While visiting Amherst College for the summer, I decided to purchase a membership at HAC since it was the nearest gym that was neither Amherst's gym or Planet Fitness. I was absolutely astounded by the size of HAC- it had a large swimming pool, multiple tennis courts, basketball courts, machines, and free weights. The staff were also exceptionally friendly and the prices were very affordable. My only complaints was that the gym was somewhat hard to naviagte since the gym was not organized by "sections" (ex, the basketball court was in the midst of the free weight area, and machine rooms were spread around the gym) and the hours during the week. The gym is only open till 9pm, which made it sometimes difficult to find time to make it on time due to long obligations during the day. I wish that the gym was open for an hour and a half longer during the week. read more

While visiting Holyoke, MA, I got a chance to play tennis at this wonderful athletic club in Amherst! For a $12.00 guest fee (for the day), I played an hour of tennis at their indoor facility (two lighted courts). The new lights had been installed and we got to play on them the first day the courts were available. After my tennis, I worked out in their weight room for an hour, then went home. I did check the rest of the club out. It has a nice indoor pool, work out classes, weight machines, treadmills, ellipicals, full size basketball court, and a few other amenities. A very nice club! See my pictures. Xie Xie!! read more

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HAC is an amazing facility. Swimming pool, tennis courts, free weights, full basketball courts and nautilus equipment. There is no where else comparable. The staff is outstanding. They recently had a fire in the club. They worked day and night to get the club open. Today the HAC is open for business. Thank you to HAC for getting back online so quickly. Your a community service that can't be matched! read more

Gentle Yoga on Monday nights at 7:00PM and virtually unlimited access to the pool for lap swims and the spacious hot tub have kept my now 73 year old body relatively fit, often vibrant and pain free for the past 20 or so years. Great teachers, helpful and congenial staff- just wish I could update my Hampshire Fitness t/shirt, since I have yet to embrace the HAC logo its current high functioning of direction and management notwithstanding! Bill Simmons read more

I've been a member off and on for the past few years. I stopped going for a year but decided to give it another try today because the pool is better than the one at my local YMCA. But...the women's locker room is still pathetic. MOLD on the filthy shower curtains (per usual), mold in the shower stalls. Same threadbare scratchy towels. And there's a weird long gap in the afternoon when there are no exercise classes. It's pricy and the manager (or owner, not sure what he is) is mean. I nicely asked a couple times about turning down the loud music in one of the weight rooms since I have a brain injury and since everyone who uses the room listens to their own music anyway but he rudely said no. I explained that I had a disability and his response was "the music stays." He's a nasty piece of work. That said, the pool is great and the hot tub is great. And there are a couple great trainers there. Is it worth the money? Not if I can find another pool somewhere else! read more

I have been going to Hampshire Athletic Club for over a decade, since it was Hampshire Fitness. It's the only place on the Amherst side of the bridge with a pool, exercise classes, machines, and childcare all in one place. Since I use all of the above, it is completely worth the price. If you're just looking for machines, then a place like Planet Fitness might be a better fit, but between swimming in a nice pool that always has lap time, having childcare, and the cycling classes alone, it's the best place around. The instructors are great, and the evening and weekend desk staff is generally very pleasant and helpful. The childcare is pretty simple, but our five year old has gone there since she was a baby and always loved it. We sometimes let our membership lapse when we're traveling in summer, and she complains she misses it. The childcare staff is very sweet. read more

The gym is handy because of location and the fact that they have a pool and child care. Unfortunately the gym is not cleaned beyond eye level, look up or down and everything is caked in dust. There is a 20 minute limit on cardio machines and a sign up list because it is too crowded during peak hours. There is also only one of each weight machine, therefore if it's broken or someone is doing sets, there is a serious wait time, along with the 3 stretching areas that only fit 2-3 people each depending on if those people are being considerate and not taking up the whole mat. You must pay a full youth membership for a 2 year old so that they can use the pool but have no other accesses to any other amenities in the gym, because they are 2 (or $6 a day which is ridiculous in the fact that a 2 year old only lasts about 20 minutes max in the pool). The real kicker for me now though is the fact that I pay a monthly fee for child care and cannot leave my child with the daycare because it's too busy. Why don't you have more daycare staff then. It shouldn't be on me to wait for a more convenient time for you so that you don't have to hire more staff. Most of the staff is friendly, sometimes confused on their own policies and there is are great class offerings, if you sign up in time or can get a spot in an open class before you are trying to join but nearly stuck in the hallway to participate. If you go around 9-10 or 5-7 or just weekends in general expect to park on the road so that you can go in and wait. read more

While it's true that HAC is often crowded, has a locker room and weight room that can't accommodate more than three people simultaneously, plays awful music loudly, and doesn't exactly sparkle or gleam, it's a friendly place that offers a large variety of activities, something for practically everyone. The staff is nice and the options range from yoga classes to basketball, to tennis, and just about everything in between. The pool is the only one in town available to those of us who can't use the academic facilities. HAC is conveniently located, and family-friendly. That said, I really miss Ultimate Fitness; Amherst could sure use a decent weight-training facility. read more

Nice facility, some decent classes. Unfortunately as a working parent, I found it really unreliable because child care and life guard hours are super unclear. Nearly half the time we were turned away due to unexpected cancelations/repairs, or some obscure policy, change in hours, etc. The management is about as responsive as a brick wall. Perhaps membership works fine if you're solo or retired but when you're juggling kids and careers, you don't have time for this kind of nonsense. read more

