Central YMCA

So disappointing. My hubby and I had been wanting to join this Y for over a year, as 3 of our good friends have memberships. Finally being in a position to be able to afford the Family Plus membership, we went in on the evening of February 18, 2016 to sign up. Waiting in line for 20 – 30 minutes we were told they could not sign us up as their computers and phones were down. He suggested we come back tomorrow. We stated that we had wanted to join today and go to an aquafit class with our friends at 6:45 who were existing members. He said he could give us a day pass then and we could sign up tomorrow. We asked for a tour and were excited. He told us to go downstairs to the desk, exchange our driver’s licences for a day pass, sign up on the sheet for the Aquafit class and someone would be down to give us a tour.
I get to the desk downstairs and am told by the grumpy attendant that «she doesn’t put the sign in sheet out for another 6 minutes so stand there». Um okay. So we stand and wait. She then takes our driver’s licences and gives us day passes. We’re standing there… like bumps on a log… finally a woman comes to give me what I think is «a tour» but just means she shows me into the change room. C’est tout. No showing me the jacuzzi, steam room, showers, where the pool is, how to get to the pool, where the workout equipment is on the other floors, nada. She was too busy chatting with her BFF/​co-​worker. I go back out to join my hubby and his «tour» was of the change room as well.
We’re standing there… and waiting… and there are 4 attendants all chatting with each other ignoring us… we’re confused, have questions… anyway we decide to leave. No joining or using the facilities today. Customer service is appalling. Here were two people willing to give them $ 200 a month for a family plus membership, no questions asked, no sales pitch required. I went back in and asked for an appointment for another day and, to add insult to injury, was told «we can give you a tour right now». Ummm… yeah. right.
We are soooo bummed. I do not recommend this YMCA at all. Another insult is that I had called earlier in the week to try and get an appointment for a tour and sign up, and was bumped to the call centre and told «appointments are not required — just walk in».
My analysis is that the staff here appear either to be employed at the Y as a stepping stone to another job, do not have customer service skills, and do not even care about customer service in the slightest.
Hubby and I are now looking for a gym with a pool and classes in Toronto that won’t break the bank. Wish us luck!

Generally I love the downtown Y. The diversity of people, all class backgrounds at different fitness levels I feel pretty at home. The weight room can be a bit intimidating with lots of muscle guys at times but as i get more comfortable with using free weights it seems less intimidating and that most people are just busy doing their thing or will offer tips if you are struggling.
Don’t miss out on the rooftop garden, track and area for stretching. I only just discovered this!
The $ 2 towel is a bit much in my opinion but i just bring my own. the rental locks are very tricky so bring your own sometimes the women’s washroom is a bit gross they do clean it very regularly but there is a lot of traffic and its not a new facility. I have only once had a bitchy staff member, she was likely just having an off day like we all can, mostly they are awesome.

I’m in the members plus, so I get a more pampered experience.
There’s a lounge, newspapers, TV, coffee/​tea, a private work out area and stretching area. There is also towel service and overnight locker service as part of your membership.
The showers, steam room, and sauna are all well maintained.
The whirlpool could really use a few cleanings/​year.
Staff is generally very enthusiastic and approachable, with a few exceptions on the weekends.
Beware Friday nights and weekends — lots of kids here, even in the Members+ area. These young teens, especially, can be very disrespectful (often swearing or bullying others) and like to break facility rules.
I like to go at off-​peak times. I appreciate that we can use the spin studio now, outside of class times. I swim and lift and feel there is adequate equipment and space to complete my work outs.

My husband and I have been members for a few months now and we absolutely love it. There are so many classes on the schedule, there’s something for everyone. I am a beginner swimmer and go pretty often to the adult swim classes. Although you dont get too much attention since theres quite a few people at different levels its great to practice. Members can also sign up for 8 week sessions that happen on Wednesdays. I go to the boot camp classes at least once a week. Those are definitely intense and gives you a great work out. They also have spin classes, yoga. 2 running tracks one indoor and the other on the roof. There’s also evening yoga classes up on the roof in the summer. The changing rooms are well maintained and the staff is great. If you are new to the Y you get a free week to try the classes.

Came here for the launch of Jane’s Walk. Seems like an interesting facility. The conference room where we were was nicely appointed and very spacious. I’d like to go and try the facilites at some point!

I had a few options in my head before signing up for YMCA last year.
If you are looking just to have a good workout with great people — this is a good place for you. With the 25m pool that is opened 90% of the day, great staff, 2 squash courts, many classes daily and several clinics (Women On Weights, squash clinics, etc.). In addition, there are badminton, ping pong sessions, and a running track (for those training for runs). With all these options, I could not say no to YMCA to train. When I look for equipment after work, there are always open spots and it’s not as crowded or noisy. People are considerate of each other, and will clean up after they are done with the equipment. The equipment is a bit old but it still does its job.
I was never a gym person ever– now I go at least 3 – 4 times a week as there is so much variety. The cost is different for every YMCA but I am very happy with what I am paying for.

