The Dolphin Centre — Local services in England

The Dolphin Centre has some real gems: a top-notch restaurant, a fun bowling alley, a bustling kids' area, and a play center that will exhaust your children faster than a sugar crash. The gym is great too, especially with its physiotherapist connection. I went in with knees that sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies and, while the exercises they gave me seemed more like interpretive dance at first, they led me to better exercises that actually helped. So, thumbs up for that!

The swimming pool is generally clean, which is nice. But here's the kicker—they've been refurbishing it since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. I'm eagerly awaiting the grand reopening, which is supposedly August 2024. By then, I’ll be ancient, but at least the kids’ pool and flume should finally be open.

Now, let's talk about reception. It's like a game of hide and seek. First, you can't see it when you walk in. It's facing the wrong way, like a shy turtle. Even when you find it, only one person is ever working, so the line is longer than a Black Friday sale. Seriously, Dolphin Centre, ever heard of self-service? How about a card you can scan and book yourself in like McDonald's? Catch up with the times!

On a positive note, they do support community events, which is wonderful and really adds to the local vibe. Despite the hiccups, I do appreciate the Dolphin Centre. But with the current reception and swimming pool situation, it's a solid three-star experience. Come on, Dolphin Centre, you...

It was our first visit. We had seen on the website that they have a toddler pool that was open between 10am and 3.45pm as well as the main pool and diving boards etc so this was what appealed to us. When we arrived we paid, was given locker wristbands and pointed in the direction of the changing area. The centre looked great, bright, lots of space and clean. All ready to go only to find the toddler pool was closed off due to issues with the chlorine levels. We asked a member of staff about the learner pool which was empty but this is only available for lessons. We ended up in the main pool which wasn’t exactly ideal due to the depth of water for our young daughter. Thankfully there were 2 of us so we could keep 1-1 attention in the kids. Time to get out is indicated by a light in the wall that coincides with the colour locker band you were given. This hadn’t been explained to us when we paid, even though we had said we have never been here before. Showers struggled to keep any heat so didn’t stay for too long.

A little disappointed if I’m honest. A lack of communication left us feeling a bit negative about our visit. If we had been made aware the toddler pool was out of bounds we could have made an informed decision before paying and going in. We like to try different pools every so often but don’t feel in a rush to go back to The...

Staff are fantastic. Young man leg tattoo on lifeguard duty of the main pool brilliant at his job making sure everyone was safe, behaving and not running. Due to my own reasons been stressed and coming for the first time cant wait to be back. Lady at reception was great in telling us where to go ect. Great sized family changing rooms we had 2 adults, a 10month old and pushchair all fit inside for us to get changed with plenty of room. Didn't see any pics online and was amazed at the kids pool when you first walk out, my water baby loved it. Main pool great temperature as im always freezing so it was nice to be able to actually enjoy it with my family instead of watching from the side. Again lifeguard on point never took his eyes off the pool. Time for me to get out the showers were lovely and hot, must admit the changing areas for the first time were a bit like a maze as I walked the wrong way twice looking for the locker and pushchair area. I cut my finger on the pushchair quite bad. I then misplaced by bag (another long story) with my babys clothes my phone and car keys. Obviously stressed everyone at reception were so kind in helping with my baby then cleaning my cut up and giving me...