Disclaimer...I have a 6 month old…read more This pool was fantastic for our family. Easy parking and pick up area. Clean restroom and changing area... especially with a baby. Large outdoor area for ground sitting. Decent sized splash pad area...great for an adult to be cool and kid be cool. Walk in pool was great. Pool is crowded but enjoyed the easy in/out with baby and good depth. Place was pretty clean...for the amount of people I've seen worse! Definitely will return!

The only reason to go here is for the slides an they were closed majority of the time we were…read morethere. The place is also run down an needs remodeled. Plus the bathrooms were gross. I wouldn't come here again

I worked here for several summers, so my rating might be a little biased, but this is an awesome…read moreplace for wholesome family fun! The water park has 4 slides, 2 diving boards, a GIANT lap pool, an activity pool with a fountain/play structure thing for children, and a baby pool for the little ones! The lifeguards here are smart and hardworking, as are the swim instructors (LTS). The concessions always seemed reasonably priced to me, but that might just be my stomach talking after teaching 4 consecutive swim lessons. The front desk staff (generally) is quite friendly too!

Great place for kids birthday parties! We celebrated my…read moredaughter's 10th birthday there and kiddos could not have more fun! Slides, sprinklers, jumping boards - we could barely make them come to the cabana for cake! Their event manager Rochelle was responsive and accommodating and made everything a breeze. Would recommend!

Overall, I think it's between 3-4 stars. Usually, the kids…read morehave a good time. They did open the water slide but this doesn't happen every time we visit. It would be nice if they did that more often. Today there were a lot of branches and just clutter from the weather on the patio and sidewalk. It looked dirty. The pool was fine though. Then the kids went to get popsicles with a friend and they were out of mostly everything. I'm finding this is the case most of the time.

This is the calmer and quieter of the two Skokie Park District pools. It's easier to find parking…read morebecause it's just overall less packed. Also,k it isn't as large as the Skokie Water Playground. A lot more little kids come in packs with their mother's, babysitters, etc. There's a snack area off the poolside and a kids play area on the opposite side. The main pool starts off VERY shallow and gradually gets deeper. The only slide that they have is in the back and the water in that pool is just about 12 feet deep. They also have a diving bored located on site of the slide pool. Again, LOTS of lifeguards on duty. It's a lot easier to swim laps here than at Skokie Water Playground because of the smaller crowd. If you want to plan a birthday party for smaller kids, this might be the better pool for it because it's not as chaotic. If you have bigger kids the Skokie Water Playground is usually more popular because there's more to do there. Same deal as Skokie Water Playground with safety breaks (15 minutes every hour), and admission is slightly less at Devonshire Aquatic Center.

Foss has a lower rating than Goldfish? That blows my mind; it seems like they have a curriculum and…read moreare trying to teach it. That seems like the definition of a good swim school. Facilities are generally clean. There is variation in experience based on teacher though; some are very conscientious and pay close attention to "your swimmer's" specific needs, others treat the class more homogeneously and that can impede development. I like that they allow makeups, but their makeup policy is bad. (1) you have to have missed the class to schedule a makeup, (2) you can only schedule a week out, (3) the makeup times are generally awful ("I can offer you 10:15am on a Tuesday or 7:45pm on a Friday"). (Regarding a number of the 1* reviews: I do think though, that similar with the idea of this being a school that teaches certain skills you need to master to pass, you might have to come to grips with the idea that your child is NOT mastering them IN SPITE of the teachers making a good effort to teach them in a group setting. Look, I'm super type A, it drives me CRAZY when they tell me my child needs more time in the level...but I also want them to learn to swim, not drown while wearing a badge that says "I know how to swim").

They swim only like 5 yards for little kids, don't challenge them…read more They made the biggest progress when I took them for swim myself. Money wasting experience.

