YMCA of Greater Saint Louis

This gym gets the job done.
Upsides:
Childcare is included in the membership!
The pool is well designed for lap swimmers!
The showers are HOT and they have soap at each station.
They appear to provide towels (Not sure exactly about this)
The Spa is plenty hot
They appear to have most of the machines you’d want for lifting weights
Staff is friendly
Downsides:
The lockers are rusted out (All of them)
The tops of the lockers are coated in dust (All of them)
The steam room isn’t very hot, nor was it clean (18+ only)
The spa doesn’t allow anyone under 18 in it (see freezing children cold from the pool)
The showers are in the hallway that everyone has to travel to reach the pool
The floors are visibly dirty (even in the mandatory feet only area’s)
This is an older facility. It feels old in its design and function. Millennial types will likely abhor its lack of privacy in the locker rooms.
But when it comes down to it, everything you need is here and with a little effort on your part it can be great (see clean).

I was on the fence about joining since there a number of (better, less expensive) gyms in the area. It was only after 3 unsolicited phone calls from the membership coordinator that I decided to join. It was a very sales-​like pitch each time, too, and rather annoying. During one of the calls, he was trying to convince me that I’d be saving money by joining a month earlier than when I wanted to, when I knew I’d be out of town for several weeks. That should’ve been my first sign.
I went a few times and attended some classes, all of which were difficult to hear the instructor and there wasn’t much direction given. Perhaps that was unique to the classes I attended; I’m sure some of them are great.
Recently, I went to cancel my membership before the next billing cycle and heard nothing. Did my request go through? After calling twice and emailing another person, I was finally granted the cancellation request — BUT, I am still being charged for this month since I didn’t cancel by the 20^th of the month.
When I explained that no one mentioned that — not during any of the 3 unsolicited calls — the person emailing with me wrote: «The EFT form does indicate this, but I understand it’s hard to read everything you’re signing.»
Hard to read everything I’m signing? I’m well aware of how to read. As I explained to this woman, the Y sales person failed to mention there was a cutoff date, and since I enrolled via phone, I wasn’t staring at an EFT form to notice that he omitted that important detail.
Overall, this facility is not worth the time/​money/​hassle and the rude staff. I won’t be returning.

The Y now offers yoga for free if you’re a member! Love love love this location. There are great free group fitness classes to choose from. My favorite part is the free child care & their amazing staff.
The only reasons I won’t give 5 stars? My husband left his shoes in a locker, an employee told us they were put in lost & found, then they magically disappeared. The lost & found is located in a staff only area… Which means someone who works there has a new pair of size 11 J’s. (I told my hubs it’s his fault for forgetting them but alas…)
Also, it’s always too hot!

I love this place. Everyone is incredibly friendly and nice. There are always a lot of open machines. Challenge yourself to take a few classes. Katie’s super sculpt class intense, but the perfect swimsuit season workout.
Cons: pool gets crowded and spinning classes sometimes fill up fast (only because the bikes and the instructors are the best in St. Louis).

I’m a huge fan of the YMCA. Not all gyms offer what the Y is able to. As a member you can take free group fitness classes, swim, and shoot some hoops. Sure this gym may seem a little expensive compared to some of those other facilities that are just packed with machines and meat heads. But, do they have a swimming pool or a basketball court? Also, the YMCA is a not-​for-​profit and if you have certain limitations in your budget, their Strong Community campaign takes donations from employees and other members to offset some of the cost.
Now that was just a broad overview of YMCA’s everywhere. Let’s get specific and discuss the Brentwood location, known as Mid-​County. Out of all of the YMCA’s in Saint Louis, it’s possibly the smallest in members and size. It fits its community perfectly, with it’s proximity to Memorial Park and the Brentwood school system less than a mile away. It’s a little hidden away, but easily accessible with very little trouble to find a good spot. The weight room has tendencies to get a little busy, but not to the point where you’ll be waiting for machines. The interior just got a fresh coat of paint and looks a little less old and out dated as it did before. The gym is a small one with 6 baskets to shoot at, 2 of which can be raised and lowered for kids. Above the gym is a running track that takes 18 laps to equal a mile. Overall it’s a serviceable Y with all of the fixings that this organization offers. However, it doesn’t even compare to some of the newer YMCA’s such as the one in Chesterfield Valley. Luckily, for those of you who need your Y to be top notch, your membership is transferrable and can be used at any Y in the Metro area.

I really enjoy going to this Y due to its convenient location and awesome staff. Everybody I’ve met that works here is very friendly and helpful.
Their cardio equipment isn’t as nice as the south county y’s but I would rate it ⁷⁄₁₀. The one thing I really wish they’d update is the weight training equipment. Some of it is really outdated.
The pool is very nice to have although I haven’t used it much lately.
Overall good gym with a great staff.

My son has done quite a few things at this Y. The people are very friendly here and after a while they recognize you. He is currently enrolled in the Kidventure summer camp and loves it. They have different activities for them daily depending on the theme of the week and they go on field trips on Fridays to different pools, the science center, city museum, etc.
He has also taken swimming at this location and the swim instructors are great. My son likes to act like he doesn’t know what he’s doing when he actually does and the instructors won’t baby him and push him to do it. They make it fun to learn. They use different toys and have them jump off the diving board along with the lesson to keep them intersted. As they progress through the different levels, they do have the parents sit outside the windows to watch so the kids dont get distracted or you can go exercise.
He has also done the karate here which I am not a fan of, the price is nice but it didn’t seem like he learned enough. To me, it seemed like the instructor was more interested in showing off his skills, while we watched and his assistant was training the class then actually training them himself. But he was very friendly with all the kids.

My regular workout spot, when I am in town usually go 3 or 4 times a week. Not the best Y in the city but pretty good gym and lots of equipment in the treadmill room. Pool is so-​so, and although the basketball floor was refinished they did not fix the loose boards so there are a lot of dead spots when you dribble. Still, a good deal and convenient for me.

It’s been over a year since I wrote my original review of this Y. However, the 5 stars still stands.
I’m officially a gym rat. All of the workers know me by name, and I kinda like it. Everyone who works there is SOOOO friendly.
I take group spinning classes here a few times a week, and let me just tell you — it’s a GREAT cardio workout! If you don’t leave class with sweat pouring out of you, YOU’RE DOIN IT WRONG!
Oh, and they added a stair stepper machine to the gym. Awesome!