YMCA Fairfax County Reston

My husband, kids and I are members here. Our kids attend child care activities, but in the summer and during the school year. I also attend fitness classes and my husband works out here in the winter.
The paid child care programs are wonderful. The activities are exciting and keep my son engaged. I am mostly impressed with the staff. It is clear that there job is to be role models and help our children be good citizens, not just baby sit our kids and make sure they don’t hurt themselves. My son does his homework, plays sports and does several activities and field trips. The staff always says hello and good bye. My son had some challenges at a less structured child care program. He has had a complete turn around since we’ve joined the Y.
Fitness facilities are good also. Yes, this is a family friendly type environment. This is not your serious, iron pumping, loud grunting, male dominated gym. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll be bummed. What you will find is a wide variety of machines, facilities and classes. They are clean and well organized.
The only thing I would like to see improvement on is the included child care. If your child potties, needs a diaper change, or even needs help in the bathroom, they will not help them at all. It’s frustrating because they will call for you, but if you’re in a class, you don’t know because you can’t hear them. This has been a deterrent to me working out until my daughter was fully potty trained. Other gyms do not have this challenge, so I’m not sure why they do here.

So far, so good. Toured the facility a few months ago and was given two trial passes to use. Life happened and we weren’t able to try them out until recently. Liked what we saw and signed up in March as they were waiving the initiation fee which can be upwards of $ 100.
I have been there during both peak and non-​peak hours. Even during peak I didn’t have trouble finding a cardio machine although the weight area can get a bit congested. I use their childcare for my son and they seem to manage the chaos relatively well. This is my son’s first experience in childcare and he has a bit of stranger danger but the ladies in there have been guiding me on how to get him adjusted so I can work out for longer than 20 minutes :)
I haven’t taken a class yet but they seem pretty full when I look in. Off peak it can feel like you have the gym mostly to yourself. I haven’t signed up for any programs yet but a baby swim class is in our near future. The only con so far in the overwhelming smell of chlorine when you walk in and work out but I guess that’s par for the course with swimming facilities.

I have been a long time member of this YMCA and call it home. I am in there 3 – 4 times a week and still don’t take advantage of all they have to offer. There are a wide variety of classes to choose from, programs for the kids, a nice pool, steam rooms, trainers, etc. I especially enjoy the training advice and assistance from the very knowledgeable staff.
I highly recommend it to my friends and out of town guests often! Give it a try!

This place is ok until it’s no longer ok. One of the kids in my care, who has membership here and attends swimming classes had an incident at the pool. Upon investigation, I recognized OSHA violations and unsafe conditions for the kids. Life guards are not properly trained in First Aid. Management’s response to the incident was less than professional. When we pointed out the safety issues, instead of admitting the issues, my membership was mysteriously cancelled! I recommend you keep your kids away from here!

I have been to many different gyms in the area and abroad in the last 6 years. Other than gyms that charge $ 200+ I believe the Y is worth the fee, especially since they work on a sliding scale.
They have a caring child watch staff which can be hard to find since some gyms just provide lots of screens for the children while the staff sits on their own phone.
The cool part about being a member of the Y is being able to visit other YMCA facilities and either pay a minimal fee (the one in Milbrae, CA charges $ 5 each time) or go for free, although sometimes certain parts of the facility are additional charge (Chambersburg, PA).
I absolutely appreciate the staff at the Y. Good customer service has become a dying tradition it seems (surprising since Americans are entrepreneurs and good customer service is a fabulous way to stand above the crowd) most places I go I am greeted with indifference or even hostility, but I know at the Y I can count on a smile when I come through the door.
Thank you YMCA reston!

