John Lindell Ice Arena — Attraction in Royal Oak

Two sheets of decent, but small ice. However, enforcing rules for public skate seem to be at the whim of the cashiers (not even on-ice rink attendants). My daughter's home rink has a competition this week, so we came here for her to just practice simple things; she's not an elite skater. On Monday, she was with a few older ladies who were also practicing simple moves, spins, and jumps without a problem and no restrictions from the rink staff; it was a very pleasant experience and we looked forward to today's visit. However, today was totally different! We came with 45 minutes of time left and I put a $20 bill on the counter and said, "One for public skate, please." But as soon as the cashier saw my daughter dressed in her skating attire, she got an attitude and told me in no uncertain terms that all my daughter wasn't allowed to do ANY moves, spins, or jumps and could only skate in a big circle. When I questioned her rule - yesterday there was no such rule and said I wasn't going to pay $5 just to skate in a circle - she copped an even bigger attitude, saying "Well, they should've told you that!" Then, she told me I had to wait for my "refund" when my $20 was still sitting on the counter in front of her. I insisted that she return my money before she used her computer to do the "refund" because I didn't think I should have to wait when the money never entered her possession. I'm not against rules, but not posting them and not enforcing them equally from day to day is a problem. And I'm usually understanding that people have bad days, but for us, this was an all around unpleasant experience with an unpleasant person in a customer service position. We'll avoid this rink from now on and tell our skating friends to beware of poor customer service. ISo how...

Have played at this rink for several seasons now, and each year they send a survey asking what they can do better. Can't speak for everyone, but many on my team at least indicates the showers are atrocious. Recently, I inquired directly whether we could get management feedback about what would be done based on our concerns, but received no response. As such I thought it might be valuable to post a review that includes photos.

Please note these photos are from multiple locker rooms, and were taken in late '23/early '24. A couple even show a "renovated" shower. There's more to show, but I think the point is clear: the showers are disgusting and worse than many other rinks around Metro Detroit.

I understand hockey players can be gross, and imagine it's difficult to keep up with given the frequency of use, but this is fairly egregious and I question whether its sanitary on some level, especially as I read other posts with people loving the arena itself for activities for their small kids.

Also: I don't really think it's asking a lot for the rather large Suburban group to invest a relatively small amount to permanently address a well-known issue. Would be great if they'd communicate their plan, too!

Separately, I'd like to note the front desk/pro shop staff are kind, and the refs are pretty solid - if not a bit slow given the running clock.

Thank you for your...

Had a nice time w my kindergartner who's never skated before. Plenty of people but not overly crowded at the public skate. They had rental skates to fit my kiddo and we just missed registration for the next session of snow plow sam, but we hope to register for the following one! Seems like a very family-friendly atmosphere where a lot of people have fun! Edited to add we're now on our third session of Learn to Skate, and every instructor for both kiddos has been so kind and so thoughtful on how to keep everything fun for the kids. Diana who runs the program is so helpful and nice as well....