The worst administration and gym ever. If you come to them with a complaint, expect to be dismissed…read moreand receive empty words and no action. Their aquatics team are a bunch of inexperienced volunteers and treat children badly! Extremely disappointed and horrified by the treatment we recieved in this gym and by its administration!

I never imagined I'd have to write a review like this, but after repeated incidents and a shocking…read morelack of accountability, I feel compelled to speak up. At this gym, there's a member who regularly blasts loud music from a speaker on the rooftop area--despite multiple polite requests and formal reports from other gym-goers asking for basic respect in a shared space. Rather than enforcing any reasonable noise policy (or even acknowledging common courtesy), management has repeatedly excused the behavior, citing "no official rule" about rooftop music. What's worse? Those who report the issue are being punished. Instead of addressing the offender, the gym suspended a reporting member--sending a loud and clear message: they will protect the rule-breaker and penalize the rule-follower. This is not just poor customer service--it's a clear failure of leadership and community care. We don't need a sign that says "don't play disruptive music in shared workout spaces," just like we don't need a sign saying "don't show up to the gym naked." Some things are common sense. If you're looking for a gym that prioritizes your comfort, respects community standards, or takes member concerns seriously--this is not the place. Until there's an apology and an actual accountability system in place, I can't in good conscience recommend this gym to anyone.

Nice community gym with lots of cardio and weight lifting options as well as plenty of classes…read more The place is fairly small but makes good use of the space they have. I highly recommend getting signed up to use the EGym system that tracks your progress on many of the cardio and weight lifting machines on the second floor as it helps gamify the whole experience. The YMCA also uses an app where you can reserve a spot for the classes that are offered which I also recommend doing as many classes are popular and fill up. Changing rooms and bathrooms are kept very clean. Staff are generally helpful and the place welcomes people of all ages. Also with the YMCA membership you can go to other YMCA gym locations in the area which has been a convenient option for me as well. Overall definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a solid gym in the area.

One of the workers deny entrance to two girls, one of the reasons being because one of the young…read moreladies apparently didn't "look" her name and needed a form of identification to be allowed in and was causing a big commotion.

OMG!!! I just finished a 15 min HIIT cardio workout on the treadmill and I'm dead. I found out…read moretoday that this YMCA is just 1 minute walk away from my work! Now I have no excuses to fit in a workout everyday! Not only is the location super convenient but the staff was super friendly and showed me where everything was. The workout rooms are located in different parts of the building which a bit different than most gyms but I can't complain because I'm just so excited at the convenience of this location. I look forward to taking more classes and fitting more workouts in throughout my week!

I just renewed my membership here after a year long hiatus; not much has changed. What I like most…read moreabout the Buchanan Y, other than its proximity to home, is that it is small, but never gets crowded. I've been here at various times of the day, and though there's obviously more people during the early morning and evening hours with the before and after-work crowd, respectively, there's never been a problem with wait times. The other nice thing about the Y is its clientele. The facilities are family-oriented; it's the furthest thing from a meat market, at least at this Y. Front desk staff have always been friendly. The cardio room and weight room are on the first floor, with Nautilus machines located on the second floor; also in the Nautilus room are a couple treadmills, exercise bikes, and an elliptical. (I like to exercise up here because, once in awhile, I do get tired of staring at myself in the mirror and having people stare at my ass while I'm running.) A good amount of classes are available to enroll in, from Yoga and Pilates, to Aikido, and even Flamenco Dancing--free with membership. Membership cost differs for each facility. I'm assuming Buchanan's is the lowest due to its size. It's $41/mo for Adults, with the Young Adult membership (18-25 yrs.) at $32/mo. (Edit: Rates increase July '06.) There are a number of other memberships, including one for access to all Bay Area YMCAs. The real downside to this place is the hours. They're only open till 9 p.m. on weeknights, and close during the early evening hours over the weekend. And watch out for holidays: They either close early or are closed entirely for the day. There wasn't an option, so for clarification, the facility opens at 5:45 a.m. M-F, not 6:00 a.m. as listed above. There's free parking across the street @ Japantown.

Coming back to the YMCA years after the pandemic, I was hoping for a good experience. Today was not…read moreone. When I went to renew my membership, the older woman at the front desk misgendered me. I corrected her quickly and then she went on to ask me questions about transgender identity. Not quite sure that your workplace is the place to ask me for a free education, but whatever. She is new and obviously doesn't know what she's doing and at the end of our conversation when I'm about to pay she starts misgendering me again. This is when I walked away. Y'all are not getting my 99$ a month plus a 150$ return fee (they said they didn't have the capacity to reduce or cancel the start rate unless I came back to speak to a manager on Monday.) The dude training her at the front seat was like a post in the mud and did not move to correct her even when he saw I was uncomfortable, he just kept moving scissors and junk around in the front desk as he stood by. I'm not going to pay so much for a gym that hires people with the intellect and personalities of wet noodles. No thanks! Planet Fitness looks like the better option in terms of cost. It's really sad because the staff at the YMCA Embarcadero were really diverse and cool about 6 years ago, I hope that hasn't changed. Either way, y'all aren't getting my money and this was a tremendous flop.

