Centre Nautique Tony Bertrand — Attraction in Lyon

Recommendation: I would advise against going to this pool, as many in the comments also say. Find another pool to go to in Lyon whose management support the right to cover up as you please. There is no justifiable reason to treat people like this at a public pool.

Summary: As I entered the wading pool, the security guard stopped me and refused to allow me to go any further, pointing at my swim shorts and my tank top and saying both were not permitted. I was then refused a refund by the head facility manager. When I asked what these rules were designed to achieve, no one would respond to the question - everyone just remained silent. When I became upset, the head facility manager asked me to leave.

The Details: After making our way back though the changing rooms and up the stairs to the front counter, I asked a very nice lady at the front counter for a refund. She seemed upset and stressed at my having a bad experience, which I appreciated. She appeared to ask her supervisor for assistance but her supervisor curtly responded that there were no refunds. The supervisor then told us to wait and then took us through a long set of corridors to see the head facility manager. I thought this was all a little extreme (we hadn't even asked to see the manager). The manager invited us to sit, then did not sit himself (he had pointed at a single chair so I awkwardly sat while my girlfriend stood). After being curtly told it was not possible to refund us as we purchased our tickets online, I asked to be paid from the open cash till behind the counter. He would not oblige. When I became upset at his obstinance (and he probably at mine) he pointed his finger at me and said "be quiet" "be quiet" (extremely rude in my culture) while he continued to speak only in French to my girlfriend. Seeing that this person had no intention of refunding our money, I challenged the manager on whether this clothing policy would refuse someone wearing a turban, a headscarf or a hijab. He would not answer me. I asked this question twice, to no response, and he then asked me to leave. I think we know clearly the policy of the management.

Sadly, this archaic clothing policy wreaks of discrimination (whether intentional or not). Maybe I would change that view if someone there would explain its rationale to me. No one would tell me what these rules were designed to achieve. "Why can't I wear a t-shirt to protect me from the sun while I'm not in the pool?" Silence, "Because you can't." I was flummoxed.

Most people seem to agree with my frustration in the Google Reviews - some say we should "get over it" thinking we just don't want to wear a speedo. It's easy to criticise when you yourself have never experienced the problem. I wish I had read Google before wasting my time and upsetting myself going there, hanging a dark cloud over our last weekend in France.

Disclaimer: This was the ONLY bad experience we had in France. I recommend finding another pool to support, or leaving your thoughts in the comments if you experienced similar frustration, and maybe this beautiful facility, poorly managed, will realise their rules must...

The centre nautique, a municipal swimming Pool, is an interesting place for its architecture, ( that's what the only star is for!) but for me as a customer it was an awful experience. 30 minutes queuing ( although I had purchased a ticket online) was OK for me, but there were mothers with toddlers waiting too and there is no separate queue for families, only for yearly passes, that's not very friendly. After coming to the changing rooms and changing, they want you to shower before you go to the pools area, so if you have a bag with some belongings with you ( with 38degrees outside I had water, a hat ,sunglasses and sunscreen in a bag, I had to depose them back, shower, get them from the locker again, and approach the pool entry again ) it's unpractical. But that was not the end.... to get to the pools, you have to go through a door where two men are checking on customers, and I was rudely put aside to wait "because of my swimming apparel ". Also a father with his son was waiting, the son was very confused. I was wearing ( it was NOT Boardshorts ) swimming shorts from Roxy, I need medium coverage because I have scars that I don't want to expose to the sun, and these guys claimed "it's the wrong material " , although it was definitely swimming apparel . A supervisor even wanted me to "turn around" so he could check my "back side " (!!) , which was the end of my patience. I refused to go upstairs and buy their swimming pants for 10 euro, so I simply went away. During the very unpleasant discussion, I could also notice a girl with very fair skin who wanted to wear a rash guard, it was prohibited to her, with fierce sun outside. Another woman had to go back, she had a bathing suit, but they claimed the material was wrong as well. How can it be, in 2023 , that some men are allowed to judge and decide what women have to wear to go to swim?This was all so humiliating and pointless!! The worst experience I had in France, a country where I always felt welcome. An even more sad, as it is a communal swimming pool, it should be a democratic place, a place for everybody at service to the people, and not the people being at service of the judgement of...

Iconic, public, central, separate pool with slides and jets for kids crowded, chaotic lane swimming, casually xenophobic, no early swimming

Visited in July during the week a couple of times. Even at opening times (at an unbelievably lazy 10.30am) it's already busy. By 10:40 you have 12-15 swimmers per lane. The pool is 50m long, but it's still quite frustrating cause there is no criteria to separate swimmers in different lanes. Therefore there is a LOT of overtaking, which is stressful and dangerous. Why they don't label lanes SLOW, MEDIUM and FAST and let people distribute themselves in the right lane is beyond me. There is a much mentioned "speedo" dressing code strictly enforced at the door that some deem random. It is quite clear to me that this is just part of a wider xenophobic crusade the Republique has against certain religious groups. By enforcing speedos and tight swim suits they are effectively banning any potential long attire, which would be worn mostly by certain communities from traditional religious groups. It is also reasonable to think that women in those groups will be the ones effectively punished by this strict dress code, as they won't be able to visit and enjoy the swimming pool like any other citizen (men from the same religious groups can choose to wear speedos if they wish). In the UK there is the opposite approach, which I personally find wiser and more tolerant: all public swimming pools let people wear whatever swimming attire they like, and there are 4 hours a week in our local pool for "women only swimming", to make sure that women from conservative sexist groups can also enjoy a safe swim with the approval of their community, or just cause we leave in a very sexist society and some women just want a break while they swim. 4 hours a week out of a total of 100 hours when I cannot show off my speedos. And thanks to this everybody feels welcome in a public pool. Pools I use regularly in the UK and Spain open 7am-10pm every day, so they can be busy but rarely crowded. Hopefully one day this swimming pool will copy some of...