Recently renovated huge workout room loaded with treadmills, ellipticals, freeweights, machines, etc. Area is well kept and clean. Four flat panel TVs to watch while working out, bring your own headphones. Lots of classes to take if you show up during scheduled hours. Pool too. Showers and locker rooms downstairs. Gets crowded around lunch time and early evening when people get off work. Other than that there's not much fighting over machines. p.s. Don't forget to wipe down the machine after you use it. Just because I always do and hate when others dont. Poor hygiene.. tsk. read more

I am a workout junky who craves access to everything from cardio classes to lap swim to boot camps. The YMCA Downtown Manchester branch provides access to these activities and more at affordable prices. Becoming a member was easy and enjoyable, with staff member Toi taking the time to give me a tour of the facility and respond to my numerous questions. She even let me take a look at an Aqua Zumba class in action, which left me with a very positive impression of the club atmosphere. I signed up for membership immediately after my tour. The workout rooms are spacious and well-appointed with a variety of cardio, strength, and stretching equipment. The attendants and staff on the floor are always pleasant and helpful. The large flat-screen TV's provide the opportunity to catch a tv show, a game, or the news while getting a great workout in. They also offer a wide range of classes, but they tend to start at odd times (12:05 pm, 3:40 pm, etc.). I am sure this is to accommodate their busy programming schedule, but it can be a bit more confusing than gym schedules that start on the half hour. On Zumba: I am a regular attendee, and the class quality here is pretty good. The three instructors cooperate in preparing routines, so they are consistent with each other. For lap swimmers: The pool is small and the summer lap swimming schedule is quite limited. There is not much this branch can do to rectify this, given their spacial constraints, but it might not be the right club for avid swimmers. The bottom line: The YMCA downtown is a nice club in a convenient downtown location. The facilities, offerings, schedules are not exceptional, but they will work well for those looking for a wide variety of activities in a friendly environment. read more

Ive been a member for about 3 weeks now and I absolutely LOVE YMCA on mechanic st. I love how when u first come in they remember you by name, makes you feel as though they really do care about us. The girls out front are amazing! and so so sooo sweet! I think the only thing i'd like to see is a working cafeteria there where you can buy foods and drinks. besides that, the place is awesome! I recommend you guys to EVERYONE! I post stuff on my facebook ALL the time about YMCA. I will ALWAYS be a member! LOVE IT! -Krystle Rogers read more

Preschool and Kindergarden (child development center or CDC) program and top notch - my kids were well prepared for elementary school and beyond because of their program! And the teachers were all great. I use the gym and the child watch room - the staff there is excellant! The more we go the better, the staff knows us now and we feel like part of the community when we are there. The only down side is the parking. Parking in the garage is tough with little ones, and there is never enough street parking. Pick up for the CDC was really bad, there are supposedly 10 minute parking spaces that are for pick ups and drop offs and they are always used up, and the city parking enforcement frequents the area and will ticket you for parking illegally! read more

Was lie to by the staff when i went to cancel my account and it was put on hold for 3 months in stead of being canceled then they started charging me again for another 6 months with out my ok. When i called and spoke to them ( Laura Johnson ) she said there is nothing they can do about it even though it was never being used so i am out $136.00 dollars... I have had to file with my bank to chase the money.... They have very poor business practices there... Beware!!!! read more

The quality of the Manchester Y is so much lower than the Londonderry and Goffstown Y. The baby swim lessons we did here, with Laura, were good. But nothing since then has been. I signed my daughter up for beginning soccer, which she had previously taken in Goffstown. At the beginning of class, they had all the kids, ages 5-8, line up and then said GO! as they kicked the ball out in the center of the indoor court. Mayhem ensued as kids were just running all over each other, with no direction at all from the "coaches." She was 5 and overwhelmed, as this was nothing like the Goffstown lessons, so we got them to switch her to a swim class. We then had to cancel THAT because the teacher (a guy, not Laura the director) was really bad. We transferred to Goffstown which was awesome. It's funny because apparently Manchester and Goffstown are under the same ownership. Side note: The best swim lessons we've had are at Envy Sports Club... highly recommend! This year for the first (and last) time, I enrolled her in 1 week of their summer camp, because the week's theme was supposedly science, which she loves. Usually she goes to camp at Londonderry, which is fantastic. I wrongly thought that this camp would be quite similar since it's part of the same "network" of Y's, so were extremely disappointed. It is indoors all day long and is basically the same as a daycare. There was no actual science going on. They made a little popsicle stick raft that fell apart (I had to use wood glue on it after she came home), they made slime, then did a volcano that didn't work (and with which no science was discussed), and there was another thing that was canceled due to lack of materials. That was the "science." And she mentioned a lot of time just sitting around "doing nothing." After the first day she actually asked if she might be able to go to Londonderry instead, but we would have had to lose our deposit/registration fees and pay them again. NOT going back! read more