I love the Y. This is hands down the best place to exercise. The staff are so friendly and consistently say hello and goodbye every time I go. Weight room staff even offer to help you lift or give you a form check. I love the diversity of people that work out there from the young adults who play basketball and volleyball, to the kids learning karate, to the senior citizens in aqua fit classes. It honestly feels like a home away from home where everyone smiles at you and encourages you. For specifics: the weight room is decent and has two squat racks. Go around 9pm when it’s less busy. There is a track on the top floor and there’s tons of classes to try like hatha yoga. The change rooms are clean and there are two pools. I’m there 3 to 4 times a week so say hello if you see me!

Staff are hard to find and when you do find them, they are too busy chatting with each other to help.
Some equipment is new and some dates back to last century– and believe me, you need to be wearing headphones when you work out, because the squeaking equipment is painful!!!

The YMCA has for many years has been my place for physical fitness. As you know or not, they have tonnes of programs everyday so I have to give them a ⁴⁄₅ for programming. A lot of the programs are good although they tend to have classes repeated a number of times throughout a certain weekday — I suppose so that everyone has a crack at a program in various slits for that day. I don’t have a problem with the good programming.
Why I gave the YMCA central on Grosvenor St. was because, and this was raised with front desk staff and a number of other staff and patrons of the pools is that the physical upkeep of the pool areas and men’s change room are pretty terrible.
For example, in the men’s change room, approximately ½ the showers do not work, or water barely trickles out of them when you need to shower. Also, in the shower and men’s change room area, for central YMCA, the lack if cleanliness has become so bad that I’ve put my membership on hold while I search the area for another gym and what that has a clean pool area. In the shower area, the floors are quite dirty and clumps of hair clog parts of the shower areas.
The men’s change room floor and the washroom areas are particularly unsanitary and I’m not sure they don’t have enough people to keep it very clean (I can’t be the only single man who has noticed the filth at the urinals and around the bathroom stalls) because other people by sheer volume alone must have made comments to the pool and men’s change room areas being very dirty. The floors around the pool firstly, are quite dirty I feel, the pools not exceptionally clean and (EESH) parts of the pool deck again, with clumps of hair. The water temperatures of the warm pool (there is only 1 warm pool for potentially hundreds of members who want to use the warm pool for therapy and exercise and is always packed — you now MUST register for so many aqua fit classes which is difficult and the people, very «cliquey» if you’re in «their spot» of the warm pool, and they can be quite aggressive about it (not necessarily the ymca’s fault of course), the water temperature is OK.
Most if the lifeguards there are part-​time, a gig for a stepping stone, a simple job to get through university and sometimes their indifference and lack of enthusiasm in the water classes really does show. Some real nice lifeguards who have been there for years but a lot of them, with a high turnover rate, a bit cold, unfriendly and scarily detached when the pool should be watched, instead of the chatter between themselves on the pool’s side.
Sorry but going back to my –original point — the pool area and change room areas (at least for men, I can’t speak for the women’s change rooms !) are very dirty, have sloppy upkeep, the floors are to the point where I wouldn’t walk barefoot in that entire area because it looks as if they are not scrubbed down daily or even more which, in this environment, I feel they should be for hygiene and safety. The bathrooms are very filthy, —urine sitting in the urinals because they are broke and do not flush down the previous person before you — - (that is particularly upsetting) — that was the final straw that made me take a hiatus from the central YMCA for a while to find another gym.
Interestingly enough, in comparison, I visited the Goodlife Fitness location on Park Rd (as a guest) and it was like another world. They kept their gym amazingly clean, the change rooms are very clean, even with some products for men, no filth, no YMCA smells — and that is bothersome because I hold the YMCA in much higher regards when it comes to maintenance and cleanliness for such a massive community organization.
It has gotten only worse the past couple of years, I really personally have noticed.
This is my experience and feelings only, but in chatting with other YMCA Central members, they too have complained to management about the uneasy and casual attitude to hygiene and cleanliness. I do not feel, like these other users, we are being taken seriously when you are afraid of walking in bear feet in such a highly public area that must focus more on cleanliness and hygiene — absolute #1 priority.
I do not use the gym facilities upstairs much but from what I recall, they are kept in better shape. But the pool areas? The change rooms? Not at all. So I hope the YMCA takes the facilities cleanliness to heart and starts repairs and upkeep very quickly. Great location, great programs and resources but that doesn’t trump a hygienic environment.