Personally I love the YMCA Reston location. Every morning and afternoon I see happy parents or irritated parents. The problem is that some of the parents don’t understand the stress these staff members are under. I completely understand when ages ago I was one also. Staff members are ranged from 16 and up. Some parents feel uneasy putting a child with a younger staff member but then again you have to realize that these younger staff members have a lot of energy and youth and most likely fit within the camp and their personalities are great for they certain camp. The staff members follow through many procedures in order for your kids to be safe and to have fun. I don’t think it’s right to get frustrated at the staff when they just want to please you. It’s not easy having 12 – 45 kids at one time age ranging from 3 – 15. It’s hard to get the kids listen all day long and follow directions and keep them from getting into trouble. It is not easy for these staff members to still have a smile on their face by the end of the day but they still do it! So relax, I love YMCA Reston. Best camp there is.

Friendly staff, lots of equipment, very clean, and with members of all ages and sizes makes for a welcoming, extremely comfortable and unpretentious community gym. They have an indoor pool and saunas, indoor basketball court (which you can look down to watch if on the track one floor up), trainers, wide variety of classes, programs for kids, adult sports teams and more. I can’t help but wonder if some of the negative reviews are from the competition or members of other gyms.
About the comment about underage kids, there haven’t been kids upstairs in the gym area when I’ve been there, regardless of time of day.

I was a member at this Y for about 7 years. I used the upstairs equipment and the pool. I liked it well enough while I belonged UNTIL I saw what a fitness center like Lifetime offered for about the SAME PRICE! The Y has outdated locker rooms (too few shower stalls, peeling, rotting laminate), old equipment upstairs, not enough room dedicated to free weights and stretching, etc. Don’t get me started on the pool — lap swimmers were third class citizens to lessons, family swim, and aquatics, and became the driver for me to try some place new. I could not be happier at Lifetime… YMCA — get with the program: update and embrace change or continue to lose membership.

If you want to work out with a bunch of underage kids, then this is the place to go to. What a joke of a gym…
I’ll be canceling my membership…

I joined the YMCA in Reston, at the end of January 2015. The front desk staff are very friendly and helpful. My fitness coach (Pete) is fantastic. The gym is very well maintained and gives me what I need. Plenty of cardio machines, plenty of strength conditioning machines, a great 2 lane ¹⁄₁₄^th of a mile indoor running/​walking track, and a nice 8 lane pool. I also like the fact that the gym is used by everyone from 3 to 93. The gym is good for individuals and families. One thing no one has mentioned is that during the warmer months (if you’re an outdoor activity person) or if you happen to go away for long travel, you have the option of putting your membership on hold from 3 to 6 months. I really like having that option.

