PureFitness Westside Athletic Club manager Stephen Murphy sees his gym as a place for Downtown San Diego urbanites to “renew and recharge.” He encourages members to gaze at the gym’s waterfalls, take a spinning class outside in the breeze, or even read a book by the pool.

“Our location is the most difficult thing to duplicate. We get sun all day. Our gym looks out over the bay,” says Murphy. “No matter how well-equipped a condominium or office gym is, we offer an escape from home and business.”

The Downtown crowd has much to choose from in the way of gyms and their amenities, from boxing to yoga to traditional cardio machines. Each of Downtown’s nearly one dozen gyms boasts a unique take on fitness. So how do you know which gym is right for you?

While some people are inclined to hunt for “the cheapest gym in town,” Murphy says it’s more important to consider compatibility. “They need to think in terms of what lifestyle is right for them. More than anything else, they need to visit the gym to see if it’s going to be a fit, like what kind of equipment they have, who else goes there, whether they feel welcome, and what it’s like at peak times of the day.”

Janis Colokathisvinuya, owner of Downtown’s women-oriented Curves, agrees that visiting the gym is the best way to gauge whether it’s a good use of your membership dollars.

“I would tell them to try the workout. We always invite the person in — it’s never a pressure sale,” says Colokathisvinuya. “We want them to know what the workout is. It’s not for everyone, but I would say about 99 percent of the people who try it sign up.”

Curves’ equipment is specially designed to fit a woman’s body, she says, including bench seats that are tilted to better suit the female pelvis. “It’s a totally different experience than using standard equipment intended for men,” says Colokathisvinuya.

Gyms staffed by professional technicians offer more personalization than gyms available in many Downtown high-rises, she says. “That’s just equipment sitting in a room. There’s a gym in this building that I’m in — it’s not the same.”

Ryan Garrett, the gym attendant at the Emerald Fitness Club in the Emerald Plaza building, says convenience is also a consideration when choosing a gym.

“A lot of people look for excuses. If it’s easy to work out, they can’t talk themselves out of it,” says Garrett. He says the Emerald Fitness Club likely isn’t the largest or most heavily equipped gym Downtown, but it offers a convenient location, especially for those who work in Emerald Plaza or who are staying at the Wyndham Hotel. And while conventions and Monday mornings bring larger crowds, the gym is more often underutilized, Garrett says.

Daniel Duncan, executive director of the Downtown YMCA, says his facility is “a little bit more than a gym.” The Y is family-oriented, he said, with a variety of youth and adult outreach programs in addition to the basketball court, sauna, spa, indoor track and standard gym equipment.

The YMCA recently was renovated with $102,000 worth of new equipment, including exercise machines equipped with flat-panel TVs. But it’s the sense of community that attracts members to the YMCA gym, says Duncan.

“We have a friendly, Cheers-like atmosphere,” he says, noting the Downtown location attracts college students, seniors, and urban professionals including bankers, lawyers and judges. “Our staff know our members before they come down the stairs. They know their footsteps.”