Los Altos Family Branch YMCA

I love the Los Altos YMCA! The staff is very friendly and being a part of the Y is like a community and family. The Aquatics Director Claire is amazing she is very helpful and has really improved the swim program for the past two years. My absolute favorite classes are the HITT and Power Core pretty much anything taught by Ami. She is amazing and I always feel like I had an amazing efficient workout. The new additions to the Y are a plus like the TRX classes, rowing machine, spin bike, paint job, and flat screen tv’s.

Friendly staff that always greets you as you walk in or leave the facility. I love their new upgrades! And plus, it’s very clean.

For what it is, the Los Altos Y is great: friendly employees, a fairly diverse set of cardio and weight machines, and a couple of smaller rooms you can use for stretching or body weight exercises if classes are not happening. I have never had to wait for cardio equipment or even for benches in the weight room, which is awesome, and I appreciate the family-​friendly and welcoming vibe (unlike some of the other big name chain gyms nearby). My main concern with the Y is their hours… it is a bummer not to be able to come in and work out on a holiday or even a Sunday morning before 11am. But, if you plan around that it can work.

Love Zumba instructor Jennifer Franco’s at the Los Altos Family YMCA. She is a fabulous instructor who takes the time to explain the whys and how to avoid and prevent injuries. She makes Zumba fun and I look forward to her toning and gold classes. She is excellent instructor and love the wonderful energy she creates.
Kathy N.

This is the first gym I have ever been able to go to consistently and still love it every time. The child care team rocks. The classes are the best. The front desk team knows our whole family by name. Most of the lifeguards do too. The swim lessons have been great for my 3 year old.
Mostly I love the familial culture of support. I haven’t experienced the typical gym culture of comparison and judgement that I associate with many gyms.

I’m extremely happy with this YMCA and especially the classes geared for «older» members. My favorite classes are Jennifer Franco’s «Zumba Gold». She is an excellent teacher and I love this class. It’s a lot of fun and is like a dance class which I love. I also love Lori R’s «Pilates (ball) class and her «PiYo» classes. She is also an excellent teacher, very caring and makes everyone feel so welcome. I’m also delighted to be in exercise classes with other women in my age group who are all very friendly.

Can’t say enough about Chris Lousnbury, a trainer at the Long Beach Los Altos YMCA. At 62, I’m amazed at how toned and strong I’ve become this past year, and it’s mainly because of Chris’ great expectations for me. He always encourages me to go beyond my own capabilities and takes into consideration any areas that I need to strengthen due to past injuries. He’s the absolute best!

My review is for the swim program. I can not say enough about the instructors in the swim program. They are patient, fun, and excellent at pushing kids «just enough» to acquire skills. My daughter was attending a much more expensive 1:1 swim school for safety. For half the price and triple the amount of pool time, she is now an amazing swimmer at 6 because of the Y. I credit the phenomenal instructors and the swimming coordinator by running an awesome and affordable option for families!

I love the YMCA Los Altos and Lakewood.
My two children love the kids club, I feel safe leaving them with people I trust and have gotten to know.
At Los Altos;
My favorite classes include Yoga Flow with Kristen and Lori.
Pilates with Michele A. Is a complete body workout with lots of energy, great class!
I wish there was more mommy and me type of classes or activities.
Check out a class, you won’t be sorry.

i am extremely happy with the ymca, the staff cares for the kids and the communication is excellent my daughter was there since she was in kindergarten all the way to 7^th grade, now my son is there too he is in kindergarten. The director is constantly looking for ideas to keep kids entertain and at the same time they spend time on reading and they help the kids with their homework. During the summer every week is a theme week they based their actives accordingly with the theme, and they go on field trips, different parks and different beaches and they have a main field trip like knotts. They also provide transportation picking up and dropping off to school in the area… I highly recommend this place i feel that my kid is safe when i am at work

Wow! Worked out here last summer and we just came back today. They totally redid everything from the paint to new workout equipment, a coffee bar and even have free WIFI. Staff is friendly. The gym is always clean and members are friendly. Great Y.

My review isn’t for the entire facility, but for their swim program. We enrolled our pre-​schooler in the swimming class at the Los Altos YMCA. The swim instructors/​life guards there all seem to be college aged young people who get distracted easily and do no approach their part time jobs with any sense of professionalism.
They are more interested in socializing than teaching 4 – 5 year olds to swim. Teaching, in and of itself, requires patience and motivation that most young people don’t have as of yet, especially for a minimum salary. And teaching young children to develop a particular skill set even requires more competency and desire on the instructor’s part. We didn’t see that at the Los Altos YMCA, and we weren’t the only family that noticed that it was missing.
I don’t necessarily blame the instructors; I know they have a difficult job, and they are young and perhaps inexperienced with certain things. I do, however, blame whomever is in charge of hiring and supervising them, and allowing their lack of effort to be displayed in full view of watchful parents.
Bottom line, the facility itself seems small and basic. I don’t know about their other programs. But if you intend on joining this YMCA with the intent on having them teach your young one how to swim, from my experience, I DO NOT recommend this particular YMCA.

