BREC's Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center — Attraction in Baton Rouge

We went here today in a great mood only to be met by moody employees. We go in at 4, pay, and are told that we can do the trail if we are back at our cars by 5 because that’s when they close the gate. We are totally cool with that. However, I go to the restroom get a drink from the machine and am looking around inside the nature center and am told in a condescending tone (like I’m a child) we need to go and do the trail NOW. I’m confused because why does it matter when I start one of the trails (there are three trails all combined maybe a little over a mile) as long as I’m back to my car by 5? If I want to look in the nature center walk one of the short trails and go to my car after that’s my business. Nope. They tell my husband again we need to go on the trail NOW. So we eye roll the situation (don’t say anything), go, and come back to the nature center at 452 to finish looking at what we didn’t get to look at the first time (turtles snakes etc). At 457 the manager tells us in an aggravated way we need to leave now as they have to lock the gate. The building signs are posted nature center is open until 5 pm. I say okay, and am just going to leave it alone and ask for the managers name to make a follow up complaint. The young girl there says she doesn’t feel comfortable giving me her bosses name then proceeds to tell me how we ignored them when they told us to start the trail and be at our car by 5. I respond that the sign says the building is open until 5. Also, the parking lot has a gate that locks on one side and an open exit which anyone can access at any hour of the day on the other side. The hours of the building do not match what they say and apparently you can’t look around the nature center after 4 if you want to walk any piece of the trail because they will badger you until you leave...

I was very disappointed with the service Jessica Guthrie, Manager promised during the walk through of the rental facility prior to my daughter-in-law baby shower. When I arrived on site at the facility, their staff member was very unprofessional and rude after I had brought my concerns regarding the uncleanliness of the facility. The floor of the entrance was dirty, the carpet needed vacuum. The tables and chairs was not setup as promised during the walk through. The kitchen had roach eggs and spiders on the counter tops. There were nasty dishes left in the sink with dirty wash sponge. The refrigerator was not clean or cleared out. The bathrooms was not clean. This is suppose to be a place where kids have day camp. If your child go to this place, I would think twice about taking them there. Then the female staff person had the nerve to check me off to see if I cleaned the area before leaving. My crew had to take 30 minutes to clean before setup. In the contract, I was only given one hour setup time. Therefore, we only had 30 minutes to setup, not fair. What’s the purpose of having a hour setup time, if the rental guest have to come in to clean and setup their space. It doesn’t make since to give the guest one hour setup time when you have not kept your end of the agreement. Also, you need to get rid of that staff member girl that was overseeing 12/29/19, Sunday. She was unprofessional and does not need to be in that position. She gives your company a poor representation. For this reason, I will never rent this facility again.

By the way, let me give you qualities a representative staff member should have: someone that is warm welcoming and inviting with a smile, willing to make sure the guest is satisfied with their space, and helpful in resulting issues that my arrive in a...

In the wet season, this could be a nice place to take a walk but there's not much to see in the dry season. Also, this is a city park and I think it's absurd for them to charge a $3 per person entry fee just to walk the trail. I assume the fee is in part to keep up with the mainenance of the elevated walkways but the bridge on the library trail has been closed a while and there are gaps in the wood on others that are wide enough for me to get the walking stick I have to use for balance caught in. On Wednesday a friend and I walked over from some nearby condos where she was staying and honestly even though I'd been to Bluebonnet before, I didn't know about the entry fee because I'd never bothered to read the boards or to go inside. On this day however, a rude woman who works there ran out of the building and insisted that we come inside immediately to register even though my companion was clearly on the phone. We just left and I can say it's not interesting enough for me to come back. I've seen way more wildlife on the creekside greenway at Perkins Rd Community Park than here and in the dry season which seems to be much of the time these days, the scenery's not much different than the Trees & Trails paths at Burden which are...