I have been a member of Westside Rec Center for nearly 20 years. This is a well equipped , best managed gym that ( SW ) Calgarians can be proud of. I spend 4 months every year in San Diego area and can confidently say that, in comparison, this is a better gym for its wider range of facilities and competitive annual fees for seniors. What makes it a pleasure to visit the gym are its friendly employees. I can cite Charrito, Witold and Alyza as representative employees that assist with smile. read more

VERY impressed with this rec center! I'm from NYC and this gym rivals most of the $150+ per month gyms in the City. I paid 19 CAN for a day pass which included 1 CAN for a locker token bc I forgot my lock. The woman at the front desk was sweet & helpful. Very simple to register via QR code. The locker room was large, plenty of lockers, and clean. The gym floor was huge with multiple sections to work out, plenty of top quality workout & cardio machines, and a track that spans the entire perimeter. There's also plenty of stations for cleansing wipes for the machines. I spent 2.5hrs there and got a great workout! I HIGHLY recommend! read more

I joined Westside in December 2009 after the Talisman Centre was scaling back its services for a year for roof upgrades. It's a bit out of my way but one of the benefits is that I was no longer fighting traffic towards downtown during rush hour to get there. So, overall, the commute was shorter for me anyway. At Talisman, I could never get a cardio machine - ever. At Westside, I've never gone without. While I can't always get the particular brand of machine I want, if I want an elliptical, I can generally find one. Apparently the busiest hours at 9-11am (moms?) so that works out perfectly for me. Each of the cardio machines has its own TV with channel changer - so there's no missing your shows while working out. And I love the automated system they have with the weight machines for those of us who would forget what we lifted for for how many reps, every single time. The indoor running track is the longest one in the city, I believe, and it offers a variety of views as you run (skating rink, hockey rink, swimming pool, parking lots, etc.) Plus the classes are free (I've only attended a few but enjoyed those that I did) and how many gyms have a rock climbing wall? The one drawback is that it is a family oriented facility, so the lap pool (4 lanes) is pretty busy on weekends and many lanes are closed off for activities, and there are always kids running around. However, it's been a lot better since they opened the fitness change rooms (in addition to the aquatic ones) and I appreciate all the effort they've put into the youth fitness centre - exercise in kids is very important. All in all, I didn't hestitate at all when it came to pay again this past December. Easily the best gym I've ever belonged to. read more

Westside Recreation Centre - Recreation Centers Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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the place is getting very bad by the day .crowded and dirty they picked the best time of the day for swimming classes every day. they will kick you out of the both pools . you can not even use the basket ball court as you wish as it is always booked for non members. you can not talk to anyone in charge as they dont care and very rude. they refuse to get back to normal (previous) timing before covid .what kind of gym that closes at 9:30 pm and aquatic at 8:30 i don not recommend this place as they care only about making money BEN read more

The gym was good but the staff was very impolite and the didn't really care about me and my friends we all were mad.

This is my favourite gym to which I've ever had a membership. - So much cardio and strength training equipment that you never need to wait - Slightly "unique" equipment such as a treadmill climbing wall, X-Box machines, and a kick boxing station - Pool with at least one lane available for lap swimming at all times - Tons of drop in classes - No pressured sales pitches I'd say there are really only two downsides. First, being a single-location facility, this place is really only worthwhile if you live in the same area. Second, you need to commit and pay for a full year membership at a time. The price is decent, though, with the monthly breakdown for a regular membership being $60ish. read more

First of all 4 instead of 5 because of the insane price of drop in and the fact that I'm comparing it to talisman. Talisman is better, but this rec is huge and it's pretty awesome. Massive gyms, lots of equipment, pool, slide in the pool and endless amount of camps for your children. The skate park is also very cool and is free of charge to use, and the basketball courts and badminton gyms are always guaranteed to have open space. read more

Westside's aquatic facilities are a child's dream. From the heated tot pool to the wave pool and its adjacent mini-river, to the ceiling to ground water slide, and to the lap pool, what child wouldn't fall in love with water, playing in this water fantasyland on a regular basis. Daily use fees are reasonable at $27 per family. Towels are available for $1. read more

While it's not fancy with apples on the counter, it's a 5 star rating! Great program selection, staff who are diligent and care about safety, and a great culture. I have participated in everything from the fitness area, swimming to the climbing wall class with my 10 year old daughter. Camp options and so much to keep kids and adults active and healthy. Attention is paid to ensure it's incredibly clean. There is an option healthier food along with coffee or tea. read more

