Palo Alto Family YMCA Review

Nice facility, excellent equipment, and knowledgeable staff & trainers. However, the wi-fi sucks big time.

6 lap lanes, 3 usually open for circle swim, while the other 3 are used for classes. Separate (warmer) area for family swim, which has designated hours. Hot tub next to the lap pool. Sauna inside the locker room.

This YMCA has marvelous classes and programs for all ages. The service of the staff is excellent, and they are very accommodating. Additionally, the grounds and interior areas are fastidiously cleaned and
maintained. They even serve good coffee, or you could get hot water for tea. Indeed, I am proud to be a member: won't you become one and support your local community?

YMCA staff is unhelpful and vague, and they cannot even make a simple change to something.

they need nets for the basketball court told them several times now

Palo Alto Family YMCA~What is it???
A place to dream big and make those dreams come true. Outstanding leadership for children and young adults. A place of good memories and friendships on the journey of life. A safe place to grow and be encouraged and encourage others. A positive mindset a positive mentality. The jump off for the rest of your life. The soft parachute for your golden years. The mother for that scraped knee. The father to help you with that spare tire. That coach that lifts you up in defeat and teaches good sportsmanship. That home for second and third chance. Come and experience what the Y can do and you can do for the Y.
Come taste and see!~ j.

It is well taken care of. I wish that they have more classes and programs.

It's a awesome place to go the staff is super friendly

This is the sixth YMCA I've visited. It's my first in th U.S., though. So maybe that's why it seems to suck so bad? Do U.S. YMCA's just suck?

Reception is staggeringly unhelpful. Going beyond basic incompetence and impotence, they seem to actually dislike helping patrons. They don't ask clarifying questions when presented with problems. They don't offer options or solutions.

Last time I visited there was a clear difference in policy between what they said and what I had been told in emails, and they did absolutely nothing to find out where the discrepancy had come from. They didn't even acknowledge the error or try to find a solution that approximated what I had been told to expect - just told me to do it their way or leave.

I wanna love this place so badly - the fitness staff seem friendly and competent, the equipment feels fine - but damn, I get such a bad taste in my mouth every time I visit. :(

Love this YMCA. Aways organized and spotless clean. The classes are on time, the gym has new and great equipments and the pool and bathrooms are huge and up to date. My kids and I go all the time

Installation ok but worker's on the counter haven't been trained and they're very rude very disappointed

Dont come to this one. Most ghetto staff I ever experience. Read all other comments...!!!

Nice Y. Friendly staff. Lots of classes. Great pool and gym

A welcoming experience for our family when we moved to the Bay Area. The instructors are very engaging and well informed.

Really have problems with the pool life guards and staff there. Somehow they think that they have to manage the members in the pool. They like to bother the members when they swim and want to move them around to different lanes. Very very unprofessional and annoying! They should let the members to enjoy their swim. Don't bother the members until you are asked. We want to enjoy our non-interrupted lap swimming.

Generally I'm a huge fan of the Y. I grew up going to the Y. That said, this particular YMCA tolerates and ultimately ignores verified complaints from members about other members inappropriately touching and approaching UNDER AGE kids. Don't believe me???? Just call up the Palo Alto police department and ask if there were any reports & complaints about such incidents.

It's unfortunate such an incident occured in the first place. But it's even more unfortunate that the YMCA management decided to ultimately look the other way. If you have kids and don't like other members inappropriately touching your kids or making them feel uncomfortable, I'd STRONGLY suggest you AVOID the Ross Road YMCA.

Nobody can help over the phone to sign up kids for parents night out. Staff is transferring to each other and constantly putting on hold.

Super friendly staff who proactively corrects me during group exercise class and remembers my name. Full complement of weight and exercise equipment in a renovated and open environment. Because of the family focus, members are friendly and diverse.

Nice, clean facility with a wide variety and TONS of classes offered every day of the week. Pools are clean, hot tub is hot. Gym is continually updated. Lots of machines. Note: This Y is VERY crowded during afternoon/early evening hours.

This YMCA has a nice feel of community and families really use the facility. The staff are very friendly, especially the staff running the kids club (baby and childcare). The facility is kept very clean and has plenty of equipment. Most of all, I appreciate that the YMCA offers discounts for families who can t afford the full price. It makes for the kind of place that welcomes all.

A little expensive but the offerings are nice and so are the staff. Not too busy and facilities are clean

Big facility with nice equipment and good offerings for adults & kids. I can work out while my kid gets exercise and has fun, too.

This place is horrible. I don't even know how to start...

- Groping happens all the time in the pool. I told the so-called head lifeguard about this and he didn't even care.

