College of San Mateo Athletic Center

San Mateo, 1700 W Hillsdale Blvd Building 5, San Mateo, CA 94402 | β˜… 4.5 (182 Review)

πŸ“ž +1 650-378-7373

Activity

Gym Swimming facility

About the Club

The College of San Mateo Athletic Center is a full-service fitness and wellness facility with memberships available to the public.

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 College of San Mateo Athletic Center
 College of San Mateo Athletic Center
 College of San Mateo Athletic Center
 College of San Mateo Athletic Center
 College of San Mateo Athletic Center

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Reviews

Paul Heathcote

β˜… 5

Source: Google

HAO FENG

β˜… 4

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kiwi

β˜… 5

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Matthew Saunders

β˜… 5

One of the better gyms in the area.

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m t

β˜… 1

Sub par membership management and cancellation policy.

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J

β˜… 4

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Lysander Lei

β˜… 5

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Laura Tinari

β˜… 5

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Daniel Gordon (Dan)

β˜… 5

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Dai Chen

β˜… 1

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Nepalese Indian Cuisine

β˜… 5

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Debb R (Debb)

β˜… 1

Attended a softball game here in May. Very disappointed, the home team had 4 girls sitting on the opposing stands and taunted the opposing pitcher and team.Passive Bullying at such an age is unacceptable.

Source: Google

Dana Silberberg-Sahar

β˜… 5

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Bill Crook

β˜… 4

The swimming pool is the place to be. It would be nice if the big pool were just 1-2 degrees warmer in the winter (it gets a little cool after 40 minutes). But this pool is the clearest I've been in. Two thumbs up.

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Wanessa Carvalho

β˜… 5

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Vito Chiala

β˜… 5

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Michelle Armenta Salas

β˜… 4

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Amandeep Barboza

β˜… 4

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Bernard Lint

β˜… 4

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Paul K

β˜… 5

Great place to workout and not crowded.
Machines are fixed promptly when things break down.
Facilities are clean.
Towels and wipes provided at multiple locations.
Overall, just a solid gym.

Source: Google

Alena P

β˜… 5

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Eliezer Lopez

β˜… 5

Excelente lugar πŸ‘

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lisa eckert

β˜… 5

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Oleg Nikitashin

β˜… 5

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Deepak Behera

β˜… 4

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Scott Chaffin

β˜… 5

The campus is very nice,the views from the football field are beautiful.....but the accessibility is very limited....lots of stairs and hills surrounding the athletic fields, making it very difficult for somebody with limited mobility to get around.

Source: Google

Sean Lowenthal

β˜… 5

Wide open spaces in good condition with lots of amenities.

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Henry M Wong

β˜… 4

Clean new and very accessible for wheelchair patrons

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Nadia

β˜… 5

Love this place ❀️

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Fei Yu

β˜… 5

Friendly staff and instructors, clean space with changing rooms and showers. Great rates especially for frequent gym goers, families and students. A wide range of machines and weights. Not not crowded during the day.

Source: Google

Angus Blackwood

β˜… 3

CLEANLINESS a problem!! I switched to here during the pandemic because the YMCAs were still closed when this reopened but I might switch back to YMCAs because the overall level of sanitation at SMAC in the locker rooms is gross. The inside of the lockers are almost never cleaned, whereas at all YMCAs (I've been in all bay areas Ys) they're cleaned all day long every day. YMCAs are way cleaner but SMAC/CSMAC has pubes filled lockers with gross corners and a mildew smell in the locker rooms, especially entering the men's locker room from the pool deck. The staff is great, but the management is lacking as seen by the worst level of cleanliness at any gym. Worse than Planet Fitness! My high school locker room was cleaner! They need management to do something about this and can start by visiting YMCAs and taking note. CaΓ±ada College Athletic Center is a sister org and their locker cleanliness is also neglected despite the shiny new $57 million dollar building. POORLY MANGED, take a pass or shower at home. Nobody is managing this.

Source: Google

evie

β˜… 5

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Marco Rainaldi

β˜… 5

Can you give this place 6 stars? Yes. Facilities are top notch, clean, and the staff are amazing. The pool alone is worth the membership. Visitor parking can be tough at times, but that's a price I'm willing to pay.

