West Valley City Family Fitness Center (Rec Center) — Attraction in West Valley City

Extremely disappointed with how the facility is ran and how they treat their guests. I came the other day to play pick up basketball with a cousin and we arrived at our usual time, around 3pm and everything seemed normal and nothing out of the ordinary.

We approach the front desk (with our basketball equipment present--this is important for later on) and asked how much general admission would be to which they replied $5. Cool! No issue so far, everything is going great. Payment went through and I was good to go along with my cousin who had the same situation.

Thirty minutes into playing a few pickup games, a lady enters the court screaming that everyone has to pack their things and leave the court for some hockey event that was going on and to "come back in two hours if you want to play". To my surprise, there was ZERO context flyers, staff, equipment, or anything that would have led to me assuming there was going to be a hockey event.

Disappointed, I ask the staff member if we were able to leave the facility and come back free of charge due to the inconvenience with no precursors leading up to it. She replied "not up to me, ask the front desk". So, my cousin and I pack our stuff and head to the front desk to ask for a solution.

The employees at the front desk were kind and thoughtful and I am sure they wanted to help, but they seemed just as confused as my cousin and I were. We explained the situation and asked if we were able to just come back in two hours since NO ONE told us there was going to be hockey in the basketball courts that was going to occupy the next two hours. The front desk lady responds that they were not aware of the hockey event and that they are not able to do any re-entry of anything past 5 minutes. It's unfortunate that guests have to suffer the consequences of poor management misleading not only the guest, but their own employees as well.

To my disappointment, I was not going to ask for a $5 refund or demand a manager to resolve the situation, but I would have definitely appreciated if management fixed their crappy re-entry rules if they're going to kick me out for the facility that I paid to enter into. It was obvious from the get-go that I was there to play basketball, and the fact I was driven out of my $5 (without any notice that we were only going to have 30 minutes to play) ultimately ruined...

Pros: The fitness center is a wonderful place to go. If you have young children and do not want to pay extra for daycare, you can have 1 hour of free daycare while you exercise, then come back after 3 hours and get another hour for free. If you go over, the cost is not very bad. My wife feels the class instructors are more invested than the local VASA gyms which keeps the class moving. There is a free rock wall that caters to bouldering at any time, and have set times for climbing. (If you are belayed certified you can climb at any time) The cardio area is well supplied. There are everything from stationary bikes, treadmills, rowers, elliptical, ab stations, and other various machines as you would like. The edutainment center for children is well stocked and has a lot of activities available for children. The pool area is fun. There is a children play area, water slide, and lap swim lanes. The water feels good and there is usually space available.

NUETRAL: Sometimes there are swim teams using some of the lanes so plan ahead to get a time that will not conflict. You are sharing a parking lot with the Centennial Park which can cause some grief when parking (but you're there to exercise so it doesn't hurt to have to walk a little too) Sometimes to get in the gate arm bar doesn't recognize you and will not spin the first time.

CONS: Sometimes the restrooms feel messier than they should. They have not updated their prices so when paying I thought my membership would be one thing but it was a little more. The flyers were printed in 2013 and should be updated.

--Side Note-- You will come across people that disregard common rules and think they are above it. This does not reflect on the fitness center. I feel that this is common of any place...

I’m not sure where to start when talking about how much my family loves the West Valley Rec Center! Between the amenities, events, classes and programs I could rave about this place everyday all day. 100% will say it was the best decision to take our family here over a year ago and I never would have imagine the sense of community and support that came from the people in this building.

Daycare: the staff is 10/10 first people we trusted with our kids that wasn’t immediate family. Trustworthy, friendly, and treat my kids like family!

Busy Bee Pre-K: I have taken my oldest to three different pre schools. This was the best price with the best academic curriculum, Ms. Tua and Ms.Brittany is the most hands on teacher we have ever experienced, gives you daily communication on child’s progress and they also provide a handful of field trips. We even drive from Tooele to bring our second oldest here. They are irreplaceable humans when it comes to education for our little ones and I couldn’t recommend them enough!

I will forever be thankful for WVC rec center and it giving me the opportunity to put trust in others, giving my husband and I dates (We would bring food to the cafeteria and put this kids in daycare so we could eat alone once in a while😂) If you are wanting that sense of community with your family, don’t have any immediate family close by or moved into the area like I did almost two years ago I promise your monthly fee...