This is a great gym located on the Boston University campus (off the B-line). It pretty much has…read moreany type of equipment that a top-notch gym would have and is laid out to help accommodate spacing when it is super busy. Lots of cardio machines, strength machines, free weights, bands, and all that jazz. They have courts for squash and basketball, an indoor track, an indoor pool, and have fitness classes. Like any gym it gets busy at peak times, especially since it is a campus gym so lots of students. There are different membership options depending on if you're a student, faculty, or alumni. There are also guest passes and options for a day pass or seasonal pass (like winter break or summer). The membership is a bit pricey, but it is a quality gym and not that extreme compared to boutique gym prices (yikes!).

I enrolled my child (12+) in the Swim Club Senior Group at Boston University's Fitness and…read moreRecreation Center on 08/20/2024. The program was scheduled to run from 09/09/2024 to 12/12/2024, four times a week for two hours each session. However, the experience has been incredibly frustrating. Nowhere on their website or in the receipt was it mentioned that parents are required to stay during the whole program (two hour each day, four days/week). We only found out after the program had already started through an email, and my son was even denied entry to his class until I managed to arrive by taxi! It turns out this requirement is buried in a 33-page handbook that wasn't given to us during checkout or mentioned clearly beforehand. To make matters worse, I teach in the evenings and simply can't meet this last-minute obligation. I reached out to the business to ask for either a solution or a refund for the remainder of the program, but I've received zero response. While my child enjoys the actual swimming program, I am extremely disappointed with how this business is handling things. A little transparency and better communication would go a long way.

Hands down the best gym in the Boston area. Good selection of equipment, kept clean, and the staff…read moreis always very friendly and helpful. They offer personal training too

Small neighborhood gym with high prices/month. The space is small with to much equipment. You…read moreshould expect to be friendly or be awkward as you will see the same faces each day and expect lines on equipment in busy times. $70/month is to much for this. I am willing to go further for more space and lower pricing.

It is a university gym - so do not expect luxury gym. But they have everything one needs, for work…read moreand an especially great olympic sized pool. I love it - but then I hate luxury gyms and their overpriced offerings. Tons of classes as well and probably one of the best value for money gyms in the area!

I have been to MIT Recreational few times this year for competitive USA Swim meets. I am a fan in…read morethe stands. I can share it's a long walk to the parking lot. Lack of on street parking plus construction across the street currently doesn't help. The elevator is sometimes working. It's always clean and a lot of spectator seating but if they are running both pools during the competition you don't get a great vantage point of the rear pool. Very spacious.

Limited parking. I go every day after work and I can say that if you plan to workout between 4:30…read moreand 6:30pm, you will very likely have to wait in a line of cars all waiting for a spot to open up. If the parking lot was bigger, this would be a 5/5 review. It's a great facility, I just wish I was able to actually use it. I can't count the number of times I've shown up and waited in a line of cars for a very long time just to give up and go home.

We left an item at the Y in the locker room. When we came back the next morning to retrieve the…read moreitem the receptionist was not very helpful and told us it was probably thrown out. I reached out to the Directors via email and received no response. Terrible customer service.

Timing is the key to being able to do whatever exercise you need when you come up here. If you come…read morehere around 4 or 5 when everyone from coop gets off work and when classes generally wrap up, you are gonna have a bad time. Water fountains here are not that great so bring your own before you actually come. I can't really complain too much since I usually come around 10:30 - 1 so it's not as crowded. 1st floor is ok for doing work but like everywhere else on campus, the school hasn't adequately addressed the influx of students with relations to spacing. All in all, a lil undersized but you can do whatever you need to do if you come here early. 1st floor = check-in, Wollastons, B Good, Tatte, tables, and the locker room 2nd floor = yoga studios, treadmills, basketball court/volleyball and a "lighter" weight set area 3rd floor = track, weight room, and various exercise machines

Like every other building on Northeastern's campus, Marino Center is too small for the student body…read moreat this school. Lately, we've been accepting too many, or too many people have been accepting us, and the facilities can't keep up. I've seen this happen with the library and the student centers too. Aside from that, Marino is a really great college facility. It's one of the newer buildings on our campus. The bottom floor has a large space with many tables to study and/or eat, and is connected to an Au Bon Pain, a Boloco, and a Wollaston's (Northeastern's "grocery store"). There's also a spin studio, but you have to be signed up for a class in order to use it. You need your student ID to swipe into the gym. No other ID will do. Once you get in, you exchange your ID for a lock in order to put your stuff in the locker room. If you try to go up to the gym with a bag of any sort, the staff will stop you and make you lock it up. I've always wondered why there isn't an in and out door for each locker room. There's only one door to enter and exit, which makes it difficult in the busy times of day. I'm constantly waiting for people to come out and holding the door, or hitting people who are coming in while I'm trying to get out. If they ever remodel, this would be the first thing I'd suggest. The actual locker rooms aren't bad. Lots of space, a sauna, showers, and a scale. Nothing too fancy. The second floor is home to cardio equipment, free weights, two classrooms for group fitness, and a large gym that is usually split into three sections for basketball, field hockey, and a free space. The third floor has a bit more cardio equipment, but it's mostly machines. There's a separate room for big buff people to use. There's also an elevated track for running, walking, or whatever you'd like. Each semester, I sign up for group fitness. It's $50 for the entire semester, and you can take up to one class a day, every single day. It's a really great deal. Recently, my roommate has become an instructor here, so I'm even more motivated to take classes. They offer a range, from beginner cardio and abs, to a more advanced HEAT (high energy athletic training). If you're a student at Northeastern, I suggest you check it out. The facility is nice, always clean, and staffed well. There are always clean, warm towels to grab on your way up and down, which is a nice touch. They have a nice array of machines, and the group fitness option is great. I just wish they would expand a bit, because finding a treadmill at 5:00pm on a weeknight is almost impossible.