HAC is a great place for people who want a quiet environment in an athletic club. The variety of facilities is surprising compared to other places: Indoor tennis, a pool & spa, basketball court, a classroom studio, weight rooms, and five different rooms with various fitness equipment. Without exception the front desk staff are welcoming and helpful. The coaches and class instructors are talented, encouraging, and upbeat. People of all ages and levels of fitness are treated equally well by staff and members alike. Unlike an old comment on this site, the current facility is clean and well-kept. I recommend the HAC and am extremely happy to be a member. read more

Nice facility but overcrowded, less than clean, and blasts the worst oldies and other non-workout music. Locker room is tiny, always crowded, and the floor is always wet. There are many treadmills and bikes, but the weight room is minuscule, strewn with random useless equipment that just gets in the way. Theres usually a wait to get a swimming lane, and people use lanes to do stationary bobbing up and down stuff, whatever that is, for which you don't even need a lane. HAC is probably a good deal if you're only going for aerobics machines, tennis, basketball and classes, or to socialize with the old folks. Not so great if you're really there to workout and get in shape. They benefit from being the only gym in town. Some competition would be awesome. read more

This is a great place to go if your bored in a rainy day it's a lot of fun the basketball courts swimming tennis it's a little on the expensive side tho I would definitely try it out if you are looking for a great place to work out or maybe even just to hang out with your friends and get a good pick up game going the pool is ok it's not the biggest or best but it is absolutely a good pool to go swimming and relax in no diving boards tho but that's oky have fun when u get there read more

My favorite!! I love this place and everyone is super nice. They have a ton of equipment, a pool, and a basketball court.

I was a member here for a few months this past year. For the amount of money it costs ($50 per month), I was surprised at how bad a club it was. The cons: - The building. It is basically a house with a million additions and add-ons. There are about 10 different small rooms, and each one holds its own varying collection of equipment. These are connected by several stairways, some so narrow that if someone is walking up, you have to wait to walk down. The ceilings are low, and the pool, which is located in the middle of the club, makes most of the rooms quite humid. The result is an atmosphere of claustrophobia. I was constantly searching for a place in which I felt like I could breathe and stretch out. - As another reviewer said, it's dirty. The carpet in the weight machine and cardio areas is a problem. But I could deal with that were it not for the situation in the locker room. I have never smelled B.O. like I've smelled it in the women's locker room at HAC. They rent the lockers to members and don't appear to have any policy about having to clear them out for periodic cleaning, so many of them are obviously filled with sweaty clothes that have been festering in there for weeks. Added to the facts that it's tiny, so people are practically on top of each other as they try to change, that it's in the basement so the ventilation is poor, and that the floor is porous cork and can't be easily cleaned, it's like a perfect storm of stink in there. - The appearance. Some of the rooms look old and run-down, and there are weight machines that appear to be from the 70s or 80s. There is also clutter. For instance, in the basketball court, which all of the cardio machines look down at, there are construction equipment and materials piled against one wall. It makes the place look unkempt. They don't have a closet or a shed where they can store that stuff when it's not being used (which was always)? The pros: - They give you towels. - They have exercise classes included in the membership. - They have an indoor pool and basketball court. If, like me, you don't need a pool or a basketball court and just want a place where you can lift some weights, use a cardio machine, and take a class every now and then, you're MUCH better off joining Planet Fitness in Hadley for $10 per month and taking classes at the Aerobics and Fitness Studio for $5 a pop. Your nose will thank you. read more

This is probably the dirtiest and most disgusting gym around. I had a membership for a short amount of time while I was going to school in the area. The most disturbing part of this gym is that NO ONE cleans the machines. It is not enforced and the members do not bother to do it. During my time as a member, I got the stomach bug twice. I cannot say for sure that I got it there, but I came down with it both times right in the range of incubation from when I went (I haven't got the stomach bug since I was a child). The elliptical's squeak and grind and are clearly never maintained. In the weight room members drop their weights so incredibly loud that it sends shivers down your spine. The free-weights are also falling apart as well. I wanted to support a local gym, but with a membership of $45 a month, it was not worth it. read more

The membership is way over priced and they charge you for another month after you cancel your membership which is in addition to the last months fee they charge upon set up. I explained to the owner Scott, that I needed to cancel my membership (after this months fee had pulled from my bank account) and he said there was nothing he could do to stop another fee from being charged to my account. When I told him my wife would still like to keep her membership and that I would still pay for it if he could make an exception he told me he wouldn't and that "WE DONT WANT MEMBERS LIKE YOU HERE ANYWAY". That's ok, I get better results at planet fitness where the membership is only $10 a month and half of the machines aren't either broken or as old as the seniors that crowd that place. read more

Hampshire Athletic Club--All the Dirt. Upon arrival, visitors are greeted by an enormous mound of dirt that has been near the front door to the renovated facility for more than a year. This is symbolic of Hampshire Athletic Club (HAC): extensive facilities, but poorly maintained. Many of the cardio machines are broken for weeks at a time; others have never been calibrated; when returning a week later sometimes the same twigs, etc. are still next to the machines. HAC customers don't clean up after themselves or wipe down the machines after use, and rarely is a cleaning person seen. Above the basketball court, there is a second floor balcony with cardio machines; the section has no A/C, and there are no fans running even when it is 90-100 outside. In most of the workout areas, the floors are carpeted. The sweat/germs of people working out is left to fester on the machines and in the carpeting; when the next person uses the machine, the germs are transferred on touch because neither the customers or HAC cleans up regularly. As a further insult to HAC members, the able-bodied Saturday zumba instructor co-ops the handicapped parking place closest to the entrance as her personal spot. HAC needs to improve their cleanliness routines, and get rid of the mountain of dirt outside the front door. # # # read more