Weird vitriol from other reviews, and I'm confused as to why. "This gym is probably good for people with kids." Uh, yeah - free babysitting (up to 75 mins a day), and multiple family-based programs including activity nights, camps, and athletic class for the squirts. "Employees making sure you sign up for treadmills." I appreciate the 30 minute limit for high volume days, and the ability to sign up for a time block. Plus, their equipment is ultra-modern. I was doing sudoku, before running a simulated trail, and watching 20 clear channels of cable. Oh, and it's got Netflix! "Overly crowded!" Emilson charges $115 for a family membership - that's up to five people in a single household. They've got indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna and a steam room, a spin studio, basketball and volleyball drop-ins, free group exercise programs, FREE BABYSITTING, a decent snack bar, a friggin' Sky Trail (think a four-story vertical obstacle course on a track), and more. These sort of amenities make for a huge draw, and subsequently, peak hour crowds. "Someone was putting mascara on in the bathroom." What can I say? Saturdays get crazy for me. It's no Equinox in amenities or exclusivity, but it's near perfect for us. read more

Too expensive, crowded, no parking, doesn't cost as much at other YMCAs. Used to be affordable, not now

Do not go here. Parking is atrocious and management doesn't care. All they give are excuses. Do not go here especially if you are handicapped. They do not have enough spaces and do not care about disabled veterans. You will never get to class on time because you will waste an hour going around in a circle. When you confront them with facts, they will just shrug. Do not waste your time or money. Dan Berry and Serah Selman will lie straight to your face and tell you they will fix the problem and then nothing happens. And then they will lie and tell you they fixed it when they did nothing. read more

Hanover YMCA lacks cleanliness. Disgusting and unacceptable conditions. Dan berry tells me that these conditions are acceptable and he finds nothing wrong with it. He also told me I don't have the right to post what I want without his permission. Hi dan and here I am! i let the photos speak for themselves. Beware don't go there! read more

See all

Everything else is good expect the pool area. A kid was harassing me and the life guard did nothing. The same day the life guard soaked her feet with her CROCS in the pool while others were swimming! The showrooms are slippy and have a bad odor. read more

No parking. not enough machines to efficiently service the amount of members. Let children on the treadmill playing rather than adults there to workout. read more

if this were a regular business I'm not sure they'd still be in business. I go there mainly for the hot tub/sauna/steam. well in the last two years the hot tub has been broke 40% of the time. They're always "waiting for parts". A real business would stockpile the parts that break the most or their repair contractor would respond replace repair or I'd find someone who would. Something tells me they have someone's brother-in-law fix it in his spare time. read more

I have had great service and experiences here. The director Dan Berry is the best! He is approachable and attentive to the YMCA members. The family swim pool is great! One request is to please consider one-day (paying fee) pool passes for the outdoor pools in the back of Emilson, which is new and gorgeous! read more

Best family activity is going to the Y! They have something for everyone, are incredibly clean and always welcoming. 10/10 would recommend!

Towel thief on the loose. I went to use the sauna at 2:29 PM, hung my towel on one of the hooks on the wall just outside the sauna. I rushed out after roughly 15 minutes stay in the sauna to get water with my empty plastic bottle, went to the pool to check the availability of the lap swim lane, saw that none was available, sat down to wait a bit while finished all my water in the bottle. Then I went back to the whirlpool area to get my towel after 5-10 minutes wait with no lap lane available, it was gone. I talked to the lifeguards, they help me look around a bit without finding it and asked me to go talk to front desk. I dried myself with paper towel in the bathroom after a quick shower and got dressed quickly, then head right out to the front desk. Front desk staff just point out the room where the supervisor is and instructed me to talk to her. I told her what had happened to me, she was not taking me seriously at all at first. She told YMCA is not responsible for any stolen or lost item when I ask for reimbursement. I questioned that why there was no camera in the whirlpool area, she could not give me an answer. The level of negligence and lack of sympathy disgusts me. keep your towel or any valuable within your sight at all time or else you will be the next victim. YMCA will absolutely not be responsible or owning up to its negligence. read more

