Eden Prairie Community Center — Attraction in Eden Prairie

So, I've been contemplating whether to leave a review or not, but after being a member for about one and a half years, I feel like sharing some info. And as a preface, I don't think I am a spoiled person, but as a public servant myself, I think the Community Center falls significantly short in a lot of aspects. But this is my personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt ;-)

Pros The community center and all of its facilities are very clean and have a somewhat modern look to it, so thumbs up. Good parking, and there is usually always a spot near the entrance.

Cons! I am rarely greeted when coming in and NEVER hear a "have a nice day" or "see ya later" or anything for that matter when leaving, even during the not so busy hours. I've been to many gyms and this is the first one where I don't feel like I'm even being noticed as a guest...well unless I forget to scan my ID! In that case I'm being spoken to immediately... When working out, staff never stops to say hi (even in passing) and it seems they're all pretty much hiding in their offices or behind their desks, tugged away in the corner (often with a somewhat grumpy and annoyed face). Again, it shouldn't have to be said that guests should be made feel noticed and welcomed. Even seeing generally friendly and happy faces amongst staff would make a huge difference already. The child care hours are so limited that you can barely ever rely on someone being there. In my opinion, if the community center is open, childcare needs to be too, otherwise what's the point for parents who just try to get a workout in. Sure, I could check their schedule every single time I want to go with my 4yr old twins, but having to find the schedule amongst a very confusing series of links on theirtwebsite is just another con, and why should I have to check on that every time I'm going to a place that's otherwise open for business... The website is overly complicated and finding specific information often requires a pretty good understanding of how the website is structured ahead of time. The adventure pool is great during kids hours, which is only in the morning for a few hours, but after that it becomes unbareably cold and drafty for little kids. Not to mention that all the water attractions are completely shut off, which is pretty much what makes the adventure pool the adventure pool.

In summary, I am very happy with the overall appearance of the place and I think they are doing a great job with maintaining it, keeping it clean, and keeping the riff raffs out. BUT the most important thing in a gym or activity center, customer service, is pretty much non existent, at least compared to other gyms. As a reference point, I have yet to find a Y, where staff aren't giving you a huge smile and "how is it going" as soon as you walk through the door and throughout...

There are much better places to swim in the metro that don’t treat you like prisoners in some twisted swim prison. The lifeguards watching the pool are pretty great, but the head guards (looking at you early thirties blonde guy with a goatee) are really pretty awful. I get it — you work a pretty thankless customer service job. I do too, but I would NEVER speak to the people I’m SERVING the way you speak to your swimmers and other pool area visitors.

I understand that you have rules and safety is important. What you need to understand and communicate to your regime of water sadness (aka lifeguard staff) is that your pool rules are not standard and a parent looking to bring the kids by to burn off some energy isn’t going to stop and read their way to the bottom of your rule list to NUMBER 13 (not kidding) to find that they need to be “within arm’s reach” of their children at all times with an apparent unpublished child to adult ratio maximum of 2:1. That said, when you make your rounds with your whistle that you seem to think entitles you to being a completely unnecessary level of rude to anyone under your oppressive jurisdiction, you need to LIGHTEN. THE. FRICK. UP.

And for any of you who have made it this far into my review wondering: no, I wasn’t approached by the lifeguard at all; I just watched a dozen other families have their afternoon marred with an abhorrent level — no, complete absence of any courtesy. And to you, Lifeguard Rudy McJerk: I promise nobody is visiting the pool with the intention of breaking all the rules. You either need to grow some patience or get a job that doesn’t face people. We’ll all be happier.

Note the picture of a head guard doing a routine (every 5 minutes) ratio check. Will...

We paid to go into Open Swim. My main purpose is to begin teaching my kids to swim. We came in with the inflatable arm bands on and mini boards I got them as motivation plus a teaching tool. When we paid, in the front desk, nobody told me those were not allowed. As soon as we went into the pool area, a teenager came up to us and told us we couldn’t use any of the items we had. We could only use the old broken up noodles they had there, which barely allow you to float, and life vests they could get us. I explained I was there to teach my kids to swim and she looked at me and said we could only use the equipment and toys they had there. The baby vests didn’t fit my 9yo and were a little too big on my 4yo. There were no adults I could talk to, only teenagers. We stayed and played. When we were about to leave, I handed the vest over to another teenager who was cocky enough to ask me “is this ours?” I said “am I allowed to use anything I bring from home?” To which he replied “True”. I looked at the walls and saw no rules or anything that said we couldn’t use what we brought. It only said things could be used at the head lifeguards discretion. Now I know why that place is...