Leaning Tower YMCA

I recently started hitting up «The Y» because they have childcare hours that work out really well for my schedule. I drop my daughter off at their AWESOME childcare center and am free to hit the weights downstairs or get some cardio in. The pool, showers, bathrooms, locker rooms, weight center, workout room, etc are ALWAYS kept spotless. The machines are well kept and there’s a good variety.
They have a ladies, gentlemen, and a family locker room which makes it super convenient for families. They also have a separate 18+ locker area for women that was a nice vanity, steam room, and a little break room that overlooks the pool.
There’s classes that you can sign up for (for yourself or kids). They also offer classes like yoga which are included in the membership.
Everyone treats everyone else with respect there. It seems very family oriented and friendly.

I have been a member here for over a year and probably going to cancel it very soon.
To the commenter who said «there is always something broken» is absolutely correct. Something is always busted, but I will cut them a little slack because there are a non-​prof and it is an older building.
My main complaint is they are CONSTANTLY CUTTING SERVICES. The new childcare hours are junk (the care provided is awesome though) so they gave people more hours THAT THEY CANNOT USE!
Annoyed. Plus the overly stern elder woman who taught my daughter (she is two btw) kinda made me daughter hate swimming (something she loved prior). Over it.

There is always something wrong with the facility from the air conditioning to the heat to the pool. Waste of money.

Great pool area with not much crowd on the west pool. Recently remodeled is the clean facility with reasonable price for a family. My son loves to go swim there. Staff is always on duty and helpful. Great place to go on winter cold days for activity

Nice place for younger kids for family activities. There is a long list of activities for kids. If you live in the area, it is a great gathering place for kids and meeting other families.

this is were i took my very first swimming lessions. it was great the water was a bit worm but is a very fun pool. and still is today have not been in some time tho.

I really like this location. My daughter started taking their swimming classes and she’s doing phenomenal. I really like how they teach, the length of the classes and how friendly, safe the environment is for kids to learn. My daughter went from barely splashing to doggy paddling in reasonable time and she loves the Y.

If your a parent with younger kids who like to take them out somewhere to shoot some baskets during open/​family gym, but don’t like getting harassed by kids in their early 20s/​older adults who try to run full court games and give zero regard to the others who try to use the court, then stay the hell away from this place.
This has happened last 3 – 4 times we’ve tried to go here for open gym. Happened again today when the 10 guys running full court got pissed at me because my son and his friend wanted to shoot. Tried to explain it’s open gym, there’s 12 other younger kids/​girls who are sitting on the side that would like to play but they didn’t give two craps. Tried to tell the employee who came up there, but was told it was «adult league time», but in reality that was not supposed to happen for another 25 minutes. Made another comment to the high schooler working the front desk and got a snarky response. They really should have an employee in the gym when it’s open supervising what is going on up there.
We’ve been members of the Y (this one specifically) for a while. Believe we’ll continue our membership, but I’m ready to find a new «home» location.

the coolest ymca ever!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa of Niles is a water tower repurposed to look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, Europe. The point is to be quirky and a conversation piece for the city since it’s common knowledge sideways buildings aren’t that practical.
It’s half the size of the real landmark in Europe and less old. I don’t care for the shape and crookedness it looks like a pen George, the world champion dog, chewed then would hand me like «thanks since I can’t write I chewed the hell out of this and slobbered on it and now it’s all crooked and full of dents.» You’re welcome, little man.
It is interesting to take a pic in front of to fool people that you are on vacation so can’t see them.
That actually bumps this rating up.

Been a long time since I been a memeber here… its cleaned up a bit
Topographically…if I can use that term here… not much has changed… Leaning Tower is still a leaning… and the living section is still there… if one didnt know you can rent a place there… I have seen one of the room… kinda reminded me of a 70s motel.
The service though… for members was quite exceptional. You can walk in and see the front desk… and to the right of that the pool. They have a child care section and a excersize room that back in MY day… was a cafeteria… which looked like one from the 70s.
There is an outside track and I know they have a weight room and a gym or two… check out the website for stuff… and if you want a simple place to get the work out out of the way… with no distractions.
There is also ample parking next to and behind the structure… with 2 points of egress from the front and behind. One could get the Niles free bus service to go to various places in Niles… like Golf Mill Mall.
Back in my day… the area in front of the Leaning Tower was a grassy area… now its a stone seating design in front of fountains… and they used to have in the summer some singing bands. old italian ballads and love songs.

First I am a YMCA girl I love it I love the principles it was founded on.
This one really lives them out to this day. The staff is friendly and helpful, the other guest are great and kind for the most part.
Really love going to work out there!
Would like more mats in the women’s bathroom in the shower area I nearly fall every time I walk to the pool!

