Princeton Family YMCA

Not the best Y in the country. The place is run down and needs a huge make over. The teachers are all nice and professional tho. They treat the kids good and that’s more important than anything.

They are inspired by the «Judeo-​Christian heritage». And they «serve people of all ages, races and creeds, with an emphasis on families and youth». Except children who want to swim during the day — no can do. Your family pays their very steep monthly membership, but your kids can’t swim until after 5:30pm.

Okay, so the building isn’t fancy– it could use some updates, but overall– I have no complaints about our local Y. I learned to swim here as a kid, my daughter takes swim lessons here now, and they have free child care available every weeknight and Sat mornings. The group exercise classes are fun– I’ve always felt welcomed and included by all of the group fitness instructors. For less than a hundred bucks a month, our whole family has full use of the facilities. I’d rather come here than pay twice as much for a gym membership.

Actual star rating 3.5 stars.
This Y is perfectly functional and serves my needs whilst in Princeton for the next few weeks. It has a pool, cardio room, weight room, and a general purpose room for group classes. You need to buy a membership to use the facility — this is where I have a couple of gripes. First, the «joiners’ fee» (a.k.a., activation fee)…this is steep. The student-​priced joiners’ fee is $ 45 and the adult fee is $ 150. This is a mandatory fee. Once you pay this fee, you don’t have to pay it again AT THIS YMCA. Should you want or need a Y membership at a different Y, you have to pay another joiners’ fee! Why isn’t this fee transferable?
On top of the joiners’ fee is the actual membership fee (one month student membership is $ 27 and a one month adult is $ 63). Yikes. I was lucky that the staff guy gave me a huge discount on my membership because I was only going to be in town for a few weeks. Not all staff will be as accommodating, so buyer beware!
Second, the facility as a whole is a little on the drab side. The actual cardio machines are new but the walls and building are old. No awards for interior design!
Third, the staff attitudes range from really nice to borderline mean. While in the pool the other day, one lifeguard begrudgingly admitted I could use the deep end half of the pool while the toddler swim class occurred in the shallow half. Cool, I thought. However, the other lifeguard wasn’t happy with that. After telling her what I was told, she rolled her eyes and muttered a «whatever» in response. Really?
Oh well. At least the water pressure in the showers is strong (free massage!).