Source: Google

Suzanne Nault

β˜… 5

Exceptionally clean & well organized. Clearly they take pride in this facility. 5🌟

Source: Google

Harold Hoogasian

β˜… 5

Great lap pool. Plenty of parking.

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Martin Reese

β˜… 5

We were here for KCSM Jazz on the hill. The day started out overcast and cold but warmed up, and sunlight made way for good food, music, and people.

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Geoff Hart-Cooper

β˜… 5

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Chester Davis

β˜… 5

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O. Gunca

β˜… 4

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Cathy Steffen

β˜… 5

Great community college. Plenty of parking, staff apartments, great views of the Bay Area from the Student Services Building, good programs many with Certificates if you don't want the full AA and transfer opportunities to State and UC Universities.

Source: Google

Colleen Coolish

β˜… 3

I watched a basketball game in the main gym. It is pretty old and some of the bleachers are broken. The sound system is terrible. I couldn't understand most of what the announcer said.

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Bernabe Avila

β˜… 5

πŸ‘ŒπŸ‘

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Natalie Huntington

β˜… 5

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Ron Escoto

β˜… 5

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JOHN MAYBURY

β˜… 5

Great gym, staff, facilities

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Angelo Dizzo

β˜… 5

Swimming pools and Masters program is excellent!. Uncle Angelo

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selma tufail

β˜… 5

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Barbara Bidzos

β˜… 5

Very clean and well organized facility for children’s swimming lessons, which are given rain or shine. The team of teachers seem to perform the lessons based on students abilities and are very tuned in to the students.

Source: Google

Spider man

β˜… 1

I hate swimming

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Luis Mendez-Stacker

β˜… 5

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Joyce Keil

β˜… 4

I like the view and the equipment. I HATE the music so loud I can't listen to my own. Decibel at 70 today. 80 is LOUD so definitely not background music

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Mikhail Kulak

β˜… 5

Excellent service and very high attention to the details πŸ‘

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Tina Sheen

β˜… 5

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Jonathan Tat

β˜… 5

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Mike Bregante

β˜… 5

This place is amazing.

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J Palacios

β˜… 5

Great facilities !

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Brindicy Alcaraz

β˜… 5

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LucyB Marini

β˜… 5

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Alex Zhukov

β˜… 5

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Mike Stecher

β˜… 5

Fantastic campus

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Rob Christensen

β˜… 5

I recently rejoined after taking a break from the pandemic. The facility is amazing, and I had forgotten how much I missed going. I want to give a big shout out to James who helped make the re-registration process easy. He’s an excellent representative of the facility and has been incredibly welcoming.

Source: Google

Tyler Richendollar

β˜… 5

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Laura Oliver

β˜… 2

Updating my previously 5 star review from 2017.
Since the district hS taken ownership, ot has been nothing but disorganization and miscommunication. It seems that with the amount they charge for a membership, they could train front desk employees to be polite and courteous and tell them what is going on in the group exercise classes. The floors are dirtier and more slippery than ever and they've really changed the quality of the towels. I swear I could scratch myself with a towel! They also charged us for parking permits and then realized they had no way of enforcing them. The only reason I stay is because Linda Dehoff works here.

Since the district is managing, the hours of operation are significantly shorter, floors are.dangerously slippery in group exercise studios, and garbage sits on the floor for weeks at a time.
Membership fees have increased but benefits have decreased. There are fewer group ex classes since they have focused so much on the Canada location.

On the positive side, the membership office is open more now.
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Love it here. The staff is great and the availability is great too. It's a great community. Downside is lack of Olympic weight lifting equipment, only 1 squat rack, no sauna. Great group fitness classes and great personal trainers. I can't wait until they have massage.

Source: Google

Carlo A

β˜… 5

KCSM 91.1 jazz on the Hill was Amazing, Thanks for a Great
event.

Source: Google

waleed bahour

β˜… 5

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Katarina Stein

β˜… 5

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Miguelangel Pina

β˜… 5

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Jon Lee

β˜… 5

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Darvin Scott Smith

β˜… 5

I love the pool but it's kind of a drag to have to sign up the day before... The website could be a little bit easier to navigate as well.

Source: Google

stephen stclair

β˜… 5

Country club atmosphere,clean pool,great staff and people!

