C.W. Avery Family YMCA

It’s a great place to work out. Great Cardio machines. Full weight lifting options. The front desk staff very nice. I go in the morning and they no me by name. Always greet me when I arrive and leave. Shelly the best (they are all great).
It’s a place for families. But, it’s the Y, & it’s about families & kids programs. If you don’t like kids, not the place to join. For the price– it is decent value.
Any concerns I have had with any issue, are always addressed to my satisfaction by the staff.

The life guards at the pool need to take it down a notch with there attitude problem on more than one occasion iv seen them yell at someone for what they «think» is wrong, but seems to me like there bored and look for things to nit pick at and should relay think and keep there eyes out for real danger. The gym is wonderful and the people up front are as well no complaints there and it is very clean which I find very important.

Plainfield location with Naperville attitude
No one seems to know what they are doing but certainly are good at fake it til you make it.

Just joined the YMCA and take my kids here for swim lessons. So far so good. The instructor is great.

So we recently moved to the area and have been looking for a place to join where we could do basic cardio-​circuits and swim. We checked out the area Y’s because we also like to support their mission. This Y, while a very nice, new modern facility, just wasn’t for us. The front desk staff was apathetic, at best, and not very interested in providing us with any information other than the pamphlet nor were we offered a tour. Not very welcoming. We decided to join another Y in the area, and it is working out fine. We can visit the Avery Family Y 12 times a year. Perhaps we will have a different experience in the future.

Love this place. all the pool instructors are awesome! My family is really enjoying the new expansion with the weight room and the cardio. The front desk staff have been awesome. Thank you for making the changes we all really appreciate it!!!

Pros: If you need a family orientated gym that’s close to home, then this is the place. There are a lot of programs for the kiddies to do. Also, the pools are really nice, and there are many classes to try out. The cardio area is pretty good and there are a lot of treadmills/​elliptical that are free to choose. Also, all the machines are pretty new and are in working order. For the most part, the facility is clean, and there are plenty of lockers that are free to use in the locker room. Also, there are plenty of weight machines to choose from, but at times it can get pretty busy (especially with some people who take to long on the machine). Grr. yeah I know it’s not YMCA’s fault, but jeez 30 minutes on one machine! Anywho… early in the morning or late in the evening (8pm), the place is pretty empty.
Cons: I question the cleanness of some of the machines (especially the weight ones). People just don’t wipe their sweat off the machines after each use… NASTY! If they would add more paper towel dispensers/​sprays and put them closer to the machines, then probably this would entice people to wipe the equipment down. This goes the same for the locker room. I always seem to get my pant cuffs wet!
Also, I wish they wouldn’t cut the summer hours especially on the weekdays, and it would be nice if they were open longer on the weekends.
Neutral: IMO, the rates are pretty high ($ 49/​month). If you purchased your membership through the Avery Branch, you get unlimited access to the other branches. That’s somewhat of a nice deal, but I really don’t make use of the other branches so I guess this would be a negative for me. As for the staff (especially at the desk), I’m sort of mixed. There are really nice helpful ones and some questionable ones. Yet, I think everyone runs into this problem in all gyms.

Love it but needs more things 4 kids! My daughter 10 and can’t work out with me. Come on! Get a «family» tread mill room or something for the kids that need exercise & set rules? Height weight BMI? Idk? Behavior? Age 11 and up?

Great facility. The pool is top notch but busy and all of the equipment is newer and well maintained.

Good news first: Excellent facility. Clean, new, and massive. I have only used the two pools, and highly recommend the family pool, especially if you have young children. The family locker rooms are nice, too!
I gave this location 3 stars for a few reasons. The first is because I have continuously not been impressed with the people running the front desk. They barely make eye contact with you, rarely greet you, and if you have a problem they tend to cop more attitude with you than help out. They really don’t seem to enjoy their jobs at all.
Secondly, I signed up for swimming lessons for my son (who was under 1 year old at the time) and only signed up for the program membership, mainly because my son is too young to really take advantage of all of their programs. I felt like I was hounded by numerous people (those who were employed there and those who weren’t) about buying a full membership. From what I understand, they get some kind of incentive if someone joins under their name, so I realize people are motivated because they want to save money. Still, though, I felt like everyone was working on commission, and almost like there was a cloud over my head because I wasn’t a «full member». I definitely felt lower class at times just because I wouldn’t shell out the dinero to reach that status.
On a lighter note, our swimming instructor (Becky Rice) was absolutely wonderful! It was nice to see at least one person working there who really liked their job.