Children's Gymnastics. Because we have a YMCA family membership, when our kids (ages 4 & 5) wanted to learn gymnastics, rather than shop around, we automatically signed them up at the Emilson YMCA Gymnastic Center in Hanover. It turned out the beginner class was nothing more than letting the children run around and play in the gymnastic room with absolutely no instruction. Our kids were crushed that they never learned how to do cartwheels or headstands, etc., so when this 6-week course ended we signed them up for the next level presuming that was where they would start learning gymnastics. Once again, there was absolutely NO INSTRUCTION, JUST PLAY, too many kids for the few number of teenage instructors, the first 15 minutes of every 45 minutes is stretching (?!), and little to no spotting on most of the equipment. We could have gone to Chuck-E-Cheese for this, and at least we would have gotten pizza. read more

Please go back to normal hours! There's no excuse for closing at 4:00 on weekends. At the very least update your online postings they all say 8:00 Saturday but you close at 4:00. read more

I took a long drive here and I always used to pay 10 bucks to get in this time with no warning I was told I now needed a membership. I took and hour to drive here and I've tried to negotiate but they won't let us in and complete crap. read more

the layout of this ymca is good, equipment is state of the art and staff is good. I don't see a lot of cleaning and the floors in the main workout area are dirty. I have been going to gyms for years and this YMCA does a good job especially during COVID. members do a good job cleaning their machines but the dirt and grime in and around machines is pretty bad. money well spent to keep families safe! read more

I wanted to tell you about the YMCA in Hanover MA. My daughter attended a day program for the first time on Monday, October 14th, 2019. We picked her up. Nothing seemed unusual. On Tuesday, October 15, I received a phone call from the Executive Director of Afterschool programs, Jamie Farrell. When Ms. Farell called me, I was in complete shock. All she did was state that my 6 year old had told a counselor at the day program that her and her dad had private conservations about adult things. Then Ms. Farrell stated that the counselor then later asked my child who she liked better her mom or dad. My child apparently said my mom she is nice. My dad is rough and he pushed me when I didn't get dressed fast enough and he slapped me across the face. Although these statements may seem problematic, my child is 6 years old. Just turned 6 infact. At the end of our conversation, Ms. Farell then simply stated we have to by law report a 51A. That was it. She didn't ask me any questions. Later that night, we spoke with our child about what happened. The " private adult" talks with her dad she was referring to was her and her dad's daily drives to school discussing the planets and the stars. When that same counselor asked her which parent she liked better ( a strange and inappropriate question to be asking a 6 year old one on one) and she said her dad was rough and pushed her and hit her, well if that counselor was properly trained and had asked further questions she would find that the one time her dad hit her, she had slapped him and he hit her back. He did not push her he nudged her after repeatedly asking her to get dressed 5 or 6 times as 6 year olds tend to ignore their parents. I understand their responsibility to report, if a situation is unsafe, but they did not know my daughter. They did not ask any follow up questions to her or us. There were no bruises or signs or abuse. I think it is simply irresponsible of her and that counselor to take these two comments in a one day period of knowing our child and formulate some kind of "unsafe situation " at home. They didn't even question her normal counselors at her usual afterschool program nor her teacher, nor us. This situation has upset us and our daughter for nothing. We have nothing to hide. We are loving parents with a loving happy child. I spoke with the Department of Social services that Wednesday, October 16th. They agreed with me that the way these 2 ambiguous comments that happened in a one day period with a counselor my child was not familiar with, do not constitute an unsafe situation. My child was very upset by this as are we. She was asking the next morning if people were going to ask her more questions. This was traumatic for all of us and it didn't need to happen. On page 5 of their YMCA Code of Conduct it states Staff should report any concerns about a child's physical condition, noting any fever, bumps, bruises, burns, etc to the SSYMCA management. Questions or comments will be addressed to the parent and / or child in an OPEN-ENDED, NON THREATENING WAY. Any quesionable marks or responses will be documented and reported to the SSYMCA management. Page 6 states that The EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR or designee and the program director in consulting with DCF may jointly decide if, when , and /or how parents/guardians should be advised that the SSYMCA has filed the 51A report. None of these steps were taken. If Ms Farrell had only spoken with Eden and asked a couple follow up questions or talked with me about this, the 51A would have never been filed. I heard from Dan Berry about this only after I wrote him an email. His response was basically well we didn't handle correctly but we will train better in the future. The future? Well , I had to take my daughter out of the program because she was upset by this. Didn't want to go back. Our lives were upset over this. How would you feel if someone reported you to DSS unnecessarily? It is embarrassing and it is wasting DSS's time and resources for people that really need it. Stay away! read more

