YMCA – Blaisdell

This isn’t the most delightful place to work out or do any exercises. The clientele here isn’t the greatest because many of them are rude and selfish. Some have gone as far as harassing other people who are trying to work out. Staff doesn’t seem to be able to do much about this, but it would be something that would make me prefer another YMCA.
However, the machines work well, and there are lots of activites I can do. Besides some of the clientele, these things are easy to access. The staff is delightful and willing to guide me to the right places. There are a couple good personal trainers on hand that I’ve worked with in the past. They’ve given me some good exercise advice that has come useful to this day.
I think I’m going to look for a different YMCA and only go here if I really need to.

I wish they took better care of their equipment. I have complained about the ratty benches and some of the equipment they don’t even bother to fix. Its sad because this is a christian community service and they don’t take it seriously. But they certainly don’t mind taking your 66 bucks a month. If you can go somewhere else I would. I am looking for a better place myself.

This Y location is right by my house so it’s super convenient. I really enjoy the Friday and Wednesday body pump instructors, and it’s awesome to see so many instructors of color. I also love that you’ll find all of the instructors taking other classes during the day.
You do run into a few poor instructors like for the Wed night yoga class. It has no flow or sequence and the instructor tries to do poses for muscles that aren’t warmed up. I do not recommend it.
Other than yoga, my experiences have been pretty good.

This is the Y that is closest to my home so I go there often with my kids. The staff in the kid care area are top notch. So good in fact that our littlest guy requests to go to drop-​in childcare instead of the pool!
I have had mixed results from the front desk staff though; in particular a staff person named Nathaniel made this morning’s visit unpleasant. We left, without swimming, and went to the downtown Y instead. Not sure what his problem was but he seemed to be on a mission to not just be unhelpful but actually prevent members from getting what they need.
All in all, the pool is good for swimmers and big kids — there is a diving board and an aquaclimb. The shallow part of the pool is good for little kids but doesn’t have an area for tiny kids to wade so I just hold my son or let him ride my back while I swim.
Fitness room is fine, has all the equipment I use and has not been too crowded during my visits.

I’ve been going to the Blaisdell Y for a couple months now. I always am greeted by friendly staff and get checked in right away. The locker rooms are clean and never over crowded. I’m always able to find a locker and get on any machine I want. The have a great variety of classes and equipment to use. I got a personal fitness assessment when I signed up and if let they gave good tips on how to archive my fitness goals.

This is my primary gym, since I live so close. Now that they’ve increased the number of hours the kids stuff (drop-​in childcare) is open, it’s *much* more convenient for me to go. I like that you don’t have to make a reservation ahead of time to use the childcare — it is truly «drop-​in».
I use the lap pool primarily. It’s great for adults swimming laps, usually not too crowded and there are lots of open swim times. However, for kids the lap pool isn’t great; there is no zero-​depth entry, no slides or water features, and the temperature of the water and the family locker room is always freezing.
Front desk staff are always very friendly, but they often have trouble registering me for special programs or getting the correct information about various classes or lessons. I have started signing my kids up for swim lessons over the general YMCA phone line rather than try to do it at the front desk in person — something goes wrong and takes too long every single time I do it in person.

THINK TWICE BEFORE SIGNING UP!!! Though Y does offer a local opportunity for fitness/​wellness their billing practices are strickly set up to suck as much money out of a patron as possible before you can cancel your membership. Several months later I received a bill statng the automatic payment program had stopped working and I owed them money. I signed up for my children to use the facilities and when they went off to college they stopped using the services. No one had set foot in a Y for 4 mos. I called them and asked them to cancel my membership but was told I would have to appear in person to do this. By the time I got to the Y they told me I was too late to cancel for that month and would have to pay for another full month. I asked them to forgive this since we had not used any services in 4 mos. The person helping me said that I would need to talk with a manager who was not available. She took my number and I never received a call. I did receive another bill. I was also reminded they would send me to collections if I failed to pay in a timely fashion which could affect my credit rating. 4 mos of payments without anyone using the Y and still wanted another month out of me. NICE JOB ON CUSTOMER SERVICE!

Though more expensive than. LA Fitness, I love that the Y supports the community. I’ve been a member for years, mostly because of the convenient locations. Great group fitness classes and friendly staff!

