Sequoia YMCA

There’s nothing young about this place. The facility is old, the pool is old, the clientele is old.
There are 2 weight rooms, one with ancient equipment (mostly free weights) that no-​one really uses and a smaller one with all the cardio and the weight machines. The cardio is ok but the rest of the place is decrepit.
Pros
Front desk people are mostly friendly.
The sunday morning zumba class is great!
Cons
Old equipment
Weird, old, crotechy crowd. They don’t like sharing machines and god forbid you use one the cardio machines they want to use!
The pool is small and is kept so warm (for the old water walkers) that it’s not possible to lap swim.
The locker room is old and they don’t fix the broken showers.
Depressing nursing home atmosphere.

Exteme disappointment. What I thought would be a great experience went badly quickly. I have 2 children age 3 and 6. The age 3 child can not swim yet, and I wanted to use the child watch service, while I take my older boy to the pool. The child watch service is good, but the pool scheduling is asinine. We (parent +6yr old) got to the pool during the 10−11am «lap time» and were not allowed in. Then some aquatic yoga lady started saying that in 15mins, the quiet aquatic yoga would begin anyway — Sunday 11am. Then, I determined that young children could only swim with their parents during «rec time» Guess what? The only overlap between «rec time» and child watch is Friday night at 6−8pm. Which by the way is bedtime for our kids. The lifeguard on duty could careless about accomodating anyone but the old people doing laps and yoga. We are getting our money back and they will never see me again. I definetly do not recommend this ymca for families juggling different age children and those needing pool flexibility.
I will give the san mateo YMCA a chance now. San mateo seems to have lots of «rec time» pool that overlaps with day care

Great place! Young and old are here and the old talk about what killer hip hop they brought to the gym for the old timers work-​out hour or whatever. Friendly front desk staff with no attitude and just real people all about. It’s a neighborhood Y and it’s clean and funky and not quiet and people talk to each other here and notice each other here and make eye contact and remember faces and names after just a few days of showing up. It’s real.
The machines are clean and there’s so far been excellent access. Parking is tricky, but I prefer to ride my bike, to the gym, it’s a gym. Free front row bike parking all day long.
The real reason I go here is Cassandra’s tantalizing Yoga classes. I’m no Joe-​Yoga, but the chemistry in her classes just does it and I leave feeling refreshed and alive all day. Sore too and hot and sweaty. Her Vinyassa flow is challenging and soothing, without being repetitive or too much focused on breathing in unison. There’s a lot of freedom to do as you wish here, not group ballet on a matt. Led by a soothing voice and a spicy personality, the class faces towards the large windows and this adds to the uplifting let-​the-​light-​in mood of the hour. And her Restorative class is actually amazing. I’ve never felt so good after basically sitting for an hour. Better than going to a chiropractor in my opinion. Great hypnotizing music and a refreshing spray if you want it. I look forward to each class with joy. It could change your life, if you let it. Breathe luxuriously…

Love the pool, child watch, the classes, the gym and most of the staff!

The facility is pretty old, but most YMCAs are. For the gym, there are a lot of cardio machines but there aren’t very many weight machines. Sure, they have everything that oyu need, but it’s still not that many.
As for the weight room, it’s TINY! So small! Once again, it has the essentials, but that’s it.
The bball gym is pretty large so I imagine they have a lot of children activities in there. The childrens day care looks pretty nice, but I don’t have children so I haven’t encountered any of their staff.
The other staff, membership, are… ½ really nice and ½ kinda stand off ish. I come from a YMCA thats filled with really nice warm staff and to come in not knowing which membership you’ll be encountering… isn’t the greatest. But It is what it is!
They do have a lot of classes here and it’s nice beacuse they have a lot of different classrooms for all their classes. Even TRX! Bad thing is that if you’re a workaholic like me… the times don’t really work for you.

Since joining the Y last Spring this place has become part of my daily ritual… yes, daily. Mind you, not everything is perfect, but that’s life. I love the pool and the exercise machines room. The heated pool is rather warm for lap swimming, although most people can manage to do ½ hr of laps without getting overheated. It’s the pool classes that are the best, particularly most evenings and Saturday morning. Yes, the pool and dressing rooms get very busy with kids taking lessons during the summer, but it’s easy enough to work around those hours.
The exercise room is great, holding a wide variety of stationary bikes, cross trainers, and resistance machines. Morning, afternoon, or evening I have not seen anybody having to wait to use machines here, as I understand is commonplace in other gyms.
I find the staff, overall, very friendly and supportive. The only «minus», in my opinion, is that instructors are not accurately listed in the monthly schedule of classes and I wish they would fix that. Almost all instructors are very good, but I would rather avoid one or two, something that is impossible to do unless their role were properly advertised.