After a ton of years as a member @ this facility I just cancelled my membership. The free weight area is too cluttered & they dont keep up with the equipment. The place is packed with obstacles. They accumulated so much equipment in the weight area the layout is horrible. Its to the point where if there is a line to use anything but cardio you cant stand aside without being in the way of someone. If you're using the free weights someone or something is right on top of you. After following the proper process for suggestions then talking with the person who manages the layout confirm that the small change that I suggested is a good idea - 3 months went by with no action. The bosu balls are never fully inflated and the few replacements of full balls they've purchased in the last year or so have been crap. They added TV's to the locker rooms and split the lockers (that were never full to begin with) in half. If you bring work clothes you'll need 2 lockers and good luck if you wear a suit. People stand there and watch TV while you try to get in & out at any time of the day is a pain in the butt. I'll miss the aquatics team - they're squared away. I look forward to signing up a another facility thats half the size and double the rate and further away from my house. read more

Never a complaint !!! Love my medical team !!! Normally in Plymouth location and first time in Norwell after 10 years .. overall amazing as always !!! Super friendly and caring read more

I used this YMCA facility at Mill Pond while summering in Marshfield. It's worth the drive. I loved the options and he friendly staff here. The price is right for and if you're a student (college or high school) you can get a discounted rate. This is by far the cleanest YMCA I have ever stepped foot in. This spacious facility has tons of up to date equipment, plenty of indoor and outdoor pools, sauna, hot tub, slide & shallow pool for the kids, gymnastic area, game room as well as plenty of fitness rooms that are used for aerobics and specialty classes. I highly recommend it! read more

This location is very big. They have their own parking spaces, pool, basketball court, gym, and more

Have been going to this YMCA for almost a year now. I love it! Great classes, I prefer them over the YMCA in Quincy. Body pump, cardio kick boxing and Zumba are my favorites. Lately I have been using the cardio machines, which most have TVs on them, and using the free weights/ lifting machines. They have a huge child care center, a new small cafe, outdoor center with one large pool and two smaller pools perfect for smaller kids and a baby pool (two grills and a snack bar outside, did I mention there is a huge gym for basketball and two tennis courts? Prices are decent for what you can get year round at this gym. Sure the weight room is on the small side, but they are doing construction inside, my guess is that they are going to expand it. read more

As a community center or for those with kids, the Y is really good. They have a large variety of classes and programs that really fit most people's comfort levels whether adolescent karate or a spin class or yoga. The facilities themselves are always pretty clean and decently maintained. The biggest issues I saw in my years there were a water filter needed changing for a few days. Overall the equipment is nice and expensive and well taken care off. As a fitness center overall I'd give the Y average to poor marks. Most of their weight training equipment are nautilus machines which are literally useless if you're considering any real strength or fitness goals. They do have a decent amount of free weights as well as some benches and barbells with plates, but those are not the focus of their equipment. There is also a powerlifting platform if you feel like getting into deadlifts, snatches, cleans etc but dropping a bar is frowned upon it seems. My real issue with the is the quality of the training staff. They really seem to either not care or not know how to effectively progress people. They never bother to correct those with poor form on the rowers or to offer a spot to someone lifting. Most of their clients seem somewhat plateaued. read more