Been coming here for 20 years already and have many fond memories from pool parties for my birthday to swim classes and weekend swimming with family and friends.
For the most part not much has changed in those 20 years. The workout room has been updated and renovated a bit but not much. I go 3x per week and love the TV screens they have on the cardio machines. It makes my workout fly by and I don’t even notice the exhaustion.
I love the pool of course, but that’s one of the reasons I’m giving this place 3 stars instead of 4 or 5. As recently as 2 weeks ago I was swimming and noticed a bunch of dust bunnies at the bottom of the pool. Ewww! This has always been the cleanest pool ever, what happened? I also don’t like their new policy of letting people swim in street clothes. Literally in shirts and shorts or even pants. Also, there used to be a strict rule about wearing bathing caps but apparently that rule has been scrapped since hardly anyone wears them anymore. I don’t mean to sound close minded but personally I don’t think that’s hygienic no matter how much chlorine is put in that pool.
I’m excited about my daughter’s first gymnastics class which starts this Saturday so I will come back and update this review with info from her lesson.

I take my kids on «off the beaten path» trips a lot and thought this would be a really cool thing to see. It was for about a minute or so. Didn’t feel that comfortable staying as there was woman sitting against the tower with her belongings in a plastic bag. She clearly was coming down from something as she had the shakes. Another man was milling around talking to himself angrily saying NO! over and over again and two other men walking around that clearly had some sort of issue. I don’t know if the YMCA behind it is some sort of homeless shelter or drug rehab. The atmosphere was odd. Drove 30 minutes of out my way to stay about 2 minutes. Couldn’t even get a decent picture because these people were hanging around it. No one has mentioned this in the reviews so I have no idea what was going on. Loaded up the kids and split.

I’ve been with this YMCA for ten years. They know my family — all my 4 kids. The Mazing Kids place is where my babies went from 6 weeks old to 5 years old, until they go the school then I continue to go work out here myself. The Mazing Kids manager (Luisa) is wonderful and personal, she knows all my kids and stop by to ask me about them every time she sees me in the gym.
They recently have brand new treadmills that I just LOVE!

The GOOD:
It’s close to my home.
The weight room is rarely overcrowded.
Only a couple of steroid-​fueled meatheads and only one petulant man-​child.
The BAD:
The cost per month ($ 48 for adults) is a bit stiff if you’ll only be utilizing the weight and cardio rooms. I don’t care about the pool, the sauna, the basketball court or any of the classes. Why doesn’t the Y offer a cheaper fee for people who just want to lift and go home?
It’s stuffy to the point of discomfort in the weight room. Would it kill them to cut the heat when it’s 65 degrees outside? Because it might kill me if they don’t.
Limited number of cable channels. I need my Cubs baseball when it airs on Comcast Plus or the U.
The equipment is lacking in certain regards. Several years back, they got rid of some of the older Nautilus machines and replaced them with inferior Life Fitness garbage. Oh, and dumbbells are always mysteriously disappearing. The weight room is basically treated like the ugly step-​child compared to the «pretty» cardio room.

My childhood gym. I often frequented the Y to play basketball when it was cold outside or to swim in the pool. As a young adult I stopped going but then post college it was the closest gym to my house that I re-​up my membership. I will say that this is really a one star gym but I give it an additional star because of the spectacle of the mock leaning tower that is out front.
The monthly rates are pretty steep for what you are paying for. For $ 50 a month many finer 24 hour memberships and clubs can be purchased. Simply put this gym facility is actually very out dated as much as they try to modernize with new machines and equipment. The locker rooms are stuffy and dirty with many of the lockers in sub par conditions. The pool while it is the saving grace for this Y, is usually packed with activities and senior swim days. Not my cup of tea. Skip it I say, unless you are dying for a swim. Even then they do offer daily rates which is nice if the mood compels you.

As a kid I went to day camp here, in high school I was a camp counselor, and when I’m home, I still go here to work out. I can say in the last 20 years there haven’t been a ton of changes. The pools are the same– there’s a warm pool that lessons, water aerobics, and lap swimming and a colder pool, which is only for lap swimming. And Nina is right– the locker rooms are stuck somewhere back in the mid-80’s.
However, they have changed the cardio equipment. I have to say, I think the machines are even nicer than the ones at the Lakeview YMCA. And for the price, it’s a good deal considering that you have access to basketball and racquetball courts, fitness classes, machines, pools, not to mention the day camp (which, at least 10 years ago, had some pretty awesome counselors).

I too learned to swim here as a kid. Circa 1994. And I can tell you not much has changed since!
Everyone is super friendly and they have a wide array of class offerings, which is always nice.
My one gripe is that some of their equipment isn’t fitted with those cute little TVs. Am I being a brat? Totally. Do I care? Not whatsoever! It makes it way easier to workout for long stretches when I can park myself on the elliptical for an hour and plug into Ugly Betty or Grey’s and tune out the sound of Esther talking about her most recent colitis flare up.
I tend to head to the High Ridge first, but this location does have more classes.

This is were I learned to swim, when I was a kid. Back then you were able to go to the top of the Leaning Tower. I don’t think you can go to the top anymore.
If you are visiting the Tower be sure to go across the street for some great food at «Papa Chris’ Place».