Great facility if you like to enjoy other recreational activities under one roof such as skating, rock climbing, gym, cardio, pool, slide, sauna, hot tub... etc However most exspensive gym compared to other recreation centres in (all) of Calgary & surrounding area. Cheaper alternatives include Southland Leisure Centre, YMCA, Airdrie Rec Centre. Westside needs to keep up on equipment maintenance, faulty equipment, and be more competitive on pricing. Offer a 6 month membership, monthly plan, cheaper drop in rates... However with that being said one of the bonuses is the gym is rarely busy and you can get on the equipment likely due to being over priced. read more

Honestly, one of the best gyms I've been too. A membership gives you access to a diverse gym, pool (lanes available), basketball court and an ice skating rink! It's affordable too, especially for those on a budget. I had an unfortunate encounter with Richmond's World Health and it made me realize how wonderful Westside Recreation Centre really is, the staff are helpful and understanding, you get a variety of options of activities while there and the environment is clean and positive. Not to long ago they had a major update to the gym introducing a 'youth' area which was a great idea, it separates adults from the younger ages and caters towards what youths are likely using. I personally like the youth area because of the new equipment and that it is never really busy. If I were to recommend a gym to family and friends this would be the one and I don't think I could find a reason to change my mind no matter how hard I looked for one. read more

Overall I am very happy with this gym: The equipment is well-maintained and immediately signed if it is in need of repair. They have a lot of equipment so finding an alternate piece of equipment is easy, should the need arise when the club is busy. The change-rooms are very clean and well-maintained. There is a lack of space for people who want to work on their own with the equipment in the middle-track area - especially when there is a group-training session going on. It would be better for everyone if they held these types of activities in the room where the aerobics classes happen as this space seems empty a lot of the time. On the negative side: several obese (30+ lbs overweight) trainers work here (I fail to understand this) and they sell total crap at the snack-bar downstairs - I saw corn-dogs (WTF) there the other day. read more

Perfect spot for sport during winter in Calgary.

This is perhaps the best fitness facility in calgary . The latest equipment and helpful staff. Worth every penny. Get a membership to really enjoy yourself. Something for everyone to do from kids to seniors. Wonderful staff are very friendly and ready to help. read more

This rec center has it all, the running track is huge. I personally do not run and use the wide assortment of Cardio and weight equiptment. The amount of free weights here is staggering. I've used the pool quite a few times and never felt crowded, The steam room here is the biggest I've been in yet, Over all for the standard fee of $714 a year. It;s a bargain for what's there. I have a 6 month old daughter and look forward to enrolling her in all the youth programs here. read more

As you read this review please keep in mind I am not a gym rat. Having said this I do like this facility. It is very clean, the staff is really nice (and patient), and I have found the other patrons are considerate. This facility is family focused, but the variety of activities is great. I have found the lap pool crowded, but the regulars seemed pleased that a new person was there. Plus a hot tub and steam room, inaddition to the wave pool, slow river and water slide. The track is long and surprising interesting. There are floor to ceiling windows so you can actually see outside. There is a casual skating rink and an actual rink, plus a climbing wall. For two years in a row I have helped a friend with her daughter's Birthday Pool Party'. The staff is well organized. At check in, all adults and children get a wrist band and are directed to a private room. When all the children have arrived, a staff member reviews the pool rules and shows the group to the pool change room. You get an hour in the pool and an hour back in the private room. The staff is prepared to accomodate food delivery, as well as the parent picking up children and dropping children off (you do need an adult in the pool with each 3 children attending the party). The staff comes in when you are done in the private room and immedately disinfects and cleans). One of the reason I do not like the city run leisure centres is because of what I preceive as screaming, unattended or undersupervised children. At the Westside, the children seem very supervised (by actual parents) and reasonably polite. I have taking some of their early morning classes and the staff was supportive and encouraging. The whole place just seems to have a good vibe about it. read more

The services available are superior to most physical activity centers. You can play basketball, badminton, rock climb, skate, hockey, workout upstairs, running track, swim laps, steam room, hot tub and much more. Plus the fitness staff (upstairs) is incredibly knowledgeable about... Fitness. It's like having 7 personal trainers at all times as you can simply walk up to them and ask them advice on your workouts or routines. Also there is a program integrated on most machines (and there are a lot) that track your workouts, your progress and uses state of the art technology to help you keep a routine. Lights adhered to the machine weights indicate weather you are going too fast, slow, too low, or too high. That program (fitlinxx) is of course for people who are inexperienced with working out. Very great facility! read more