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Zitian Zhou

β˜… 4

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Beki Thomson

β˜… 5

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L yesterday

β˜… 5

Very nice pool and facility

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Julia Nazarko

β˜… 5

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Dan Moon

β˜… 5

Nice gym facility but they need a lifting platform for Olympic lifting and deadlifts.

Source: Google

Mehran Massoumi

β˜… 5

Nice swimming pool

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Alexander Prokhorov

β˜… 5

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Manoj B

β˜… 5

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Dimitri Cooper

β˜… 5

Very good swimming pools.

Source: Google

sammy hermez

β˜… 5

Great place and an amazing staff

Source: Google

Mike Alandt

β˜… 1

The hours of operation are horrible and it’s very difficult to get swim lanes. I can’t believe they are closed on Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM and 7 PM every other day. $75 a month seems ridiculous for the hours of operation and availability of swim lanes

Source: Google

Carol Batte

β˜… 5

Open to members for outdoor pool and exercise workout & fitness classes

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KAREN Shelton

β˜… 5

Awesome pool and friendly staff.

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Kathleen Azzopardi

β˜… 5

SMAC is the best!

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Kevin McCloskey

β˜… 5

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James Christopher Huang

β˜… 5

Best pool in the world

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Jonathan Carrillo

β˜… 5

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B Nieto-Vallee

β˜… 5

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Rajesh Punjabi

β˜… 4

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Alexis Conneau

β˜… 3

Great staff, great gym, with a large outdoor pool. Atmosphere not that great.

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Melissa Carlson

β˜… 5

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Alex Mayorkis

β˜… 5

I am a member for more than 10 years and I would like to say everything is the best. The 2 swimming pools are excellent

Source: Google

Stella Zhang

β˜… 5

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Stephen Dover

β˜… 5

Great gym great swimming facilities and most of all a great master swimming program

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Thomas S

β˜… 5

We swim in the pool and despite being a terrible swimmer, they've never said "get out of our pool you embarrassment to swimming."

Source: Google

Evan Matteson

β˜… 3

Great place to work out, but they don't let you quit.

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Б К

β˜… 5

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Deborah Roach

β˜… 5

I've been a member here since November 2020. I love the pool...it's clean and beautiful. Staff is organized and welcoming. Totally worth the drive!

Just recently tried the weight room in June. They have Life Fitness equipment and the gym wipes are conveniently located to wipe down the machines. Good distancing between machines.

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Sujit Jangam

β˜… 5

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Sharath

β˜… 2

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James Ho

β˜… 5

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Jonathan Chu

β˜… 4

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Samuel Louie

β˜… 5

One of my favorite pools.

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Bridget Peterson

β˜… 4

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Azar Mammadov

β˜… 5

This is my happy place, extremely clean, super nice team, amazing equipment, safe community space to maintain good health.

Source: Google

Subha

β˜… 5

Beautiful pool. Well maintained. Friendly staff and great patrons!

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Melissa Rohlfs

β˜… 5

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Richard Koo

β˜… 5

Best pool ever.

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eben green

β˜… 5

SMAC is awesome! Great equipment, competition level swimming pools and friendly staff.

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Roger Zhang

β˜… 5

Really nice swimming pool and workout facilities!

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JC Alderete

β˜… 5

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Daniel Alvarez

β˜… 5

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J

β˜… 1

To SMAC management: enforce the mask rule, members should not have to say something to other members and be disrespected and belittled.
Until the health precautions are followed, I will not be following the one activity session per day rule and will be double booking
To SMAC employees: Instead of being argumentative when a member expresses concern of the poor quality of mask enforcement, please be supportive. This past summer my hours/income were reduced by 80% because of the pandemic. I never froze or cancelled my club dues because SMAC said it would help to pay employees instead of lay-offs.I did this because I care. It would be nice if that sentiment was reciprocated.

Source: Google

Amelia Murphy

β˜… 4

I love the facility to work out and prices are reasonable. we have a membership. my kids loved it, sometime the pool is close without a previous notice and my kids don't like coming there then the pool is close. The parking lot should be for paying members only, or at least have signs and a reserved section for paying members.
The gym staff are very good and friendly. it is a very good place for work out.

Source: Google

Peggy Batti

β˜… 5

Clean. Lots of machines & weights. Two nice pools. Wish they could open earlier.

