Bought this as a gift for my wife who wanted a dedicated gym duffel.  It works perfectly for her, she can get all of her gym stuff into it, including shower stuff, shoes, towel, and various other things that she takes to work.  She loves the shoe pocket since she doesn't like when her shoes are sitting on other things.  I was disappointed that the shoe compartment wasn't ventilated, that should be added to future models, but all around a pretty solid bag.