This review is not for Big Blue but for a specific teacher. Gloria is a real life magical mermaid…read more She is an incredible teacher, advocate, and role model. I'm truly in awe of her ability to maintain enthusiasm, warmth, insight, and intention through lesson after lesson. She is working on another level. She packs so much into a 30 minute lesson - challenging her students to build skill, creating a sense of community, encouraging them to support each other. We've had a few teachers at Big Blue, all clearly well trained, and our child demonstrates more growth in one session with Gloria than a month with his other teachers. I've worked in schools and observed educators in various settings for many years. Gloria has the passion and charisma that I recognize from the best teachers I've known. Even when my child was not in her class, Gloria advocated for his learning experience, working with the staff to make sure he was in the right level for both his age and skill. Whatever you are paying her, quadruple it. We are lucky to have Gloria in our community. Generally our experiences with big blue staff have been positive. Staff are always friendly and helpful. Gloria, again, stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The management of this facility and its customer service here have really gone down hill. With as…read moremany options exist in our neighborhood, I would avoid this place. Our sons attended lessons here 2-3 years ago and we had a fine experience. Great instructor who really knew them and knew how to motivate and celebrated their successes. This summer, we enrolled our one year old daughter. The classes had a different instructor every week. Classes were often cancelled due to facility closures with little to no notice. Refunds are not given for those cancellations- they will offer to give you a credit to come at another time (even if you literally cannot make any of the available times). After months of "membership" and only attending 1 class I finally cancelled, which I had to do via text message to reach their customer service. 2 months later they are still charging me. Avoid this place.

Lakeside Swim School has been an amazing experience for me! After extensive research on which…read moreschool would be best, it is clear that LSS wins in both prices of private lessons and flexibility of scheduling. I love that private classes are available on the weekends, which is really the only time I am able to take lessons. In addition, Javier, who helps organize the lessons, is a pleasure to work with. You can text and call him anytime and he will enthusiastically set you up with a teacher. I recommend that you text him at 312-718-8614 and you will receive a lot of great information which will help you realize why this school is for you. I am a adult learner who always felt less than adequate in my swimming abilities compared to my peers. I struggled with spending time in deep water and found myself exhausted or needing to cling to a floaty. I have been taught by Amira & Conor so far and have learned skills I have always wanted to learn in a short amount of time. I have learned how to dive, tread water, and improve my breast stroke and freestyle. Both are excellent teachers, I definitely came away from each lesson feeling accomplished with new skills under my belt. Looking forward to my next lesson!

Mixed Feelings :Great Start in Adult Group Level 1, But Disappointed in Level 2…read more I was genuinely excited to enroll in Level 2 swim lessons this year after having such a positive experience in Level 1. My coach in Level 1 was amazing,patient, encouraging, and I truly felt like I was learning and growing as a swimmer. Unfortunately, my Level 2 experience didn't live up to those expectations. On the first day, I was assigned to a coach , and it quickly became clear that he didn't have a structured plan in place. There were only two of us in the session, yet I felt like the other swimmer received the bulk of the attention. As someone who's still very much a beginner and working through things like fear of the deep end, I felt unseen and uncomfortable. Building trust and rapport in a learning environment like this is essential,and I didn't feel like that was prioritized. That said, I did appreciate that he introduced side swimming, which was a new and useful skill for me. So there were some moments of learning! During the second lesson, there was a new coach . Once again, I had to re-explain my swimming background. He was kind and acknowledged that he hadn't been given any info about the students beforehand, which explained some of the confusion. He reassured me that I belonged in Level 2, but I still felt mostly overlooked during the session as the more advanced swimmers got the majority of his attention. Because of these experiences, I ended up missing the final two classes;one due to travel, and the other because I just didn't feel comfortable returning. I didn't see the value in making up the missed session given how things had gone. While I'm grateful for the strong foundation I got in Level 1, my experience in Level 2 left me frustrated and disappointed. I'm sharing this review in hopes that the program improves communication as I emailed them my experience 07/06/2025 and haven't received any response yet and support for all swimmers, especially those still building confidence in the water.

