El Camino YMCA

These guys were super friendly to me as a guest. I have been a member since I was a young boy in the 90’s. After turning 25 I had to give my family pass, but still like to go on occasion. Cliff who is part of the staff was a very welcoming to me and made me feel good about being there.

I sent an e-​mail to inquire about pricing to this location. The first time I did not receive any reply. I tried a second time and nothing happened again. A week later my second e-​mail was not only ignored but it was literally deleted without being read (I can see it with Outlook). All I can say is that whoever is in charge of opening e-​mails is a jerk and he/​she is unprofessional. There is no point in having an e-​mail if whoever is on the other side deletes them.
I resorted to driving to the location to find out that the fee to join the gym is $ 90, the monthly rate for 1 adult is $ 70 is and the monthly rate for 2 adults is $ 108. The guy at the front was nice and polite. If I remember correctly, his name is Randall and he apologized for the e-​mails (which he really shouldn’t because he is apparently not responsible for them — he receives e-​mails from managers or whoever is above him).
The place looks nice and clean, it has several good things like a pool and massage therapy on site but it still earns 2 stars, mostly for attitude and communication of whoever receives e-​mails. Hopefully, management reads this comment and looks into the situation.

Whoa! No hot water in the men’s and women’s showers for almost a month now. No rush on the part of El Camino YMCA staff to get it fixed. I’d like them to take a cold shower after their exercise class – maybe that would get them to fix the problem. Don’t waste your money here because they don’t care about their members.

Top 5 reasons why El Camino YMCA Tri Club is the Best Tri Club in Silicon Valley!
1: MAKE GOOD FRIENDS AND NETWORK WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
— Most athletes live & work in the surrounding neighborhoods (Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and etc)
2: SUPER DOWN TO EARTH AND EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGEABLE COACHES
— Each of our 4 coaches come with an impressive rep sheet. Despite their impressive accomplishments, they are happy to work with athletes of all levels to help them attain their goals. I started out not knowing how to swim, walk faster than I run and never bike longer than 2 miles; now, I swim in the ocean, run a 8:10, and love being on my bike! and crave to compete in races.
3: EMPOWERING TO WORK OUT WITH ATHLETES FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUND IN ALL ABILITIES
— We have athlete of all levels, from super strong Ironman/​Iron-(wo)man to beginner triathletes. Our athletes age from 25 — 70 years old. Within the group, there will always be someone better than you, and someone who is aspiring to be like you. No matter the differences in our fitness level, we find ways to workout together, improve together and have lots of fun racing. When I was a beginner athlete, I was dropped from another tri club during a cycling workout. This will never happened at this tri club. No one ever get dropped at a workout. In group outings, there is always a coach leading the course and a coach that stays behind with the newbies to make sure everyone is ok and safe. This tri club is really a team — we support and cheer for each other, and get through all the good and bad races together.
4: BEST WAY TO FIND RACE BUDDY /​TRAINING BUDDY
— We have so many great active members, chances are: you will always find someone to do a race /​training with. Do you want to cycle 60+ miles this weekend just for fun? Send out an email — you’ll find someone crazy enough to do it with. Do you want to charter a boat and swim from Alcatraz? Send out an email! You’ll probably get a dozen people who want to do the same thing! likely get a half dozen who want to do the same thing, and volunteer bystanders to give you cupcakes afterward!
5: EXTREMELY REASONABLE MEMBERSHIP FEE
— For a cost of less than buying a daily Starbucks (less than $ 60/​month), you get weekly access to 8+ coached workout (3 coached swim workout, 1 coached track workout, 1 trail run workout, 2 cycling class and 2 brick workout). Other tri clubs in the area costs significantly more!

