I took my children here yesterday and we were very disappointed. My 3 year old daughter was too short to go on the flume alone. I was told I couldn't go down with her as they have a 1 person on the slide rule, although they couldn't give me a good reason why. Most places we've visted before have always let me do this so I was a little surprised and I has a very sad daughter. This wouldn't have been so bad if they had provided some play equipment for younger children. The pool designed for toddlers had 1 small water table that was swarming as it was the only thing to play with. The jacuzzi in the toddler area was full of teenage children so my daughter couldn't get a look in. I was also quite shocked with how dirty the whole place was. In the toddler pool there were big piles of grit and dirt all around the edges. I couldn't even guess what it was but it had the consistency of very rough sand. The steps to the flume were very unplesent with pools of green slime sitting in stagnant water. The metal poles on the bannister were badly rusted and all the paint was very badly chipped. The windows were very water stained and didn't look like they had been cleaned in a very long time. There were also lots of leaves floating around the inside pool. Outside was quite fun until we realised the advertised lazy river wasn't working. I also found the staff on reception to be quite abrupt and dismissive. No smiles and very unwelcoming. The floor was very slippery and despite walking slowly and holding my hand my daughter lost her footing several times and only escaped hurting herself as she was holding my hand. This is a serious safety issue. The park outside was lovely as was the play area but unfortunately we will not be visiting...
Read moreFirst time in here, and generally it's very good. It's well looked after, clean and bright. The pool looks good, and if I ever use it, I'll rate it. This is a place to revisit, because it does look good. Certainly those using it were having a good time. One thing I'm not sure about is the 'cashless' cafe. Service is very good, and a good selection of sandwiches and crisps. Why cashless??? Any parent dropping an older child off would have to give them a packed lunch, since the children won't have credit cards. Seems a bit short-sighted... There's an excellent soft play area, very varied but horribly spoiled by older children running riot, screaming and fighting. No supervision by parents, unfortunately, and a lot of younger children were frightened by their antics. Perhaps a warning notice, that physically unruly children will be removed. Not fair that they were dominating the play area. Difficult to remonstrate with someone else's children, be very helpful if a member of staff passed through every so often, to ensure the experience was enjoyable for all ages. Overall a positive place. A year or more later, and still no supervision or checking..shame, really because everything else is...
Read moreI have tried to take my kids swimming over the last two days. The first time we arrived we where told that the pool was closed due to the time and the second we where told that we should book due to being full.
We where not told on our first visit that we now need to book and instead the lady behind the desk told us to come back the next day whilst the leisure pool was open and we would be let in. When we arrived the next day, the customer service rep (I use that term very loosely here) unprofessionally told us that he couldn't do anything and to book online and didn't offer us the chance to book then and there for tomorrow.
Nowhere on their website does it say that you must book and that you can't enter without doing so. It is also not advertised inside or outside the building.
To add insult to injury, the prices that are advertised online (including HDC's website) are currently almost £2 cheaper per ticket than what you will be asked to pay when you book through their website.
All of this run-around could have been saved if we where told on our first visit to book, instead I now have two very upset children and have waisted our time and money getting to the...
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