Hampton Pool — Local services in London

We went today for the first time and it was disappointing. The pool is worn down, dirty, unsafe and needs major improvements. It's incredibly.....bad managed

1. Super crowded like Oxford street on Black Friday: there is no control over numbers that get in. People book a 1h slot but stay half a day. Considering that the intake is every 15min you can imagine what it means. When we arrived we could not get into either the baby pool or the main pool (of which 4 empty lanes were for lane swimming) simply because we could not physically fit into the pool. I like to swim in a pool, not breathe the same air of a stranger while dipping in 30 degrees water.
2. Why so much space for lane swimming on the hottest days of the year? Considering the numbers entering I would suggest that lane swimming is reduced to a minimum on busy days. At Parliament Hill lido only 2 lanes are left on weekends. And parliament Hill lido is huge!
3. Water for baby pool was full of pee. Obviously when you allow for 200 babies into a tiny pool then the water cannot clean itself. Likewise the main pool, it was warmer that the baby pool full of pee.
4. Unsafe: There were teenage kids jumping into the crowd like superstar singers do in a concert. Only we were not at a concert and they were throwing themselves into a conjested pool with also kids and elderly. The lifeguards just watched in amusement and stayed put in their seats. I think they were there just as a decoration
5. Filthy: The changing rooms are worn down, probably have not been cleaner or had maintenance since the year the pool was constructed. Make sure you take shoes if you go inside as there is more water in the changing rooms than in the pool itself.
6. Shower rooms are the size of a cupboard: 5 showers into a 1 x 1m space. 3 are too hot, 2 are too cold (mixing hot and cold water is an invention that hasn't reached the lido it seems)
7. Junk food all in: Fast food, chips from really bad looking worn down cafe where nothing is tempting except probably a bottle of water.
8. Melted ice cream: we ordered an ice cream at the stand outside. I had to get it twice because the first one we got collapsed into my hands. Now, for people who dont know, melted and re-frozen ice cream is dangerous.
9. The lawn could use some care: ok its been hot, but what about watering the grass a bit or planting trees? I think the Sahara on a hot day...

It really pains me to leave this review as we are long-time Hampton Pool fanatics (3 generations). My family has supported the pool when it looked like it would close for good in the 80s, and more lately with their redevelopment plans. Sadly, the pool is now run by a combination of teenagers and officious management who simply couldn't care less for their customers. I learnt to swim here in 1976 so I was keen that my daughters do the same. I should say, the swimming teachers are excellent and this review is by no way a reflection of them.

Despite being top of the waiting list for several months there was no space for my daughter in the higher level. We patiently waited, continuing to pay for the classes in the lower level for several months until I noticed that another student in her group had been moved into the class before her. When I queried this I was first told that she had been removed from the waiting list (this turned out to be untrue). I was then told they must have booked it using the "online portal" (something they later also admitted was impossible). They had, in fact, given the place to someone else but didn't have the dignity to admit it. To protect identities I won't mention names, but after several telephone calls, both my wife and I were treated to a cocktail of nonchalance/rudeness and generally made to feel like this whole thing was our fault. Things were finally resolved (minus an apology) but given our support for the pool for over 40 years, it has left a very...

I'm sorry to say, 1st we waited for 1hour outside due to the cue. 2nd we reached the changing rooms and they stank of wee and it was disgusting to even think of changing in that changing room, the experience at the pool was ok. Not really much space to go around in the children's pool, 3rdly and the worst my daughter was playing inside the pool and I notice her walking out as if she was hurt and then I notice that her feet was cut something inside the pool cut her feet and it was bleeding. I take her to the nearest lifeguard and she was kind she took care of her however we were informed that the stairs inside the pool were sharp in some areas which may have caused the cut, the second life guard informed us that the tiles inside the children swimming pool were damaged and may have caused the cut, im like i can't believe what im hearing, a childreen swiiming pool with sharp edges on thevStairs inside the pool? Tiles not correctly fixed that can cause cuts on childreens litle fieets? And the pool is still in use? Me and my husband felt some stones inside the pool and my husband told the second lifeguard and he then requested my husband to go and find the stones inside the swimming pool and give it him!????.Now honestly I'm lost here, he later apologized and said he misunderstood what my husband said. Anyway, it's a shame if only safety measures were taken and a far much more hygiene precautions taken this would have been a good...