I have been going to this Y for 1 year and 9 months my with both knees bone on bone with spurs (loose frag called spurs), severe arthritis on a 385 lbs frame with lung problems. The staff kind friendly, encouraging, caring; and the singing and dancing talent is off the hook but the best service they ALL GAVE me was INCLUSIVENESS. I have been away from the ymca for 1 week and a few days and i miss them. Saturday sept 29^th i did work on the treadmill, then FINISHED a 1 hour TAI CHI class, the following MONDAY OCT 1; I HAD A TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT. NOW it is 1week and 2 days after surgery i am 348 lbs. I walk stairs, do car transfers and twice a day do my physical therapy routine. I tell the DRS., PT, and hospital about the blaisdell ymca that let me use a chair, in hip-​hop hustle, tai chi, silver sneaker and the list could go on But the staff and patrons included, and encouraged me until i could do better and that is why i am recovering at a record rate because the YMCA blaisdell staff supported, included and cared for me.

I’ve been going to this Y for a couple months now, and I like it more all the time. The staff have the kind of compassionate and cheerful attitude that comes of doing work they believe in – everyone there has been unfailingly kind and friendly, often well beyond the requirements of Minnesota nice. (Example: one of the custodians sings while he cleans.) The patrons are wildly assorted — on any given day, you’ll see people there from all ages, races, classes and kinds. Last week, for instance, I saw an elderly Norwegian-​bachelor-​farmer guy and a young Somali woman in a billowing headscarf working out on neighboring elliptical machines. The facilities are new, spacious, and very well maintained (the men’s locker room is, oddly, carpeted and therefore a little smelly, but that’s my only complaint). At busy times, the weights area can get crowded, but even the grunting gym-​rats are considerate about sharing. The lap lanes in the pool are also quite popular, but here too good etiquette prevails. I couldn’t be happier with the Blaisdell Y. I’m grateful I get to go to a gym that makes me so happy.

I’ve been coming here about a year and hove not experienced the issues that Alicia and AG mention in their reviews. Having said that, I rarely use the locker room and I’ve never used the pool.
I’ve never had to wait for a treadmill or other equipment here, even when it’s crowded, and the staff is really friendly. The equipment is modern and many have connections for ipods, as well as TV’s, which really help if you’re like me and aren’t always motivated to work out. I admit that I’ve stayed on the treadmill for an extra 15 minutes, just so I could see how episodes of really bad reality TV have turned out.
I wish they had more later evening group classes for folks who work, but otherwise it’s a fine place to work out!

My wife just canceled her membership here after an year of wading through kids playing basketball in the lobby (and men ogling her while she worked out). Read the first review of this place, what the reviewer described is exactly her experience as well.

This YMCA in particular has over gone a huge face lift, and not just the outside of the building. I used to work out at this gym a couple of years ago when it really was considered the ‘ghetto’ of all the Y’s. Now, that I have moved back into the neighborhood and reinstated my membership, I was quite impressed with the remodeling they did. I believe even the clientele has changed to more of a family safe place. Where you can feel comfortable working out with plenty of space around you.
The place is huge! They have a large variety of classes to offer in a couple of different studios. A large open room full of cardio machines that look out through the new big windows at the front of the building. The front row machines have tv’s attached to the them. There is a large gym to play basketball in, and a very nice pool for classes or lap swim. Plus hot tub and sauna.
The only thing I wish they had a better selection of, is the weights area. They have all the specific weight machines needed, but lack a bit on the free weights selection.
I enjoy going to this gym, which is usually an ironic thing to say!

Dearest Blaisdell YMCA,
I appreciate your extensive collection of treadmills, your lack of annoying sign-​up sheets, your free parking, and your amply sized locker room. Your staff are, for the most part, friendly, and your hours can’t be beat.
But honestly, most days you feel more like a rowdy daycare than a gym. Is there not a special room or, I don’t know, a padded jail cell for you to keep those loud little creatures in while their moms are working double shifts at KMart? Must they run amuck in the pool while I am trying to peacefully swim laps? Must five of them barge in front of me when checking in, only to hold up the line because four of them are using guest passes?
I guess you’re good for families, and that’s cool and all, but I’m a single almost-​thirtysomething. If I wanted to listen to the sweet screeching of pre-​pubescent rugrats while I work out, I’d go and get impregnated with some of my own.
Which brings me to another point: I’m a curvy white girl. I have big breasts. I wear tight spandex. A certain population of your urban male members are genetically programmed to salivate upon sight of my jiggly thighs. Yeah, I get it. But I swear if one more sweaty dude in basketball shorts corners me at the water fountain and says, «How yoooou doin’ baby girl?» I AM GOING TO SERIOUSLY LOSE IT.
Also, one of your (male) janitors barged in on me in the women’s locker room the other day, supposedly to fix some leaky something-​or-​other. If he’d knocked, I would have happily allowed him in, pants or no pants. It’s not my modesty I care about, it’s manners, people! Manners. Sheesh.
But uh, your Pilates classes are OK. So there’s that.