Windsor Leisure Centre — Attraction in England

I visited for the first time today and I was disappointed. It has many facilities which is wonderful but I found the place hard to navigate as a new comer. I had paid £8.50 for an adult only leisure swim but found that parking was an additional charge. I realise this is often the case but at nearly £10 to swim I felt that was unreasonable. Upon entering I asked the reception lady, who was very friendly, how to get to the pool and she welcomed me and directed me. She then told me lockers were padlock only which I had not known. The information was not on the website as far as I could see. Padlocks were £4 and you could not take your bag poolside. She said I could bring one from home and I asked if there was any free storage for a first visit so I could bring my padlock next time and she said no and then just walked away. Fortunately the pool was fairly empty so I left my belongings in an unlocked locker - many people do seem to do this. The changing facilities are decent and but I found having only 4 private showers in the toilet odd. The pool itself looks fun. There are lots of slides and signs for a wave machine so I imagine it's great fun for little ones. I've seen reviews saying it's dirty. It's not, but it is very rubbish down. The tiles are discoloured at the waters edge, some tiles on the floor or the pool look a rust colour. It is quite off-putting and does give an unclean feeling. The hot tubs especially felt grimy, missing several tiles and having a ring of brown along the waters edge. The water was lovely and warm and the staff are super friendly especially with the regulars.

Afterwards I showered (good pressure, nice and hot but no way to adjust the temperature - would be too hot for little ones) and went to dry my hair but the hair dryers were pay only; 20p. Having no change on me at all I left with damp hair in to the cold

Overall, I'm not sure I'll be back. I've moved here recently from Uxbridge and will likely go back there to use their much superior pool and if I want to take my son to a fun pool I will likely use bracknell's coral world. This is a real shame as WLC is on my doorstep.

It needs some serious reinvestment as it could be a fabulous centre. I understand why everything is pay to use if there is a lack of funding but unfortunately, I doubt I will spend my money there when I feel the facilities do not...

My letter of complaint to the Leisure center is below. I will post their response.

Hi -

My family and I visited the leisure center yesterday and I am writing to inform you about how revolted I was by the state of your changing rooms, customer service and general cleanliness.

In the changing area- I saw two male attendants just chatting lazily by the cubicles while the cubicles were the filthiest I have ever seen. A man in a blue shirt spoke to them and picked up one piece of small rubbish near him then walked off. I walked into one family changing room which was filled with rubbish and a nappy. I saw one of the attendants go in. The next thing I saw was that same rubbish in one of the lockers. There was rubbish all over the floor in many cubicles, the floor was wet, hairy and dirty. I did not want my 4 year old walking in that mess. I did not see one person with a mop or broom. I felt physically sick from the state of this cubicles.

There are lockers out of action with no doors or broken key bands. The coffee machine was out of order in the cafe area. The wave machine was out of order. Hairdryers were out of order. The blue flooring is in a state of disrepair - my 18 month old was picking bits of floor up.

The receptionists who sold us our ticket did not give us any eye contact. It was humourless.

The two young lads on the cafe desk were no where to be seen. Then one focused on creating a smoothie while 8 people queued up behind him with noone else to help. Finally smoothy guy goes to find his friend in the kitchen and we get served.

There were was one table that was left for over 10 minutes with rubbish on -. Equally several chairs had food on (one had a whole packet of crisps on it.) There was one lady who looked like she worked there talking to her friends while behind her a table was full of rubbish. She ignored it after her 5 minute chat and went to walk behind the cafe counter. All this rubbish was still there when we left.

Overall it feels like minimal effort made by staff in all areas of the leisure center with no investment made in customer service or the facilities.

Could you please tell me what plans there are to turn this state of affairs around. I would like to continue to use Windsor (and recommend it) but the thought of going through that again...

Got a big family package set up here, about 7 of us and then got my brother and cousin in too.

Got pretty good deals, Gonna do a review on the whole thing, the gym, the pool, the spa, its all inclusive.

Firstly the negative, A few staff members have no clue or tell you things which are not accurate once you've spoken to management or a supervisor. Since I've joined, Jan 2022, the Steam room keeps going out and then it takes a while to fix it all but at least the Sauna keeps running well, hoping the steam room behaves now for a long long time. A few staff members probably need to smile more or not cut you up like you in trouble or being watched, take a chill and smile man, talk to me, not gonna hurt you. Upgrade the weights, plates, some stuff seem so outdated, its Windsor, treat her well! I don't understand the usage times permitted for the hot-tub and swimming, is it all app based only? few staff members telling you different things that don't add up or match.

Positives now. Bada$$ gym, does the job, decent machines, decent space, I really like and enjoy training in the strength and conditioning area (upstairs), plenty of barbells, racks, good tools and equipment in here. You can do so much in this gym, add it all up, Weights, Sauna, Steam Room, Hot-tub, you can have a really cool full day of sweat and chill. Gains & Gains, Goals/Objectives - whatever you wanna do, you can do it here Some Staff members are class, a certain fella always nice to me, my brother and cousin, gives us so much respect, smiles, fist bumps and makes us feel appreciated and welcome, I think we give about 8-12 hours of gym/leisure time a week, 4/5 days a week, you gonna see a lot of us, we investing a lot of money and time to this place. There's also a few management/supervisors who are really kind, chilled and appreciative so respect to you all. Family trips and visit - recommended. We are loyal and committed to this leisure centre now, not going anywhere anytime soon. Not as busy as other gyms in the 2-3 miles...