I will preface this review by saying that I never tried the group fitness classes or the pool. I only used the main workout room on the main floor and the small workout room in the basement. Okay, so I was a member of the Manchester YMCA for 7 months before I moved from New Hampshire to Houston. My move and seeing YMCAs in another city has made it obvious that Manchester YMCA is behind the rest. The YMCAs in the Houston area are megasized and modern with mini tvs on every piece of cardio equipment. They also have large parking lots which brings me to my first complaint about the Manchester YMCA: the parking situation. Because it is located downtown, there are only 2 options for parking: a limited number of street parking and validated parking in the Brady parking garage down the street. With all the snow and ice in the winter and the seedy weirdos that walk around downtown, I decided to do early morning workouts at 4:45am so that I could easily get parking on the street and avoid the parking garage. That early in the morning there is a group of about 9 "regulars" that come consistently each and every morning. Everyone is nice, including most of the women that run the front desk. Toi is by far the best worker... She is helpful and always has a ready smile. There are 3 main workout rooms: the large main room on the main floor with cardio equipment and weight machines, another much smaller workout room also on the main floor (mostly used by women... I think because the cardio equipment pieces are pink lol), and a medium sized workout room downstairs on the way to the locker rooms. They also have a very large basketball court, a fitness room where they do the group classes, and a pool. I never used those last three, but the pool looked great for lap swim. I did most of my workouts in the medium sized room in the basement. During the winter months barely anyone went downstairs except for the locker rooms and therefore, I had the room all to myself in the mornings. By summertime, it got packed. Since I was usually the first person in the room each day, I got to see all the trash left behind by the last people the night before. My second complaint is the lack of responsbility on the parts of the members to clean up after themselves. On a regular basis I found towels left around, candy wrappers (?!!), plastic water bottles, and newspapers thrown around the room. One morning I even found an unused MAXI PAD stuff in the cup holder of the treadmill!!! That was the last straw... I went upstairs and showed the woman working at the front desk what I had found. I told her that whomever works out at night leaves his or her trash and also hides the tv remotes, and that that shouldn't be allowed. She just smiled and said it wasn't up to YMCA members to clean up after themselves.... Um, I thought that was like rule #1. But whatever... Just know that this place is not the cleaniest and to disinfect before and after you use a machine. They also have a bit of a spider problem. I guess for the price and the fact that you don't have to sign a contract, the YMCA Manchester is better than other options in the area. But go take a look at YMCAs in other cities and tell me you don't feel a bit jealous.... Go ahead, I'll wait read more

Uneven for a whole family facility. For adults- much better fitness areas since recent renovations. Some cool new biking machines you can ride and sort of compete on video screen at same time. Large, airy, clean and busy workout room. nice lobby renovation with coffee bar ( untended, not kept clean enough). In Manchester, no tennis or raquetball, just swimming and machines and some classes. Free parking in garage. I cannot seem to find many classes at different times/days for my needs in terms of something like Zumba or yoga- if you miss the one time slot per day, that's all they have. During the school year not much programming for kids between 10-16 unless you are talking about soccer, basketball etc type lessons or clinic. No supervised open play for kids. No racquetball court here or any Y near us :( Parents night out things are scheduled and then canceled with no notice. In the last two years seeing fewer kids here since Boys and Girls Club of Manchester renovated. Perhaps b/c of this Y canceled kids' camps and vacation week programming on short or no notice, leaving me seriously in the lurch- was forced to use Boys and Girls Club and the kids liked it better. Not enough lead time when scheduling camps and vacation camps. Communication lacking when trying to schedule camp for kids. Camp admin poorly organized. Several instances of mis-billings, very late after the fact billing, failure to refund funds. Summer Camps are expensive and most start out of Goffstown Y which is geographically undesirable and a carpooling nightmare in the cramped driveway. Kids leadership program is good, they change the ages every year(?) and mostly runs out of inconvenient Goffstown. Bus to Goffstown only at weird area drop offs and times not available to leadership program kids. Buses also ran very late several times b/c driver stopped 20 mins for one kid with emotional issues to go to bathroom (kid should have been banned from bus, camp leadership unresponsive). I have a loyalty to this place since my older kids used it and know the staff, but it seems like we will be going elsewhere in the future. read more

Fantastic place for fitness and community. I was a member at the Concord location and have moved to manchester for the last year or so. Gotta love the group yoga classes included in the membership, steam room and personal trainers are my favorite. Could be cleaner but they try hard. read more

From the perspective of an athlete: greata tmosphere, people, location, equipment and facilities. I recommend the Y to friends and colleagues. read more

My son is a 14 year old honor student who loves the outdoors and sports. He loves it here and honestly they take great care of him. He is not the easiest kid to like, but he has a big heart and really enjoys his time here. It is his 3rd summer and next year he hopes to go back as a CIT read more

Mi-Te-Na is an all boys camp at the bottom of Lake Winnipesaukee. I thought all boys would be good, as he was not ready for the whole romance thang... he went with his long time friend. Turns out BOTH boys were terribly homesick and were promised each day they could call "tomorrow" and ultimately were not allowed to call, despite the Camp's policy clearly stating that while calls home were discouraged, they were allowed. The food was prepackaged, individually servings, microwave heated and of very poor quality. The selections were repetitive and not nutritious. Lucky Charms at breakfast, chicken fingers at lunch (and dinner). Activities were very limited for kids in his level (i.e. no ropes course). There a fair amount of teasing going on (not of my son or his friend in particular), but older boys of younger boys. The counselors and staff seemed to tolerate this without attempting to stop the behavior. He will not be returning summer of 2011, per his choice. read more

