Same reason as always: last "upgrade" of treadmills crippled their longstanding prior ability to receive streamed audio from the TVs (for listening with headphones). Near-term restoration of this functionality was promised by staff for over a year but (now years later) seems to have been forgotten by the administration. Men's bathroom in downstair area has also been in disrepair for quite some time and now appears to have possibly(?) been abandoned. My $15 membership to Planet Fitness buys better facilities (including both of above) than my $100+ membership to the Princeton YMCA.

Good price; very helpful staff; good facility.

The

Improve parking - create a new sign, and display it prominently, stating that parking is for Y members only. The current sign is very faded and I watch people walk from the parking lot away from the building as I drive in prior to class. Then I’m parking a long way from the building entrance.

Better locker rooms.

It feels like then is run for its employees and not for users. The situation with the pool is terrible. Unreliable pool availability because lifeguards don’t show up- an indictment of both staff AND management - and unreliable water quality or temperature. Terrible experience with adult swim lessons. Indifferent uninterested and unreliable instructors. The men’s locker room and showers are in atrocious condition. It’s really shameful. I go to Y’s whenever I travel and the Princeton Y is in the worst shape of any I’ve ever seen.

If you’re looking for a

friendly, well-run

friendship

Facilities, particularly temperature upstairs. Too hot. Price is too high.

Strong points are very nice and competent staff, competitive rates. Weaknesses are facility is crumbling, things break and don't get fixed for months, place is not well cleaned or maintained.

The classes, the teachers and the staff. I did not rate it to a 10 because the women's locker room is soooo outdated and is NOT regularly cleaned. There is black mold in some of the cubicles and there is rust EVERYWHERE. Toilet seats , shower curtains and dressing room curtains are also disgusting. These are cheap accessories, why can't they not be replaced? At times, the locker room also smells funky, I think the smell comes from the carpeting. I am imagining that so much bacteria already live in the carpet in the dressing room.
The whole locker room desperately needs a renovation, please please

Love Suzette’s water aerobics classes.

the facility is old; needs to be cleaned more frequently. Blinds in the yoga room are broken and it's either too hot or too cold

The physical facilities are shabby. The locker rooms are disgusting and even dirty. Everything needs sprucing up. The yoga room ceiling looks as though it’s going to fall down the sunscreens in that room are shredding. The Y just doesn’t. measure up to other gyms in the area on cleanliness and attractiveness.
What the Y has going for it is the quality of the instructors and staff, as well as lots of classes and adequate equipment,

Much of my family and I have been coming to the Princeton YMCA nearly daily for years. We’ve always felt welcomed by the staff there, many of whom we’ve come to know on a first-name basis. We’ve really enjoyed the facilities, especially the weight room, the pool, and the gymnasium. When our kids were younger they benefitted from the swimming lessons, the swim team, and the summer day camp. Throughout, the friendships and camaraderie they’ve found with their peers at the Y have become a meaningful part of how this town feels like home to them. The Princeton YMCA—like the YWCA, the Public Library, the Arts Council, the Recreation Department, and Princeton Nursery School—is a cornerstone of civic life here. It feels like a genuine community organization and we feel fortunate to be able to be a part of it.

Friendly staff and members, affordable, variety of class choices all included in fees, warm community vibe.
The ONLY downside is the facility has some decaying areas that need attention/funding/upgrading (specifically, the showers and lighting in the women's locker room.)

you gotta fix these showers. or at least put new showerheads on those that work

Something for everyone!

The people are great, and I support its mission. The facility appears to have a lot of deferred maintenance, and I see things that lead me to question its cleanliness.

I am providing a generous 3 due to convenience of the location. Otherwise as I have communicated in the past the facility , which I only use for the gym is less than ideal.
The cost keeps rising and services keep going down. Bathrooms out of commission, air conditioning is barely on, equipment duck taped or not kept up to good working order, young children in crocs on the equipment and the cleanliness is not up to what it should be.
My latest complaint is that over 2 months ago I told a number of staff about the loss of internet and cell service. While I do not use my phone to talk , I need to be able to be reached due to a person with a health condition at home. You are in a black hole in the cardio and weight area. Plus I can not access anything else on my phone. Others have said the same and are frustrated as well. The service is still out. Many are waiting for the new gym at the shopping center to open and no longer be a member, I am one of the them.

I can’t recommend additional people when frequently, there is not enough parking for me (a paying member). If they enforced their own parking sign and not allow many of the parking spots to be taken by people who just park and walk downtown then that would solve the problem, and I could raise my ranking from 2 to 10

One of the main reasons we keep a membership to the Princeton YMCA is to have our 7yo take swimming classes. The aquatics team at the Princeton YMCA have recently been quite underwhelming, specifically after Amanda left. So we have not signed him up for the program because the instructors do not seem to care and apply themselves, sometimes not even paying attention to the kids for 15 min straight during a 45 min class. We are very unsatisfied with the current state of the aquatics program indeed. On a separate note, the locker rooms are quite dirty and rusty. Seems like at least replacing the lockers should not be so difficult.