Source: Google

John Batti

β˜… 5

GREAT GYM, VERY CLEAN, PEOPLE WORKING THERE ARE GREAT.

Source: Google

Laura Hoznek

β˜… 5

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Ken Kendall

β˜… 5

The best club in the bay area! There is always a lane open sideways during the week! Very clean pool & warm pool, not the olympic, 25 yards, great for injury recovery & cold days. Outside swimming is a dream! Has pools & excellent programs daily & weight room.

Source: Google

Ilya Kovalenko

β˜… 5

Love their swimming pool and nice ppl at frontdesk

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Shiraz Kanga

β˜… 5

Great pool

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Barry Johal

β˜… 5

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Taissia B

β˜… 5

Great staff, fun classes, clean rooms and equipment, friendly members

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Ronald Fitzhugh

β˜… 5

I've never seen much of anything out of place. It's always clean in locker room as well as the main floor. To me it's the best gym on the peninsula!

Source: Google

Begganator

β˜… 5

No better place for working out!

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Carlos Luquin

β˜… 4

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James Aganon

β˜… 3

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Henry Jung

β˜… 4

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Gary Butler

β˜… 5

A tremendous new facility that has some of the best equipment and designs I have seen. Simply amazing!!

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Maureen Hearn

β˜… 5

What a great facility!

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Tom Gray

β˜… 5

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Valmiki Rampersad

β˜… 5

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Ganesh Sharma

β˜… 5

Best Gym with amazing discounts for students.

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Leona Allen

β˜… 1

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Dan McClary

β˜… 5

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Summer Xia

β˜… 5

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Kiyomi Yee

β˜… 5

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Gabe Anagnoson

β˜… 5

A great new facility that has some of the best equipment and designs I have seen.

Source: Google

Ani M

β˜… 1

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Katie McCoy

β˜… 5

They have nice facilities and friendly staff. Their locker room has plenty of lockers, sinks, and showers. They also have a disability-accessible shower. They have lots of equipment, both machines and otherwise. I got a significant discount because I was a student at San Mateo community college.

Source: Google

Charlie Chen

β˜… 5

Good equipment.

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James Fregosi Jr.

β˜… 5

Masters swimming.......Tom rocks.

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Scott

β˜… 5

Very nice fitness facilities.

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Charles Graham

β˜… 5

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Jensen Leung

β˜… 3

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Homer Ong

β˜… 5

Friendly and helpful staff, clean facilities, and not too crowded (at least on the weekend). The best part is the training pool. Heated and salty. Great for swimming laps (or taking lessons, which is what I was doing). I wish it were closer to the city.

Source: Google

Emily Ockerman

β˜… 5

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Dorit Alon

β˜… 5

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ValerieWT

β˜… 5

Took my Mother to sign up. I left completely depressed that there is not nor never shall be a facility like that in Castro Valley. Sparkling clean! Unbelievably 8nviting pools. Membership Coordinator, Barbara Jones was an impressive model in customer service, knowledge and personality. At least my Mom can enjoy it!

Source: Google

Miguel Nunez

β˜… 2

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Martin Shewen

β˜… 5

Great 50m pool (note: It’s not always configured as 50m, sometimes 25m - see the timetable on their website), large gym with lots of equipment & machines, friendly & helpful staff.

A non-member guest pass gives you access for an entire day so can be good value, and doesn’t require a membership - good for temporary visitors.

Source: Google

Stacy Saavedra

β˜… 3

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Ryan Keating

β˜… 5

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Nurland T

β˜… 5

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Pete Romfh

β˜… 4

Attended a swim meet there. Everything seemed clean and very well maintained.

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Robert Seaborn

β˜… 4

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Pavel Turovski

β˜… 5

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Katsiaryna Nelipovich

β˜… 5

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Patricia Gill-Thielen

β˜… 5

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JB Bursal

β˜… 5

Great family gym, offering various classes as well.

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David Ansel

β˜… 5

Best pool and one of the best gyms in the area

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Stephan Juchatz

β˜… 5

beautiful, everything you can ask for! ... but expensive

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David D

β˜… 4

Beautiful gym, drawback is that the Campus Public Safety gives you parking ticket, urrg

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Derek YC

β˜… 4

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Majool

β˜… 5

Best athletic club in the area

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Marco Leone

β˜… 3

This is a very large community pool with many lanes. It is a little old but well maintained. It is home to one of the largest Masters swim clubs in the Bay Area. Overall a good place to swim.

