When I first visited this Y (maybe 6 or 7 years ago) I was underwhelmed. The weight room was small, disorganized, dated. I'm glad to report it is much better in 2024: very updated equipment, spread out, bikes and treadmills near the weights. I'm mainly there to warm up and cool down with cardio, before I ldo weights, so this is convenient for my routine. The facility is old but they seem to be doing the best they can with the space they have to work with. Genuinely helpful staff, too, which was not the situation 6-7 years ago. Why three stars? The summer hours are terrible and they actually closed early on a Saturday that was already closing at 5pm. For what a Y membership costs, I think I'll have a better experience value-wise trying Madison East or the other locations, but this is better than it was. read more

My name is Kat, and I worked at the YMCA as a teacher for seven years. Based on my experience, I would strongly recommend finding other care for your child and to show this to anyone considering enrolling their child. During my career at the Y, the directors made special exceptions to allow violence toward students and teachers for specific students, leaving the rest of the class in danger. Such as letting children run around the entire building, hurting other children or teachers without repercussions of their actions. There is no behavior modification or specialists to help aide the children either. Teachers are heavily reliant on using communication but receive little to none in return from directors. Teachers are expected to make note of all incident and accident reports via paper copy which caused three months worth of incident reports were "lost" and never recovered. When tasks are delegated there is little to no time to complete them. I was given two hours to move my whole classroom alone with less than a days notice, resulting in the loss of our key to the med box. Teachers at the Y are planning children's day to day and do not need to be worried about the state of their classroom aesthetic only if the materials are developmentally appropriate for their age. If you care more about your child's safety and well-being than the aesthetic of your child's classroom, find another facility. read more

Stopped in recently on a trip to Madison. The employees were very friendly and helpful. The facilities need a little updating, but otherwise this appears to be a great location. read more

I worked here for one month. I was treated extremely disrespectfully in my opinion because I am a young disabled person. my manager fired me for successfully finding coverage when I had to get spinal injections, because, I quote, "you texted instead of calling which is not our policy". it's a gym but they treat their staff like it's KFC and we're incompetent and deserve verbal berating and shaming. the day I was fired my "manager" made cruel comments about how I rode the bus and didn't have a car. so unless you love people treating you like a criminal for being poor... don't go here. You'll have a much better experience going to literally any other gym. There are a handful of nice people here on staff but like I said, it's run like a Taco Bell. it's disgusting. read more

This place will mislead you. When I signed up, I was told I could use any YMCA in the country, but they did not tell me that some places only allow a limited amount of visits per month. I signed up understanding that I was committing for 1 year, but when I tried to terminate my membership after 16 months, I was told I would have to wait another 8 more months because the yearly commitment automatically renews. I would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

I've been a visitor of the Y since i've been a child and a member of the YMCA for about 1 year. I reached out to West YMCA to cancel my family's swim class, membership & refund my monthly membership fee & they refused to return funds as the YMCA WEST has been closed for months. My family will never return & any family I come in contact with I will urge them to cancel or never get a membership. read more

The youth coaches and swim instructors are excellent with kids. They have a solid understanding of developmentally appropriate expectations while creating inclusive and fun activities. The building is older, but still family friendly. read more

West Branch YMCA - Youth basketball at the Y! - Gyms Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

I adore the morning water in motion class. The staff and facilities are great. I joined a few weeks ago and I'm very happy I did. I have been wanting to join for years, they offer so many water classes. I was afraid to forever. I felt weird going alone I guess. Dumb I know. Now I truly wish I joined long ago. I pray they stay open despite the challenges of covid. These classes are everything to me. Moving keeps my depression away, my continuous weight gain at bay, my knee pain is greatly diminished, and it gives me energy all day. It sucks there are bad reviews on yelp, but yelp sucks that way. Check out the happier reviews on google or better yet, just go check it out. read more

Can't rate them, cuz they wouldn't let me in: I'm sorry-- we don't do day passes." Doesn't sound like "Christian principles" to me! Thanks, guys. Not. read more

Thank you for the heads up on the outdated, unsanitary conditions here. There's a much, much better Y close by. Go the other direction on University Ave., South on Whitney, go past Odana, staying on the right, slow down and make a sharp right on street that's right before the overpass. After the sharp right turn, the Y is on the left. Lots of free parking. read more

My son has special needs, and they do well in trying to work with him in the swim classes. He's been going there for a few years now. If you are a parent of a child and do not speak your mind, you will never get results. I have always made sure I have care for my child, and he doesn't feel out of place, and they understand this. My son thoroughly enjoys his water time. read more

The YMCA in Madison is a very old building and infrastructure, many of the other YMCAs in and around Madison have been updated, this one remains as is, it really needs a better location with a new building. The cost per family is around $65 which is somewhat high for the quality of the building. It is very difficult to get to it as you have to turn across a very busy street to get to it. I intend on canceling our membership soon if they do not show plans to make significant changes. read more

In one visit my impression of the Y started as 'meh' and finished with 'pretty disgusting'. The weight floor is alarmingly small; there's very little room to do anything. Even worse is the fact that NO ONE RE-RACKS THEIR WEIGHT. Oh sure, I'll just leave this loaded deadlift bar here. No worries. :\ Step up to do some cardio on brand new machines...we'll see how new they remain after NOBODY WIPES THEM DOWN AFTER FINISHING. How many people did I witness walking away from a nasty sweat-covered machine? I and one other person wiped our treadmills down...and the place was full. :\ The shower..oh my. The shower. What does a human have to do to make a shower SMELL like that? And this is 60's middle school style, everyone; one big filthy mildewy tiled room with about 10 shower nozzles and a horse-trough drain along the edge. Hold your breath as you pass through to the pool, friends! I'm not going to mention the very creepy guy who stood there and literally stared at the back of my head while I showered, waiting for me to turn around so he could greet me with a wave and a VERY Goodwill-esque HAI!!!! Wait...I guess I just did. :| My wife and daughter enjoy yoga and since Princeton won't get their heads out of their asses and accept the fact that yoga is not Satanic, they'll continue to use the Y for classes. I however will not be returning. read more

Compared to the other YMCAs, the west side Y is well past due for a makeover! The building design, location are definitely showing its age. I recently visited the SP Y, and the difference is like night & day. Its cleaner, brighter, bigger, better locker room and restroom facilities. unfortunately, I live west and to make a daily trek to SP to work out is not worth the effort. Getting in & out of the west side location is not very easy either. Its too bad with aging west gate mall nearby, a newer, better west side Y could be built at that spot. read more

My son was signed up for one of their programs, and without notice they changed the time he could participate from evening to morning (before School!). Total disregard for how unannounced changes will impact families. read more