Just a disclaimer: my only experience with this place is for children's swimming lessons, but I think it's still a valid perspective. We came here for swimming lessons ($39 for a year's worth of community participant status - which allows you to sign up for classes and another $85 for two kids's worth of six weeks sessions) at the beginning of summer 2018. The experience with Miss Kennedy, our swim teacher, for those Thursday nights were so positive and wonderful, we signed up again. Towards the end of summer, we signed up again for the third batch, but this time we found out that the prices were way more (40% more!!) for non-summer classes ($119 for two kids). I thought it was an accounting error and even thought (because I didn't understand the difference between a YMCA membership and a community participant status) that I was a YMCA member. When I found out that wasn't the case, I asked: how much for my family to be members? The answer floored me: $100+ a month. Holy. Crap. Who can afford this? Any full-access gym with these amenities would be a third/half the price, but I suppose the Y's pricing is just common for potential rich folk - we're not in their target market. The pricing issues aside, I love the staff. I love the facility for what it is. We love the family locker room/changing areas. We love the indoor pool/hot tub, simple as it is with a non-working slide, and we even like the outdoor pool. read more

The door to the outside in the pool was left wide open in the pool area inspite of it being single digits. When we asked we were told the life guards get hot. Pool had just opened. It stayed open for the 70 minutes we were in there. Air and water Temp was nippy. They added large amount of chemicals while we were swimming. My skin is itching and I had to use an inhaler for wheezing. What did they do the months you were closed for HVAC install? Please do better!!! read more

Easy checkin. Very good selection of exercise equipment. Most of the people there are very friendly

You pay nearly $1000 a month for child care for them to continue to send kids home early or not let them in due to power outages. They delayed camp till 11 am from a power outage that was at 6 am. read more

Silver sneakers program through Medicare used to have an agreement with YMCA as part of their benefits. Then YMCA ended their contract with Silver Sneakers because they didn't feel they were getting enough money. I got that straight from the director at YMCA when I called to find out why they didn't participate in the program any longer. Really !? They don't get enough from their regular memberships that they have to punish seniors who need these programs. There are not a lot of locations within a reasonable driving distance and none with a pool so I did rely on my membership to come to the Y. Now what ? read more

Always clean and accessible. Staff are friendly and make extra effort to help. Lots of programs for different activities and different levels of expertise. Recommend for families and singles. read more

The Downtiver YMCA is awesome my daughters are able to stay busy on the basketball courts, working out, swimming in the pool or taking a walk around the indoor track. We just signed up a couple weeks ago and so far we are loving it. read more

Down River Ymca is an awesome place to work out to meet new friends .Pool is excellent for swimming .There are several water aerobic classes and the instructor is Awesome .Front desk personnel are all friendly ,knowledgeable ,helpful and professional I highly recommend this establishment . I've been a member for over five years. Down River makes you feel like family. read more

Beware of the public jacuzzi! I've been fighting folliculitis, a skin infection from bacteria in the jacuzzi. When I called and talked to Emily Oetting the director she acted like I was bothering her. She did tell me she would talk to the Aquatics! read more

They have a great gym with a lot of machines and is kept very clean. The only complaint I have is it takes a while for some of the machines to get fixed after someone breaks them. Some days there are a lot of people there but most days you don't have to wait too long to use the machine you wants read more

I love it here. There are so many activities to choose from, also I am accomplishing my goals and that's to be a better ME! I don't see any results but others do and they're inquiring..... I am so super excited read more

Paying $49/month with no contract. There's an indoor mini track (10 laps= 1 mile) that surrounds the 2nd floor exercise equipment area which is great; it also overlooks the pool and basket ball court). There's a pool with several lanes that I have yet to try. Overall it's a great level up from my previous 24/7 gym and would recommend the Downriver YMCA for at least a trial. read more

I have been a member for years and the YMCA has been a great place. However, I recently encountered a male in the female locker room. As I discussed this with management, they informed me that their policy states that "a person may use any locker room to which they identify as". I was told that if I'm not comfortable with this that I should use the family locker room. I have had continued discussions with administration and nothing is going to change. I suggested that they make sure their patrons are aware of this policy so they are not surprised when they see a person of the opposite sex in the locker room. This is totally unacceptable to me. I will not be returning!!!!!!! read more

