Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA at Buckhead — Local services in Atlanta

I’ve been a member of various GA YMCAs for over 5 years now—including this one, Decatur Family, and Albany Area

Having used this gym during my last 3 years nearby at GT, I’d generally had positive experiences with this YMCA

After the new CDC guidelines released yesterday advised that immunized persons need no longer wear masks, I called to see if this facility had updated their policy requiring face masks

They told me they had not, so I spoke with Kelly (who was very professional and kind) and she told me that after a staff meeting they had decided to keep the mask policy “because the flip side of dropping the policy is losing customers who feel unsafe”

Last week, I was verbally accosted by a separate employee for not wearing a mask while walking ten feet to the machine I was using after I’d taken it off get water from their fountain, despite the fact no one was close to within 6 feet of me. I was going to cancel my membership but my conversation then with Kelly convinced me to keep my membership and I was led to believe this YMCA was simply “following the science” and public health guidelines

But let’s revisit that quote from our conversation—this was never about the science, and it was never about public health. If it was, they’d continue following CDC guidelines

But no, this facility would rather bend at the knee to hysterical customers—science and bodily autonomy be damned—than risk losing any of their precious revenue. Thank you for at least having the guts to admit this

And to be clear this is perfectly within their rights as a business to do, just as it’s perfectly within my rights to refuse to pay another dime to a facility who’ll refuse me service because a few miserable people will scream the loudest and cancel their membership

Just because you CAN make despotic, unscientific policies, doesn’t mean you should as a business. Just as if a company had a public health legal prerogative to require their customers to insert a broomstick into their rectum within their facilities, they should expect a loss of business from asinine policymaking

This decision is not only disappointing, but it is pathetic and cowardly, and you should be ashamed of yourselves. There is no justification for your decision other than greed and cowardice

If you simply want to be able to work out or shoot hoops in peace, I’d recommend another...

It's a good gym, a good range of classes yoga, spin, pilates are usually above average to great. Lloyd's spinning classes are terrific motivating and fun. Catherine's Hatha Yoga classes are well done and unique.

A great perk- members can use the Y in other cities when they travel.

They are expanding the facility, so right now the site is a bit upside down with major construction underway for a period of many months. There is light at the end of the tunnel though.. fingers are crossed for a swift and successful conclusion to all the work.

If I could change something I would:

Gym/Workout Area is packed tight. No easy fix for a limited floor plan. Gym culture is very typical of Atlanta.. noone ever spots each other on the weights, not very social, mostly quiet upper middle class married folks doing their thing, and then leaving.. not much of a "vibe" to be had here. Front Desk - We should be able to scan in, or type in a kiosk to enter. Comment cards are not anonymous. They should be. make the monthly schedule available well before the month. It comes out right before the end of the month. Make it a iCal/gCal compatible format, and PDF on the website. Towels are great. Thank you for those! The men's shower is fungal jungle. It's never really cleaned properly. The grey and black funk is always on there. I have made multiple comment reports, very specific ones, and there is no follow up over a period of months. fix the shower controls in mens. Sauna controls are illegible/nearly broken. Steam Room is way too hot.. when the steam blows you could literally suffer hearing loss. Whirlpool occasionally has WAY too much chlorine. Thankfully this doesn't happen very much. The parking lot really is #angermanagement central.

Desk Staff is generally good to very good. There is a little bit of lax response to lost and found issues, but they try to do a good job.

Some instructors are duds, but some are total Rockstars. a Mixed bag. None are just plain bad though.

Overall it's a great value for the money, with room for some improvements. Let's hope the expansion...

Went to a Y for the first time in about 10 years and I think I had the wrong expectations. I thought it would be a relaxed and welcoming and inclusive sort of community feeling with helpful staff to get you started. I had to work out an auto-renew issue with my account on my phone so I stood around the front desk for a while when I first got there and quickly had my expectations dashed. Not only were the five or so staff sitting behind the desk not being very friendly or helpful, but they were smack talking people’s appearances while I was standing right there. It was surreal...Then when I said hey it’s my first time, what do I need to know, one of the six people just pointed to the hallway signs behind him and just named off what the areas were. That was it. I didn’t see staff help anyone while I was there and the whole group was still just sitting behind the desk when I left. No one talked to me about classes or whatever holiday program they have right now or lockers or wiping down equipment or anything. I guess it’s fine, I’ll figure everything out one way or another, but what a different experience from when I went to a Y when I was younger. I guess I’m going to try going again, but feeling a less comfortable and a lot less confident about the...