Maidstone Leisure Centre — Attraction in Maidstone

Booked my family of 4 hoping to swim but the process of booking online was confusing and did not state what was available for families to use during the weekday. My husband therefore emailed and received an even more confusing email which alluded to nothing being open, however, there was bookable slots on the website. My husband rang the centre to be told you can book and seemed confused by us querying it, despite their email saying they weren't available.

We paid full price for a 'Splash Pad' session, which we assumed meant we had access to the Splash Pad and the adjoining pool as there was nothing on the website or had been mentioned to us to allude otherwise. Upon arrival we were also not told by the receptionist that the pool was not accessible during our session.

The changing rooms were dirty and floors extremely wet and slippery. There was a dirty nappy in our changing room.

When we walked to the pool area, the actual pool was completely shut off because of swimming lessons. However, the lessons themselves were only taking place up one end of the pool, the actual section of the pool where the 'Splash Pad' is located was also closed but could have been completely accessible. It also meant part of the Splash Pad was also out of use because it was within the pool area.

The Splash Pad itself is bookable for an hour, but is not worth the hour. It is literally 2 small slides and a few random water pistols, however, when you cannot dunk yourself under the water to keep warm, it becomes excessively freezing. I had taken my 4 year old and my 3 month old baby, and had to constantly put them in front of the water pistols or sprinkling water bits to ensure they kept warm.

We weren't the only family to be dissatisfied with the pool not being open as we witnessed a group of parents complaining to staff who did not care whatsoever. The excuse used was that they had no lifeguards and therefore the pool could not be opened. One poor little girl was stood there crying and screaming as she was so cold. Another mum took it upon herself to open the gate to the pool anyway and took her daughter in to avoid getting cold and was told off by staff, which rightly or wrongly, there should have been a lifeguard on site for the other pool related activities or if a child had hurt themselves in the splash pad and first aid was required.

After a very heated confrontation with parents and the staff ('supposed managers'), we were told we could rebook onto another session another day and the pool would be open or we could be fully refunded for the whole session. We chose the latter, as did a number of families, those who were wanting to rebook left the session soon after confronting staff.

It was a terrible experience for us as we just wanted to go swimming together as a family, and we couldn't because of lack of clarity at booking, terrible staff and the pool being closed.

The website definitely needs to be more clearer and if only the Splash Pad is able to be used then there should be a discount on the price you pay at booking. To pay £26 for a family of 4 for basically a fancy puddle is ridiculous and we will be going elsewhere...

Save your time and money and go somewhere else, here’s why. : We called in the morning to check the booking process, and the woman on the phone said that we didn’t have to book and sessions for every 90 minutes. So we planned our day around it and decided to go in at 3 o’clock for the 90 minutes session. When we got there, there was a queue of about 10 families all waiting to go swimming. We got in line and waited there for about 15 minutes and we still hadn’t moved up one space in the line.

We spoke to the woman at the counter as we were confused why lots of people were coming out of the swimming pool but no one was going in. We explained to the woman at the desk that we had called, and the woman on the other line has told us that we didn’t need to book and we can come in straight away for a 90 minute session. We waited another 20 minutes and by this point, we were all tired of waiting and wanted to know why the line hadn’t moved. we asked yet again why the line hadn’t moved, and we were told that management had decided to let people stay as long as they wanted instead of the 90 minute session that day. The woman at the reception said that we would get in once people started coming out but at least 30 people how to come out in the last 10 minutes and still the line hadn’t moved. Splash area was closed, Jacuzzi wasn’t working, wave machine was closed , lazy river closed. The music was way too loud and clearly the only people who like it were the lifeguards (all teenagers) who were bopping along to the music and seemed to be in their own world and weren’t paying attention to the people in the pool.

Another 20 minutes later, we were finally let in after speaking to the manager multiple times. When we got in, we were shocked to see that only one of the 6 pools were open, and the lazy river was not open either. And when queueing we were told that the lifeguards were doing headcount every five minutes to check how many people are in the pool, but when we were in the pool they were clearly not counting. The first receptionist told us we could have an adult free because we had to wait so long but the second one took pity on us and said that we had been waiting long enough and let us all in for free. Even after going through all the hassle just to get into the pool. We only spent about 15 minutes in the pool as we were so disappointed with this facility. on our way out. We were highly disappointed with all of this as we had planned our whole day around it with a long drive to Lincolnshire after swimming. Please save your money and your time and find somewhere else to swim....

1. while I appreciate that it is due to entitled disgusting members of the public (who should be ashamed of themselves) that the mess and dirt is present (dirty nappies and sanitary towels left on the floor) it being there 45 minutes after the swim Is down to a lack of staff cleaning -the layers of grey and black gritty grime on the floor is also down to a lack of cleaning staff, and the mouldering/rusting fixings are down to poor maintenance. I didn’t feel clean until I had wiped myself down with chlorohexidine at home such was the unhygienic situation-had I known about the reputed filth before I would have insisted we go elsewhere.
2. unless your poolside supervisors are moonlighting as healthcare professionals such as qualified ENT surgeons or Psychiatrists, they have no right to ask questions about the specifics of disability to be able to use an aid (a mask with nose covering) other than the basics under the equality act of 2010, and they certainly should not be comparing a five year old boys autistic profile to an autistic adult woman’s profile -let me make this very clear to that staff member-you do not “understand autism” you might understand your nephews profile and needs but you sure as hell do not know mine, because all you did was demonstrate your lack of understanding by talking over me, raising your voice and using a sarcastic tone in an exaggerated manner. I’m an excellent lip reader so your other comments to your colleagues were rude and uncalled for -I might be fat but at least I don’t make comments about bathers bodies or looks when it’s my job to be at a poolside supervising potentially vulnerable people -you are not a safe person to supervise others in my opinion.
3. the star is actually for the sweet as pie chap in the café ( which was also crumb ridden and filthy but I decided a sealed bottle of water was an acceptable risk
4. if your have a disability or trouble walking avoid this pool -it’s just set up entirely for able bodied people with adjustments made later as afterthoughts. Plus you’ll probably have your disability and...