Today was by far the worst experience I have EVER had at any YMCA I have ever attended with the most unprofessional creepy staff. The first red flag came when my 7 year old son and I entered the pool area excited to use their waterslide which is advertised on their website as being open to all from 4:15-4:45pm on Thursdays. The young girl lifeguard told me it was "closed" when I asked if we could use it. I informed her I had called earlier in the day and was told it would be open to which she replied, "Oh, well when we change rotation shifts I will see if we can open it up" This is strange because why did their own staff member not know the schedule or who was to be operating the slide and why did her answers change? My son was then asked to perform a "swim test" in order to determine if he could safely ride the slide. My son can swim without floaties and demonstrated that for at least 30 seconds he could tread water and was able to swim a short distance of their pool, but was told he needed to tread water for 60 seconds in the DEEP end and swim the entire olympic pool length, which was way larger than he would have needed to navigate to use the slide which was in SHALLOW water. My son performed this test twice for the staff and showed that he could stay above water but for limited time. I ensured the staff I was waiting at the bottom of the slide with my swimsuit on ready to catch him. They told us "Sorry buddy, next time he didn't pass the test", then allowed multiple children who were similar size and age to go down the slide WITHOUT TAKING THE DEEP END TEST while my son sat there and cried in the pool asking why can't he slide? He is 48 inches tall which is their requirement and was able to swim enough to ride a slide in shallow water and the creepy unprofessional staff watched him cry and got verbally combative with me when I inquired why we were being singled out and not allowed to use their waterslide. I spoke to Caitlyn the director of aquatics who then informed me they were understaffed and that her staff should have came and got her and acted as if this was MY PROBLEM. I have never seen such disorganization and terrible customer service and adults so nonchalant about making a child cry and singling him out for no reason. I want everyone to know to never take your children here EVER unless you want them emotionally scarred. read more

Friendly staff, nice facility, nice pool. I like the water exercise classes available.

I find every thing ok as to what I know In which is very little would like some advice or help read more

Downriver Family YMCA - Just myself - Gyms Near Me - Southgate, Michigan

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Constantly packed. Pool or locker rooms are never open when they say they will be. Every time I'm there I'm constantly told I'm breaking the rules and asked to stop only to see someone else do the same thing 15 minutes later with no repercussions. All the staff are really young and don't ever know how to handle a situation properly. I've had things stolen with absolutely no help from any employee there. The correct class times or camp times are never posted correctly even though the employees claim they are. If you ever have an issue, the staff immediately gets defensive and have horrible attitudes towards members. Today I was told the pool was open 4-845 but of course upon arrival was told since there was camp going on the locker rooms were closed. I didn't end up getting in the pool until 4:20, then when I got into the pool, they had 4 lanes closed for classes, leaving me literally just a sliver of space on the side of the pool. For all the money they charge for memberships and classes, I expect much more. read more

Having never joined a gym before, I was unsure of what I should be looking for in the facilities. I opted for the YMCA because it was close to home, and had a decent sized pool. After joining though I realilzed I made a great choice. The place is amazing. Their staff helped us through the joining process, and continue to provide the best service for me and my girlfriend. As for the facilities, we couldn't ask for much more. Their gym is perfect with tons of machines in the cardio section, a big intimidating section of workout machines and a nice little section for free weights. The walking track that circles the gym and basketball court is great for a warm up or cool down walk, or for the runners who like to actually put down real miles instead of hitting treadmill. Their pool is large with a section for competetive swim training, a section for the kiddies, and hot tub for the afterwork out relax session. The locker rooms are clean and well attended, and house a suana and a cool little machine that wrings out your swimming trunks. The one downside to the suana is it can get over crowded and people don't understand that it is not right to wear chlorine soaked trunks into it. Who wants to relax to a fresh breathe of... chlorine?!?! Aside from the suana situation and the overly packed monday nights (guilty weekend binge eaters I would guess), I have been nothing but thrilled with my experience here, and my girlfriend seems to like it too. read more

We discontinued our membership, the reason is our kids used to love the pool, but after a few visits we found out u can't have any fun in the pool with their over excessive rules they have and marked off areas where we only had a small area to swim. The really need to loosen up and give more open family swimming. Great to exercise there though, lol pool is horrible and not family friendly. Still foul mouthed kids rule the gym. Not a good place for your family. Lots of thugs as well. read more

