I wish I could give this place a three and a half. My family and I visited on a Saturday afternoon. We waited about 30 seconds before someone came over to take payment. $18 for one skater with rental and two spectating adults. The two spectating adults each received a free fountain beverage or bottled water with the paid entrance. At first I was rather annoyed that I had to pay $3 just to enter but once I fully realized it came with a free drink I was okay, as I figured that price was what I would have spent on a drink anyway (though I had no intention of getting a drink to begin with). We entered and headed over to the rental counter.
Again, we waited about 30 seconds for someone to come over and get us squared away. They were very helpful with getting the three year old the right size and we were set on the first try. But this is where I have to knock off two stars.
I know roller skating has fluctuated in popularity through the decades, with the last big boom being the Roller Disco era circa 1970 to 1980. Since that time the sport has been in a steady decline and, unfortunately, a lot of skating rinks have shuttered. Some that remain continue to flourish while others fall into disrepair. This rink seems to be the latter.
While not a total write off by any stretch of the imagination, there are things that look to be original to the building - though I have no idea when it was built. The carpeting on the floor and the carpeting on the half wall between the rink and the seating area looks like they have not seen the underside of a steam cleaner in years at the very least. The seating area has benches that also look to be original with half of them covered in some kind of liquid, presumably soda or juice (or at least that is what I am telling myself).
There was also a counter with a total of six faucets, I believe, just... there. In the middle of the walkway. For what appeared to be no reason. I did not go into the bathrooms but I would like to hope they belong to those. Why they are not in there is beyond me and I am guessing it has something to do with them being original to the building.
The rink itself looked pretty decent, though I cannot be sure as I was one of those spectating adults. The music was loud, which I know helps bump up the energy, but might have been a little too loud for the space. The building is tiny and while I did not feel that I was at a rock concert it wasn't far off relatively speaking.
The final thing was the popcorn. We were leaving just before they closed for the late afternoon/early evening (closed at 4:00 and reopened at 7:00) and the $2 popcorn tasted like it had been sitting since they closed the day prior. Knowing this makes me not want to try anything else at the concession stand.
Overall the experience brought me back to the days of $2 Thursdays at Guptill's in Latham when I was growing up. While not nearly as big or as clean, I would certainly go back to High Rollers again if my kid or his friends wanted to go. The staff was friendly and my kid had a great time. And at the end of the day, my kid being happy is more important than the few downsides...
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