Washington Harbour Ice Rink — Local services in Washington

Some of the staff are without kindness or education. Some people have no idea how to treat people and and there is one in particular who is arrogant and BOLD (where I mention it below)... Today I had an altercation with one of the staff (TARRON) to whom I asked a favor. After several times that I spoke to him and he ignored me. After trying to get his attention several times, he “listened” to me and I asked him if he could pass me my gloves that fell in the center where you can't enter because it was blocked. He told me to do it. I replied that I was not enough to pick them up on the side where there is no ice rink (behind the railing in the center) and he told me that he was not going to do it, until another random girl came and she helped me. Then TARRON said to me in a bad way "you see!!? It wasn't difficult at all!!" , to which I replied "if I asked you for help, it's because I couldn't, besides that it's my first time on the ice and I'm afraid of slipping for trying to stretch more and besides, you're taller”. Later, in an obnoxious way, he replied that this time it was also his first time skating and the girl told him "I don't think so because you are a helper at the ice rink" He ended up admitting that it was his second day and that in short I was inept. The girl continued to support me and TARRON He ended up threatening the girl, that if he wanted, he could throw her off the ice rink with "the security" and telling me, a foreigner, that people like us are always like that. I told him I was going to complain and he still didn't stop putting himself on a level with us customers and keep looking for a way to make us look bad by saying disrespectful things. I had a very bad experience just because of that. It not only ruined my night, also ruined the night from another girl for his lack of education and professionnalism to...

My toddler and I came to this ice rink on a weekday and had a better than expected time. I'd selected this rink based on two criteria

1. It's the closest to where I live
2. they have penguins (skate aids for children shaped like, you guessed it, penguins)

I'm not an ice skating aficionado but the skates and ice both seemed acceptable. The reason for the five starts was the service. I'd put skates on myself and my toddler and she proceed to have a melt down. I picked her up and was carrying her to the rink when a staff member said "hey, you can't hold her because you have skates on, would you like me too?". And then the guy carried her to the ice and lined up a penguin for her. He also looked away as I almost ate it trying to get on the ice. That small gesture totally made my experience here a good one.

And the key to skating with a toddler is to hold their hands onto the penguin and skate behind them (no this is not ideal). We only made it twice around the rink but it was my daughter's first time and I hadn't been in a while either.

We'll definitely be back, still at an off time. My only complaint is the cost, $30 for about an hour of skating seems...

A great way to experience Georgetown and Washington Harbor.

Keep in mind that this is an ice rink that is outside in Georgetown DC, it's not going to have perfect conditions. The staff does a great job and they run the Zamboni about every hour. It can get crowded but it's usually not too bad. If you can go anytime during the week there's hardly anyone there at all.

Plenty of food options and places to sit and eat outside. When the weather is cold, there is almost a Ski Resort feel.

Update for 2017

This year the company that runs the skating rink decided not to offer the Season Pass for local residents. Huge disappointment for me and my family as we were regulars last year. It's sad because my kids looked forward to a quick skate session after school everyday or in the evening.

They offer a 10 pack of tickets at a slight discount but that's not the same as having a pass, which gives us the option of skating for 15 minutes or so and then leaving because the ice is really bad - not feeling like we wasted money because we can just return the next day when it's colder and the ice might be...