During trial period, we decided it’s not for us. This review is for the pool and staff. Staff were non-​friendly and non-​helpful. We considered joining for the pool/​swimming mostly.
But the lifeguards are so militant! Understandably, there has to be rules for safety. But perhaps, they should be clearly stated and uniform among all lifeguards! It seemed as though every single lifeguard enforces their own rule. They all showed attitude when telling us all that we couldn’t do. At the front desk, we were told 2 lanes are available. Then, lifeguard says none and then one became available for lap swim all of the sudden when we were persistent. Then, we were kicked out of the lane so we just left.
One lifeguard was wearing laced boots, by the way. Is that proper attire for someone who should be ready to save a life? Perhaps, the first rule should be proper attire for lifeguards. Lifeguards are just for show maybe. And by the way, we had to stay with all our kids at all times. So what are they there for besides to annoy people?
It would minimize confusion if the receptionists at the front desk are aware of the rules/​schedules so they can inform people, especially newbies to YMCA, at check-​in. ALL YMCA Staff should really sync up on all their rules and schedules!
The entire facility seems to be well maintained otherwise. The kids club seems ok.

I’ve been a member at this facility since 2008. I’ve had a very good experience with this gym. It is good for people of all ages and fitness levels.

Update: Glaring racial Prejudice! The front desk staff needs to learn to behave respectfully towards its clients OF ALL RACES!
Nice location, clean facility, very nice atmosphere, great equipment and excellent staff! And a non-​profit organization, I cannot feel bad for their fees.
I hate going to the gym. It feels monotonous and all that burden of working out weighs heavily on my head. Since I quit n number of times before, one of my criterion this time was that it should be easy to get out of membership plans if I end up not using the facility without jumping thru those numerous cycles of not understanding the right window to request for cancellation. They have a policy that we should notify a week before the next billing period and we will not be charged another month. This plus their facility tour locked me in.
I’ve explored a few gyms before deciding on this as soon as I walked into that door. High ceiling, that huge glass windows showing us a glimpse of the swimming pool, and the relaxing lounge area set the mood of an non-​intimidating atmosphere. And if we go towards the cardio and weights area, they look out to the huge trees and greenery thru the huge glass walls. Well lit, airy and upbeat. The locker rooms are super spacious with so many lockers. And always clean. The showers are very clean too. the shower head pressure is just right, hot water supply is constant (I am talking about women’s locker rooms). Make sure you take your lock, just to be safe with your belongings you may want to store in the locker while you work out. I love the super quiet stretch room too! The wellness coaches can select and print out the stretch exercises one needs to do after a particular work out, like after strength training, or after cardio or after a particular group class. Super helpful! Clearly, they are not commercial, or trying to sell Personal Training sessions like at other gyms. They genuinely want to help members.
I went at different times of the day, the parking did not seem to be a problem to me. I always found parking and without hassle. The front desk staff is always friendly and ready to help.
The wellness coaches I’ve worked with went above and beyond their duty to continuously help me over multiple days spending the entire length of my strength training session to ensure I am doing it right and adjusting the settings and my posture even though I did not sign up for personal training. They are always willing to give us advice in a way that makes us want to come back. Guess, this is the only Gym, I’ve wanted to return back everyday and did not want to miss a day. The coaches, their attitude and the general atmosphere makes me want to linger longer at the gym doing some activity or the other.
Yes, the members are of all ages, but I like it. Since I am not that flexible or athletic, I want to be around people who are less capable of intense work out also, so I don’t feel the complex that I can’t do and I don’t want to feel embarrassed about my abilities. Plus, I like the family feel of this place, parents, children, senior citizens, it feels like it caters to a normal society than some particular section of the society. Most folks I spoke to in the locker room said that they love this facility too and hence have been coming for years.
I will not talk about the group classes and pool which have been covered by other reviewers.
The only con I saw was that, few folks seem to have a racial prejudice for people of Indian origin. I don’t blame them, but most folks of Indian origin are not familiar with the gym etiquette, so one might find them not wiping up the equipment after their use, or be conscious of people waiting behind and make way, or shower before entering the pool and such. If you see such instances, I would expect people to understand since some of these things are not things people of Indian origin are aware of or are conscious of, hence they are not being intentionally inconsiderate. In my case, people saw I am responsible and follow the general etiquette, most ppl warmed up to me. Now the staff recognize me personally and are very encouraging by recognizing my coming in everyday and helping me out.

