Kroehler Family YMCA

Super, super, super!!! I like this club so much! Very friendly people works there!!! Thank’s for everything !!!

This may be temporary and hasn’t always been two stars until recently.
My youngest brother had been in their year-​round swimming programs and loved it. He’s a special one, and it’s a challenge to find a lot of things he’d enjoy aside from Lego, sharks and collecting pet rocks. My other brother worked there for a bit before joining the Army and I’ve never heard him complain of his experience at the Y. He’s made solid friendships with the staff, was regarded highly by his students and loved the facility amenities so much he spent most of his time there. It was an easy 4 – 5 of 5 stars.
So why two stars now?
They have a couple of staff members whose short temper + lack of manners need to be addressed. The recipient of poor customer service was my mother who had been yelled at by two women on different occasions over the course of two — three weeks. The first one refused to answer my mother’s question and told her to leave a message for the membership manager because according to her (repeatedly and with a raised voice) my mother «doesn’t understand her.» I hope it had nothing to do with my mother being Asian. My mom kept telling her to calm down so she can explain to my mother what isn’t being understood. Though the woman insisted she was calm, she kept the same tone and still wouldn’t give my mother a straight answer. My mom decided to call another YMCA location because she didn’t want to further upset that woman at KFY. And she got her answers! To clarify, my mother asked them if it was information that the woman at KFY could have given her and they said yes. We’re still wondering to this day why that irate woman wouldn’t tell her what another branch knew.
The second time she called them after getting a frantic call from my other brother (who used to work for them and on active duty, by the way) telling her to pick our youngest brother up from the Y. He didn’t have much time to talk, understandably, but told her he got a call from the pool manager, Tracy (sp?), saying his brother needs to be picked up. SERIOUSLY, the number to call should be my mother’s. What right have you to bypass that and bother my other brother? Thinking it was an emergency, my mother headed straight to the Y and called them on the road. She speaks to this exasperated pool manager person who yells at her, telling her that she needs to pick her son up right away. My mom tells her she is on her way but wanted to know why he needs an early pickup when he isn’t due for another hour. Still yelling on the phone, she tells my mother that they have been waiting for her to pick him up after his swimming lessons. My mother explains that they had arranged for two-​hour lessons (for two days as opposed to one-​hour days x 4 per week) and that he’s only been there for a little more than an hour. This Tracy person screams that such arrangements were not allowed and that she should come pick up her son right now because she had three (?) pools to take care of. My mother arrives, meets this Tracy person, and explains that when they signed up for the swimming classes she had specifically asked if a different schedule can be made for my brother because they can’t do the pre-​made schedule and if they cannot accommodate, she told them to not sign him up and she’ll just enter him later in the year. She continues to explain that they told her to talk to the «pool people», it shouldn’t be a problem and arrangements can be made — which WERE made and a new schedule was even written for her. This arrangement has worked for the past two weeks. So you see my mother’s confusion, but this Tracy person doesn’t. Proceeded to yell at my mother again — «well you didn’t talk to ME and I’m the pool manager! You need to take your son now, I have three pools to take care of!» My mother apologized to her for speaking and arranging schedules with a person other than her, the pool manager, and that she didn’t mean to bypass her «rules» whatsoever.
It took my mother a while to get the other people in the office to get the membership manager for her… Bunch of I-don’t-knows and I’m-not-sures until someone decided to actually get up and check the manager’s office.
My mother was really hurt by this experience, so she terminated her membership that day. But of course, the whole branch cannot be defined by the mistakes of SOME of its staff and my brothers like the KFY enough so it’s only a temporary break; my mother decided they’ll be back. The membership manager was very apologetic and promised to make things right. We’re holding them to that promise and really hope the next time will be different… Once my mother’s forgiven things we’ll have three more stars to give!

Our family loves the YMCA in Naperville. From the spinning classes to swim lessons to the youth basketball league to the Easter egg hunt in the pool to racquetball courts… what’s not to like when there is something for everyone.
The early morning staff at Kroehler is absolutely wonderful and you get the personal touch when they remember your name and say good morning –even when I roll in with my just woke up bedhead hair. Now the staff at the 95^th Street Fry Family YMCA is another story — not anywhere near as friendly and some are just downright rude. The 95^th Street facility is newer and a little bit nicer with windows in the pool area bringing in some natural light but given the choice, I’ll go the Kroehler building first.
The price for a family is reasonable and I highly recommend the investment in your health and for family fun.

We recently took a family membership at our Y (consisting 3 facilities), most of the time we come to Kroehler (in downtown Naperville), but tried the 95^th St. facility once and was somewhat disappointed. I used only the cardio /​weight room which were very crowded and had mostly old equipment, compared to that Kroehler facility has multiple rooms, all w/​new equipment, and they are not as crowded most of the times. In all honesty, 95^th is supposed to get new weight training machines which should close some of the gap, but I feel there would still be too many users in the 95^th facility compared to Kroehler which has very helpful staff .
I have heard there are more BB courts at 95^th compared to Kroheler, but Krohler has Racquet Ball courts, Fry’s Family YMCA (on 95^th st) does not have them.