The pool side is well run with lifeguards all over the place constantly ensuring the place is run well and safely. Always reminding parents about the ways to keep them and kids safe. Unfortunately the gym upstairs isn't run as well. It's a free for all, people running the wrong way on the track, people talking on cell phones on the treadmills. People walking around on FaceTime when there is designated cell phone arena. Staff often walk past these people and nothing is done to correct the wrong doers. I wish the policies that are on the wall were upheld in the gym area. Pool well run and gym needs a lot of work. They set the rules so please enforce them read more

I started to go to this gym three years ago after moving to the area. I love it! Annual membership prices are the best in the city for a multiplex type gym. I used to go to the YMCA but paid a LOT more for a smaller facility. Another nice feature is that every time you renew your annual membership you get a new lower annual price **yay** This is a very well maintained gym. Gym goers wipe down equipment constantly and you don't find ripped pads or broken-down cardio machines. I have gone to many gyms in Calgary and this is by far the cleanest and best maintained. Now Westside Rec is most certainly a family-oriented type of gym - similar to a YMCA. That being said there is a special youth area for weights and cardio. The only two issues I have with this gym: 1) Lack of adult swim space on weekend mornings - due to swimming classes 2) Wish this gym had more evening registered classes. It really seems catered to the stay at home mom. I can't do weekly classes at 10:00 am. read more

Lots of rules. Lots of attitude. I paid almost $1,000 for a family membership and somehow the staff at Westside Rec center seem convinced that they are doing me a favor whenever I talk to them. It is a nice facility but the staff needs to get the chips off their shoulders. From the front desk, to management, even some of the swim instructors all have this condescending way of communicating. read more

I love this gym! If you want more bang for your buck this is the place to go. There are several weight areas and a variety of different equipment to suit any fitness desire. It is open and roomy and so far I have never had a problem finding space or machines to use. It is very clean, bright, and the machines are well taken care of and updated regularly - sometimes they have new interesting ways to promote fitness like a treadmill climbing wall! The "children" are also separated from the main workout area as there is a youth fitness section with fun stuff for the younger fitness enthusiasts (so less dealing with teens in the free weights). The staff is mostly very friendly. I don't use the pool or the courts much but they are there if I should ever fancy using them. They have a tonne of drop in classes as well as registered class options. But my absolute most favorite thing about this gym is that they are upfront with their pricing. The membership prices are not hidden and there are no pushy sales people. They also have other options, like to buy a 10 card pass if you have limited time or money to commit to a membership (good for me as a student!). Registered classes are also open to non-members too. Amazing gym! read more

