Priciest gym in the city AND No towel service, lack of equipment, non-working amenities, Covid hours, horrible parking and all at a whopping $80 a month. You can get a much better experience than this at almost any other gym in Charlotte more than half the price . There are too many members to only have 1 type of machine each. Steam room has been “down” going on 4 months??? At this point I don’t even think they’ve scheduled someone to look at it. TOUR OTHER GYMS IN CHARLOTTE BEFORE YOU SIGN HERE TRUST ME!!!

I have a few gym memberships just to keep things interesting and it helps keep me motivated. They have a sauna, steam room, hot tub, and indoor pool which really make it stand out from other gyms. The Y is pretty much always busy when I go which is early morning but it’s also busy at night after 6pm. If you workout during the middle of the day you won’t have to wait on equipment to be free to use. Just a heads up on that. I don’t mind the wait because I like the equipment and the options. It is 4 stories, with racquetball courts, plenty of cardio equipment, group fitness classes, I stay in the weight area mainly and they have a turf area which I like. Plenty of barbells and chalk there too. There’s a women’s only center too so it’s good for women if they don’t feel comfortable around a large crowd of if yours first starting out. They have a coffee shop in there now and community work space if you want to work remotely there. There’s a pro shop that has sports drinks, snacks max pool accessories, and much more. The top floor is my favorite for outdoor workouts, the view is the best early mornings and during sunset. Those are the pictures you’re seeing.

It has potential. Lots of equipment options. It's wayyy too crowded to be functional. The local members are extremely rude machine hogs. All that equipment and can't use any of it. Employees are surprisingly helpful and polite. Biggest problem is the rude hogs. Charlotte it a dump city anyway

This gym reminds me of Equinox in NYC so much. I feel at peace here because they have a cleaning crew that is on top of their maintenance like no other. Super clean especially during times like this however I agree with the reviews below that the mask requirement is pointless. When I first moved to CLT, my home gym was Gateway where I was a part of their CrossFit tribe however since Gateway is no longer - I decided to rejoin the Dowd last month. I have been to a ton of boxes and I really appreciate the conservatve approach amongst the coaches. As with many boxes, coaches will always vary however here they are super attentive, never on their phone at all and really care that you get better. Outside the gym rate, the membership price is relatively lower compared to other gyms yet, you definiitely get more bang for your buck at the Dowd. At boutique gyms, you are very limited however at the Dowd, I have a variety of choices from swimming, Barre, Pliates, Cycle to Functioning Training. Participating in Cardio Dance class after work reminded me how much I missed options. I totally forgot that I was in class as the playlist was filled my favorite Soca and Caribbean tunes - I felt like I was at a party. If you are like me and you dont want to do the same routine everyday when it comes to fitness, join the Dowd - they truly have some thing for everyone. For me, this is the best workout facility in Charlotte in terms of value, variety as well as networking. Plenty of equipment, cleaning stations, comfortable locker room's and friendly staff. While I miss my cozy spot, Gateway, I am also a huge fun of this YMCA location.

It has some pluses but also cons which led me cancel membership. The main one being crowds. They enroll way too many people. I was really good about maintaining my routine but stopped because a <30 minute workout would easily take 1 - 1.5 hours here. There is not enough equipment for the amount of people. They have 3 benches downstairs, 8 or so on the mid level, and maybe 4 on the rooftop? There are maybe 4 sets of 20 lbs weights in the whole gym which feels very exclusionary to beginners and women like me who don't lift heavier and so there's not a lot for us. The other major con is hours of operation. They have very narrow weekend hours which only makes the crowding issue worse. It's not the gym's fault but be advised I don't see guys clean up after themselves here very often. The cancellation policy is also very odd with very specific stipulations but I think all gyms cancellations are weird and knew it would be a "gotcha" by getting me to pay for 1 more month when it was time to cancel

The facility is nice, however, the desk workers could be trained to be a bit nicer. On 2 occasions did the workers give me a rude or uncomfortable experience. The male employees who have been working the check in desk this week during morning shift have given me the feeling that they did not want to be there. They barely want to help and give very little effort to answering questions. Real vibe killer. please hire employees who will be kind and helpful to people who are paying a membership to feel welcomed and have a good overall gym experience.

Cockroach in the sauna. Told the front desk ladies, they giggled and said it was a palmetto bug (which is a cockroach). Not that big of a deal but if I pay $80 a month I’d prefer there not to be bugs. Would appreciate a little courtesy and at least pretend they care.