As a swimmer, the facility is below par as a lap swim facility. Most public pools in the area, such as the Fremont High (Sunnyvale city managed) is by far better:
* lanes are deep and wide
* there is a contiguous 2 hour mid-​day schedule, whereas when the Y does have a contiguous swim time you are crammed into two lanes with many other swimmers competing for space on their narrow lanes.
* the staff is ok most of the time, because they need to do nothing. But once they need to take action then it becomes a different story. For example, the Masters program occupies all lanes twice a week at night, until 8:45, leaving us 45 minutes afterwards (not allowing us lap-​swimmers all lanes by the way, some are all of a sudden reserved for teaching). So these become precious 45 minutes. The Master’s guys just keep on swimming past 8:45, pretending or not knowing their time is up. You would think the staff would help us get our spot in the water. They just look the other way. When I complained they said «well, you can join the Master’s program…» — thanks for the help! And since then I’ve become their nemesis…
However, when it comes to closing time, all of the sudden the staff is right on it. Warning you minutes before the end, and making sure you don’t stay in for an extra minute.

I’m a swimmer, and from my perspective the swimming facility is mediocre at best, especially considering affordable alternatives such as the Sunnyvale pool at Fremont High School.
Here are some of the issues:
1. The pool is rather shallow, and has really narrow lanes.
2. Water is murky (relatively to the other pools), perhaps because the pool is shallow.
3. The lap swim lanes are overcrowded most of the time, so it having narrow lanes make a big difference because most of the time you swim 2 or more in a lane.
4. The lap swim schedule is just awful. Between 10AM and 9:30PM lap swimming is restricted to an average of 1.3 lanes (!).
5. Even if you are prepared to swim in the late night session (until 9:30 PM), you have less than one hour. And then, twice a week, the Master program folks take their time leaving the pool at 8:45, so effectively you are left with 35 minutes of swimming, having 3 or 4 people share a lane…
6. I tried talking to the staff about this dreadful schedule, but they really didn’t like the fact that I questioned their system. They were not helpful at all.

Facilities seem to be great. However, my phone was stolen here. They tell you to bring your own lock for the lockers, and that is definitely essential.

three stars is generous. I used to go to the Palo Alto YMCA and this one is much better. newer, brighter and more equipment. an outdoor pool too which is great. plenty of classes and open later than the PA YMCA. there’s no sign up sheet needed for the cardio equipment because there are enough machines. it’s a bit more high-​tech than the PA Y too, you can scan your own card to get in and there’s a nice big screen in the lobby that shows the class schedule
but…
more parking is needed. at peak times, you sometimes need to circle the lot a few times to find a space.
some of the staff are downright rude. I’ve had a couple of interactions with staff in the gym which surprised me. I get it if you’re busy and can’t help with something, but there’s no need to be rude. some of them really need to work on their people skills
they’ve recently started rationing towels. huh? is this really a problem? why should the customers have to wait and ask the desk person for a towel? just put them out as you used to. anyone can ask for two towels and in all the years I’ve been going to YMCAs I’ve never seen anyone take three towels, so the number of people abusing the two-​towel standard must be small. and so what if people need three towels? this is stupid
but the worst thing is the men’s showers. the smell is horrible. the water pressure alternates between low and very low. the water temperature is not consistent and turns from warm to cool and back arbitrarily. and it’s never hot. I don’t shower there anymore which is really inconvenient.

A couple months ago, I decided to make a lifestyle change and work out. I chose to check out the El Camino YMCA in Mountain View because it’s close to where I live so it’s convenient. Right when I walked in, I was greeted by Clif Chang. He was really nice and helped me with everything. He showed me around the place and I was satisfied with what I saw. Because of him, I felt really good about this place and ended up getting my membership. It was definitely a good choice.