Tried for awhile to sign up for private swim lessons, no email back, no call back. Finally, found a way to sign up online. First day, reception not very ‘receptive’ or helpful. Nobody seemed to know anything… facilities adequate but tired… I know they depend on fundraising and membership, but I would not join here. Swim lesson for pre-​schooler with no experience, too advanced. not sure the teacher knew what he was doing. Disappointed. I am used the «Y“‘s in my old Orange Co neighborhood were beautiful & professional. Not sure all of the good reviews on this page were for the Los Altos Y. they are waaay different than my experience in 2014.

Feb. 16, 2014 — The kid’s club staff has improved and there’s more things for older kids to do. We’re going to try «Parents’ Night Out», once, to see if the child care might be better.
I became disillusioned with LA Fitness when I couldn’t find a piece of workout equipment at 8 pm, nor at 4pm, not even peak hours, so I gave the Y a new chance. The gym experience is so much better and the staff is more pleasant, and the kids’ club for the gym-​goers has improved, as well. I still won’t leave my kid there for day care, but I’m pleased with the gym.

Guys. It’s a «Y». As far as they go, it’s not bad. Very clean, helpful, friendly staff. Typical group showers. It’s small, but the equipment is newer and in good working order. I never have to wait for a treadmill or elliptical or recumbent bike. Lots of people above the age of 40 and it’s not a fashion show nor is it real loud and competitive. So, take it for what it’s worth. It’s 3 stars, A-​OK.

Great gym… friendly front desk, good selection of equipment for a smaller gym, and you don’t have to dress up to work out! I just took my first yoga class and enjoyed that too!

I wish I had read the reviews before joining the Los Altos YMCA.
We’d been members of LA Fitness for a few years, but recently decided a more family-​oriented gym would better accommodate us and our 4 year old grandson.
The pool appears clean. There are a couple of lanes for lap swim and an area for free play. The water temperature is not too hot, not too cold.
The weight room is clean. The machines are in decent repair. There is usually a cardio machine available, so the wait (if there is one) is not too long.
Two of the 3 classes posted on the website schedule have been cancelled till further notice. I learned this through hit or miss as the otherwise very friendly desk staff were not aware that the class I was going to (when I asked which room it was in) was «no longer.» Both times, both classes. I spoke with the person responsible for this (we eventually found her working out on a life cycle — evidently she did not let the other employees know where she was going to be).
I received a «bring a friend for free» email and replied to it to alert them that the class schedule link was still inaccurate. I had to laugh when the «sender» responded and explained he was no longer the membership director.
It’s been almost 3 months and the website schedule is still unchanged and inaccurate. I really miss LA Fitness, especially the Bodyworks classes. A photo of my before and after body would serve as a perfect testament as to how the Los Altos YMCA is lacking.
Needless to say, we are looking for another family-​friendly gym, with an accurate schedule and with classes I like.

Friendly staff, clean interior, large locker rooms, and large (non-​private) showers.
I took my preschooler here for swimming lessons (and liked it better than the other Y we went to previously). The people teaching the lessons are more calm and patient and there is a good ratio of male vs. female teachers. Apparently, the teachers all work together well, too. When the male swim instructor noticed that my daughter was having a hard time with him, he had a female instructor come over to see if that would help get her in the pool (he didn’t realize that it was the POOL and not him that had her not wanting to get in — lol). It didn’t work, but I do appreciate the fact that he tried. Also, from the first class on, he remembered her name every week. I was amazed by that.
On first glance, prices seemed steep for swimming lessons here, but after searching around, I found that this is one of the least expensive places for my little one to take group lessons… and since she is scared of the pool and doesn’t want to get in, that’s a good thing that it’s cheap!
Small parking lot, but there is a lot of parking on the north side of the bldg and in the park in the back of the bldg.
I’m not a member so I am not sure about the prices for everything else, but prices for swimming lessons are a good deal.

This gym is ok. There is a lot of parents that go there to workout. The hours kinda suck closing at 8:30pm and closed on holidays. That is tough for a busy working college student. The staff are friendly, even the creepy janitor guy who stares at the girls.
I went to this place for like 3 years for the student rate. But when they raised it, I was out. Right now, I don’t have a gym. Currently gym shopping.

Lately I’ve been growing dissatisfied with the Y.
The rates went up.
Their holiday hours were brutal.
But more importantly, the gym is inadequately equipped for serious training. It works just fine for soccer moms pretending to work out, but I need more equipment. Barbells, incline benches, dip bars and a calf raise machine off the top my head.