Lakewood Family YMCA — Local services in Lakewood

I would give it a five star, because the pool is cleaner than the one I used to go to on Ft Lewis, but then again, there were renovations- and I have not been there since then. I do know, there was foam along the edges at one of the pools in Ft Lewis and I was happy to find the one in Lakewood, which appears to be cleaner than the YMCA in Tacoma. I am a disabled Veteran and I have been going there and it is the only thing that helps my pain for the most part. But the last time I was there, there was some older military jerk, and he had no tolerance for me being in the same pool and sharing the space, because I can't lap swim and the pool was crowded that day. I saw him going and complaining to one of the pool guards, but he handled it well. Then that brainwashed jerk left. I don't care, if you are in the military, be respectful towards people, and lead by example, and don't act like you own the place. If your rank has gone over your head, wake up and realize, there are people in this location, who are not always physically fit and may have disabilities and that may be the only way that they can do something for themselves. I know, what it meant to be fit once, but things happen and people get hurt while serving and respecting people while working out is just paramount.Well, I really like the pool there, the one thing I don't like, there is such a lack of modesty, people are naked in front of each other and really all of them are strangers, it is so weird to me, that people can just be naked in front of another person. For people, who have privacy or religious values, it is difficult to change. The one thing I miss was in Germany, where the pools had dressing rooms and then separate locker rooms with two benches inside and the children and other people had absolute privacy. The rooms for grooming were separate from the bathroom stalls. I wished that was adapted here. But I will keep on going there, because it is better than having no other place to go. For the few things, that have kinks, this place is pretty o.k. and very affordable.I am giving it a three star, because of the lack of privacy and modesty in the shower and changing rooms. I am afraid, if there is a gender identity issue, that there will be less modesty, not that I am judging people on that, but modesty is something that at least I am comfortable with and I do not want to have to see a blurred look away vision from the corner of my eye of another undressed person, it is just weird, creepy and...

I feel the only star it deserves is the guy who checked us in at the front desk. I didnt catch his name but i thought his name started with a D. Tall kid, brown hair. He was really friendly, polite , informative, even showed me around since it was my child and I first time coming. So good job kid. You were the only nice thing in the Y. The bathrooms were gross. So glad i had my flip-flops . The pools are nice. But i had my 1 year old with my and brought a small floating chair for him to sit on since he gets scared in the water. We went to the 1st big pool with it and no one said anything about him using it . After we went the the smaller ,warmer pool. He starts using it and one of the staff comes and says we cant have that in there because "it takes up to much room"..... really ? This small little seat takes up so much room when there are noodles and swim boards just floating around . Also with what, 5 people total in the pool that takes up to much room ? No one else seemed bothered by it. So I just carried my son in the water the rest of the time in that pool. After we went to the hot tub, went over to the shallow area. We were then told by another staff member that my child could be in there. I asked even tho he was me with an adult. Again told no. So we just got up and left. We were suppose to sign my son up for swim lessons and I was going to get my membership today but I've decided to look elsewhere because why would I want to go somewhere that limits my child and I to one pool and he isnt even allowed to use his floating chair. To many rules . There should be more adult staff in the Y. I am all for giving kids summer jobs but alot of the comments are for rude staff and I saw that for myself. Aside from that one young man. This place needs alot of changes....

I do love the YMCA, but what I will say is that you just need to know what you are getting into. The Y is a great place if you are looking for a gym with lots of equipment, friendly faces, polite staff, a clean community space, etc.

But if you are looking for classes for either you or your children you should be aware that many of the staff are very inexperienced (or straight up have no idea how to do the sport themselves). For example, the staff teaching my sons gymnastics class?… Could not do even a cartwheel. They are not gymnasts, just people hired to do a job with minimal knowledge. The woman teaching his swimming class? Did not know how to swim and was given a simple classroom course on how to teach swimming. She told me she was supposed to eventually shadow with the more experienced swim teacher, but they were so understaffed that had never happened. I'm not sure how my child is supposed to learn how to swim from someone who cannot swim themselves.

On the adult side, I recently attended a "power yoga" class. I'm not sure that they actually know what power yoga is because this was not anything close to it. It involved 10 minutes of talking, 20 minutes of actual yoga, and then about half an hour of light stretching. The instructor spent half of the time on her phone.

They are very family-friendly and don't mind if you take your child to hang out in certain areas while you work out. But just be aware this is not the place to go if you really want your kids to learn how to swim or do whatever their chosen sport is. It will not replace a proper...