I go here regularly to work out, right off the highway in Southgate. The YMCA is always clean, with plenty of machines, and an awesome indoor track. There are quite a lot of people who utilize this place for their classes, huge indoor and outdoor pools, daycare, basketball court, sauna, and physical therapy. They really kind of have everything. They run yoga classes, zumba, crossfit, and tons of other classes, as well as offer personal training. They seem a little expensive to me but have been told comparatively they are great. I only have limited interaction with staff, as I come to use the equipment and don't like talking to people in the gym, but they are generally pretty friendly. I haven't seen anyone upset to be there. I try to avoid going after work, because there are too many people there. Two rows of people walking slowly on treadmills doesn't do it for me. BUT- Try going on a Sunday, there is barely anyone there! It's kind of a paradise. I realize the Y might be cost-prohibitive to some- and it is a totally different atmosphere than a come-as-you-are-and-negate-your-workout-with-pizza kind of gym, but it is very friendly, non-judgmental, and with plenty of people to help you out. And no annoying alarms or purple color schemes! read more

Very family friendly. Always feel welcome. Great staff. Been coming since it opened. No complaints.

My daughter has been taking swim classes here for about a year and she loves it. The instructors are very patient and knowledgeable. I would love to actually join but the family membership fee it outrageous. The only reason I pay for the community membership and higher class fee is because my daughter is thriving in the swimming program. The lifeguards are excellent. Alert and attentive. There is an after school program right by the swimming area. The kids on Monday night are awful and do not listen to the staff. The layout of the building is peculiar. The locker rooms could use a good scrub down. read more

I visited as a guest recently, was hassled about the pass I received from my friend (a member) and they tried to STOP me from coming in! I was in the area visiting said friend and chose the Y over the meager weight room at the hotel I was staying at. I couldn't shake the bad experience I had at check-in and was so unfocused during my workout because of it. Walking the track upstairs, all I could hear was profanity coming from the basketball gym. If I was a paying member, no way would I allow my kids to step foot in the gym because of the language and roughhousing I saw. Talking to my friend about fees, she said she regrets signing up and is stuck with weird auto-draft payments, basically under a contract. No thank you! read more

I will never use this YMCA , horrible communication. They seem professional to your face and that is hardly the case when it comes to getting things done. I was hired here and quit because of lack of communication and productivity. Complete waste of time and I feel sorry for the kids they work with they aren't learning period. They are better to go somewhere else. They run it like a daycare center and again I seriously stress the lack of communication and professionalism of this establishment . I had tried many time to get the right information or communication for even just working there. But they always seem to busy or would contradict themselves. read more

This is a terrible place to join unless, you live in the city of Southgate and have no other alternatives. For all others that do not live in the city of Southgate you are charged double the price of membership of a Southgate residents for your membership. The lockers in the locker room require a quarter for each usage ; the locker room often has very foul smells ; after 4pm the kids jammed the place just to hang out. One of the ladies that I spoke to about the membership rates told me," tell your city (Woodhaven ) to build a gym if you want better membership fees". So, now LA Fitness is located in Woodhaven ......... MUCH, MUCH BETTER than the YMCA!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Well it totally smells like bleach.everywhere..makes you sick when your trying to walk the track or workout... ..cannot even swim indoors because the water is so full of bleach your skin is burning and itching in about an hour.....Not a good place for kids because there is way to much profanity ....Summer time outside is better but very crowded and the food area has really gone downhill... read more

This facility baffles me. The Downriver area needs a real gym like Lifetime Fitness. The membership to this gym is already within the ranks of Lifetime, but offers a sub-par service. I use to work out at the Royal Oak Y and stopped in here one night with a friend that lived in the area. The facility said that they would not provide towels for the showers. The fairly run-down Royal Oak facility provides all the towels you need! The second time I came to this facility I got hasseled by the membership lady who argued with me about the fact that my guest passes were electronically recorded in the system and weren't in actual paper form. Hmmm....I guess computers are too much for them to figure out. Last night I was once again in the area visiting family and I thought I'd stop by to take a swim. Although the facility has family locker rooms, they do not enforce their use. There were two ladies in the locker rooms with male children well above the age of three. Nothing like having little Johnny stare at you while you're trying to get unchanged. Given the level of service at this lovely facility...I think I'll just think twice about stopping in for a swim or workout. read more

