Oakwood Athletic Club

After five years, we moved away from the East Bay--and we miss Oakwood!

It's been a great place for our family--and in the past two years, our children have very much enjoyed the Oakwood Swim team. If you are looking for a place where you can work out in a wonderful facility, and where your children can fall in love with swimming, in a quality yet not super--competitive environment, this is it! Coach Jon Huppke, the head coach, is an absolutely wonderful human being. He just loves coaching kids, and has a great ability to recruit other young passionate assistant coaches who also know how to get children excited about the sport. Our daughter made huge progress in her swimming with Coach Jon and his team--and our son who was quite afraid of the water went from barely making it across a 25 yard pool in January, to happily competing in multiple strokes by the end of the summer.

Three cheers for Coach Jon & his team. We miss you...

THE WORST.
This place doesn't take care of its customers. They are cheap and greedy, and the club is mismanaged. We previously had issues with them when they forced members to do their grunt work for them, requiring us to drag 400-pound stationary bikes and other equipment inside rather than hiring someone to do it. Multiple people got injured. More recently, there was a major leak in the ceiling of the gym and racquetball courts. Our niece slipped and fell on a puddle, cracking her knee, hurting her back and head. ANY gym with an ounce of integrity would waive membership fees for those many months of pain and injury. Poor thing couldn't take any classes, run, or even use weight equipment. Instead, guess what they offered her??
A GUEST PASS.
A guest pass...? For failing to take care of your property, resulting in major injury?! They actually charged her for all those months she was unable to function. (I told you this place was THE WORST.) Apparently their insurance company harassed and bullied her, trying to get her to sign a nondisclosure agreement so that no one would know about the incident. We promised to spread the word about their greed and mismanagement. Buyer beware: Oakwood doesn't care about its members. They only care about their bottom dollar.

March of 2021,I decided I needed to join a gym. The pool sold me because I love to swim. (Salt water- often empty, well kept. love it.) I saw there were classes, too. The membership came with an evaluation from a trainer in the weights area. I had tried working with a trainer at another gym before and it was demoralizing. (Big eye roll here. That trainer was a young woman who was on her phone a lot, or chatting with other trainers- not encouraging!)

I was connected with trainer Cutter Pederson. My goal: not hate it! also to make a new habit. He was present and offered the right amount of encouragement, and the right amount of acceptance. I have reached my goal! The weight room is no longer intimidating, and I am so much stronger. I am hooked.

It is not overstating it to say that I would not have stuck with going to the gym without the commitment to the training sessions. Yes they cost extra, and yes they are worth it. Cutter is fun to chat with, and he loves learning about his field, along with other random things. He made it fun, and I credit him with getting me through my first year. He loves fitness, but he is grounded, too. I'm so thankful!

Other trainers that I know are Taylor and Virginia. Both teach classes and both are relentlessly encouraging and empowering.

There is more to do and learn, and this is why I think it is a habit that will stick. I recommend Oakwood- I call it my fancy gym. The clientele are largely older and genuinely interested in health. Makes for a friendly atmosphere.

I was on a 3 year waiting list for this club before Covid. I finally get in inDecember and Covid hits us so they close down. I now pay $25 per month to be on hold. I need water exercise classes for my arthritis and they either do not have any water exercise for adults or I don't see them in their newsletters. They cater to the local swim teams and children's swimming lessons. It's very frustrating as there are not many places that cater to seniors. I keep hoping other people will speak up about the need for water exercise for older people at OakwoodAthleticClub or someone will build a facility in WalnutCreek, Danville or Alamo.

This place is the shittiest place ever. horrible management and treats their employees like children! I spoke with Abby one of the managers there and she was very disrespectful and rude. Also witnessed her talk to one of her employees with an obnoxious attitude and disrespect. Will be cancelling my membership and never going back. Side note I spoke with some employees and was told they disliked the working at the club and were never given breaks or even a lunch when asked to work 5-6 hours shifts. Some of the managers even told them to clock out to end their shift after scheduled times and stay longer to work unpaid. Damn shame..

I go early in the morning and rarely have to wait for any equipment. Very clean facility . Friendly staff.

I've been a member for a decade. Beautiful place with great amenities, good coffee and the classes are good. If you are a squash player, they have an amazing squash community.
Kids club, Swim Club are fun. All in all, highly recommend.

Great place for family. Kids have many options, and parents as well. It's worth every penny.
My son meets up with friends, and plays basketball for hours.
Great staff, huge lounge and locker room/shower areas.
Members are great as well. friendly, but understand the privacy of your work out.

I don't typically write reviews, but this one's deserving. My 92 yr old mother-in-law was on a hike walking by this place and needed to use the rest room. My wife asked politely to allow her 92-year-old mother to use the restroom and they said sorry this is a private club. Really?, not allowing a 92-year-old person use the restroom because it's a private club is crazy. the thought was maybe we will just use the outdoor bushes as a rest room. These guys need to think about Customer Service and a different way. This is very poor customer service/community service. You should think about the community you are servicing.

Very limited Pilates Reformer classes. I have been a member for many years and finally there is a class scheduled for Saturday. I called to register and it is already full and has a waiting list.
Oakwood is a beautiful facility but the management doesn't care about providing activities members want.
The Pilates Instructor they hired is inflexible. When she first came on board I requested private reformer classes (paying extra beyond monthly membership). She was rude and unwilling to schedule any time after work or on weekends.
Now she is offering a single group class on Saturday, which I just learned about and it is already full.
Oakwood management you need to hire additional pilates instructors.

Women's locker room room:
Hot tub is dirty all the time - Shower is never that clean either. Curtain hooks and bars are rusted and not easy to slide over to close. Curtains have pulls in the fabric and black marks on several.

Instructors are not great - classes are meh. The lighting and studios are not very nice. Yogaworks, ClubSPort just about any other place has better classes.

Equipment upstairs is nice and plentiful and well laid out.

I'm not all that impressed and think they could have taken some Covid ppp money and fixed some things.