Central YMCA

Negative experience: My AirPods and jacket was stolen in this place, really terrible. Workers do not help at all, they just don’t care.

Negative experience: Know Ivan one of the trainers staff in person. Very rude and unprofessional, brings his personal ego and issues to work.

Fantastic experience: You get what you paid for!

Fantastic experience: I am here on holiday in Toronto and have used the facility on a daily basis , the front desk staff could not have been more helpful or friendly , 10/10 the lady with the curly hair was so warm and welcoming , and wonderful facilities

Negative experience: Today at 10:00 AM, I spoke with Namuro, a blonde Asian woman in her late 40s who works at the front desk. I informed her that I am a new member and that planning to upgrade my membership from regular to plus. During our conversation, I mentioned that when I initially registered, the front desk had informed me that I could try out the plus facilities for a day. However, Namuro clarified that I am not allowed to try the plus facilities unless I upgrade my membership. She stated that the only way to experience the plus facilities is by upgrading my current membership.

Negative experience: Honestly most of the staff are respectful accept one member staff that disrespectful because she think she have power over some members she go through your staff in the locker even if you have them locked in usa we use to be able to leave our stuff in the lockers here the system is different but even if you are not allowed to leave things in the lockers they don't have the right to go through your stuff and if there is roles it should be on all members not only some of them someone warned me that they steal things there even if you lock them and I didn't really care because I didn't have something valuable to be steald but be aware that it happens

Negative experience: The lady in the counter on Tuesdays at 11:30 am July 23 doesn’t knows how to do her job at all. She doesn’t have customer service skill, she is not informative. She doesn’t want to talk or help. If I have to look up things in the website then I won’t be walking-in to speak with the representative eh! Hiring a wrong person ruins the brand image. It’s a beautiful ymca location in downtown with wonderful sport activities. The front desk representative should be happy, passionate and informative and helpful. I must say that lady is a bad hire.

Negative experience: Customer service is a joke here. They lack basic conversational skills on the phone. I can’t get a simple issue resolved even after talking to 3 agents. I just wanted to change my credit card on line.

Positive experience: Staff are nice. Nice facilities. Half of members have no manners or hygiene when it comes to the sauna and showers. So many sit in their dirty underwear or work out wear in the sauna. Today guy came in the sauna in full work out and stripped down to his underwear. Why couldn't he do this outside the sauna and leave his dirty workout clothes outside the sauna. Then he started chomping on a peach. Slurping it up. Open showers mostly filled with guys in underwear with a wandering eye

Fantastic experience: My local gym. Although one of the oldest YMCAs, it's very clean and accessible.

Negative experience: I've been coming to this gym for eight years, and it gets worse with bad behavior, and when they stop me and my wife, they say, "We paid for the gym, and then I looked at the system, and after half an hour, they say yes, you paid. I thought." I know there is no one in this gym and please take a closer look at this gym, see how many problems there are and I know it is very bad bad bad

Positive experience: Very rude customer service ..from that lady today ..in the front desk..that attitude not supposed to be there..!! Crazy !! this is how she deal with the customer !! shame !!

Negative experience: The girl at the pool, Brooke, asked me to swim without the foam or go in the shallow side, the problem was that the first time she asked me I didn't understand completely well, so she laughed making fun of me because I not understand English clearly in a racist way…

Positive experience: This is a great place—ignore the negative posts here. Find another gym (especially downtown) that offer the amount of amenities for they have for the price they charge. You won’t. If you want a premium gym go join Equinox—everyone knows what the Y is and what to expect.

Fantastic experience: Top notch YMCA in the city center with two large full court basketball courts, a well equipped gym in three different rooms on two floors. They also have two swimming pools one for beginners and one more full-length. The YMCA is an institution in North America. It's where I learned to swim and I was very young in the 1960s and I'll never forget its value to the community. I get a smile every time I see one of these.

