South Oakland Family YMCA — Attraction in Royal Oak

I joined South Oakland YMCA in October 2023 for swim classes. The adult instructor Rook has a great personality and is so patient. I had previous swim experience but fear had kept me from getting into most pools or bodies of water comfortably. We started with some basics but by week 3 our group was already in the deep end, treading water.

There seems to be plenty of activity and classes available at this location. I haven’t used any other parts of the facility but I did walk around when I enrolled and the locker room/showers are always clean. The women's locker room is in the basement where there is a small sauna, lockers, dressing areas, bathrooms and several showers.

The front desk staff has been friendly but not always knowledgeable (I called to ask about billing cycle/account set up information and was misinformed). In addition to the staff the atmosphere feels very welcoming with many people seeming to know each other through coming there often.

Parking on the side of the building isn’t the greatest, but there is an overflow lot behind. Based on my experiences the last three months, I am hoping to sign up my family for summer programs, and to start...

I would have given this facility a 5 star rating 2 months ago however a change in the pool schedule sent the rating down. I joined the Y strictly for the pool. The reservation system was fantastic. The pool schedule has since changed and I showed up during lap swim times and was told that I could not use the pool because the lap swim lanes were full. This is a 5 lane pool. 2 lanes were for family swim. 1 lane was for swim lessons which left two lanes for lap swimmers. I was then told that the pool is geared toward family swim and senior swimmers. Unfortunately this made me feel like my level of swimming didn’t matter. I pay my membership fee just like everyone else. I will say that after speaking to Peter, he got me into a lane so my drive up there wasn’t wasted. I give Peter 5+ stars. IF ANYONE READS THIS….please bring back the lap swim reservations. I think us “lap swimmers” would really appreciate it. Especially in the...

I love the fact that close to neighborhoods. Easy access, driving in and out sometimes can be a lot because of the number of people coming and going. Layout of the building is terrible. Not a lot of windows in many of the rooms. Feel very cavernous. The place is kid and family friendly. I concerned that the place might have mold considering the age of the building. Manager seems unmoved about their use a particular chemical to wipe down the equipment. You might think a manager would be concerned about the use of chemical, especially where children play. Kind of expensive for what you get -- old building, boxy rooms, low energy classes. This place is in desperate need of an update. Overall, the place is just okay. Nothing exciting. Watch out for the pool -- chlorine ingested is not great...