Pools on the Park

You have to pay for parking even in weekends and on Sunday, a non-Richmond resident is charged even more. The parking officer was really on my nerves as I was trying to pay at the machine he kept walking around and clicking pics of all cars.Then it seemed you had to book for a family swim, which wasn’t when we were there last time. We wanted to leave and they give only partial refund for parking. Will never visit again.

We're lucky to have such a great and affordable community pool in Richmond where you can visit without taking up a second mortgage for a private gym membership. Staff was kind and helpful, the indoor pool airy and bright, water clean, changing room, lockers, showers ok. You need to pre-book but this also means it wasn't overrun by people.

Very outdated building, in need of a serious renovation throughout. Most of the showers do not work, full of limescale and there are only a few which have to be shared with everyone, no separate places for women or men. The changing rooms are also very old, smells with tough stains and a mouldy feel. The pool has also collected dirt at the bottom. Staff are okay, just very nonchalant. Richmond council really need to renovate this place, it’s not really acceptable for 2023.

This could be great facility but it is not. The layout of the facility is poor due to poor management who do not listen or care. For example to get to the main gym area people have to walk through a long corridor which is often crowded with people towling themselves down from the pool and past lockers which often have the doors left open. So to get to the gym is like an assault course to avoid these obstacles or banging your head on a locker door. Although most staff are helpful the management seem to lack intellectual capacity or willingness to change poor practice. Choices of equipment or water fountains appear without thought. The floor in the main gym was changed a few years ago making it very slippery. With the right management this place could be great but they appear to chuck money at things to replace without thought and do not care about their customers. Although this is supposed to be a health facility many staff can be seen to be smoking outside the building, despite a banner displayed outside requesting people not to smoke….not a great advertisement to the many children who use this facility.

So we finally managed to book a swimming session since it was 32 degrees and baking hot yesterday.Was nice clean pool, nice water temperature kids had a blast and it was lovely to chill and have a swim.It is a nice clean and spacious place.Has a good sized changing room. Lots of lockers which require tokens rather than locks or £1 coins.Has changing rooms for families as well.Hair dryers on site which are 20p.Offers an indoor and outdoor pool (weather depending) as well as a teaching pool.Nice spacious cafe on site selling a good range of food and drinks hot and cold.Lots of space to sit inside or outside.Could even chill there before or after your session.The team were friendly and helpful and I was happy we did visit.Would have loved to have use the outdoor pool but it was fully booked since others beat me to it for booking the slots.Overall a good first time experience. Would definitely go back.Try it for yourself...

Generally very nice staff and usually quite quiet in the gym which is nice. Be aware parking is not included in the membership and they will not warn you of this despite politely asking they advise provisional members. This means if you plan on driving each visit it will add a lot to your gym costs and you may find better value elsewhere.

Staff including Frankie and Jia to name a few are incredible and so friendly and accommodating. They deserve a pay rise and a bonus! Great facilities for the price.

It's a nice enough facility albeit the changing rooms are probably due a refurb. Main issue I have is that they are still implementing a strict COVID booking system which is very inflexible. You have to commit to a specific lane in one of the 2 pools only and for a specific timed slot. You have to start and finish in the slot, so even if there's capacity you can't just turn up and swim, you have to wait for the next slot, unless you're prepared to start during a slot and not get your full time. If you want to try both pools you need to buy 2 tickets. There doesn't seem to be a clear reason why all this pre booking is still necessary. At least let people start at any time if there's capacity and let them leave at will. Most people don't stay longer than an hour anyway.

Very clean, spotless pools (indoor and outdoor) with delightful staff manning reception and very pleasant lifeguards. The only person who wasn't friendly was the woman looking after the cafe. I suspect she was very tired or overworked but she looked positively annoyed to see us wanting to place an order.

Very pleased with my experience at this pool. Staff are very friendly and make arriving a pleasure. Timed swims means it’s never overrun. The bathroom in the cafe is pristine.Etc., etc…