Negative experience: I am giving a 2 star rating due to my disappointment with this gym. Specifically, I am disappointed with sauna, which is constantly poorly heated, like you will spend 20 minutes in it and hardly sweat. Sometimes sauna, at least in women changing room, doesn’t work at all. I've tried to send a complain on their email but didn't even get a response. looks like nobody cares, which is disappointing, considering a monthly charge about $70. So, if you'd like to relax in a sauna after an intensive workout, better avoid this place.

Negative experience: Location is great but holy its impossible to ever speak to anyone on the phone or receive a call back. It’s quite unbelievable how many times you will call/leave a message and never get a call back

Fantastic experience: Love that spot

Negative experience: Horrible customer service. Came to swim and been given wrong information by front desk. We even called before came. Got in, changed but Not able to swim. We asked for the reason but the front desk staff are so rude and say “ what do you want to do with me?” , not even a word to apologize. Staff are not helpful at all. Very bad management.

Positive experience: For the price it charges for a regular membership, the quality and state of the equipment, the digital app experience, the check-in process and the hygiene of men’s locker room could all be improved. However, its wide range selection of swimming, squash and basketball courts are hard to come by in the neighbourhood. So that’s probably why they don’t invest back enough (at all?), which is all very strange seeing YMCA is a non profit. I hope the extra bucks go toward charity and not enriching the upper management.

Positive experience: What times are open court runs for basketball?

Negative experience: recently re-applied for discounts and was offered $39 per month i usedto pay $20 per month from years ago belonging to a social housing program and receiving ODSP (govt asst)... sure wish i could get $20 again was low costly and easier on my budget!! cost of everything has hit the ceiling for so many canadians even activitiy programs have higher costs ; even if its cost of living increases its still hardship on my budget...

Negative experience: This Y could be great but they keep cheaping out on things and making wild decisions. The swimsuit spinner in the women's plus locker room is broken. The accessibility switch on the door from the womens plus showers to the pool is broken. One of the toilets in there is _always_ broken. Lately, despite having two pools, they've closed down the lane swim pool, which adults use in this mostly-child-free neighbourhood, to run kid's swim lessons in the prime after-work slot, so adults can't swim for exercise. I don't understand what their damage is!! They also no longer let you book a time slot in the app, so the app is useless too. It's conveniently located but BAD.

Negative experience: Joined for badminton but there are around 3 groups of four ppl who always occupy the courts and exchange among themselves when they are done with match . Two days I couldn’t even play . So me and my husband cancelled our membership. I think there should be some basic rules so that everybody gets a chance to play as everybody is paying for their membership.NOBODY IS SPECIAL !!!

Negative experience: Stuffy and crowded. Ew

Fantastic experience: Great place to work out and participate in physical activities like basketball, swimming, volley ball, raquet ball, aerobics and so forth... full list on website and Mobile App. It's abit more expensive for someone who just wants to work out.

Fantastic experience: I like going there for bootcamp, yoga and core classes. Great coaches!

Negative experience: Horrible customer service. I asked for a towel and eas told that they only give towels to the plus membership. So, even at the YMCA, people with more money get access to towels, and the ones without money can't even rent a towel. A friend of mine was going to swim but forgot his towel, when we asked if we could get one,we were told that they can't give us one because we don't pay for the plus membership. People with plus membership have access to a steamroom and towel service, whereas the other people don't have access to any of that.. Staff that work there are unfriendly and not helpful at all.

Negative experience: Horribly staffed. No one answered when I called and when we came in the only person who could sign us in was on break and other staffer asked them to help and they wouldn’t and made us wait 20 minutes for them to finish the break.

Fantastic experience: I never had any issues really....staff is nice most of the time although I know some people aren't nice to them so I understand sometimes they get tired....also I did a one on one with a trainer there her name was camila patino I believe she was awesome very professional and better attitude then mine....I went in a bit grumpy n left feeling re energized and learned lots...thanks everyone at ymca

Negative experience: This place is relatively alright, except the equipment is a bit old. But the customer service, especially the manger can‘t be worse. I had reasonable grounds to believe my basketball was stolen from me while I was playing a pick up game. I approached a staff member, who informed me that the manager would be able to assist me in reviewing the security camera footage to locate the lost ball. However, to my dismay, when I approached the manager with the request, she simply stated that she was too busy to do this with a not-my-problem attitude. And she was the only one with access to the security camera. Can’t be more disappointed.