We had a family membership for close to 10 yrs but decided to cancel. The weight area is fine. Some of the machines are dated but as long as they function and maintained that's all that matters . Some of the new equipment they have purchased is lower quality; calibration issues? My wife primarily took the exercise classes, which she really enjoyed. We cancelled because the place has become dirty and ghetto. The weight area upstairs is fine but the gym is overrun with punks at times. Which I believe foretells future problems. Also the locker room and showers are not cleaned enough. The Y seems to be obsessed with an outreach program to provide discounts ( or free membership?) to lower income folks. I speculate that is why my non resident family membership was starting to approach 90.00 per month. Personally, I wouldn't object to paying a slightly higher rate to help someone struggling , but if the parent(s) of these teen and young adults have no control over them then get out. Does the Y ever enforce any of their guidelines laid out in the membership contract? The Y does essentially nothing. You can hear a constant barrage of loud swearing and arguing on the basketball courts during open gym. The monitoring is essentially non existent . What really did it for me was after a workout in the evening, I was walking around the track as a cool down, and I noticed a group of guys in a corner of the gym playing craps. read more

I have mixed feelings about the Y. When I first joined a few years back I thought it was very nice. Now it seems like its jam packed and overcrowded. I joimed primarily for the child watch program. My daughter hated it as she was very attached to me until recently. I took her several times and she wanted to be held and have her pacifier. I dont think the program is equipt or patient enough for infants. They had to come get me every 10 minutes until finally I gave up and went home. The childwatch room is jam packed full of stuff and it doesnt look all that clean. In the last few years the work out area for adults has grown a lot. So much that it seems its taken over the Y. Theres machines everywhere. They took out a lot of the seating by the front door for some office space. The set up is very odd. Many of the classes require payment. So on top.of the $45 for southgate residents or $75 for other, classes are anywhere from $20-$100 extra. Theres not much else included in the actual membership fee. Lastly, for being a family friendly facility the parking lot set up is horrible. I used to take my infant dughter and toddler son with me to the gym and I had to walk a mile in the parking lot just to get to the door, all while dragging a bulky carseat and making sure my 2 year old didnt decide to make a run for it and get hit by a car. The Y needs to build more space for the work out area and the tiny child watch room. read more

I chose the ymc because of their childwatch program. I have had a membership to planet fitness for a few years, but having had a baby it is hard for me to get to the gym. Getting her ready and dropping her off at my grandma's house 15 minutes away and going to pick her up after takes about as much time as I spend working out! my grandparents use to take me to the old downriver y before they built this facility. I use to love it when I was a kid and they got to workout while I did swimming and classes, which back then were included in the membership fees. I even had a few birthday parties at the pool! What they should tell you at the time you sign up is that if you opt for 12 months there is absolutely no cancellation allowed. We live in Southgate, so we pay $49 monthly. I haven't been able to use my membership because my 1year old hates childwatch. The one time she did fine she ended up getting sick from all of the sneezing stuffy kids in there and had a cold for about 8 days. My fiance's 8 year old has been there four times and every time she is ready to go swimming but for some reason either there isn't enough kids to take or the last time they informed me we need to get there 15 minutes before the listed swim time. The family locker room usually smells strongly of urine. The last time we used it I was so disgusted that we left and on our way out we stopped at the front desk to let them know how gross it was. The most recent visit I had was for about 15 minutes with my toddler about 4-5 weeks ago. I got very upset because from the monitor i could see my daughter was having a freak out and the workers ignored her for a few minutes, picked her up facing away from her, and plopped her infront of another toy. She was still crying and chasing the woman to pick her back up and comfort her until she gave up and started reaching for the door handle, still crying. I was so disturbed by it that i went to pick her up from there and i walked straight to the front desk to cancel my membership. The whole point of my joining was for childwatch and neither me nor my child is comfortable with her being there. I was flat out told there is nothing I can do about cancelling and pretty much treated like a joke. The director argued that no one has ever complained about their childwatch program and i am the first because it is up to everyones standard. I felt very offended and i told him it was not up to mine. I told him about how sick she got last time and he pretty much had the "well she didn't get it from here" attitude. His only answer was to start bringing her more often and maybe she will get use to it. 1.Not everyone is a stay at home mom who can take a half hour to get ready for ten minutes at the gym every single day and 2. If I am not comfortable with the way you run childcare why the heck would I subject my child to even more trauma?! Also, the free workout with a trainer was cancelled because childcare worker said i should wait until my daughter gets comfortable. They never called to reschedule. So now I am trapped donating $49 a month to a corporation I no longer want anything to do with. Lesson learned and I am counting down the months until may so I can cancel and go to L.A. fitness. read more