I am a member of the Y in Easton since it is close to where I work, but I would use the Y in Hanover when I didn't feel like driving all the way back out to Easton. This particular location is huge and extremely clean. The locker rooms are massive and very up-to-date. You can go online and view the calendar of classes that are sure to meet just about everyone's needs. They offer yoga, pilates, step aerobics, Body Pump, etc. However, I stopped coming here for a few reasons. First, the front desk staff is beyond rude. When I would come in and say I was a member of the Y in Easton, they would look at me as if I was from a third world country. "Oh? Easton?" I had to look at myself and make sure I didn't have leprosy. Next is the physical space. There are just so many people when it is busy trying to use only so few machines, it's a total cluster-you-know-what trying to move around people in the free weight area and around the machines. I appreciate the "reservation" system to use the cardio machines, but to the Gym Warden (for lack of better words) who barked at me for using a treadmill at 6 a.m. when there was virtually no one else there without a reservation is just ridiculous. "You're supposed to sign-up to use the treadmill. You can only use it for half an hour." There was only 12 other people in the gym at that particular moment and if there was a sudden rush of suburbanite moms flooding through the door to drop off their spawn and go for a jog on the treadmill, I would have gladly made other arrangements. But my biggest complaint? The other members. Is this a gym or is it a place to be seen? On my first visit, there was a woman applying eyeliner and mascara in the locker room and then walked out to treadmills. And ladies, if you're not wearing Lululemon, be prepared to get glares from other members. "Oh, you're wearing that?" And be prepared to see women stuffed into Lululemon gear that, well... shouldn't be. No thanks, I'll drive back to Easton on the weekends to go to the gym where the staff and other members are friendly. read more

The gym is poorly put together. Lacks equipment. Overly crowded with people who have no gym etiquette. The pool is a joke. They make the parents lifeguard their own children. You must stay arms legnth distance from any child under 7 even if they can swim. They have to pass a super stringent test to get a green band before you can have them in the deep end. My children are always supervised but I have teenagers here watching over my shoulder telling me to get closer to my child. They have camp kids all over and the pool Is super crowned until 1.30. We are cancelling and not coming back. The hype over the ymca is just that, hype. read more

I have been a member here for only 4 months and I already hate it. I love spin and workout classes but I have been nothing but disappointed. The 6:00 am spin instructors are a joke and I should probably invest in my own spin bike for a better workout. They don't have any drills to the classes it's just simply put a ton of gears on the bike and ride so if you have bad knees don't bother. There are no 5:00 pm classes so getting up early is my only option. I tried the kickboxing class and its ridiculously choreographed like every other free class. The schedule has either super early or super late classes which is inconvenient. I have even considered signing up for classes that cost money since the free ones are so bad but unless you are a stay at home mom they don't work for anyone's schedule unless you want to lose money. My husband hates going as it's so overly crowded and lacks any space to use weights. You would think they would take down some of the tennis area as there are probably more paying members for the gym anyways. I really hope that the YMYCA does make drastic changes very soon, if not I am out like the rest. Great place and my work pays for my half of my membership, but I am not sure it's worth paying anything anymore. Please change soon!!! read more

It's a great Y and for the price, you can't go wrong. It's big, clean, staff is great and best of all, they offer free daycare (with membership) while you work out! That alone is the main reason why we joined. I like the classes I've taken (mostly yoga but I've tired body pump and pilates too) but no matter how many they offer I can never seem to find one that is timed in a way that fits in with my day. read more

This gym has everything you could ever want. It has indoor and outdoor pools that are always available. Classes, although I would love to see more Yoga/Pilates classes offered at night and on weekends. But, it is huge, clean, state of the art machines- that you can plug your headphones into to watch your own TV or listen to your own music. Love it! read more

Love, love, love this place. The childcare is fabulous and everyone is so nice there. Everything is so clean...you really can't beat this place for a family gym. read more

The facility is fabulous and has so much to offer. The class instructors are knowledge and extremely upbeat. Management is very interested in customers' feedback. Conditions are clean and in great shape. read more

Pool party at the YMCA Emilson, Hanover MA: Horrible pool party. Do not recommend!!! I don't usually write reviews but this was a complete disaster. Staff incredibly rude to kids. Wasted half of the pool time on rules and swimming tests. Out of the 50 minutes of swim time they could only swim 30 minutes. Their "swimming test" is a complete joke. My daughter is in a swim team and swam perfectly and they failed her for some made-up reason of holding on to the side for a millisecond. They restricted her to be in a foot of water (with all the babies) because she didn't pass their ridicules test. Kids above 7 years old they don't even test. One kid came out of the water slide bleeding because a skin tag on her arm was ripped off during her slide. Another kid came out of the swimming test crying. Will definitely not coming back for any of their parties. We were considering summer camp there. Not anymore, after we saw who are the poeple they hire as pool staff. read more

Saddest day of my life (ok, not really) was when I moved to Quincy and had to stop going to this place. It's an insane mecca of a gym. Everything is squeaky clean and up to date. There's childcare, tennis, and tons of pools- 2 indoor and at least 2 outdoor. I can't comment on the price- i got a discount through my old job- but whatever it is, it's well worth it. read more

We only use this YMCA for swimming lessons but the pool is wonderful and her swim teacher Erin is awesome.