Fantastic experience: Very spacious gym with a large swimming pool. Affordable and clean gym.

Fantastic experience: Plenty of classes for yoga, stretching/core, and almost any activity you can enjoy

Fantastic experience: Good place for exercise. Like the swimming pool the best. Staff are friendly and responsive.

Negative experience: Bad customer service. The receptionist on Sunday is very rude, even with the members. She was very stress with few people.

Fantastic experience: Love everything about this location! Yoga teachers are amazing!

Fantastic experience: This is hands down the best gym in the entire city. I’ve been a member for the last 7 years and a member plus since January and I’m very satisfied about all the amenities that I get here: dry sauna, steam room, whirlpool, private gym and lounge area, towel service, all the toiletries that I could need including shaving foam and disposable razors, complimentary coffee and tea, overnight locker, and so much more. Besides all of these great amenities this gym has a large amount of different weight machines, dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells and pulleys, treadmills, stair masters, stationary bikes, and several other cardio equipment, squash courts, indoor racing track, rooms for different classes like yoga, fitness classes for large groups of people, a spacious quite space for stretching, different sport’s groups, a half size Olympic pool, another shallow pool for aquafit and the best of all to me: a really nice rooftop with an amazing view of the city skyline that holds a garden, an outdoor space for classes and a race track, all of the latest open from spring to fall seasons. Certainly this is a place that I highly recommend to everyone, and despite some other comments that I’ve read here, all the members of the staff are very nice and kind people that try their best to assist any need of the members.

Fantastic experience: Really nice gym

Negative experience: I had the below review up before a terrible incident happened at YMCA with me. I was leaving the women’s washroom and a lady just yelled at me making racist comments. I did inform the staff and they apologized for this and tried to handle this as best they could, but I discontinued my membership after this point. Old review - YMCA is a great place if you want to play and the normal membership prices are quite affordable. Not the best place if you’re main priority is the gym, although they have all the equipments, the gym does have limited amount of space and equipments in quantity. I would also recommend you switching to plus membership if you are gng to consider this as your only workout destination because I once did have a racist encounter but it was handled well by the YMCA staff. Also, the plus locker rooms and washrooms are cleaner, has sauna and jacuzzi. It’s worth the money!

Negative experience: If I knew that there are thieves here I would have never come! Talked to the frond desk agent and other people in the gym, apparently it happens often here. Him and the general manager don't even have the same talk about the rules for the lock. She wanted to make me pay while it's complementary the first time. Definitely the last time I'm coming here this place is a shame!

Fantastic experience: I can only speak to my experience with going mid-day (off peak hours), but the staff are lovely and helpful, and the lane swimming experience is by far the best when compared to those offered at city of Toronto pools. The lanes are never overcrowded and the lifeguards keep everything running smoothly. I've been a member at many gyms over the years and can candidly say that the central Y is my favourite.

Positive experience: Great facilities! Staff are okay. Program timing is a little sus.

Fantastic experience: Amazing experience with Bea who was so nice and helpful to show me the amenities! Definitely recommend her ! I took my membership today, I'm so glad I found that location with lovely staff.

Negative experience: HI EVERYONE DO WHEY HAVE DRY SAUNA ? I TRIED TO CALL THEM - BUT THE LINE IS BUSY ALL THE TIME.

Positive experience: Generally good. It's strange to enter the facility by first going down to basement. This YMCA has no background music and is eeriely quiet. You need to bring your own music playing devices.

Positive experience: I have been using this YMCA for decades. I like the large pool. It’s best to go during off peak hours.

Fantastic experience: Great, friendly staff. Sometimes - weird members, but people are usually weird. Definitely my second home!!!

