Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center — Local services in Washington

Brand new and beautiful, the Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center is a nice addition to Arlington County. If you look closely, however, the pool could be cleaner. The white tile clearly is not cleaned often, as there is a brown residue on it. The locker rooms are nice. I appreciate the multi-person locker room because it allows my husband to come along and help get our two toddlers ready for swim class. It is odd, however, that there are no benches by the lockers to sit anything on or sit down on; I suppose this is because they want people to change in the actual changing rooms within the locker room for privacy reasons. The swimsuit dryers are a nice little touch in the locker rooms. The facilities are very nice and the pool is fine. There could be a lot more to the play area for children and it feels like it is really lacking. And, when you show up and pay $9 for free swim they don’t even have all the water features turned on. The really cool-looking slide is only open on weekends, maybe, and has a pretty tall height requirement (48”) without the option for littles to ride with an adult - a huge bummer when there isn’t much for the kids to play on otherwise. The water temp is always too cold (today it was a chilly 81*, so they said… it felt colder). My kids (and others that I’ve observed) come out of the pool shivering after swim lessons, so I’ve resorted to putting my children in wetsuits.

Also, having to pay for parking is ridiculous! There is a need to restrict parking so that commuters don’t fill up the lot, but they could offer free one or two-hour parking! They’re already charging to use the facility, so it’s just another way to make money and it’s annoying. I was pleased to learn that my child’s swim lessons came with a parking pass to use, but anyone coming and paying to swim or workout shouldn’t have to pay to park. Overall, Arlington could have done better, but it’s better than not having...

We went for the Family Play Time on a week day right when they started at 9am. The metered parking lot was $5.25 for a max of 3 hours and there were plenty of spaces available at that time and when we left shortly after noon.

The changing areas were pleasantly surprising compared to the older Rec Center ones I've been in previously. They have Women's and Men's, but also a space for all genders with multiple enclosed changing areas with a toilet and shower. The lockers themselves were spacious and had loops for people to use their own personal lock with. The changing rooms were fantastic for one or two parents bringing multiple children. I felt totally comfortable changing everyone out of their wet swim wear afterwards while keeping an eye on all my kids. The oldest kids were able to use the toilet safely in the room with us while I helped the younger ones out of their gear. While we were all in the private changing area, I didn't have to worry about my kids inadvertently staring at strangers around us changing their clothes. The changing areas all seemed cleaned and well kept for that time of day. One thing to note that the kids found fascinating was a small spin dryer we found on our way out of the locker room. It was only big enough for one suit or a couple small kids suits, and does not dry them completely. Rather it will spin the excess water out while someone holds the top down. We had to allot extra time for several kids to try out the fancy device.

The recreation area, while on the smaller side compared to outdoor recreation pools, was fun for all the kids in our group ages 2 through 9. The pool area was fairly empty around 9, but by 10 more family started to come in. The prime time on weekdays seems to be from 10-12. There was still plenty of space for everyone when during those later hours. Every member of our group thoroughly enjoyed our time and would definitely go...

Do and I mean every bit of NOT come to this pool. The life guard “Will” , has horrible people skills. They clearly do not communicate because someone told us one thing and he told us something is. Extremely RUDE. Talked with his back towards me. Asked him to speak up and he still turned his back. Mind you there is music playing. He put his hands in my face and even stared at me as if he was going to do something to me when I asked for a manager. He then grabbed a manager by the name of “Janelle” who was just as rude. We were told as long as you are doing laps you can swim in any lane other than 1. My 13 year old brother was doing laps . He came up for air once or twice and she made him move and out somebody else in that lane (who also was taking breaks). When I tried to explain it and explain how rude Will was, she basically said she didn’t care shrugged her shoulders and walked off. My niece lost her phone the guy at the front was helpful. But , then Janelle came out there. I was asking him for a complaint number and explained to him what happened. She Ridley brush a card to me. I told her she was really rude and went back and forth with me about it. She didn’t car. Called Mr. Harris never heard anything back. I WILL NEVER go here again and have to spend my money to be treated any kind of...