YMCA Elmhurst

Staff is friendly. Lots of activities, classes and programs for all ages. They have a full ice rink in the winter. Lots of hockey leagues and instructional classes for kids. Babysitting m-​th evening and on sat morning. Gym is great. Nice pool with lessons available. Workout classes ranging from yoga to Hard core cardio cans strength group classes. They have it all!

Since I’m an old fart who spends waaaay too much time in restaurants, I needed a fun low-​impact exercise program where the número uno requirement was «never feel yourself sweat». VOILA! Water Aerobics! I started back in 1998 and have travelled the course of many a Metro Chicago YMCA — Rich Port in LaGrange, Ryall in Glen Ellyn, Tri-​Town right here at home and Galowich in Joliet. But none compares with the Elmhurst YMCA. It has a great family vibe and despite the age of the facility, is clean and carefully maintained, with the only downside being the lack of adequate parking. The aquatics programs have the most variety I’ve ever seen and the classes run virtually all day and evening. Membership fees are lower compared to some other Y’s and there is no additional charge for the exercise classes once you join. As a member, you can also drop in and out of the schedule when you feel like it with no registration required, a must for a person with a work schedule that varies from day to day like myself. No, it’s not a fancy schmancy health club with all of the bells and whistles, but since that’s not what I was looking for, this place is a great value for my health club dollar. Plus, the best bonus of all, I’ve met a lot of fun ladies just like me!

Just an update: steam room was fixed right away after first publishing the initial review. They’ve brought in some updated new machines to the upstairs workout room and as allways this Y is bad ass! Can’t wait for winter to come back to get the kids back on the ice rink!

I am a member of the Oak Park YMCA because of its proximity to my home, however I haven’t been there in months. I chose to use the Elmhurst Y instead. Why? Because after learning how to swim as a 20-​something adult, I am really germaphobic when it comes to my pools. And the Elmhurst pool is clean.
The locker room (I only use the 17+ women’s locker room) is fairly clean –but I am never without flip flops in there anyways.
The towel rental is nice; i HATE lugging a dripping towel around afterwards. Just make sure you get 2 if you have long hair like me. They are small and get soaked fast.
I swim pretty early when there are very few other people, and more often than not I have to share a lane with one other person, but it’s a good experience and the water helps my flabby body wake up before I go to work.
I haven’t used any other service or facility at this Y to grade them on, but the staff (Tecla, I think is her name) is very friendly every morning when she has to manually look up my info because I belong to another Y.

This place could use renovation, but still I think it offers a lot more than the old Y I used to go to. I love the free drop in classes (zumba, yoga, pilates, etc etc). I do think they need more space for the equipment area where the treadmills, elliptical, and weights are since it is so crowded there, especially between 4 – 6 pm where it is really hard to even get a machine. None the less, I am very happy to be a member. They have a pretty huge locker room which is really nice and clean. I would prefer that the swimming pool did not have that huge window since I can’t swim and I am afraid of everyone watching me when I take my lessons as an adult… other than that… I like this place!

I am no longer a member of this gym, but when I was, I didn’t have too much of a problem with them. The fitness area is TINY, and it can be pretty dirty, too. It can get ridiculously crowded during peak times, which blows for those who have 9 – 5 jobs. I really enjoyed the people who came there, though. Everyone was friendly and sociable. You could go on the treadmill and the person next to you would strike up a convo (which makes a workout fly by). There’s a lot of older people who come here, which is the perfect environment for someone who is a little shy about getting in shape. I don’t know how much more I can stress that it’s comfortable.
I haven’t used their other amenities since I was 10yrs old, so I can’t rate those.
The reason I left was purely for cost and hourly reasons. My job runs late sometimes, which means I can’t make it there before closing time. The membership for a single person is close to $ 50 a month, which is too pricey for me right now.

This place is pretty horrid. I agree that in a it’s an anomaly in Elmhurst. The city seems to be throwing money at renovating everything and anything they can get their hands on, yet this sad little structure stands decrepit and overlooked.
My kid goes to swim lessons there, but I ended my membership and joined Courts instead. Spend any time in this Y, and you will notice that it never seems to be clean. The same grimy crumbs are all over the viewing windows to the pool and lego table week after week– I find myself trying not to touch anything once I get in the building. If I could hold my breath the whole time, I would.
For some odd reason, there is no childcare during mid-​day– I think it’s like 12 – 2, and the family (mother and child) locker room is pretty nasty, even though I think they recently put in new changing rooms. I could go on and on, but that would get pretty boring, so I will write a poem instead:
Yucky, yucky Elmhurst Y
You make me want to spit and cry.
If only you were built anew
I might consider rejoining you.
The end.

I live on the North Side of Chicago aka «Way Up North» but needed to stop by my job in Franklin Park over the weekend. I decided to work out at the Elmhurst YMCA so I wouldn’t lose my motivation to step foot in the gym once getting back to the city. I really was impressed with this location! It’s a very pretty area overall and the gym was in pretty good shape. All new equipment, clean. There’s even a pool and the staff was very friendly and helpful. They even lent me a towel and didn’t charge me the $.75 since I was new and didn’t know all the rules. Plus, I went for a post workout run outside and it was very scenic. Overall, just a great experience. I’m not in the area too often, but it’s nice to know I found an alternate location when I’m at work on the weekends!

This place needs to be torn down. Everything from the pool to the ice rink is just beyond it’s time. In a town like Elmhurst, you’d think there would be some money for a major remodel. It is the exact same (with the exception of 30 more coats of paint) when I was 5 and started on the swim team 29 years ago. Beginner swim lessons have 6 kids to 1 instructor ratio which is not ideal and the classes are only 30 minutes long and include a 5 minute play time. Most classes, at my childs level, are completely full, and they offer many time slots so that speaks for the quality itself I guess. The entire aquatics staff is friendly as is Bob, of the ice rink guards. The ice skating lessons were downright awful and run by teenage girls with a 12 to 1 ratio so we pulled our child and headed right to the Edge in Bensenville. Family skate is a nice offering though. I do have high regard for the variety of program offerings, but it is hard to look past the condition of the facility and consider elsewhere even if it costs a little more. We have had things stole from our lockers in the FAMILY side, during a 30 minute swim lesson, and now do not leave home without a lock.