Fantastic experience: Amazing experience to me! I have membership for New York City YMCA and I thought i need to pay separately, but same membership works here as well! No duplicate pay! Come here specifically for swim. Much better compare to McBurney YMCA lol. Not even many people swim there, pool is much more clean. The only difference is here the circle for lap swim is different for different lanes.

Negative experience: Long time member post Covid service is so bad staff are stand-off ish and there’s no wifi and no snack counter if you forget your lock be prepared to buy a 20 dollar one that weighs a metric ton or risk it

Fantastic experience: I love this place. I visit Toronto periodically and have always looked for a place to swim without success. Now I’ve found it! I can grab a day pass and swim when it fits my schedule. The pool is clean and bright and the staff are helpful and welcoming.

Positive experience: Amazing staff, thank you to William, one of the lifeguards for lending me your goggles as mine broke! Really needed the swim after a long day at work, so I really appreciate it! One negative is they’ve been understaff so the pool sometimes closes at 8:30 instead of 9:45, which affects my routine. Other than that, 5 stars!

Fantastic experience: Great YMCA Centrally located. As everywhere in Toronto, lot areas are rather small. But it has 5 floors which makes it big, considering them all. There's a small swimming pool, basketball courts, other courts, indoor track, oudoor track (gorgeous, at the top roof), lifting gym, other gyms, locker area, etc. First visit is free; then, $16 per daily pass with access to everything. Very quiet. Perfect for those who like training as meditation.

Negative experience: I called YMCA in Toronto (Grosvenor location) and I was transferred to what i think it was a [Central switchboard/ o call centre as another ymca member put it]. I was then put on hold for more than 30 minutes while a machine was telling me "you are# 1" The person who answered the phone was very very helpful. Here I am rating the poor service that YMCA offers to its members, I am not rating the person who answered my call

Negative experience: The woman plus is not bad but I saw a strange lady didn't shower and go straight into the whirlpool! And I saw the bottom of the pool was so dirty. That is a $116 membership please make sure everything is well manage!

Negative experience: I called YMCA in Oshawa and was automatically directed to GTA YMCA call centre. I was then put on hold for more than 30 minutes all the while the machine is telling me I'm #1 on the queue. I wonder if the entire Toronto YMCA call centre has only one person to answer the phone who takes really long break

Fantastic experience: I have been a member at this Y for years in the membership plus and can't say enough good things about it......if you can afford paying the extra from regular membership to plus ...it is worth it :)

Fantastic experience: So big

Fantastic experience: An effective, enduring community institution. Still doing what it always has...

Fantastic experience: Modern, clean facilities, friendly members & staff, great location, green roof with running track.

Fantastic experience: They work hard to be inclusive

Fantastic experience: Great gym with huge facilities for how downtown it is. Never had a bad interaction with a worker either

Negative experience: Waited 40 minutes to get a day pass :(

Positive experience: I was harassed by another member in the weight training area on the 2nd floor. Fortunately, another member stepped in. Do not feel safe to work there anymore. If you are female and usually work out alone in the evening or at night, I do NOT recommend.

Fantastic experience: We booked a community room for an event and was greeted by Greg who was the kindest and most helpful person. Greg ensured that our location was set up and took extra steps to make our experience pleasant. I would recommend booking space with Central YMCA for any events you plan to run, great furniture, accessible, and excellent electronic hookups.

Positive experience: an excellent organization that is very weak in its capacity to communicate with members. waiting endlessly to speak to someone, having no chat option, nothing, it's more than frustrating, especially with such a major operation. i'm constantly annoyed when i have no choice but to try contacting someone via phone - there isn't enough time in one's day to wait and wait and wait some more. Every time.

Negative experience: I was a member of the YMCA for the last 25 years. Today I went back to join YMCA again. The lady wanted to register me was very rude. I couldn’t believe she is working there. YMCA was very enjoyable place to be years ago, but now new employee are not very friendly and pleasant to talk to. I don’t go back there anymore.