I would give them 5 stars if it wasn’t for initial communication issues — it took me 2 month to get hold of them: my 3 emails and 2 phone calls were never returned. Yet, finally we were able to sign up Mark into a Learn to Swim Program and we are really happy with the results, Mark learned to swim and cannot wait to show off when we go to parents’ cottage next week. We were amazed with his progress because my husband Paul was trying to teach him since he was 5, but it was always a disaster — Mark would end-​up in tears and Paul swearing to never try teaching him anything again. Anyway, I can highly recommend these guys but you should just go to the pool when they have lessons instead of wasting time on calls and emails.

We decided to put my 13 year old daughter into swimming program at the local downtown ymca. What a mistake… they are very difficult to get a hold of unless you are buying a membership or something… everyone is in sales and not in service. MY daughter is in the bronze program and after 3 months still no report card. after 6 months in the same program. nothing, and finally after several calls to see how she is doing and her progress, I had to call the manager. Poorly organized, no communication unless you buy something, and instructors are just to lazy to call or write something on paper as to your kids progress.
I would not join this gym for its aquatics… there are other good swimming facilities in the area

Normally I use the outdoors as my gym. This winter, Mother Nature decided to cancel my membership.
I prefer solitude when I exercise, and the idea of running alone in –30, snowy, icy, dark conditions made me anxious. However, I missed the runner’s high, so I decided to join up at the YMCA in order to have access to a heated, well-​lit indoor track. Since joining at the beginning of February, my visits have almost exclusively included this track, so keep that in mind when reading the rest of this review.
Here’s my experience so-​far:
Pros:
— Month-​to-​month membership. Yes, you have to pay an initiation fee if you haven’t been a member within the last 12 months. My first bill was about $ 160 (initiation fee and first month membership), and each month after that first payment sets me back $ 65. I only plan on being a member for three months (bring on the sunshine, Mother Nature), which equals out to about $ 96/​month for three months. Pricey? Yes, but I don’t have to pay that for a full year (like I would at a majority of gyms after getting locked into a contract), and I USED to pay that exact amount back when I made the mistake of joining Extreme Fitness.
— Tons of equipment, all in good working order. When I worked out at the aforementioned brand-​new Extreme Fitness at Richmond and John (this was about 7 years ago now), their equipment was constantly out of order. I’ve seen machines with out-​of-​order signs at the Y that ACTUALLY GET FIXED. Also, you may find yourself waiting awhile to get on a treadmill or elliptical, but it won’t be for long. And there is plenty to do in the meantime.
— There are tons of activities to choose from. I choose to run the track, but you can join up at a spinning or yoga class, or play basketball, or swim, or lift weights, or stretch, or play squash. The choices to make your experience whatever you want it to be are basically endless.
— Everyone leaves me alone. That’s not to say the staff/​other members aren’t friendly. Security at the desk always greets you when you come in. People have said hello and shared a smile in the changing room. That’s perfectly okay by me. What I don’t miss is having a personal trainer interrupt my workout and try to sell me on a 40-​session personal training package by belittling my progress and making me feel bad about myself (can you tell I’m still bitter, Extreme Fitness?)
— It’s clean. I mean, I’m not planning to eat dinner off the floors any time soon, but it’s never felt dingy or unsanitary.
— I’ve never had problems getting a locker or finding a space to change in the changing room. At my old gym (I may have mentioned its name once or twice now) I would often leave without working out because every locker was occupied leaving me no place to lock up my bag.
Cons:
— The gym has a very distinct YMCA smell. It smells exactly like every other YMCA I’ve ever set foot in — a combo of chlorine, body odour, and cheap disinfectant. Other gyms don’t smell quite the way the YMCA does.
— I wish there was an enforced «athletic wear» dress code. I know that the YMCA will do whatever they can to help lower income members, and I know that not everyone can afford the latest and greatest in athletic wear, but I find there to be something really off-​putting about running (yes, running) next to a gentleman in a button-​down shirt, wool pants, and black dress shoes.
— People like to use the running track for things that aren’t running. Taking a phone call in the «running» lane is not cool. I shouldn’t have to pass you on the inside lane while you argue with your girlfriend.
— I love that they allow all ages and walks of life to join. It makes for a really diverse gym experience. However, I wish that there was some rule about unaccompanied minors in certain parts of the facilities. More than once I have almost been completely taken out by kids who decided to use the running track to race each other. Yes, they ARE running, but they pass at close distances, yell at each other, and generally cause me to lose my focus.
All in all, I have enjoyed my YMCA experience. It had been years since I had stepped foot in one, and it was easy to transition back. It was nice to have a safe place to go and workout. I’m leaving my membership behind because the weather is slowly but surely changing. But I’ll definitely be back at the end of the year when once the mercury dips and the icy conditions begin to threaten my ankles.