Working out is a special form of torture. Pretty well every expert agrees exercise grants a host of benefits from lessened risk of illness to positive moods and freedom to snarf as many pumpkin spice lattes as your budget can afford. Why, then, is hauling my carcass down to the gym I passed every day on the way to work and on the way home so *hard*?
The YMCA of Naperville, now part of the Chicago network, makes the equation as simple as possible*. For one low monthly fee, about $ 50 in my case for a single pass, you can show up any time they are open and use the gym facilities or group exercise classes as much as you want. Your membership entitles you to orientation on the machines, a few health measurements (like your BMI, weight, etc.), and endless positivity and encouragement from a truly friendly, helpful staff who is passionate about what they do. The membership fee gets waived at least twice a year during month-​long specials. Like early morning workouts? After work stress-​busters? You bet they have those too. Personal training is available for a reasonable fee if you need someone to bust your butt and keep on you.
If you have kids, they have child minding on site and family passes allow your tweens and teens access to all the same benefits you have. Tons of special events happen throughout the year, like breakfast with the mayor or family-​friendly Hallowe’en and Easter extravaganzas.
So what are you waiting for? In downtown Naperville, chances are any Napervillian is likely to flit up Washington past Kroehler (or its sister over on 95^th Street). No matter how you dice it, it isn’t that far. The hours are great, and the membership is a much better deal than gyms like X-​Sport and Lifetime Fitness, who charge upwards of double the monthly fee at last check. Also, you aren’t dealing with the gym bunnies and buff fellows who invest as much time into their pecs as Bernie Madoff in his Ponzi scheme before it all went belly up. Some things don’t have a price tag.
What stopped me from becoming a regular other than my own procrastination? Parking. The alleyway behind Kroehler Family has only a limited number of slots which fill up instantaneously between 6−9A and 3−7P. Street parking in front is next to impossible with traffic cops ticketing and towing any vehicle out there during rush hour. Worse, the adjacent parking lot isn’t public; US Bank and the church frequently «raid» cars suspected of being owned by gym members. I was a US Bank customer so that was always there, but… The small city lot across the street is usually stuffed with college students’ cars or B&N visitors, but it’s worth a shot.
Kroehler has a full range of facilities, including 2(!) indoor pools, gyms, racquetball courts, a fitness floor, and fitness class rooms in about 4 storeys of a heritage building. My problem, though, is that it’s a heritage building. The building feels old and the fitness deck/​weight room tired, despite having nice flatscreen TVs and plenty of equipment to use. No natural light filters in through the windows like 95^th Street. The changing room is a little more like a high school locker room to me than I’d like; again, 95^th Street spoils me completely for expectations. I sooner would pop down to the other, newer and larger building than play parking space derby and suffer through a gloomier environment.
My other gloomy point: group exercise classes are convenient only for soccer moms and those with 8 – 6 jobs. There’s nothing in the way of group classes from 7−9A or 3−5P, though they did do a lunchtime half-​hour class I wanted to get into but my schedule got in the way. I wish those shoulder times had more classes for those of us who don’t care to be at the gym at 5:45AM or 7:00PM.
That said, I’m highly affected by light. I love Kroehler’s staff, their free towel service (which 95^th doesn’t have, nyah!), and the constant commitment to members.

So call me weird, or just UnAmerican but I have never been a member of the Y! I mean there is a song that everyone and their dog does a jig to but nope never done anything there but picked up a friend from there back in high school. (that is a whole other bag of cookies)
So I went there today with my partner in crime (my 1 year old) for swim class or what they like to call Water babies. The class was fantastic. The teacher had this great British accent. So of course now she get great reviews. Well we had a good time.
The family changing area has lockers from high school and you need to bring your own lock. It also has a shower, hair dryers, baby changing table, sinks (of course) and 2 changing rooms that have heavy white shower curtains as doors. I personally would have preferred real doors cause when you have a toddler they can’t turn a door knob as fast as they can swing open that shower curtain and TOTALLY expose you.
(that is why this place gets four instead of five stars. I would give four and half but they don’t have that option here.
Did I mention 2 INDOOR pools!
Besides I like it! I like muy much!
The teacher suggested another program for my daughter and I was interested in it. And they do have free baby sitting for 2 hours when you are a member.
I am really think I like that option! Right now we are just community participants, but I think the Y is slow assimilating us! Resistance is futile!!!

I think my family membership is $ 70 per month, and that’s all-​you-​can-​swim, all-​the-​pilates-​you-​can-​handle-​before-​collapsing, once-​with-​the-​trainer-​dude-​who … well, you know, it’s a killer deal. Pilates, yoga and other group exercise classes are included.
Swimming’s great because they feature the serious pool and the one where kids just splash and giggle. All the equipment is modern, and the building is well-​kept, despite being older. Everyone who works there acts like they’re happy to be there, no attitude.
If it’s just you and a kid, the kid can hang out in the supervised play area while you work out. They do a parent night out thing where kids can hang out for up to three hours while you get snockered at Quigley’s, just stumbling distance from the dear old Y.