Fantastic experience: Great gym with tons of amenities. Indoor and outdoor track, pool, etc. And Great monthly price too.

Positive experience: I was a member for 22 years. I went in on a one day pass...just to check it out. The change rooms are the same. I hadn't weighed myself in a long time and 195 was OK. The workout itself was in the conditioning room as machines have been moved back in from the gym.It wasn't very busy so I went about 65 min on a treadmill.which was alright. I weighed about 192.8 after so successful workout. I didn't like the fact no Kleenex anywhere ( except personal trainers office) under lock and key. Downtown has changed.. its really ugly w/,condos everywhere ( and more on the way). The things I did like were McDonalds next door so I could treat myself after and Winners (gym shorts/trackpants) and Metro nearby for groceries. Not sure if I am going to quit Hone Fitness..but the workout was good and I liked the stores nearby which I don't have on the Danforth. If my friends had rejoined I would be more likely to do the same.

Negative experience: While the staff is pretty nice but their phone never gets through. Imagine your kid is there at a camp and you want to reach out to them for an urgent matter......

Fantastic experience: Love this place

Fantastic experience: This is probably one of the best YMCAs in the city. Too bad I had to cancel my membership since now I have the gym in my building.

Negative experience: No internet connection

Negative experience: I want to return, but nobody returns my calls. i have left 3 messages.

Negative experience: how do you reserve a spot for the gym, because of covid. fix your website

Positive experience: I am trying to contact YMCA and see if the swimming classes will open soon. I was the first person in the line and waited for 45 minutes and after waiting for so long while I was the first person in the line, they just hung up on me. Very disappointed with the customer service!

Negative experience: Unfriendly and racist staff. All on power trips. Bad selection of equipment and very old. Not very flexible hours after covid. Most of the visitors here are not friendly, they are ready to pick a fight with you anytime.

Positive experience: The GTA YMCA is an affordable fitness centre in the City, centrally located with many different programs geared at different levels of fitness. Many of the programs have had online instruction recently. The building is well kept and recent changes due to covid takes social distancing seriously in their commitment to community safety. Have not been able to access the swimming pool for months and am looking forward to it.

Fantastic experience: Amazing facility, kind staff, and a jam-packed classes schedule

Fantastic experience: Good experience here Should be 4.5 Star ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️[ (0.5)] as the Staff sometimes a bit rude but NICE.

Fantastic experience: A huge community center with a huge heart to go with it! Inspirational, health, body, mind, and all the rest!

Fantastic experience: I was a student placement at Central YMCA, NIC ( Newcomers Information Centre) for two semesters. During this period, I gained valuable experiences and learned a lot about newcomers and their challenges. Prashant Shori and Yasaman Haghighat, were two people that taught me a lot of lessons. After graduating, I got a job in YMCA. I’m proud that I chose the YMCA as my field placement and I appreciate Prashant and Yasaman’s help and support.

Fantastic experience: Amazing facility to maintain good health and fitness! well maintained equipment, swimming pool is always kept clean and friendly staff. Lots of activities out here.

Fantastic experience: Great YMCA centre - lots of well maintained amenities. My only small issue is that they don’t notify when the pool is being maintained however other than that it’s great value.

Fantastic experience: Visited this YMCA as my friend is a member, and I checked in to register myself and 2 kids, boy (8) and girl (6) to go swimming. We are from outside the GTA and had an extra bag with us that would not fit in a locker. I asked the female staff, Parand, and she assisted me with placing the bag into an office. She was very nice, polite, helpful and welcoming. There is no entrance into the pool through the Universal change room, and she offered to help my little girl into the pool area after she got changed. Turns out that we did not use the pool as kids changed there minds. Still great to have had Parand help from start to end with our visit. I hope this message gets to Parand and hopefully we will be back for a family swim soon. Mike

Fantastic experience: Thus far my experience here has been absolutely breathtaking. The facility's eclectic design is captivating with a amiable staff that provide tantalizing service which is like pairing a Chateau Margaux 1787 with a 2000 vintage cote de boeuf. I cannot resist but to genuflect Al, Rita and fellow staff for their perpetual efforts in ensuring the pool and gymnasium are kept in pristine condition. My sole concern is the towels which feel like sandpaper.