I was not planning to write a review, but in reading some of the reviews of the kids’ summer camp, I feel compelled to write a retort…
My children have been enrolled in one of the two week summer camps for the past three years. (I’m divorced so I get them for half the summer). The first summer we chose Lake Fairfax Day Camp and Pre School camp onsite. For the Lake Fairfax camp, my daughter did not know anyone here (she lives in PA) but she loved the camp. There were plenty of activities to keep her occupied, hikes, games, lunch and exercises. Yes, the «counselors» are teens with a summer job but they all were very helpful and attentive to all the children. (Reading the past reviews, I stuck around and watched some of the activities out of sight of the counselors, just to be sure). The pre-​school camp provides plenty of activity and snacks/​lunch provided (I stopped by early a few days, the food provided was healthy and the kids enjoyed it).
My children love to swim. So the following year I enrolled them in «Little Squirts» and Junior Aquatics. My son (who was 5) was afraid to dip his toes into the water before the Little Squirts camp. After the camp, he walked right into the pool and was so comfortable with the water. He knew how to climb out of the water (essential when grandparents live on the water) and to not panic. My daughter was able to learn to swim underwater, exit the pool at the wall, and to develop essential swim skills. My parents even commented on the change in confidence when it came to swimming following the summer camps. Yes, the camp «counselors» are teens but they were all cognizant of the children (I again watched from afar) and were calm when kids had expected meltdowns. In fact, we ran into one of the teens at the Target next door and she remembered my children and greeted us.
This summer, we chose Junior and Senior Aquatics. Yes, there are probably 25 – 30 children in each class, but they have at least 4 or more counselors assigned to each class. I was impressed they knew my children by name after the first day. Yes, the day is broken up with two swim sessions (morning and afternoon) but they build in plenty of activities (gym, lunch, crafts, scavenger hunt, etc) in between. Having the luxury of working only 5 minutes from the YMCA, I have stopped in at various times to watch the camps and I see the teen counselors fully engaged and the children enjoying the activities. When I had a long meeting and had to pick them up after 4:30pm, the cams were watching a movie and my kids were not happy to leave the movie and their new friends (and my children, as previously mentioned, do not live in Reston). After one week, I took my daughter to an RA pool and asked her to show me what she learned in camp. She learned to freestyle swim as well as the backstroke. (For the review that indicated «the children are not really taught how to swim or how to improve their swimming» — I have to respectfully disagree). I watched the Junior Aquatics from behind the glass and could see the instructors were clear and fun with their swimming tips and my son was happy to show me his new skills at the RA pool.
If I had to find a con to the YMCA and swim camps: the pool is very heavily chlorinated so if you have a child with longer hair, be prepared to go through several bottles of conditioner to get out the knots. Also, they do not publish the daily schedule however if you go to check at lunch, the children will be at one of four places at the Y. The morning check in is a zoo but after the first two days, you’ll be able to navigate it.
Yes, the camps are expensive. $ 820 for two weeks for two children. But this –is– Reston. What do you expect? If you want a cheaper camp, then move to West Virginia. ;)
Overall, 4 out of 5 and aquatics camps are highly recommended.

NEVER, NEVER, sign up your kids for summer camp at the Reston YMCA. The experiences of both my children were dreadful. My eldest was signed up for a rock climbing camp and he was only taken rock climbing two (2) out of the 5 days of the camp. Any attempts to get our money back due to what was obviously fraudulent behavior and false advertising were rebuffed by local management. The same with aquatics camp: the children are not really taught how to swim or how to improve their swimming by indolent instructors more interested in talking to each other than teaching the children. This is a HUGE waste of money. I’d recommend Sports&Health summer camps, which are as pricey as the YMCA but you at least get someone to pay attention to your children with no FRAUDULENT behavior involved.

Short review from out-​of-​town YMCA member. I go to Y’s all over this country and get a great workout; but this is the ONLY YMCA that charges out-​of-​town members $ 5 to work out.
I gave them a 2 (instead of 1) because the people at the counter were generally nice and the kickboxing instructors were very friendly.
PS. Since I was there 2 weeks, they offered me a $ 20 two-​week pass. Next time I’ll just find a similar deal from an LA Fitness or 24hr Fitness.

I was really surprised to read some of the scathing reviews of the Reston Y. The last time I had a membership was 10 years ago when I needed after-​school and summer camp for my kids. Had not been there in several years, but recently I signed up again and have been pretty happy.
Not sure what people expect from a gym, but what I and my now teenage son noticed right away is how comfortable we feel there. He’s usually really self-​conscious, so the fact that he feels free to work out there speaks really well of the place. He had help settling in from a really patient and understanding personal trainer. It’s definitely a family place. Parents and kids are always coming and going from camps, daycare, basketball, and swimming. Mostly what I noticed is that it continues to be a real community place. Seems like every time I’m there I run into someone I know — a neighbor, someone from church, someone’s college age kid. Not too many teens or 20-​somethings though.
In general I avoid gyms, so I have nothing to compare this to except a gym at my former company. I don’t know how this compares to other area gyms like Golds or Worldgate. This just happens to be convenient for my son and me. It’s easy to get to and I think the cost for a parent +1 is reasonable.
Recently I took swim lessons and met some other really nice students in my class. The teenage instructor was really sweet and had the right approach to my lessons — which was just teaching me to enjoy my lap swimming by changing up my strokes, buying a waterproof iPod (really!). I tested out of Level 2 during the first class and they had no problem calling in another instructor for the next 7 weeks. A teen student joined us and the instructor didn’t seem to having a problem with teaching just the two of us.
I can’t speak for the membership, cancellation, and camp problems people have had — just hasn’t been my experience so far.