Friendly staff, except for a lady who works in the wellness center. She scheduled my appointment with a wellness coach, not once did she look up from her computer.
Facilities are fairly clean. I’ve read that parking is an issue, but I haven’t had any problems with parking in the last 2 months.
My son goes to Kids Club while I exercise and most of the staff members do a great job making him feel welcome.
The atmosphere is great, non-​intimidating and relaxed. The group class instructors introduce themselves and provide lots of tips for your first class. I attended my first cycling class the instructor was awesome. She helped me find a comfortable setting on the bike before class. I also enjoy the yoga class with Dorothy, it’s a good blend of fitness and relaxation.

One of the best YMCAs in the Bay Area second only to the YMCA in the Presidio. Lots and lots of natural light, clean and very modern equipment.
I just joined this location 2 weeks ago and am in love with it. The weight room could be just a touch larger, but has all the equipment I need. In the rare times that something is being used, you can easily jump over to a machine which they have dozens of. Also love the dedicated stretching /​core room.

This «Y» is super nice, super clean, spacious and the people that work here are friendly, helpful and welcoming! The fact it is right next to the hospital, golf course and a strip mall 2 blocks away with piles of killer restaurants don’t hurt it much either!
I was really impressed folks! I will go back too!

Love this YMCA. The facility beats any other bay area YMCA, especially the outdoor pool and the weights area.
The staff is great and very personable here as well. Clif has always been super helpful to myself and my family.

Back in March 2014, I had knee surgery. Before the surgery I had a lot of pain with movement and especially with walking. I started going to physical therapy in April. I needed an inexpensive way to ride a stationary bike for the physical therapy. April happened to be a free trial membership month at the El Camino YMCA. At the end of the free trial period I joined. I go every other day. There is a sliding scale and because I am poor, I receive a 65% discount. The staff is friendly, kind and supportive. Everyone knows me there.
My father died in June. I received the call while I was at the Y. Staff members hugged me and Jeff told me about the Meditation Garden across the street at El Camino Hospital. I was there for over an hour and went back to the stationary bicycle to work things out. Also in June, I started swimming again, which I hadn’t done in years.
The El Camino YMCA has made a huge difference in my life. I can walk. That’s an enormous improvement in the quality of my life. When I first arrived there, I would practically crawl down the hallway to the gym. Now I stride. So I’m doing very well and I have the El Camino YMCA and the YMCA staff to thank for it.

Coming to this gym is always a pleasant time. There are many classes and activities for all ages from open to close. Even when some classes may be close to full, instructors make sure everyone can participate and adjust the intensity of their classes.
The staff is always open to assist you with any concerns and gym information on future activities
Also, this gym went through a major renovation, which makes or even more appealing to come every weekend or more often whenever possible whether is your significant other or your family
Keep up the good job and thanks!

STAFF: I got the sense staff here are very short-​tempered, they go out of patience easily.
MEMBER: A lot of member who exercised here are seriously old and ugly, in comparison, there are much nicer looking and younger member at 24 hr, city sports, rsf and even the Berkeley Y! If you like to indulge yourself around uglier or older ppl, this is the best spot for you.
In summary, total waste of 2 hrs of my time.

I have been a member of the YMCA for more than fifteen years and it still never ceases to amaze me. It has all the components of a world class gym: The equipment is top of the line, the classes are taught by incredible instructors, the personal trainers will help and motivate you, the locker rooms are clean (recently renovated), and there are massage therapy sessions for those who would like one. Please note that I am very passionate about fitness and have been to a lot of health clubs and gyms, so this review is saying A LOT. I would highly encourage anyone who has just moved to the Mountain View area who is looking to get back in shape (come on, let’s be honest) to check out the El Camino YMCA or the local one near your area if you do not live closeby (the other ones are just as good). The amount of service and attention you get for your membership fee is absolutely incredible and I can promise that you will be satisfied.
One more thing: If you are not rich enough to afford your own in-​home gym, then you are not rich enough to act like the YMCA isn’t high class enough for you. If you are the type of person that only likes the health clubs that charge a gazillion dollars for their membership fee, have scented candles near the free weights, and offer a million different spa options after your workout, then please stay away from here. You will only encounter non-​pretentious, working, serious-​about-​exercising people at this gym that will only be irritated by you.