Southdale YMCA

About

Sprawling fitness center featuring a 6-lane lap pool as well as a climbing wall, a sauna and a steam room.

While specific temperatures for the Southdale YMCA pools are not always publicly listed, YMCAs typically maintain their lap pools at approximately 78-82°F (25.5-27.8°C) for comfortable lap swimming. Warm water leisure pools are generally kept around 86-90°F (30-32.2°C) for activities like swim lessons and water therapy, and the whirlpool usually operates at about 102°F (38.9°C).

What are people saying (AI review summary)? The facility garners positive remarks for its clean, modern appearance, amenities like two pools, and helpful staff members (e.g., Davontae, Hunter) who assist with e-gym machines. However, significant dissatisfaction revolves around several key areas. The new online registration system is widely criticized for being glitchy, complicated, and providing an awkward user experience, leading to issues such as unauthorized charges, a refusal to refund payments despite system errors (e.g., lack of confirmation, inability to accept waitlist spots within a tight window), and inflexible policy enforcement. Other concerns include the dislike of communal showers in the 18+ locker room and a desire for more free-weight equipment. Serious complaints were also raised about unauthorized automatic billing withdrawals from a member's account despite explicit assurances, with subsequent difficulty in obtaining a refund for unused services. Additionally, the kids' sports programs are described as disorganized, lacking qualified coaches, and showing a consistent lack of improvement over many years, leading to strong recommendations against continued participation.

Location

Gallery

Amenities

• Accepts Credit Cards
• Accessible Entrance
• Accessible Restroom

Reviews

Listing Reviews

March 8th, 2025

Jason F Lunn

I will never attend this place again. Im on a fixed income and was told I could pay every two weeks without automatic withdrawal. From my account. They insisted on my banking info but told me they would not take any money out. I attended 2 times, and then I was forced to move out of town. 2 months later I notice I was overdrawn at the bank. They were removing payments from my account even though the assured me it would never happen. Then when I called to complain to try to obtain my money back, I was told someone would contact me. I since have left several calls after I tracked down who does the billing. That was $75 of services I never used. For a place the promotes help people with low income sure had no problem taking my money then not even trying or wanting to fix there issue.. Be very careful, there are many people who work at the front desk, so good luck trying to track down who made the error and gave incorrect info. I will never go back or recommend this place.

March 4th, 2025

Kelly S

UPDATED TO ADD I DID TALK TO KENDRA MANY TIMES AND THERE WAS NEVER IMPROVEMENTS MADE DESPITE HER LACK OF ABILITY AND MAYBE YOU SHOULD HIRE MORE PEOPLE AND RELY LESS ON VOLUNTEERS TO COACH SPORTS PEOPLE PAY FOR (especially if they involve water sports): Not organized in their kids sports programs. They need to do better and hire more qualified people to oversee all the kids they have running the place and maybe we would consider going back but I have have had bad experiences every single time from 2011 to 2024...we stopped for a long time in between and gave them space to improve but there was a definite lack of improvement or attempts at such. There are much better establishments and this is one that could use an update in many many ways.

August 23rd, 2025

Stephen - Wigg

Davontae showed me how to use the egym machines. What a delight he is. Beaming with positivity! And Hunter showed me how to get started on the e-gym. The facility itself is amazing - with two pools, and an over 18 locker room. Only thing I’m not thrilled about is the communal showers in 18+ locker room. I’m not an exhibitionist, never have been, never will be, (other than here I guess 👀)

September 7th, 2025

Rebecca Perez

Absolutely UNIMPRESSED with their unwillingness to take responsibility for their website's glitches. Fix your website and consider flexibility with your policies when you are at fault!! My child has attended the Summer Power Program for the last 3 summers mainly due to our differing work schedules, their long hours of operation, decent pricing, and the frequent outings they offer. That being said I am extremely frustrated and disappointed with their new online website and their refusal to reverse a charge that I hadn't received confirmation for, due to a glitch in their new website. All things considered we will not be signing her up in the future and do not recommend it to others due to the complicated and glitchy website and the customer service response to their website's issue. Their online system for registering for their program has not been great in the past especially as a mobile site. They updated their online site this year and it has still been an awkward user experience and glitchy. When registering there is not an option to select an entire week at a time, there are MWF or TTH options which makes it overly time consuming and detailed to select all the dates needed. After selecting and registering my child for all the known dates I needed, I double checked her other activity dates and returned to the YMCA site to add additional dates needed in August, it wouldn't let me without charging me another $50 registration fee, although she was already a registered participant. I revisted adding more dates closer to summer and was then waitlisted. I received an email on a busy workday in early July that a TTH spot was available in August but that I had only 24hrs to claim it and needed to confirm via the link provided. I attempted multiple times on my short break to accept it via the link, but it would not process my request, I tried the desktop site as well as the mobile site. It was also asking again for a $50 registration fee although she was already an active participant. I gave up trying as 24hrs is not much time to try and get ahold of customer or technical support, considering my packed work days and we made other arrangements. I thought that would be the end of it and didn't bother emailing them since it hadn't processed and we made other arrangements. On a Tuesday at the beginning of August I happened to look at my credit card statement and noticed a $145 charge the day before for the YMCA although I had already been charged for all her dates she would be attending (they charge 2 weeks in advance on mondays, previously it was a week in advance). Very confused I emailed the customer service that day to let them know she did not need care those dates, they thanked me in response. A week later I still noticed the charge and sent them a brief email asking about a refund. They were unwilling to give a refund due to their 2 week advance cancellation notice where you must let them know by Monday 2 weeks in advance. I understand their policy but given the glitches with their new system and that I never received a confirmation message or email confirming the registration had indeed gone through, I emailed them with the complete explanation that the problem had been on their end and that I should receive a refund since it was their issue and I had not been notified. They took a few days to review it and have a supervisor review it and still did not approve it due to their 2 week cancellation policy. Your issue YMCA, not mine.

January 25th, 2024

Forrest Cory

Clean, modern looking facility with friendly staff and quite a few different fitness spaces. Quite a bit of cardio equipment as well as egym strength which is cool. I do wish they more racks and overall free weight options - maybe add some Hammer Strength racks and plate loaded equipment. Overall the facility was not overcrowded at 6am when I worked out. Good variety of exercisers young and old. Would definitely recommended to a friend