I like the gym. The staff is nice & all. Members are chill. The only problems I have is lack of machines, space overcrowding, and sadly the ROACHES. I have seen roaches twice in less than a month. Me another member trapped & killed a roach in the main gym area during its most crowded time. I thought nothing of it like maybe it flew in or something that day. Today I was using the sauna and saw a roach crawl underneath the heater and I immediately left.I wish I could have taken a picture but it crawled underneath the heater very quickly. Keep in mind the sauna is in the locker room and this was during the day at 3:45 pm. So the facility could be dealing with an infestation and I’m just not into that especially in a gym. That’s unacceptable. Very likely will just switch to another gym.

The cleaning lady harasses the gym patrons. Beautiful Gym despite occasional thievery. My locker has been robbed twice However I was promptly contacted by management who helped me resolve the situation. Thank you. The staff here is super helpful and friendly. Different work out areas insure you’ll never have a boring workout. Update: my locker has been stolen from again despite management increasing staff presence in the locker rooms. Hopefully you will have a better experience here than I have

This place is an absolute scam. It takes two weeks for your cancellation to go through which I've never heard of at any other gym. On top of that, it's always packed from 5 am to close. Good luck finding a parking spot

Their customer service is poor. They used to be the greatest facility in Charlotte. Their staff knows their schedule have changed for less hours to members but they don’t care and will tell you in a rude way. Today Saturday I took 6 minutes after they closed (close time 6pm). I have been a member for many years (they used to close at 7pm before Covid). This lady by the name of Angela in a very rude way came in to the ladies room and told me that I needed to leave at 6:06pm I was almost done and I told her the issue I had that took me a few minutes longer, she didn’t care and in a very loud voice she told me “no reason why to stay after 6pm”I asked her name, and her ID# or last name, and told me “Angela” but she is not a police officer to have a number. At that point I decided to walk out of the facility, she kept talking as I was walking out in a loud voice and kept raising her voice at the end she told me to have a nice day in a sarcastic, rude, and unprofessional way. YMCA should hire people that have some high education and professional skills. As a member for many years I am very disappointed with their staff service. She was rude, talking over me. The staff was seating at the entrance. They are witness of all this rude and unprofessional behavior. I will follow up with corporate and update this post.

This gym is the crown jewel of not just ymca's nationwide, but of all gyms Nationwide. Having trained clients at gyms all over the US... this gym has become my home base. The mens and women's locker rooms each have 2 steam rooms and 2 dry saunas. There are 4 massive floors of top notch equipment

This is a gorgeous GYM. I have enjoyed it several times. Today my kid was out of school, and I thought to go there to get some racketball time and for me to work, and maybe for him to jog in the track or something. While I was on my way back to the bathroom... there was a lady who works there asking my son questions. I quickly and sternly showed that I was his mother. She said that this is an adult floor (3rd floor) and that we cannot even be in the phone call area... he can only go to the basketball court and the racketball area. I am so disappointed as the YMCA is supposed to be for family. She was nice... but if this is the gym's attitude.. I do not care how nice the facility is... this is going to help me rethink my membership. (I might go to the Cabarrus area since we live there.). I have been here before with the kids... so do not understand what in the hell is going on. She came in like a police... and I do not appreciate that she approached my son first (who is 10 years old.) I am not thrilled... and due to the work that I have to do... I will stay here for a couple of hours.... but not sure if I will continue to refer people to this YMCA any longer. NOPE!

Perfect welcome, very helpful staff. Kevin and other lady at the desk ( I am sorry I can’t remember her name) who were scheduled today, made me feeling home. Phenomenal job. Also very good place, very updated machines and other facilities. Thanks everyone

Abs Class: Monday/Wednesday @ 5:45. It was a great class. High energy! Really good exercise session for 15 mins. The instructor was great and gave very clear directions.

The gym is absolutely beautiful! The rooftop gym is my absolute favorite! I haven’t taken any other classes aside from hot yoga, but that was amazing. My only suggestion would be that the yoga instructor play relaxing/ meditation music.

It sucks here. Only decent option in uptown area unfortunately so there’s really no choice… 2/10 would never recommend anyone to sign up here. Not enough space/equipment. ALWAYS busy. ALWAYS waiting on machines… The stupidest hours during the holidays closing days earlier than they should… They open at 12 PM on Sundays. I’ve been a member here for years, and I have yet to see them put in any new equipment that we have requested over and over to accommodate for the volume of people. It’s WILD how they do nothing about it. I could go on and on forever why this gym sucks.

I've been loving this gym. It's got tons of equipment and several different areas to go to to workout in. Pretty much serves all styles of training. The only downside is the overcrowding. If you go any time outside of the dead zone it's totally slammed. Furthermore I love the included yoga classes with membership. It's really nice to combine strength training with yoga. A yoga membership to regular classes at a studio can be wildly expensive especially paired with a gym membership. The price is nice for all the amenities. I am in love with the dry sauna. So thankful for that.