Review of swimming lessons only.
30 minute lessons for a 5 year old kiddo. These lessons have built within her a greater confidence in the water. This is all thanks to her caring, fun teacher whom she now admires.
My only complaints are more towards the facilitly itself… the pool area is stifling and the family changing room lacks in space, especially since it’s a main entrance for the pool.

Huge disappointment! I joined this gym during the winter months because it features an indoor track that I can use whenever the weather is too chilly. At $ 83/​month, I truly expected and dare I say deserved, a quality fitness experience.
Unfortunately…
1) The members and staff are rude, cold, and unfriendly.
2) There are kids all over the place, sometimes running on the track unsupervised.
3) The gym is noisy and overcrowded. The use of space is not very efficient.
I DO NOT recommend this gym for serious athletes or for those seeking a professional and pleasant gym experience.
The one star is for the fact that there are no contracts, and so you’re not locked into a commitment. Whew!

We’ve had a positive experience at the Y — until this past month’s shady membership fee overcharge.
My husband and I had a family membership. I recently had to cancel my portion of the membership due to serious injury, so we expected our membership charge to be lower this month. However, to our surprise, the charge was higher than what we were previously paying. $ 12 higher.
Confused, we gave the Y a call. Apparently, we were charged some year-​end «assessment» fee, which we were never told about upon signing up for membership. When asked about it, the representative on the phone informed us that they sent a letter a month ago explaining the fee. How convenient — sending a letter in late November to tell people about a year-​end assessment fee.
Assessing what, exactly? Assessing how well you can defraud people?
Unfortunately this left a sour taste in our mouths and we’re completely canceling our Y membership and will avoid all memberships in the future.

I belonged to this YMCA off and on for close to eight years. The folks who work here became like family. I loved the yoga and cycling classes. Rebecca S. offers a kick ass power yoga class. I eventually ended my membership because I was unhappy with the child care program that did not allow my two children to play together because of a 2 year age difference. I complained to several employees but the childcare was structured by a new director who wanted to implement curriculum for the gym’s drop off care. I have to say that what mattered most to me was seeing my children have a fun and active experience at the gym; I was less interested in their having an academic experience at the gym.
I still miss this gym though. Jill, Rebecca, Mike and Ruan are awesome.

Really ridiculously priced. Small. Cramped. Outdated feeling. They have updated the equipment since last year but everything else including the locker room feels so old school.
The basketball court is a joke too. It’s really small and in use most of the time, giving you a really small half court with one main basket and two side baskets to deal with meaning you have 3 games going on at once in the same space. The good news is that classes are plentiful and free childcare is available.
I got the same speech that John O. did about «Did you know you live in the richest county in America?» Well, not the richest I had to correct her. But that doesn’t excuse one from overcharging for inferior quality. Especially when there are better gyms within a few miles that charge considerably less. And what makes it even worse is that the lady told us the land/​space was donated to the YMCA for FREE by the county! WTF do you need to charge so much for?
What really pissed me off initially is that I asked for a specific membership counselor I spoke to over the phone earlier that morning to give us a tour. I introduced myself and held my hand out to shake hers for about a minute while she stared at me superciliously because she didn’t remember who I was. Rude.

$ 83 per month!!!
I don’t care how nice or good it is. No. Especially when I asked, several times, to be sure I wasn’t being quoted a family membership or something, and was told, «Well, this is one of the highest income areas in the country». That’s great, but I don’t pay $ 8 per gallon of milk or $ 15 for each gallon of gas.
Avoid. There is zero reason to pay this much for a gym. Unless they include personal training for that, which I doubt.