Recreational Sports Facility — Attraction in Berkeley

The staff are really unhelpful and incompetent. The facilities are constantly crowded. They deal poorly with unforeseen closures (e.g., they did nothing about cancellations due to wildfires). When I asked for a refund for COVID closures and fire closures, I was offered an extension of membership only for the (estimated) time of COVID closures - refund is only possible if you move a (fairly large) minimum distance or have a medical condition, and provide documents to prove so. I don't know why they cannot simply provide the requested refund. The cost of an RSF membership is much, much greater than its value.

Edit: Over a year later, I'd like to expand on my poor experiences with RSF staff and facilities. The staff seem very confused and unknowledgeable about their own rules, and have difficulty communicating those to the customer; my typical experience was to be shuffled around from clueless staff member to clueless staff member, with my questions eventually being stonewalled by one staff member in particular, who was actively unhelpful. During COVID, RSF implemented an inadequate queueing system that mandated gym-goers to register 3 days in advance within ~1 second of when bookings go live; and with a limit of 115 people per appointment, and hundreds of people trying to reserve a spot, the system was effectively a raffle or lottery. While I acknowledge this was implemented in response to concerns over COVID, I also point out that many other fitness centers in the area functioned safely without mandating a useless reservation system. I signed up for another facility in the area and am much, much more satisfied...

For a big university, this gym is pretty dismal in my opinion. It is old and the weight rooms are small, lack enough equipment, and are invariably crowded. It does not have adequate AC, which for a bay area establishment isn't a shock, but it's a gym that is usually pretty full, so it gets a bit hot and humid. You have to swipe your card to enter both the locker room and the main gym area, so you have to have it on you which increases your chances of losing it during activities. The school also uses it for functions at patrons' inconvenience. The basketball arena is attached and sometimes you run into the players, which is kind of cool, but also seems kind of cheap. I was told they have tests in the main court, which just seems cheap and high schoolish, but maybe that's hearsay. It is a no-frills gym in which you may have to alter your workout plans to deal with the equipment demand. There may be a wait for the cardio equipment, but you can generally get that done easily if that is what you plan to do. To me, it seems like the university is doing essentially the bare minimum with its rec facilities. Comparably-sized schools often have a really nice main gym and a few other smaller gyms to deal with demand and ease access for students on different areas of campus. I was a bit taken aback for a university as storied as Cal, but maybe it is just too expensive and hard to build in...

Giving the facility a 4 because the building itself is pretty old and not all that appealing but in terms of recreation I’d give the place a 5.

Memberships open to students and the general public.

Facilities include:

1 large weight room, 2 smaller annex weight rooms. Squat racks, dumb bells, all your other weight lifting needs.

4 full length basketball courts on first floor, a few more courts on the 3rd floor.

Note: some of the basketball courts are transformed to allow for badminton, volleyball and other activities, see schedule!

Racquetball.

Ability to rent out balls and equipment such as rackets/paddles, etc.

Locker rooms, with a new addition of a gender equality locker area with easier access for handicapped.

Locker rooms and gym area offer a free towel service (small for workouts, full length/ large for showers and swim area).

Olympic pool.

Access to other sports facilities on/near campus.

A food/nutrition shop on the ground floor.

Get your membership at the Bancroft entrance. The membership center is also able to process other transactions such as...