included, and nothing is ranked higher because it pays more.

I judge hotels on four things and the gym eliminates more of them than the other three combined.

Most hotel gyms are three treadmills, a rack of dumbbells that stops at twelve kilos, and a mat. The ones below are the exceptions, and at the end is the kit that makes the other kind survivable.

Bangkok

Name to confirm

The one with the stair-stepper

One machine, and it is why I book this hotel.

A proper gym floor with real weights, machines that are not decorative, and the only stair-stepper I found in the city. Open early, which matters more than anything else on a work trip.

Best for: Actually training on a trip
When to go: Before seven, while it is empty

Asia

Name to confirm

The glass-walled one over the city

Weights that go heavy enough, and a view that makes you stay longer.

Floor-to-ceiling glass and a dumbbell rack that goes past twenty kilos. The view is a gimmick that genuinely works — I train longer in rooms with a window.

Best for: A long session
When to go: Early evening, when the light goes

Lombok

Name to confirm

The open-air island gym

Concrete, one rusting rack, no air conditioning, and one of my strongest stretches.

Not a hotel gym and not remotely nice. It is on this list because it proves the point: consistency in a bad gym beats a perfect one you visit twice.

Best for: A reality check
When to go: Six in the morning, before the heat

The four-piece kit

A long resistance band, a short loop band, a pair of sliders and a jump rope. Together they weigh almost nothing and turn a room with a mat into a full session.

The long band is the one that matters most — it covers everything a cable machine would, badly but adequately, and it is the difference between a workout and a stretch.

How to check before you book

Hotel websites photograph gyms at their most flattering angle and never show the dumbbell rack. Search the hotel name on social platforms instead — guests photograph the rack, because guests who care about the rack are the ones posting.

If it matters, email and ask what the heaviest dumbbell is. The answer tells you everything and they always reply.

Opening hours are the hidden variable

A great gym that opens at seven is worse than an average one that opens at five, on any trip with a morning meeting. Check the hours before the equipment.

What comes with meBest by Lauren may earn a commission when you shop through certain links. Recommendations are selected independently.

Lauren in headphones at an open-air island gym

Apple

AirPods Max

the same headphones in all four gyms

Shop — $549

Sleep stack: magnesium glycinate, melatonin, GABA

Thorne

Magnesium Bisglycinate

the only supplement I actually noticed

Shop — $42

The film8 frames · Forty-odd hotels

The hotel gym with the stair-stepper — The one machine

An aerial yoga studio, purple silks from a timber ceiling

A printed weekly wellbeing class schedule

PhotoThe four-piece travel kit laid out — photo to come

Questions

How do you check a hotel gym before booking?

Search the hotel name on social platforms rather than trusting the website — guests photograph the dumbbell rack. Or email and ask what the heaviest dumbbell is; they always answer.

What should you pack to work out in a hotel?

A long resistance band, a loop band, sliders and a jump rope. Almost no weight and it turns a room with a mat into a full session.

What makes a good hotel gym?

Dumbbells past twenty kilos, a machine that is not decorative, and early opening hours. The hours matter more than most people expect.