It’s a good, clean facility with well-​trained staff. I like the atmosphere but it can be busy at times. It’s great that they have a wide-​variety of equipment and classes ’cause it helps avoid getting in a fitness rut.

This is my home away from home in Toronto — just forward my mail here! I am a fitness FREAK when it comes to the gym I choose as ‘my home turf’ and from the moment i walked into the Central Y, I knew this was my kind of place. Equipment is always clean, rarely do I see out of order signs, and there are so many different rooms of equipment that it’s easy to shake up your fitness routine if you hit a rut, which is common after six months or so. I’ve worked at and visited many YMCA/​YWCA gyms, and this one runs like a well-​oiled machine — there are no squeaky wheels. From entering the building, I find the reception staff friendly and welcoming, the locker rooms are clean and secure, members are great and respect the ‘gym code of conduct’ rather than racing for the machine you’re both headed for next. I was a serious swimmer for years, but I have not visited the Central Y’s aquatic centre. However, I did find a hidden gem: the rooftop running track. It’s SO awesome up there — it’s like a rooftop garden with a running/​walking track with a nice view of the downtown. In the morning there are hardly any people up there so you can create your own workout uninterrupted. Best part of the Central Y is the staff — no attitude, and they will stop to answer your questions without trying to up-​sell you on personal training sessions, which has become common at for-​profit gyms these days.

I recently joined the YMCA after becoming tiresome of the Goodlife-​douchebaggery.
I pay slightly less than my Goodlife membership, around $ 60+ a month. If you are unable to make that fee, they have membership-​assistance for those who have a tighter budget. With my membership here I get so much more. In one location there’s a swimming pool, a large gymnasium for various sports, and a 2 floor work-​out/​weight room. On top of that, they offer a wide variety of fitness classes.
What I find most refreshing about the YMCA is that the staff are friendly and helpful. When I started at the gym, one of the trainers helped me with my form when lifting weights. I didn’t have to pay him for training sessions, he was just being genuinely helpful. It blew my mind.

Great facility. Great classes. Friendly staffs. And best of all, NO CONTRACT required!

This is n enormous ymca, the approach the help desks you can see aqua-​fit classes taking place and beyond that the large pool, and beyond that the back wall. this is a nice tease if you’re thinking of joining.
Work out areas are on three floors. Big gym on the first floor. Guaranteed to get exercise just climbing between these levels and there is ample equipment to alternate between should someone be using the machine you need.
Hang out!

After 2 weeks of emailing trying to book a facility tour and get a few questions answered (and NO response), we decided to drop in and just do it on the spot.
The girl at the front desk was hurrying, trying to get us to go through everywhere without any real time to ask questions or actually enjoy the tour.
At the end she didn’t even talk about prices until we asked and then she said she was still busy with a few other guests and to come back if we decide to join.
I was extremely disappointed with the whole experience, so on our way home we stopped off at Yonge St. Fitness Center (Isabella and Yonge) afterwards, and joined on the spot (after our GREAT tour!)
TOO BAD YMCA, YOU LOST OUT ON TWO MEMBERSHIPS!

All the staff, from the locker room attendants in the members change rooms, to the great life guards, to the front desk staff, everyone is so kind, helpful, and friendly.
I also love that people of all genders, fitness levels, ages, ethnicities, and orientations are members making it feel very welcome for all… which is what I think the YMCA strives to be about.
If you want to improve your level of fitness, but are intimidated by your local gym, try the YMCA, they really do want to help you!

Good thing I finally latched on to a healthy addiction: the YMCA.
Compared to your neighbourhood gym, Adult General membership is mildly pricey at $ 62.15/month (on top of a $ 90-​something initiation fee); however, I lovelovelove that they will help out anyone who isn’t able to afford it. Accordingly, the clientèle is diverse and the furthest thing from a gaggle of trophy wives and gym rat yuppies. In other words, don’t let things like your age, income, level of fitness or the percentage of spandex in your wardrobe deter you from joining.
The price is fair considering that this gym has everything: pool, weights, cardio machines, yoga, tons of pick-​up sports, in/​outdoor running tracks, but most compellingly, scads of drop-​in classes suitable for all fitness levels. Every day is like Christmas when I pick a class from the dizzying array of options: spinning, boot camp, pilates, kettle bell, stability ball… the list goes on. Instructors are approachable, inspiring and encouraging.
The big downside for me is that there’s no way of getting an overnight locker without a Membership Plus. This simple lass isn’t shelling out over $ 100/​month for what amounts to a pimped-​out change room, when all she wants is to avoid schlepping her workout duds around.
That aside, this place is the best.