The Friendly Neighborhood Gym ! I do my necessary circuit…read morework here- cross train with Stair Climber and Rowing Machine too. And use the Letterman Pool by The Palace of Fine Arts. The Memberships here work at all the facilities in San Francisco. Not 5 Stars- due to space limitations - and it can get crowded. Would advise getting a Membership here !

Really, really nice climbing space. Lots of tall walls, a very wide variety of climbs for people of…read moreall levels. The bouldering area is small, but you're set if you like to top rope or lead. Whoever sets their routes does a great job -- the climbs are always very interesting, and they update them regularly. There's lot of overhang, straight-up-and-down and a small slabby section. Lots of fun corner climbs. There's also a decent number of exercise machines and a weightlifting area. Bathroom and locker room areas are nice and clean. Nice general vibe Staff is always friendly and helpful. Basically, everything you'd want in a climbing gym, except it's across town from me.

Cool features and the climbs are fun! Front desk staff are really friendly. They have a well…read moreequipped gym too!

I have to say. I do enjoy playing the rec sports at Mission Bay. I have played in their…read morerecreational v-ball league on Tuesday nights for four seasons now. The league has a variety of skill levels from beginning to intermediate. The teams are a variety of students to working folk. It's a good work out and the atmosphere is quite friendly. Location-wise, it's easy to get to by car and you can even take muni there. What's nice is that they also validate your parking for $1.75 for up to 3 hours. Way better to keep your car safe in a garage than parked on the street. The ref, Roger, is pretty fair and has been the ref for as long as I can remember. He doesn't call all the "illegal" plays but it's a more relaxed atmosphere so definitely don't play here if you want every single infraction to be called. The price is a little steep for non-UCSF students and there is no discount for the more people on a team, so the more the merrier doesn't really apply here.

I played in a men's basketball league last year at UCSF Mission Bay. The facilities were amazing…read moreand the league was well-run. My only complaint is that some of the teams in our "intermediate" league should NOT have been there. A lot of the guys were former JUCO or D-III players who were huge. I mean, come on, there shouldn't be anyone dunking in an intermediate league. Overall, a solid league to play in... I've since played in a number of other leagues around the city, and this one compares well. U n-monitored player skills led to discrepancies in competition level. C ost is comparable to most leagues in SF. S omewhat of a pain to get to... all the way on the Southeast side of the city. F acilities were top-notch.

Locked out 2x in a week despite paying up. Complained and owner became petty and told me im…read moretrespassing and asked me to leave in the middle of a workout. Its all their fault because they fail repeatedly to deal with basic requests like updating a card on file, and repeatedly screw up on the computer system. The owner insists on not having staff and putting his personal number but he never is available and becomes irate if you "bother" him Gym is small and ill equipped. Very hot and smells bad. Never any staff there in case of problems like beings locked out. Cant get ahold of owner during normal business hours and constantly acts like he is being bothered if you report broken equipment or anything Fitness SF is better anyway. I was going to keep both but the owner of this gym doesn't reciprocate loyalty Go here if you wanna get locked out randomly and repeatedly and belittled for making perfectly reasonable complaints. Im sure he will reply here claiming i am the problem but fyi all i did was say "im sick of this" and i think anyone would be after repeatedly getting locked out despite paying $125 a month. i see people having issues with getting locked out basically every day. The owner is aware but choses to not staff his gym or switch software systems The floor uses foam tiles so when you try to wheel the benches around they become dislodged and jam and create hazards. The owner makes rash decisions like putting 100lb dumbbells on a rack not suitable for such heavy weights so they fall on your feet, he is too stubborn and gets overly defensive if you try to point out any issue, and tries to deflect (its always the members or the staffs fault, never takes responsibility or ownership)

Shady as fuck. I loved this gym for years until one day they tried accusing me of sharing my door…read morecode before promptly terminating my membership. All I got was one warning text filled with typos, followed by a notification that my membership had been deactivated. Just like that. I asked them if they made a mistake and tried to see if there was any explanation but some guy named Derrick on some ego trip kept telling me I was a thief and full of BS, which was not on my bingo card. Maybe pick another gym

Really great and big bouldering gym. I just started climbing and this gym is not short of beginner…read morefriendly problems and they have a unique arch section with problems as well. I was hoping to grab one of the merch here but as usual with any Touchstone gyms, the designs are basic and weird cut, and the gyms are lacking in sizes. As others mentioned, there are free parking on the long block behind the gym.

Huuuge gym, as you would expect from the name, it is bouldering only. The weight/training area is a…read morelittle limited compared to a lot of the other gyms I've been to, so expect a little bit of a crowd. There are plenty of walls to keep you entertained for a long time, you most likely will run out of steam before you run out of projects for the day! Worth noting that people don't have the best bouldering etiquette in here, so do expect others to cut you off and, some times, even start climbing underneath you when you're not done yet! But then again, that has less to do with the gym and more with the people in it. Climb safe!