Great Bridge Hickory Family YMCA

I tagged along with my nieces for a pool day in the back of the facility. There’s a quick check in outside so you don’t have to go in to just scan your ID. We sat in a shady area full of picnic tables by the pool and went on in. My nieces all love to play in the shallow end since they’ve got slides, buckets of water that plop on your head randomly, a jetted area, lap pool, and more.
There’s even a little cabana area where they sell food and the particular day I went — there was COLDSTONE ice cream! We ended up eating some chickfila that we grabbed and brought inside.
So the stars come off for how this place handles certain situations…
#1 — we found fecal matter in the pool since a parent tried to cover up her kid’s inability to hold it in by directing it to a filter. We told a lifeguard. Nothing happened. Finally, we ended up telling an actual «adult» AKA the supervisor and the pool was cleared out to clean it up with a net and chemicals.
#2 — there was clearly urine on top of a kiddie slide. We reported it again and it felt like it just took a while to get some action to resolving it. I mean, I had to stop kids from getting on the slide myself since no one else was going to until the guy came to clean it up.
I’m sure these things happen all the time, but I think it should be handled rather quickly so the rest of us don’t have to swim in all of that.

I like that this ymca has some different classes than the one a little closer to me. I enjoy the cardio I get from kickboxing. Also the stay and play for the kids is the best I have ever seen. My kids cannot get enough of the rock wall. How fun! They actually like staying for the 3grs that they get and they beg me to go which is good for my figure. So far I have taken Zumba, kickboxing, yoga and step. In a big cardio lover.

I absolutely love this Y! They have so much to offer their members. My children always find something to do. They have a few areas for supervised play for your children. My boyfriend’s daughter’s favorite place is the play area that has the tubes and slides. My daughter loves the video game area. My sons spend their time in the gym playing basketball. All of my children love their indoor and outdoor swimming pools. They all took swimming lessons here and have always loved being in the water.
The cardio and weight area are on different floors. The cardio area is upstairs and the weight/​fitquest area is downstairs. My only issue is the mat area is very small, but the large weight area enables you drag a mat aside and make a spot for your stretching, toning, etc. I’ve never had a problem with getting on a machine that I prefer or having to wait for a fitquest machine. It can get crowded here but there’s plenty of space and room to move around.
Lots of great classes to choose from here! Friendly staff. :-)

Don’t expect to be here anytime after 4pm and expect to get in a serious workout in the gym. This place is filled with folks who I think are about to possibly have heart attacks, or people who are sitting on equipment, not utilizing them…
Oh… and wait until the high school kids use it as a hangout spot! That’s just great!
I don’t see this as a good gym… I see this as a socializing spot, with workout equipment.

THEE best ymca I have ever been too! And I though trashmore was great! The staff at the front aren’t very welcoming but it’s a good thing I don’t go to the gym for them… Also the sports director isn’t very bright (not saying to be mean) but I love the cardio room and my son LOVES the kids area. Haven’t used the weights room yet but I’m sure I will with my husband. We’ve been to 4 or 5 Ymca facilities and this one is definitely the nicest. The reason I give it a 4 is because customer service isn’t up to par.

While I enjoy the facilities and think this is the nicest Y in the area, the 2 older ladies with longer brown hair at the front counter are quite snotty! If you need information, it’s probably best to look online or find it in their flyers and avoid the I hate my job attitude at the front counter.