Beware all members at the Y in Hanover. While I was in a water aerobics class today someone stole everything out of my locker including: North Face jacket with a credit card, car keys and leather gloves in the pockets. In addition they took my gym bag with new cords, pink cashmere sweater, towel, underwear, shoes and socks. As I stood there dripping wet and in total disbelief, other members came to my rescue with clothing and conducting a search of all lockers 3 or 4 times. They were amazingly helpful. The staff, not so much. They acted pretty nonchalant about the whole issue, like it was an every day occurrence. Fortunately my car was still in the parking lot. It's so old they probably didn't want it. My good friend drove me home to get my spare keys. When I got back to my car the first thing I looked for was my registration and guess what? Of course it was gone. Thankfully my house key was not with the car keys. Now I have all these losses and can't use my remote starter as the thief has it. Now you would think that was the end of this, but tonight I was with some friends at a business meeting and they told me they know three other people this has happened to in the last few weeks. I want to know what steps the Y staff is doing to prevent this from continuing to happen. Perhaps an alert monitor in the locker room? I don't have the answers, that's their job, but they had better take some positive action to put an end to this. I'm just waiting to see if someone attempts identity fraud or steals my car out of my driveway some night. I'm angry and scared and very upset to think the Y is not taking any positive action to put an end to this. Yes, I am at fault for not using a lock on my locker, but I've been there almost a year and until recently it felt like a safe place to be. 12/13 addendum Under strangely suspicious circumstances, the Hanover Police were able to retrieve all my belongings. The staff said they found them in a locker, must have been in the basement. Curious why they never called me yet the officer was able to get them. Would have been common courtesy to contact me and express their concern at some point! read more

They have put a lot of money over the years to improve the facility but sadly, most of the negative reviews from what I have seen first hand after being a member for many, many years are true. True: - front desk staff are less than knowledgable about programs, schedules etc. - they used to be very rude and unfriendly but I guess they finally got enough complaints to fix this situation and it has improved. - the gym staff are of zero help unless you hire them as a paid personal trainer at $50+ bucks per hour. - the free weight section is postage stamp sized in comparison to the full gym area. And more importantly, its just plain unsafe. The benches (there are only 4 of them) are about 3ft from the weight rack - On more than numerous occasions I have been on a bench and a man will literally come over and stand right in front of my bench using very large heavy weights and start slinging them around in my space -- one wrong move and people could be seriously injured. Y staff sees this going on and do nothing. - It is true that anything that isnt locked up will probably be stolen and that includes numerous car break ins every year. - The tennis program is very cliquey and difficult to get involved in - its basically a popularity contest - coaches have little say in what goes on - the teams are formed and run by a "select" few members who decide who they want and dont want on their teams. - If you have any kind of concern or problem it falls on deaf ears - trust me - no one cares. - If you are joining here to play tennis -- FORGET IT -- go to Weymouth Club or Kingsbury. This is not a tennis friendly facility. They lack pros, lack court time and even when you book and PAY in full for contract time they hassle you and cancel your time slot out like you dont even exist. Go anywhere else but here if you want a good tennis facility. - The 2 star rating is because they do try to constantly update the facility and they just recently added a small cafe area and the food is great -- honestly, I think this is the best feature of the Emilson YMCA at this point in time. read more

Too hot in here. Basketballs are too old and not even inflated. Ping pong table hasn't had a net for 2 years. Air hockey table works once in a great while. Just horrible. read more