Negative experience: The equipment is dirty Members do not clean up after themselves I would advise putting a towel on anything you want to use The work out mats come out black with dirt when wiped GROSS It's not up to members to tell the Y how to keep its business

Negative experience: Terrible experience restarting my membership. I put my 45/month membership on hold while I was on vacation, the employee who put it on hold said it could be restarted very easily, and when I came back today, the employee wouldn’t reinstate the same price, saying I have to pay 66/month instead. She didn’t seem to know what she was doing, saying because I signed up with Cooper Koo, that I’m only allowed to go there with that price, which is untrue. I’ve been going to central for over 4 months now and every membership at ymca allows you to go to multiple locations. Then she wouldn’t let me get back my card, felt like she was just holding it hostage unless I pay 66. Even when I had the Cooper Koo representative on the phone explaining that I should be able to get my price, she wouldn’t budge. I missed my class and left really frustrated. I’ve had a great experience with YMCA so far and this was the most frustrating experience, having walked all the way from work in the cold to there to get your card withheld, embarrassing and tiring. YMCA, Please align your ymca services and training or you will frustrate more customers. There are plenty of other gyms around and if it wasn’t the past good experiences and the politeness of the Cooper Koo location, I would be considering somewhere else.

Negative experience: Receptionist is awful.She didn't listen us at all. She didn't look at us. Ignore us. I feel really sorry to her and sorry to Central YMCA have her as receptionist. she is so racist.

Fantastic experience: Amazing facility, kind staff, and a jam-packed classes schedule

Positive experience: nice pool

Negative experience: They are very slow

Fantastic experience: Clean and very well run. Very friendly staff

Fantastic experience: Great place

Fantastic experience: Its in downtown, clean place. life guard called jason, hes very helpful & a wonderful person.

Fantastic experience: I moved to this Y from another Y Good facility. Clean and well maintained Friendly Staff and Members Class Fitness Areas are large to accommodate the larger Classes Large facility and so much to do. Lots of Classes to choose from at good times Updated machines and equipment They finally have a Functional Training Room with TRX Members are actually allowed to use TRX (unlike another Centre that only allows it for PT) Very busy Y. Parking is a challenge. Best to Transit it here.

Fantastic experience: A very friendly and well-organized environment with receptive proficient skilled staff. I went to this center a few days ago for my first CLB test and I highly recommend this center if you want to experience a totally stress-free test. The assessor I met, Arash was highly professional, disciplined, and respectful. The staff was kind and supportive in such a way that after the test I was directed to another nice person who advised me on bridging programs, employment services, etc. Highly recommend this center.

Fantastic experience: My first swimming lesson was with Maya 5 months ago.she was really positive and motivating.She got a good sense of skill level and was able to progress the lesson in the way that was comfortable for everyone.Miya is the best instructor I even seen.She is very professional and passionate.I'm pretty sure every student feel the same way. Thank you so much for everything. Keep it up!!

Fantastic experience: I love the Y! It's not fancy and the building could use some updating but it has all the facilities, equipment and instructors you need to put a great, varied workout program together. Truly a community with a great vibe as nd lots of support. Whether it's aquafit, swimming, pilates, yoga, weights, fitness class or children's programming, everyone is welcome, encouraged and you'll be embraced by the "spirit of the Y". Can't beat a place whose 4 core values are respect, responsibility, honesty and caring. See you there!

Positive experience: I use to go to the pool, which is nice and clean. Not too many people in the same time, so it's possible to free swim. The only issue I had is that when they have to close the main pool for cleaning or any problems, it will be very helpful to advise the customer via email or through the web site that the pool is not available.

Negative experience: Very dirty and old gym equipment swimming pool overchorinated and unprofessional staff,would not recommend