After looking at other pools in the area, I found the Sequoia Y pool to be just right for me. Clean locker room, clean toilets, clean shower areas and no hassle about how many towels I take. Pool workout instructors are enthusiastic and good natured without being over the top. No pressure to «compete» with others in the class… just lots of encouragement and great attitudes from staff and members alike. Yes, the parking lot is always busy… a sign that this Y is doing things right! I usually go in the morning for aqua classes and have always found a place to park.

Humiliated by front desk staff for not being able to afford membership. Was told by a ymca director that no one could be turned away for inability to pay but that was clearly not true or at least the staff here didn’t seem to care, just to openly pry about how I «maintain myself month to month» while smirking in front of other members and staff.

Been a member here since 2008. The staff is awesome, I don’t have to worry about it being too packed although lately it seems as if it’s outgrowing it’s current site.
Tip: If you value the ability to grab a treadmill without waiting… go after 7:30pm on the weekdays!

I joined YMCA at the Page Mill location, which has since closed. That place was awesome and had awesome hours, much better than this location. They had toiletries and racquetball there too, which this place does not have.
LOTS of kids in the afternoon and early evening taking swimming classes. The women’s locker room can get a little crazy during this time. The locker room here is definitely not as nice as Page Mill was.
Parents here definitely take advantage of the childcare available here. When I am running on the treadmill, the little kids like to look at me through the windows. This might bother some people but I like kids. :)
Biggest complaint: parking during peak hours is very difficult.
I am grateful that they have towel service here, but they are seriously the hardest, thinnest, scratchiest towels I have ever touched. Before the towel gets wet, it’s almost like rubbing your face with sand paper. Maybe a little fabric softener wouldn’t hurt?
Most of the time they don’t do this, but I hate when some of the staff starts shutting everything down prior to the actual closing time.
They also close early on Fridays (8:30p), Saturdays (6pm) and Sundays (5pm), which I find almost unacceptably early.
The unisex restroom near the front (for use mid-​workout versus having to go all the way back to the locker room) always has urine dripping around the toilet from men with poor aim. I wished they wiped that up more often (like frequently) as it’s just gross.
This facility’s layout is a bit funky and disjointed (like maybe they kept adding on to the original building?) For the longest time, I didn’t even know that some of the workout rooms existed.
I like that they have Purell hand sanitizer everywhere. Yay.

I wanted to warn people NOT to go here for swim lessons for your small children. My son went there for 11 months and could not swim. After making a big deal after 10 months in a level 1 class, they finally moved him to a level 2. But he still could not swim. That is alot of time, effort, 2 times a week, as well as money to waste on swim classes that are absolutely not effective. After 6 months, they should have come to me and said, what can we do to help him move on. His progress reports were inconsistent and sometimes said he had mastered concepts and sometimes not. There is a lack of communication at this swim school.
You cannot request a teacher for a class unless you get private lessons, which is at least twice as expensive. They don’t decide who is teaching the class until the day the classes start. And they keep switching around the teacher for the class, so there is no continuity. And again, no communication between teachers from month to month, nothing kept on record.
Learn from my mistakes. Don’t go here. Go somewhere else. Anywhere else.
We are now going to La Petite Baleen. With each session there, I see progress, more progress in once a week lessons than the twice a week lessons at this Y.
The facilities there are lackluster, so is the daycare area for kids. Although clean, I wouldn’t want to go there for a gym. It just isn’t «nice.»

I am a swimmer and the only reason I am not a member of the Y is because the pool is terrible. It is a sauna, overheated, tiny and crowded. There is no Masters, which is what the majority of Ys have. They tried to remedy the situation by opening up Herkner Pool this summer, which I wish happened all year round. Pllleeaasse, Sequoia Y, do something with your pool!

Yes I know this is a YMCA. Yes I know there are a lot of kids here. But no do I appreciate them running around everywhere unsupervised even the weight room picking up dumb bells and running around. I came here for a trial period for free since it’s close to home and I wanted to check out the classes and pool. I’ve been impressed about the YMCA in Fullerton when I used to live in OC so I figured this facility might be just as nice. I was wrong. I went in and showed the guy my trial pass and he had me sign a disclosure and that’s it. No tour, not even a clue where the locker room was! Strike one. And everything is so separate here. I had to walk around myself and get a sense of where things were. I even looked at a map that fighter fighters put up to show you where the exits are since I didn’t get a tour and didn’t know where things were. Machines are old and are comparable to what you’d find in a semi-​decent exercise room in apartments. I’m sticking to where I normally go to workout! Sorry, YMCA.

