Bayside Family YMCA of Barrington

The pool is lovely, although often busy. My experience with the aquatics classes has been wonderful and the morning lifeguards Carol and Dan are friendly, professional and organized. I love them. What I don’t love is the lack of helpfulness from the studio class teachers. I actually have a regular gym that I go to, the fabulous Barbelle, Real Fitness for Women, in Swansea whose staff will always seek out those who are new and will look out for them. This is quite the opposite at the Bayside Y. The cycling teachers do nothing to help you set up your bike the first time and the teachers in other classes I’ve taken are equally unhelpful. Well, Ariadne is quite helpful in yoga, but otherwise — not a fan of the classes here. For those who like to work out on their own, the wellness center has lots of good cardio and strength equipment, but the room is a little dank.

For full disclosure, I have never worked out at the Bayside Branch of the Y, this review is strictly for there AWESOME Kids summer day camp… Camp Manitoo!
This has been the best summer experience for my child, and myself… EVER! My kid LOVES summer camp at Camp Manitoo at the Bayside Y, and I love what it does to my kid! First, the hours the camp runs is very convenient for working parents. Drop off is 8:30−9am, but they do provide pre-​camp child care, and pick up is anytime up to 6pm. Trust me, any kid who is at day camp from 9 – 5, will be a tired kid at the end of the day! How can they not be tired, they swim 2x day… in an indoor pool and outdoor pool. My kid has armfuls of arts and craft projects each day that she can not wait to show me. She has a blast everyday.
And what do I get out of this… a very dirty, but tired kid at the end of the day who now eats all her dinner, is too tired to complain about her evening bath, and sleeps for 12 hrs a night… hallelujah!

With the recent renovations (expected completion date June 2013), newly paved parking lot, and the overall expansion, the gym is finally starting to shape up quite nicely. Of course, it is still quite expensive, but the staff are very friendly and are willing to workout with each individual members to find the best plan for them. Unfortunately, I would still prefer the gym to have a larger weight room with a shower room with curtains and hot water. The ventilation still needs work and it would be nice to have music playing at an audible level in the background.
FYI: The average demographic for this place is a bimodal distribution, from 13−18yo to 50+.

Great gym for the area.
I got tired of Planet Fitness and switched to the YMCA to gain access to the pool, exercise classes, and the fitness equiptment.
I started at the Newman YMCA in Seekonk, but transferred here to Bayside after the finished rennovation and my move from Providence to Riverside.
I love that I usually don’t have to wait for a cardio machine because there are so many. Opposed to Newman Y having 2 standard ellipticals… this Y has 8 ellipticals with just as many treadmills!
The service is outstanding. The ladies at the front desk are so nice, fun, and helpful.
The East Bay Bike path crosses the parking area to this gym, plus there are walking trails behind the Y.
Plenty of exercise classes.
Not as many zumba classes as other YMCA’s, but there are options for sculpt classes and cardio classes.
During the cold months or rainy days, this gym offers a great variety for a frequent exerciser like me!