- Cars are broken into when parked in the lot.

- Very rude members who may erase your name after you have signed up for the treadmills (30-min limit).

- Personal belongings are stolen frequently in the locker room. I see dodgy characters checking out others' lockers.

- Outside school hours, the pool becomes extremely crowded due to swimming lessons.

- The front desk staff in general doesn't react to requests for help.

- Membership fees are outrageously high for singles.

I really appreciate the smiles from the staff and the current equipment in the gym. I really have enjoyed my time at the Palo Alto YMCA.

Really great place to do physical therapy people and staff are great ...life guard Carol is so cool..

If a friendly and positive environment is what you seek? And yet get a great workout! Then Palo Alto Family YMCA is the right place to be!! This place has it all! From great workout machines to personal trainers even great staff members that are highly positive and friendly, always swift to tend to someone's needs or questions. I recommend this YMCA to everyone!

Seriously over crowded and under-staffed. Great choice only if you don't have work or school.
Basketball floor is always dusty. I reported to staff but nothing happened. Once I was told by a staff member to clean the floor myself. Well, I guess they'll soon tell us to clean the shower and bathrooms.

Amazing place. Great facilities and friendly staff.

The Palo Alto YMCA is one of the few branches which has a hot tub as well as sauna. It sure feels nice on such rainy days to relax in the hot temperature after a long workout. Also, the pool in general is spacious with many more lanes than at comparable branches. Parking is one thing to consider as the lot seems to fill up quickly.

They have 2 indoor swimming pools. One for lap swim and other for exercise. They have a big hot tub too.

i tried to get out o it ans they kept billing me, administrative staff is rude on the phone and unhelpfull problems for 4 months

This is a very special YMCA. Staff is friendly, and there is a true sense of community among the members. A great place for the whole family!

Adult pick up basketball is every MWF from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm.

What I like about the Palo Alto Family Y activities is that they are for everyone regardless of their means and abilities. This adds to my sense of community and togetherness that comes from being with people I would not ordinarily interact with.

Very good, nice people, very comprehensive gyms, towels provided which is fantastic and unusual at most YMCAs around the country.

Stone age in online service. Staff on reception is not helpful.
The story: they charge my membership from credit card every month. I never received any receipts for this on my email. I have fitness reimbursement program in my company that allows to reimburse certain amount of money for fitness membership, so when it comes to date to apply for it, I started to find a way to get my receipts for last several months.
First I looked for something like personal account on their web site, I was sure that I can simply register and get access to all my receipts as it is a standard thing in the morden world. It turns out they don't have such a thing and I asked on reception if they can print receipts for me. They gave me a form to request this information that I should fill out.
The next day I was in the center again and decided to double-check if they emailed it to me as didn't receive it and my email address was written on the form by hand so there was a chance of mistake when reading it. They said it takes two week to do it! Two weeks! Can you imagine that such a simple thing that normally takes 5 minutes requires 2 weeks to be done? I asked is there more simple and fast way to do it. The answer was "no because our admin only works once a week and she is not only here for your emails".
I can't believe that such a serious service with wide network of locations doesn't have any other ways to get the simplest thing done except for saying you wait for two weeks as the only person who can do it is a misterious admin! In the case of there is a mistake it will probably take them another two weeks to correct it, that for me means I will skip reimbursement window. It is just ridiculous!

This is my gym. I chose it because the Y actually has a mission, unlike regular gyms. They have full service membership across the country and it's well run. There are cheaper places, with less service and far less personality. They also have special rates for the disabled.

I love this place. It's very welcoming, with a great feeling of community. There's a huge variety of offerings, great facilities that are modern and clean, and such diversity of people coming from so many races, age groups, abilities, and walks of life. It's almost as nice as a fancy club, but feels homey and real. I appreciate the friendly, happy, helpful staff and comfortable space.

My family love this facility.
Clean pool and gym, flexible schedule, and nice staff!

Used to go there 4 days a week but now i don't get much time. and now I go there only twice a week. This YMCA location has been my been my favorite for last 2 years.

My lock was broken in the male locker room in one incident and in another one my backpack was stolen from locker room.
Too many elderly population and their unfriendly gesture

I most enjoy the personal training; and the training staff, especially Terrence Witt, is friendly, efficient, effective, and professional. It s money very well spent.

Disappointed with this YMCA- poor leadership and membership staff.

The swimming pool stuff is not kid friendly, especially if you have a kid with a special needs. Would not recomend it !

Friendly staff who like children. Not five stars for two reasons:

* The pool always smells so strongly of chlorine.
* The hot tub isn't available for use by kids.