A plug for our local Y! I have been a member for 13 years now and I continue to be very satisfied and pleased with the variety of classes offered and the exercise equipment. The staff is consistently very helpful and friendly. I also enjoy the other members whom are friendly, down-​to-​earth and community-​minded. I started there to use the pool as a huge pregnant lady and then moved on to spinning class as soon as my baby daughter was old enough for the childcare service. I’ve tried a variety of offerings over the years and we have participated in the social activities. Lately with the TRX and spinning classes plus outdoor riding, I am excited to be attempting a 4 day, 250 mile cycling event next week!
Come in for a tour and some free trial workouts and see what I’m talking about!
…Jane

I love the Sequoia Y.
It’s sorta like Cheers, but without the alcohol. Everybody knows your name, and if you’re name-​impaired like me, you at least know everybody’s face.
I don’t even have kids, and I like that it’s very community oriented and family friendly. You can tell that people know each other, and the staff know the members. It’s not as glamorous as other gyms I’ve been to, but that’s one of the things I’ve always liked about the Y. If you enjoy a low-​pressure, uncrowded place to work-​out, the Y is perfect.
Also, the classes are fantastic. I especially like the Zumba, with Nora on Tuesday nights, and the kickboxing boot camp class (an awesome interval-​style work-​out with real martial arts elements) on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays with Joseph.
Also, parking is easy!

I joined the Y from the free trial in April and am so glad I did! I’ve lived in walking distance for almost two years and pass it all the time. Offer me a free month and I’ll check it out!
Another reviewer stated she had to give a credit card for the trial and left a bad review. I never gave my financial info until I joined, so one of us apparently worked with an inexperienced staff member. ;)
In that time I attended lots if classes to make sure I would get good use from joining. The instructors are all great and I absolutely love the laid back community environment. I used to belong to Crunch, while it was a great gym— it is nice to be away from the meatheads in the weight areas. Even more so, I never have to get to spin 20 minutes early to secure a bike!
I haven’t tried out the pool, but I will soon. Now that I live so close and work out many days a week, I might just want to get in a bathing suit.
The only downside is the expensive guest pass. My husband is too busy to justify the family membership, buy I’d love to bring him every now and then. $ 15 a pop seems a bit much.

*****ATTENTION PARENTS!!! YOU MUST READ MY MESSAGE IF YOU PLAN TO PUT YOUR CHILDREN IN THEIR CHILD CARE FACILITY*****
My 2 year old son CHOKED on beads that were laying on the floor. A room that has babies a young as six months had beads rolling around the floor for children to pick up and put in their mouths. I happen to be in the room getting ready to leave when I saw him put something in his mouth. When I tried to get it out he VOMITED 6 BEADS!!! I was furious! I grabbed my kids and marched over to the front desk demanding to speak to the manager, only to find some kid tell me he was the «manager». He took my information down and assured me that I would be contacted by the general manager first thing in the morning.
Low and behold, NO phone call. I called at Noon still fuming from the night before and got a hold of Nora. Turns out, the message was never passed on to begin with. What horrible training. I have a SERIOUS complaint that is a legitimate law suit and I can’t even get taken seriously by the evening manager?
Nora, the manager working, was actually very nice and did her research. She found out there were a few holes in their process
(1) there were more kids than the 1 to 10 ratio — and the child care instructor didn’t call for help. Either there is no protocol for backup or it is not used. Problem for parents of young children.
(2) There were beads on the floor from arts and crafts by the big kids earlier that day — CHOKING HAZARD
(3) There was no message passed on to management from the night time manager — Poor customer service.
(4) When she took me for a second tour to show me that there were no more beads and to assure me everything was safe.
All in all — most of the child care sitters are actually pretty nice, especially Brianna. I do think they care about the kids, I just think there is no emphasis on children’s safety or proper training for the busy times in the evening. There is a serious lack of communication between the management and the day care, which makes me worry about the safety of my children if something serious happened (as it did for me).
I would like to mention that the YMCA did follow up as promised and returned my money to me within a timely manner.
Also — I would love to give the spinning and Pilates classes 5 stars. They are awesome — all the instructors and the people that attended them regularly — it was a lot of fun to be there!

I love this place. The staff and Instructors are soo nice and friendly, they feel like family after 4 years coming here. The child care is great, gives me a 2 hr break to work out. I also take Pilates 2 or three times a week, classes are so much fun. Bonnie and Julie you’re the best. Love this place!

The Sequoia YMCA is the friendliest YMCA on the mid-​peninsula. This is why I like it. The facilities are adequate but not as grand as the other YMCA in the area. But the staff and the members are very friendly.

I used to work out here because my parents had a family membership. The staff were VERY friendly and the facility was always quite clean. I was happy using the locker room and showers too. You could get as many towels as you wanted as well in different sizes which is always a perk. The magazine selection was also great and the personal tv’s were nice too. It was almost always possible to get a cardio machine and not too busy. The pool was satisfactory though nothing amazing. I also tried a bunch of the classes especially yoga classes and really enjoyed them. Parking can be a bit tough because they don’t really have enough parking but otherwise a great gym!