High end equipment. Excellent design. A well designed facility overall.
But where new and well made equipment raises their status, their customer service and sense of responsibility is anything but considerate. Security is flimsy. And their newsletters fail to reflect their concern for their members.
I have waited almost a year to relate this so that it would not interfere with the possibility that this YMCA may have problems making alternations to their security, but they haven’t from what I’ve heard. Last summer I was swimming at this Y’s pool. I had left my clothes, wallet, keys, and phone in a locker with a combination wheel lock. After I swam, I returned to the locker room. My lock was missing. The door slightly ajar. My phone was missing. My wallet had been opened and the money stollen. Without changing, I ran to the front desk to report the theft. I collected my items to make sure nothing else was taken. I reported the incident to the police.
The front desk associates were sympathetic in that awkward way one gets when trying to empathize with someone in a state of panic. One man mentioned how there had been thefts. Another associate confirmed and said that three others had been robbed, their credit cards stolen, and their accounts attacked. They mentioned how someone should sit in the locker room from now on to keep an eye on customer property.
This never happened.
Not long after, I was contacted by the Vice President in charge of this YMCA. I was surprised and happy about this level of response. His greeting, however, changed my opinion quickly.
«Hello, Mr. M. I’m calling in concern to your theft. I don’t have much time however. My son is having a soccer birthday party, so I’ll have to be quick.» Understandable, but I wondered why he would shorten what obviously should not be a quick drop off of condolences. Especially if I had questions. Which I did.
I asked him if the camera footage could be used to spot those walking out of the locker room carrying my items. He rejected the idea and said the detective would have to determine that route. Understandable. I asked why we were not informed as customers of the previous thefts. He refused to acknowledge this idea. He suddenly became irate. He said that he wouldn’t do this. That it would decrease membership and sales. I asked him why he was getting angry. His response, that I was attacking him. Challenging his authority. I told him I was not and would appreciate it if he calmed down. Knowing I wasn’t going to get any further, I decided to end the call. I didn’t have to, though. He decided that as well.
If anything, they could at least take the Christian connotation out of the YMCA acronym. Because if business is put first rather than their fellow man, I can understand the opinion some have of hypocrisy of representatives of a faith I share.
I continue to attend this Y, but I can’t use the locker. After feeling violated in an area that should be safe. I show up in my swim shorts and cannot change out of fear of losing around another $ 700, which, of course, the Y is not responsible for thefts within their own buildings or their own lockers. I just wish there was a pool at the local recreation centre. Oh yeah, the Y contended the idea at the local town meeting on the basis that it would take customers away.

I love almost everything about this place. The only thing that I don’t really like is how dismissive and rude the employees at the front desk can be when you ask them something beyond scanning your card. Other than that, all other staff and everything else is amazing.

great gym for whole family.
lots of options for classes.
always clean.
the staff is very nice and knowledgable.

We were here for a swim meet. It’s a nice facility. We looked into the weight room and kids zone. The pool area was nice. Even the husband commented about how nice this location is. Too bad we live too far away to come here. Staff was friendly and helpful. Only bad part to our visit was all the drink machines broke down and we had no water to buy. But if I lived near here we would come to this Y.

We enjoy going to this YMCA as a family! My kids love going to the indoor rock wall. There are also two indoor waterslides that help the cold winter days go by. One they are 10 years old and pass a simple swim test they can be in the pool area with the lifeguards while we work out. There is an indoor hot tub, indoor lap pool and second indoor pool. The showers and rest rooms are clean. The have an indoor play area for kids under 10, and a child care area. They is an outdoor sprinkler park and pool also.

This is the best YMCA in Hampton Roads, especially for people who work out avidly. They have a new two story gym, zumba, many extra workout rooms with classes available, indoor and outdoor pools, a Kid Zone, teenage center, rock climbing, basketball and more. Almost anything you could ask for! I’ve gone here for years and even held a birthday party.
The only complaint I would have is some of the lifeguards. The ones outdoors knew their stuff, but some of them inside– not so much. I came with a summer camp program as an instructor where the students had lessons and free time in the pool. There were 3 lifeguards assigned to do this with us. The problem was that they let children pass the swim test that were not at all comfortable in water or ready for that. They were struggling to keep themselves up during free time. The three lifeguards were talking to each other at the other side of the pool, the deep end, with one sitting on the edge and the others facing her. Their backs were to our children who were in the shallow end alone. Once we had to pull a child out of the pool to keep him from going under, and those lifeguards paid no mind to them. It was a very scary situation I’m afraid I’ll have to repeat this week, or any of the following weeks in which we go.

This is a very nice Y. A major renovation was done a couple of years ago and it helps tip the scale. The locker rooms, restrooms, showers all got a nice modernization. Every area is very kid friendly. There is a nice indoor pool that is adult friendly for lap swimming and kid friendly for fun with a couple of slides, and a shallow pool. There is also a nice sized jaccuzi. The outdoor pool is crazy in the summer. Every kid in great bridge is there. It is definitely kiddie heaven with a huge play area and lots of shallow water for toddlers/​non-​swimmers. Again there is a slide for bigger kids.
I recently had a pool party for my daughter there and they did a wonderful job. Nice employees, friendly staff, clean, well kept facility.

Great gym. Lot’s of options whether you have kids or not. If anyone can help you get healthy. and enjoy doing it, it’s the Great Bridge Y.