Source: Google

Eric Rosenblatt

β˜… 5

Large variety of cardio and weight machines. All equipment is in excellent condition and everything is kept clean. Easily best gym in the Bay Area.

Source: Google

Joe Bromley

β˜… 5

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Mandar Borkar

β˜… 4

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Melika Eslamjou

β˜… 5

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Tom Mulders

β˜… 5

Perfect facilities for both gym and swim workouts.

Source: Google

Ryan R

β˜… 1

I was a member here for a few years simply because it is very near to my home and work, but I cannot recommend this gym.

They have extremely sketchy business practices - they do not post the pricing online, they charge a high amount for joining (~$200-300) on top of high monthly fees (~$80/month for me with parking), they charge extra for parking when there is tons of empty space in the community college (~$12.50/month), and they have a very unfair policy of "not charging for usage" A.K.A. you will be fully billed even if you never set foot in the gym for a month or two.

There is no meaningful way to pause your membership because they still charge you 1/3rd pricing and your pause needs to be within a 2-6 month time-frame. If you cancel and rejoin later you will need to be the multi-hundreds of dollars for "registration fee" again. This is quite atypical for me in my gym-going experiences throughout life and I find it to be a very dubious, "strong-arm" tactic preying upon the mostly older/non-athlete crowd that this gym attracts.

The gym itself is so-so for people under 50. There is one squat rack but two smith machines. Three benches. No platform for deadlifting or olympic weightlifting although there are bumper plates. Lots of cardio equipment, including two rowing machines. The gym overall seems to have a focus on corrective training and rehabilitation for its more elderly clientele, which is absolutely fine if that's what you need.

This gym could be very convenient if you live in the area but it's overly-expensive cost (especially for something attached to a community center), it's sketchy business practices, and it's complete lack of flexibility in pricing/membership make it overall not worth the effort.

Source: Google

Sunit Jain

β˜… 4

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Paola Lancellotti

β˜… 5

This place is amazing. My children participate in the the Summer Swim team and it is great. They get a great work out and have no pressure of being on a full time swim team. The practice time is after the summer camps so they can attend camps and then go to swimming practice. They can also attend the practice all week or skip as needed. The coaches are very experienced. I recommend it to all children.

My daughter also attended the Babysitting class and found it very comprehensive and fun.

Source: Google

J S

β˜… 5

College staff do not use SMAC for free--contrary to some other posts on this site. I am staff and pay my monthly dues since Day 1.

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Simeon Jewell

β˜… 5

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Xiaojing Cui

β˜… 5

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B

β˜… 1

outrageous that a public community college would charge $20 to the public to use a facility we built! But district staff use it for free.

Source: Google

V C

β˜… 5

Great Club, great equipments and great staff. I love this Place.
They have a very friendly staff. Teija is one of my fav. She introduced my to the pool and helped me with my swimming strokes. I highly recommend this place.

Source: Google

Jim AHl

β˜… 5

Great gym with a wide variety of clients from top class athletes to people recovering from serious spinal problems. I'm a 67 year old member recovering from knee replacement, back issues & old injuries. My trainer John N is fantastic. Equipment first class & two nice pools.

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Mike Munday

β˜… 4

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Vagif Zeynalov

β˜… 5

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Demetrius Madrigal

β˜… 1

This review is for the San Mateo Athletic Club, this listing came up when I ran a search for the location. The pools are decent, but there are significantly better options available. The real problem is their underhanded membership policies.

When you sign up for your membership, they charge an exorbitant amount to get you started. They charge first and last month's fee's PLUS an $80 registration fee PLUS a monthly fee for the parking pass.

I also got a $75 fee charged to my account 2 months after I cancelled my membership. I called up and they told me that it was for an unreturned parking pass that I had already paid for when I signed up. I offered to return the pass if they would refund the money, and they vaguely implied I would get a refund by saying "sure, why don't you bring it in and we'll go from there." It was only after I asked for confirmation of the refund that they said "no, we can't give a refund." I felt like they had tried to trick me.

Overall, thoroughly underhanded. I can't recommend this place at all.

Source: Google