Chapel Hill - Carrboro YMCA

"This is a great local gym with a great pool, indoor track, basketball courts, and squash courts. The facility is slightly run down. The equipment is decent. The hours on the weekend are not as late as I would like. The staff is super friendly and you see a wide range of people from different backgrounds and demographics."

"I've been a member since 1987 and I think that it's time go to a different gym. The hours have been cut severely because of COVID. The lack of parking when there are kids programs is a problem. Because of the limited hours, the weight room is always packed and the pool hours for people who work is laughable (no lanes past 3:30 on weekdays). On the positive side, the children's camps and programs are great. If you are retired and can get over to the Y during the day, you shouldn't have any problems."

"A mediocre membership for a premium price. I would have preferred to have rated them 2.5 stars, but that option is not available. I wish for the day when I can speak of my community Y with words of high praise, but to recommend them without warning readers about several significant problems would be misleading. My life circumstances often dictate that I work out later in the evening. This Y is not well-harmonized to this need. Evening staff here have always had the annoying tendency to want to close early (up to 15 minutes early) and to be unpleasant about it if that doesn't square well with your needs. Weekend closing times are far too early. Holiday hours are inadequate and involve very early closing times that are not advertised on the on-line activity schedule, or even available on their telephone message that lists hours (i.e., expect to gear up and drive over only to find the place closed--after you called and checked the website). Aerobic machines are always quite inadequate for crowds earlier in the evening and are often in poor repair. Weight machines are often broken for long periods of time. The machines they have cover only large muscle groups and are insufficient for a complete muscular workout. Courtesy is poor in the workout room. Time and set limits are very frequently broken, resulting in frayed nerves and unnecessarily lengthy workouts. It is not uncommon to wait for 10-15 minutes for a weight machine, or for someone who has been violating the one-set rule to become testy and territorial if you ask to work in with them. Attendants are disinterested in encouraging rule-abiding machine usage and won't intervene when someone wishes to dominate a machine. I think prospective members need to know that aggressive encounters in the parking lot are not uncommon, especially following basketball games. Some of the encounters I have witnessed would make many people uncomfortable and feel unsafe. Staff often seem disinterested when incidents are reported. In my experience, concerns memorialized in telephone e-mail messages are never returned. I wish my perspective of staff here was as sanguine as one of the earlier reviewers. There are certainly nice people working there. There are also plenty of folks working there who are not yet well-suited to positions involving customer relations. In my experience, the ratio is about 60/40. In the final analysis, if you are looking for a place with a pool, a basketball court and a racquetball court under one roof, this might be the place you have to go. If you are looking for a good place for weights and aerobics, go to O2 Fitness."

"I love this place. The staff is the best! Aubrey is THE MAN!!!! I’ll never have another main Gym as long as I’m in the area. Love this place! Kenya and Anne, at the front, are ALWAYS so sweet and welcoming. They’re my friends now haha. Overall it’s a great environment that I strongly recommend to anyone looking to maintain or improve their physical health journey."

"My special needs daughter and I use the indoor walking track frequently. We have always enjoyed our visits. Patrons are extremely kind when my daughter acts out. It is a very fun experience to observe activities on the separate basketball courts. We have never had a poor or bad experience with staff on our hundreds of visits. They have always been kind and supportive. I look forward to tomorrow's walk!"