I am generally a big fan of the Y. Unfortunately, I have run into frustrating situations when using the weight machines. Twice (a week apart) I have encountered young boys (perhaps 13 or 14 years old) who believed that 1) they needed to wait long periods of time (15-20 minutes) between sets while using the weight equipment, and 2) that this entitled them to monopolize that equipment while they waited, so that no one else could use it. In one case, two boys sat and chatted on the equipment for half an hour (not using it) while the other people in the room (at that point, me and another man) cycled through all of the other machines. They initially refused to move when both of us asked, and only moved after some angry tones were used (simply saying you can’t sit on the equipment while you wait). This was frustrating. A week later, I observed another boy of similar age tell an older woman that she could not use a machine because he was using it. In fact, he was using an adjacent machine. The women left the room. This behavior is so arrogant and entitled that it takes us by surprise and it is difficult to know how to respond. I was firm and verbal. Others are intimidated. This is effectively young teenagers bullying older adults who are trying to use the equipment. There is no monitoring to prevent this. It makes use of the weight machines extremely unpleasant. My primary interest in the Y right now is the use of the weight machines and I am unfortunately considering cancelling my membership because of this bullying behavior.

Pool is far too warm to comfortably swim laps!!!

The bathrooms were quite dirty and showers were broken. Also lots of bugs on the swimming deck. And there were no life vest available for my toddler.

group exercise classes

I coached basketball for over 10 years at the Y from 2010-2022, both of my sons played basketball and other activities, and my older son worked at the Y. Over the years, I have recommended the Y to other parents in Princeton.

I signed up for the two month program & was so impressed with Jass that I joined the YMCA with hopes I can take more classes with her as well as other classes. I have always taken aqua classes at another facility & would like to take them there but find the showers not at all desirable. I have heard that the aquatic instructor is outstanding.

Staff are nice and friendly. The facility are clean . Swimming has flexible hours . Love it

the women locker area is ok, the shower and bathroom facilities are disgusting - why aren't they fixed and/or updated , they are terrible. ;(

Staff is friendly and nice

The Swim program has turned a leaf with Lo and Brandon and Sheena as the tutor it is one o

I have been trying for six months to get an answer about why it takes so long to change all the lights that are out in the ladies locker room, to unclog a sink that stays clogged for two months, to remove rusty hooks from the shower area, to pick up trash strewn along your fence that runs along Robson place that I had to pick up myself after a few months etc. etc.

If you had a well kept, clean, functioning locker room, I would give it a 10+ because the people at the pool and at the front desk are so lovely and you have a very nice lap pool that I use five days a week.

The other reason I gave it a 1 is because occasionally a lifeguard will not show up for duty and everyone has to get out of the pool and leave. That should absolutely never happen. I was a member of a Lifetime pool in Denver for nine years and that never happened once. It has happened multiple times in the six months that I've lived here and used the Y.

The gym is not worth the membership price it is maintained poorly

I visit Princeton YMCA 5 days a week. Here are my friends. I like my instructors. All people are nice and friendly.

would be great if showers got renovated and new lockers were put in!

I LOVE my personal trainer - Suzette Schmidt. And everyone who works at the Y is very friendly and welcoming.

I use the weight room 3x a week. I value the community aspect of the "Y". The weight room is very well equipped but very poorly maintained. Simple things such as replacing a grip on a weight machine rather than wrapping tape around it make a negative impression. The men's toilet is in bad condition. There should be a water fountain - the mini desktop water cooler where users have to provide their own cup or water bottle for me is an annoyance. I understand the desire to use less disposable paper products but at a certain point it seems just cheap not to have Kleenex tissue available.

the facility is dated. some showers and faucets are not working. parking could be a problem sometimes. although the location is great.

Swimming Pool schedule was a mess in last quarter of 2025 / beginning of 2026. They claimed it to be the lack of lifeguars. This past saturday, they closed half the pool but never sent any communication about it.

I had to shower at the Y before going to a work dinner. The showers are really bad, old, rusty, moldy. The staff was really nice and helpful

Treadmills were "upgraded" several years ago. The upgrade removed the functionality of connecting headphones to listen to audio streamed from the nearby TVs. Restoration of this functionality has been promised by staff for years now, but never delivered. Still waiting...

Showering area needs some improvement and also it is a good idea to provide bath towels, the way they used to be available a few years ago. Staff is good and always welcoming!

We have enrolled my kid to pickleball classes hardly they conducted classes as stated for the duration this is really insane

I strongly recommend due to the immense value of community supportive place , the great classes and equipment that serve many and the feeling of being a supportive community.
You could get cleaning done more often or more thorough in the shower area and toilets and renovate those showers as your first next investment priority instead of too many screens and TVs in the gym and elsewhere .

Kind staff, affordable and great facilities and programming. I just wish there were more swimming lanes!

No changing rooms, water fountain is upstairs. Teenage and young men often curse and scream nonsense while occupying benches and machines by watching their phones for 10-20 mins. Workout area is very cramped and not well ventilated (smells). Ive been to YMCA in hillsborough -the Princeton facility should charge 50% less in comparison. Much needed expansion or improvement to their facilities.

the staff is pleasant, informed, and caring above all. Suzette is my personla STAR!!!

Convenient, great value, well-equipped gym and fantastic open swim times at the pool. Friendly and responsive staff.