This is a large, beautiful, clean facility that offers all manner of activities for people of all ages. Things I love: - Their childcare. Amazing. The ladies (and a couple teen guys) are just wonderful with the kids. My kids loved it. The childcare rooms are huge, well staffed, and there's so much to do. And the walls are glass, so you can poke your head around and see how your kid is doing at any time. - Nice, huge gym area. Large, clean locker rooms. I love that the pools lead directly to the locker rooms, so you don't need to wander the hallways in your bathing suit. - Their pools are nice, when you're allowed to use them (see below) - Lots and lots and lots of classes in a huge variety of subjects. I love their water aerobics particularly! I'm a lot younger than the average class member, but I started when I was pregnant and got hooked. Their instructor is great. - The price is about $110 a month for a family, which is a good deal for the area. Things I don't love so much: - The pools are often out of commission for lessons, parties, and summer camp. You can't use the outdoor pools until 3 because of the summer camps, and the free swim time for the indoor pools is sparse. - There aren't enough weight machines. Everyone wants to use them, and there can be lines. This is a pretty major failing, IMO. There are duplicates for a couple machines, but not for the rowing and the abdominal ones, which are both very popular. - No supervised childcare over age 7. But they do let the kids be "volunteers," and the younger ones often get stationed to "help" in the childcare room. How big a downside this is really depends on your kids... mine were perfectly content playing in the rec room and never got into any trouble, but I can see this being a bad situation for some kids. - My husband and I were both suddenly unemployed for a while a few years ago, and we tried to get financial aid to keep our Y membership, and it was a crazy process clearly designed to deter people from even applying. We applied for FA for a few places (including the private preschool our kids were at at the time), and never saw an application as thorough, impractical, and inane. It was basically insulting. We ended up just canceling our membership, and the experience left a really bad taste in my mouth about the Y and its claims of offering support. This was several years ago, and when things turned around we ended up joining the Weymouth Club, where overall we haven't been thrilled. I'm ready to go back to the Y, but I definitely won't be supporting any fundraising efforts. (And yes, I know that that broke people have better things to do than go to the gym, but that would have been a really nice time to have a gym as an outlet, not to mention to have the childcare to do phone interviews and work on applying to jobs. It just seems disingenuous that one of the missions of the YMCA is supposed to be charity, while making applying for charity difficult.) Overall, I think that this is the best deal in the area, particularly the childcare. read more

Love this Y. Coming from Hull we could go to Quincy or Hanover, but I will chose Hanover any day. Compared to Quincy, it's a country club. Locker rooms are clean, there is plenty of equipment, and classes (esp. yoga and pilates) are taught by first-rate teachers. I've been bringing my twins since they were infants and the childcare staff is wonderful. Since you get 2 hours childcare once the kids turn 1, I often work out for an hour and then get work done in the cafe area since they have free wi-fi. We had the kids in gymnastics, swimming lessons and a few sessions of summer camp this past year- all fantastic, fun for the kids, and affordable. My only complaint is the lack of diversity at this Y. read more

I hopped over to the Y after being a dedicated member of a private gym in my hometown of Marshfield -- and I can honestly say it was a great decision for myself. This facility is incredibly clean and a vast majority of the machinery is up-to-date. The treadmills have TV's that you can watch TV on, play games, or listen to your iPod through. The staff at the front desk are friendly, as well as the trainers on the floor. Gym members are very diverse and you never have to worry about people being TOO full of themselves. Everyone does their own thing and leaves it at that. The membership rates are affordable too. There's childcare for those with kids. And MANY classes to try out. The only thing I would really change about this place is their opening hours. They open up at 5 on the weekdays. 4am would accommodate a lot better with certain people's work schedules. My old gym had "key-less entries" which were for un-staffed hours and that seemed to work out nicely for the early bird's schedules. Aside from that, I really love coming here. Definitely check it out if you're looking for a new gym! read more

I like the Y for all it has to offer, however, in order to justify paying that much money, I'd really have to take advantage of the gym, pool, classes, and tennis courts. It's very expensive for an individual adult to go! I like all the space, but a lot of the people who work there aren't very friendly. The people at the front desk tend to just keep talking amongst each other while they scan your card and the trainers look bored to tears when they aren't training anyone, just sitting at the front desk or milling about looking if anyone needs help. All in all, a great place for a family to go together or if you have the money to spend and would like to take advantage of all it has to offer. read more

Been coming here for years. The classes are great - I can find a great challenge any day of the week. Beautiful facility. My toddler looks forward to the play room. read more

the gym is so big and there are so many machines. it's a good gym to get a membership to.