I have been a member at Westside since the beginning and will be paying my 17th annual membership fee this fall for the coming year. I used to be a member of the Eau Claire Y when I lived closer to downtown - I would have to say the Westside is far superior (not a knock on the Y but there is only so much the Eau Claire Y can do with the limited square feet it has). I have still not used all of the facilities. I mostly use the weight area, cardio machines, spin bike studio and lap pool. Never used the gyms, the yoga studios, climbing wall, the hockey ice or the leisure ice. It is a non-profit society but it did get some money from the City of Calgary (and other governments) so it is sort of a hybrid of a private and city facility. The society is governed by a board of community volunteers. This is why the fees are way less than those of "for profit" private gyms. The people that work there are employees of the Westside Recreation Society. I think it is an absolute bargain to get the annual pass. The breakeven for an annual pass is about 50 visits (about 1 per week). When you renew for a number of years in a row there is also a slight discount. I don't pay the extra $400 per year for the "Plus" membership because I don't really care about the extras that come with that (but lots of people obviously do like them because a lot have memberships) Some of the unique things I have noticed over the years (even if I don't use them all). There are 7 separate change areas (3 for women, 3 for men and 1 for families going into the pool). Two of these are special "plus" memberships that you need to pay the premium annual "plus" membership for. Two of these were added during the 2010 expansion. There is a large childcare centre at the front and the parents when they drop off the kids are given a special little pager so that that they can be contacted quickly if necessary. The peak times at this facility are different from facilities like the Eau Claire Y. The busiest time is probably weekdays from 9:00-10:30 when stay at home parents are trying to get their workouts in after getting the kids to school and before lunch. Westside has no lunchtime rush and is pretty quiet from about 11:00 to 3:00 am. Weekends are pretty steady all day. At peak times the parking can actually fill up (i.e. at 10:00 am on weekdays or on weekends if there is heavy use of the adjacent soccer fields). The indoor skating area with a fire pit is unique. It is ice in the winter (for ice skating) and concrete in the summer for roller blading. I use the pool for laps so I pay attention to the pool crowds. I am not an early bird person so I can't say how busy the pool is during the first few hours (opens at 5:30). During the year the pool is busy on weekends with swimming classes but there are lots of "dead" times during the week if you have the flexibility to go at non-peak times. During the summer the pool is less busy on weekends (because no lessons) but busy on weekdays (because of day camps). There are some adult classes (i.e. water exercises to music) - some are held in the wave pool and some in the lap pool. If you are a lap swimmer you are best to avoid the times when these classes are in the lap pool because they close down 2 lanes for the class leaving only 2 for everyone else. The times of the classes are posted on the web site for Westside. To get to the poolside you have to gain access to the facility so it is not ideal for grandmas etc. that don't want to pay to come in but want to watch grandkids in the pool. The view through the windows is limited if you don't enter the facility. I don't know if there are special programs for kids swimming lessons that also let the parent into the facility to watch poolside. The track is 440 metres long as it winds through the facility upstairs. There are 7 different areas for weights or cardio machines (or both) upstairs so no matter how busy the place gets it never feels like you are running out of room. One area is dedicated to over 18. One huge area is a youth area but it is open to everyone most of the time except for a few hours when it is limited to 17 and under crowd (i.e. a few hours after school and some hours on the weekend). I have never counted the number of electronic cardio machines (i.e. treadmill, steppers, stair climbers, stationary bikes, etc. etc.) but it must be close to a 100. The kids birthday parties look like a big hit with the parties based on rooms for cakes and presents and the parents can pick from a variety of activities from skating in the special family skate area, climbing wall, pool/waterslide, and gymnasium activities. On weekends they have a person dedicated to dealing with the parties that sit at the front. Similarly, the summer camps are obviously a huge hit with 100s of kids each weekday in the summer. The only downside is that this makes the pools largely packed during the Monday-Friday 9-3 period. Ran out of room. read more

My child was in the preschool classes. Terribly unorganized with a very high turnover of staff. If they cant even keep staff from week to week how could they possibly expect your young child to be comfortable. My child did two years of different classes for the preschoolers and I decided to stop bringing him there. one day an instructor would be there and the next they would be short staffed and have only one new person working clueless about the schedule. NOT THE PLACE FOR KIDS!!!!!!!!!! read more

The service is horrible - they treat you like dirt. I hate going to this place with my kids but don't have a lot of options in this part of town. read more

If I could I would give it 0 stars 1st of all to even be in the building you need to have an orientation to have an orientation you need to be 12 and at certain time that is once a week but sadly when we went they would not give us an orientation because it wasn't the one time they would do it then the next time we went to do it it was 12:47 and the orientation time was 1:00 but when we got there they had already started about 30 seconds in we asked if we could get in but they said it was full and they wouldn't let one kid in and that's not even the end in the pool they have tubes that you can go in in the pool but we're only aloud to go inside it not on they also have a river tubes aren't aloud inside and last they have a very very powerful geyser it is so powerful it blows you across the pool I have seen kids put their faces in front of it and got hurt all in all it is a strict and some what dangerous pool read more

I was a member here for two years. It's a decent recreation centre. It's bright and new, but expensive and restrictive. The machines usually work and it's rarely that crowded that you can't do what you want. The climbing wall is smaller than southland Leisure Centre's. The aquatics department is atrocious. The wave pool is small and the "waves" little more than a ripple (hence the quotations). I think every time I took my daughter there we broke at least two of their bizarre rules (There's about 200 of them). From not sitting in the tube correctly, to bringing the wrong flutter boards into the wrong pool. Also, be wary of what time you go there as the pools are often shut for lesson use, restricting users to a small section of the facility. They won't tell you this before you've paid your $15. Lockers are $1, though you can bring your own lock for free. If you're looking for an exciting swim for your family, you would be better off at nearby Southland Leisure Centre which is larger, cheaper and more fun. If you're after a fitness facility there are private gyms that are more cost effective. If you're rich and live close by, go for it... read more