Hotels with Peloton bikes in NYC? – The Sheraton

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Last Updated on 24th July 2020

You might have heard people talk about Peloton at your local gym?, Or watched an advert for it on the TV? Either way Peloton is a billion pound New York-based fitness company that’s been taking the indoor cycling world by storm. Helped by its live classes and fancy pants, high-tech, spinning bikes costing upwards of $2,000. The Sheraton Times Square is one of New York’s hotels with Peloton bikes … and it just happened to be where we were staying for few days!

Booking.com

Test one out in your hotel?

Well yes – if you happen to be staying at the Sheraton Times Square you can. As we were guests there we decided to take advantage of their 10-bike Peloton studio. We wanted to finally see what all the fuss was all about! It wasn’t necessarily a deciding reason for us choosing their hotel but it sure was a nice perk to staying there!

What makes Peloton bikes that little bit different?

Each of the Peloton bikes has its own 22-inch HD sweat-proof touchscreen allowing you to tune in to a multitude of on-demand classes. You might want to experience being part of one of the 14 daily live classes as we did. Ordinarily you can do all this within the comfort of your garage/front room/bedroom. For those people who have to be at home for various reasons then it’s the perfect way to be part of a “live” class. … or in our case downstairs in the hotel gym.

At the Sheraton you’ll find their Peloton bikes in the basement enclosed within a glass walled studio within their extensive gym. In fact it happens to be one of the biggest hotel gyms I’ve been to in New York. The treadmills on this lower ground floor are just about visible from the street out on 7th Avenue.

Is everything provided for you?

Pick up a free towel, a bottle of water and some earphones just outside the studio. Better still bring your own if you have them with you of course!

If you’ve been to plenty of spin classes before you’ll be perfectly familiar with how they usually run. If you’re not it really takes only a short while to work out what you’re supposed to be doing. Just register in advance so you’re good to go when the class time arrives.

We’d already registered and signed up to an 8am class with Ben (above) the night before. Therefore we were all good to go when we wandered down to the gym in the morning. Being still on “UK time” helped but there are live classes throughout the day if you’re not feeling inclined to get up particularly early.

What did we like about the Peloton bikes?

The micro adjustment of the saddle and the bike’s smooth pedaling movement. The crystal clear screen with high-quality audio, courtesy of the free earphones. There was background music to get the Adrenalin pumping but not to the detriment of the clear vocals of our instructor.

I liked being able to see my resistance and cadence levels at the bottom of the screen. Plus an indication of how I was doing on the leaderboard compared to everybody else. I even brought my mountain bike shoes with me so I could take advantage of the pedals’ SPD cleats. NB. They don’t have road bike cleats – just SPD or flats (plus toe-clips) on the other side.

As the travel market becomes more and more competitive maybe hotels with Peloton bikes, iPad loans, plus many other personal touches will win out? Those hotels aiming to differentiate themselves from all the other hotels’ standard offerings out there?

What didn’t we like?

What’s not to like?! Everything was as expected with the extra novelty of being “live” in a class with 384 other people. They were mostly from the US, but some were from back home over the pond in the UK! I preferred Peloton; my girlfriend preferred Soul Cycle. Soul Cycle had much louder music, a darker studio and you’re together in an actual studio with 30+ other people.

To be fair the Soul Cycle bikes felt like they had a more natural bike-like chain movement and slightly more hand positions. There’s really not much to choose between them though! I like seeing my cadence and resistance – hence my preference for the Peloton bikes!

I even went back the next day to do a quick warm-down class! well – it was “free” so to speak so why not. A nice perk of staying at the Sheraton.

We both even got a little mention for “having a great ride!” Quite coincidental as we were with 382 other riders! 😉 I presume complete newbies users’ names flash up on the instructor’s screen for them to name-check? Either way this motivation got us to about midway up the leaderboard.

Where else to find Peloton bikes?

If you’re more of a Radisson fan the modern Radisson Hotel New York Times Square and Radisson Hotel New York Midtown-Fifth Avenue offer premium accommodation near New York City’s top attractions as well as a new exclusive gym service to their customers with Peloton Bikes.

There’s one Peloton Bike in the Radisson Hotel New York Midtown-Fifth Avenue, while the Radisson Hotel Times Square has a few of them. The latter is also one of the closest hotels on the West Side to the new Peloton New York Studios.

This comprehensive list by fittesttravel.com will also help point you in the right direction.

Find out more about Peloton on their website and the Sheraton Hotel Times Square on Booking.com 🙂

If you prefer to do your cycling out in the open then find out what it was like to cycle a tandem bicycle around Central Park.

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