They cancel too many of the exercise programs without even notifying the people at the desk. Instructors dont show up & nobody at the desk knows anything. The senior exercise classes were not in session from Dec. 20 to Jan. 7. That is 18 days which is rediculous.There were no classes at all the first week in Jan. 2019. They also have lots of other breaks from classes like over 4th of July. You need to exercise almost day esp. Seniors. Just because it is Christmas break does not mean you dont have to exercise. I have never seen so few classes offered over the Christmas break 2018-2019 read more

Went here while traveling on business. Not accommodating to traveling ymca members. Lockers poorly maintained, mold all over floors and showers. Pool was ok. Not recommended. read more

It's expensive unless u live in southgate. Seems clean. You have to pay extra for a lot of kid activities and any good classes. The splash park is nice but gets very crowded and the last time we went it took 20 min just to get inside. The daycare is not as organized as I thought.... Just ok read more

My son loves the sports programs that they have. They are very reasonable and only last about 7 weeks so its not a long commitment for him. Summer time is here so that means their outdoor pool is open. It's a great day trip. read more

I would give zero stars if I could. Move out of area and they refused to cancel membership without the purchase agreement. Are you kidding me? I will not give my purchase agreement to high school kids to look at. read more

DO NOT have a birthday party here. I had a party for my son's 13th in the gym so the kids could rock climb and shoot hoops in half of the gym. The patrons of the gym (older teens AND adults) were obviously irritated that they were only able to use the other half of the gym and showed it by cutting through our party or ignoring the fact that it was even going on. The eating area is set up in the front windows of the YMCA where the main entrance is and where the lifeguards cut through to get to the pool so their is absolutely no privacy. This is where some of the local gym rats decided to go outside and taunt our partygoers by flipping us off. What a horrible experience from beginning to end. read more

I've been a member of the Downriver YMCA for over 20 years. There are only a few dislikes I have for the newer YMCA. For one, the rates are very high. If you are a Southgate resident you get a huge discount that the rest of us aren't getting. The "free" membership classes are always so full and never a chance to get in them. Even if you sign up for a class, you are late, you do not make the class, which isn't right. I don't like that the restaurant is gone, it was a bonus for the kids to grab a bite to eat after swimming or day camp. The day camp has changed tremendously! My boys were there 15-20 years ago, my daughter has been going for the past 4 years. The day camp was pretty much the same price, but they did much, much more with the kids when they were at the Wyandotte location. They took apx 4 field trips a week to various locations, all included in the price. Now there are maybe 1 or 2 field trips an entire summer. The kids are kept outside on the small playground or in the hallway, they even have to eat in the hallway, they don't have any rooms for the kids. The kids are there all day long outside in the hot sun or squeezed in the gym hall. They walk miles to go to a park in southgate which only has playground equipment. The counselors sit in groups of other counselors not interracting with the kids. They also only get to swim 1 hour a day. When my boys went, they swam all day with field trips to waterparks, beaches, etc. Sad that they have that splash park and only allow the campers 1 hour a day in it. What torture for those hot kids kept in the blazing sun all day. I only send my daugther there because it is close for me, and she loves to play with her classmates all day. I am searching for a much better day camp though. As for the facility is is very, very nice looking. I never really had to wait for any equipment at all. Only problem is the classes. I like the track, but there are some rude joggers/walkers on it if you are not going their pace. It should have been wider. The locker room is just fine, what's the big deal about putting a quarter for a locker? I do not take showers in public places, so I don't have a complaint about that at all. The hot tubs in the pools are not hot, not even room temperature, so if you expect to soothe those aching muscles in there, forget it, go home and take a hot bath. All in all, the only reason I pay for a family membership is for the winter and spring break camps as well as the day camp in the summer. Childcare is hard to find during school breaks. read more

At first I loved the Y and I could not understand why the reviews are so bad, but after 2 yrs, I get it now! On top of everything everyone else has said, they change there policies at a whim and give you no notice. When you ask staff members and managers about programs, unless they are running that particular program themselves they have no idea what's going on. Managers! Really, should they not know everything about what goes on in their facility. I was floored at that particular fact. They will also have programmes in their brochures. You go to sign up for something and then it turns out they don't have that program going on because they didn't have an instructor. Shouldn't they let you know ahead of time or put a note somewhere.Like really people. LA Fitness and Planet Fitness are soooooooo much better!!!!!!!! On TOP of that, the pool is gross! I went last year and it was full of sand or dirt or something. My kids also didn't have e any fun because the could only swim. I get that it's a pool and that is what it is for, but they were told they couldn't put there face in the water. Hun? It's a pool! It's just sad! read more