I was here on a Sunday evening using ClassPass. It was fairly easy to book. It was very hard to…read morefind the gym on brattle street, it's an apartment like building that does require a code to get in. As the ClassPass confirmation did not come with instructions, I had a wait until someone who had access could let me in. There is the option to ring the door bell, but no one responded despite pressing the bell many times. While I waited a couple of people gave up and left. Thankfully someone who has access let me through. You then have to go upstairs. As soon as you enter you're hit with humidity and stuffiness. The gym definitely requires better ventilation. It was very busy. There was no one at the front desk to check me in. This was my first time at this location, but I'd been to another branch before so I knew someone is supposed to check me in, sign waivers, get shoes. While I navigated to the shoe area, I finally found someone that worked there. Got my waiver cleared. I was not given any intro or orientation, thankfully I was climbing with someone who knew what they were doing. Overall, neat to have a climbing gym in Harvard square. However horrible customer service, especially the lack of instructions. They do have a lot more area to climb than I expected and have communal chalk, some weights and a few cardio machines. I also heard from another member that they offer yoga classes.

I'd climbed at another Central Rock location in the South US, and this space was much smaller which…read morewas expected given that it's Boston. The gym is basically a loop around a single wall in the middle that has a mix of overlooks and slap climbs. I didn't realize that you can only use one guest pass per month (half off day pass), and since I'd just climbed at another location in the same month, I had to pay the regular day pass rate of $34 which doesn't even include shoes ($5). Despite the cost, we had a fun experience and spent about 2 hours exploring all the climbs at our level. To enter the building you have to scan a QR code to get the link which will allow you to unlock the door or have someone send you the link. The gym is on the 2nd floor.

Clean 25 yd pool that wasn't too crowded. I went after work and didn't have to share with more…read morethan one person. Also, there's a very large diving well and separate kiddy pool so the lanes don't get full of aqua-joggers or families. Compared to some other local (non-university) pools, it's not quite as over-chlorinated or quite as warm, and definitely cleaner. Cheap entry by day, multiple-session card (I did the 10 entries for $40 which I think is budget-friendly) or gym membership - although I haven't checked out the gym yet. Only complaint is limited hours of lap availability and no AM lap swim during the winter session.

I am trying out several different masters swim programs in the Boston area and this is my second…read moreone I've tried. (See my other review for Quincy masters). So, I have to say, this one is just okay. You get a decent workout, but it's not HARD. And the reason why is not because of the workout itself, but it's because there are no SEND OFF times. Basically, the workout is, you do X amount of sets, but resting wise, you just do 10 or 20 second rests after each set. And so personally I'm not motivated to swim faster because I'm not trying to do anything on a specific time constraint. I find myself a little less focused to go faster without sendoffs. Also, the workout is pretty much the same each time- you start with a warmup, then 2 underwaters, and then the main set, and then an IM set, and the same kind of sprints where you try and do each 25 with zero breath or one, or whatever it is. It's not a bad workout, but I'm incredibly bored because I know it's the same each time. The main set changes each time, of course, but the sameness of structure makes it kinda boring. We get a decent amount of yardage in- anywhere between 2400-3200 per hour and 15 minute workout time. Practices are twice a week. As for the coach, Elyssa, she is a lovely woman. However, she doesn't quite have the enthusiasm I'm personally looking for. I want somebody to yell at me and give me critique. However, in her defense, she does have to coach 6 lanes of people so I understand it's not easy to give personal attention, so I don't blame her. But personality wise, I like a little more spunk in my coach. But everyone is there for different reasons so it's hard for a coach to be everything. The one thing that really bugs me is the staff that works there at the front desk- they are SO unfriendly, rude, impatient and clearly underpaid. They are CRANKY and they are the first people I see when I walk into that building so it makes me want to not be there. The pool is about a 10 minute walk to Harvard T stop (cut off across Harvard campus will save you ample time), so it's not terrible in terms of location. Oh, the pool itself really sucks. First of all, there are bulk heads that's separating the different sections of the pool so there's nothing to GRAB onto when you're doing two hand touches; it's completely awkward and irritating. Imagine finishing and doing two hand touches on a wall. Also, when you get into the pool, they have these blocks that are covered by orange covers that sorta get in the way and make it hard for you to get in- not to mention it is IMPOSSIBLE to get out because of the depth. You have to swim to the ladder to get out of the pool, because there is no way you can get out from the pool otherwise. It's kinda ridiculous. Cost wise, it's $105 for 20 sessions, so that's $5.25 per session, which is pretty cheap. I've looked into many other programs and this is probably the cheapest one. So pros: -Pretty good location if you're in Cambridge -Decent yardage of workout -Nice coach -Inexpensive Cons: -Sucky pool -Unfriendly front desk staff -No real send off times, just go at your own pace (which can be a pro if that's what you are looking for) - A bit dull (atmosphere, people, some of the workouts) If you are in Cambridge and are looking for twice a week workout for fitness, this is probably a good option for you.

Reasonable price for alumni, $250/yr, parking pass for the lot included. You get what you pay for.read more

Brandeis' Athletic and Fitness center is fairly well kept and has a wide range of equipment. With…read morethe addition of the Lindsey Swimming Pool, this gym is better than ever! And although this center isn't available for use by the public, it's a great place for students, faculty, staff, Alumni and family to have a great work out, catch a match, take a class, and get in shape.