I would not have survived my first New England winter without this place! The Kidszone saved my sanity and let my little one burn off pent up energy, while I enjoyed some time to attend to myself for a change! Kidszone staff is fantastic and caring and I always felt my daughter was in safe hands. This is a very old building with some eye sore areas (like locker rooms, jacuzzi, steam room, downstairs gym), but the upstairs gym has been renovated nicely and is clean and run well. The staff here is Amazing and I think that's what makes me love this gym...the people make it 5 star worthy. They also have literally any type of equipment you need. The only other annoyance is the parking situation, the garage is an inconvenience, so I just pay to park on the street out front. All in all I say this is a great gym! I used to go to Crunch and Equinox in LA...maybe I'm just getting old, but I prefer the community feel here over cold stylish high end gyms out there. I love you see people of all ages here - young kids all the way up to a 93 year old man doing one arm push-ups (no joke!). Everyone seems welcome here regardless of age, race or mental abilities and I love that diversity. Thank you YMCA! read more

Very disappointed in the aquatics director. I emailed about finding a swim class for my special needs grandson. She returned my email and said when she returned from vacation, she would call me. I waited and emailed her again about 3 weeks later. I have left 2 voice messages and have never gotten a reply. read more

I have been a member for about 8 years and even worked there for a bit... the lack of care in the facility is very apparent. 8 years ago it was warmer and SEEMED to be a FUN, energetic FRIENDLY, family orientated place to be... they do offer childcare while a parent works out however the LACK OF CARE not ONLY in the room (that is stuffed in a dark place with no windows and FILTHY broken down toys) but the lack of care and interest in the staff is despicable. I actually went into the room with my son to check him in before a group fitness class... and there was an infant crying on the floor( in front of THREE staff members) and the comments about the infant coming FROM the staff in the rom was disgusting, so much so that I literally signed my son out within 60 seconds of signing him in. The staff asked if "everything was ok", I replied " CLEARLY NOT... I actually CARE about my child, and because of that I will NOT be leaving him with ANYONE in this room, CLEARLY no one in here is equipped to care for children." and I left. I stopped my membership there for months ( SEVERAL of my friends left the ymca to find another gym that thy are COMFORTABLE bringing their children to, after being members of the ymca for years.) Summer is coming and so I went to sign my son up for the summer program in Goffstown ( camp halfmoon) , I even had the "assistance" of THREE staff members chiming in while I was filling out and PAYING for the registration... only to be told a month later they hadn't received my paperwork... only to then see that almost 500 dollars had been taken from my bank account to ymca....I spent 2 hrs and 46 mins on my last day off AT THE BRANCH in person... to go over all of the withdrawals... and that I had to pay 15 dollars more each week of camp for signing up late (when they in fact lost my paperwork , which hey later found the same day and I am still obligated to pay the 15 dollars each week additional for camp. ) only to wake up this morning and see that ANOTHER almost 500 was taken AGAIN out of my account for a camp that has not even BUGUN yet! and of course each person you talk to you , o get transferred to passes the buck off on someone else.. and it is a never ending cycle.. They are INCREDIBLY disorganized... The lack of care ( that is so obviously apparent) is what is going to be the YMCA's demise.... its sad that no one seems to be proactive in take a stand for the ymca... I shudder to think about how it will be in a year.. 2 years... scary. Then you have the parking. Which is so disturbing when you have a small a child it almost takes as much effort in the winter to just get INTO the facility, as you would get during a workout.. and then AFTER your workout you have a nice task of getting your little one (and yourself) back to the parking garage. The sidewalks are NOT cleaned making it treacherous for a parent with a child to make it into the ymca, God forbid if you have MORE than one child.. the staff could DEFINITELY benefit from some classes on customer service.. on a scale from 1 -10, their customer service would score in the negative. It is so disappointing to see a family based company cut so many corners that the family CONCEPT seem to be completely lost with the Manchester ymca :( super disappointed.... read more

Great instructors! Miss Pools is one of the best swimming instructor I have met, not only she teaches swimming also she builds the child trust in the water. I came from another gym because my kids were terrified from water and swimming due to their unskilled & unprofessional instructor and when I signed them up I was certain it's not going to work, but meeting miss pools and the other instructor gave me relief. she insure that the child is relaxed and secure in the water not on the dad or mom level but on the child level him/herself. BIG THANK YOU for the swimming instructors***MISS POOLS IS AWESOME*** read more

Great place! I love the group exercise classes, especially the boot camp classes and Zumba. I'd been going to a different gym regularly before coming here, but I feel like I've really gotten in better shape since coming here from the group exercise classes. There is a good variety of cardio equipment and I can always find what I'm looking for, even right after regular working hours. The facility is clean and the staff is always nice. read more