I came here for the rooftop restaurant Harvest. I had low expectations for the food. Everything we…read morehad was really good. The truffle fries were crispy, pancakes were good, the salmon bowl and burrata salad were perfect for a hot day. The salmon was perfectly cooked. The view on the rooftop is lovely and the service was great. Definitely don't miss out on the rooftop restaurant/bar.

In a word: terrible. Other words: dirty, broken, rude. Including:…read more - Unsafe infrastructure. Floor literally shakes regularly. If there is a building in Chicago likely to collapse on you, this is it. - Operated for many, many months without a proper license to have their pool open for use. - The pool is constantly leaking into the weight room on the floor below. Every time I work out there is a pile of towels in a different location, buckets catching water from the pool a floor up, areas sequestered off because the ceiling is falling in. - The roof is constantly leaking and instead of what seems like minimal effort to patch the roof, they rig up plastic sheets with clips and place buckets the leaking water flows into in the middle of the track. This is in multiple places and has been in place all winter long. - Generally dirty and gross everywhere. Have never not ever and would not: get in the pool, take a shower, use the sauna, or touch the floor with anything other than the bottom of my shoes. The equipment is disgusting. - All the broken things everywhere. Broken shower doors, broken equipment, broken chairs, broken clocks, broken coat racks. - A nonexistent class program. Every other gym I've been a member at has had decent to awesome group fitness options. Do not come here for that. For starters, they offer almost none. Those that they offer are often cancelled last minute without notice. This place isn't exactly teaming with fit staff... The fitness class spaces are very low quality. - The youth classes are a waste of money. I've paid a lot of money for a lot of different youth classes over the years. This is the only establishment where I asked for a refund for the swimming lessons and my kids begged me to not make them do tennis again. - They brag about the kids camp but it is highly over priced compared to what's out there. The cost initially sounds okay, but then you realize their "full day" is actually a "half day" and to get the rest of the day covered, you have to double the cost. Add to that I've never encountered a youth camp program with poorer communication. Why are we members (for now)? Because they are generally chill around here and we have a boatload of kids. They swim in the gross pool, climb on the shaking outdoor playground, have so far survived the childcare that is pure chaos, and once in awhile I can't find another camp to send my kids to (they complain the whole way there and back and I worry about their safety all day). Recently a new manager-like gal has started roaming the halls scolding families for "health violations" like giving their kids a snack from home. Set aside that anyone with kids understands this is an unreasonable expectation, it's a highly offensive public lashing given the clear health code violations the staff routinely ignore and their patrons have just resolved to deal with. Every time I come here, I see at least a half dozen new member tours in action. Anyone considering joining should do so with eyes wide open. The quality of this gym compares to the Lakeview YMCA, with the Y coming out the clear winner for cleanliness, customer service and cost. It goes without saying, if you don't have kids or like kids this is not the gym for you. Don't complain about the kids, just go to one of the countless other cool gyms where you won't see them. We haven't cancelled our membership yet and I won't bother raising these issues with management because every interaction I've had with them makes it quite clear the bar they've set for themselves is so low. But it's just a matter of time, and I have no intention of wiping down the equipment at an establishment so woefully neglected by the rude people collecting $500 from me every month.

We love the pool here at Oriole, which is tucked away in a residential neighborhood…read more It's $11 for resident admission for the day and $13 for non residents. There is a VERY tasty Flash Taco stand here offering tacos ($5), burritos, nachos, and quesadillas ($14 for the supreme with meat). Cold drinks and Mexican paletas and ice cream bars ($5) also available! The pools are clean and well life guarded. There is a 15 minute safety break on the :45 of every hour, where anyone under 18 needs to get out of the pool. Two diving boards, one steep water slide, splash area for kids, lazy river, couple of lap lanes, and lily pad obstacle course over 4' water can all be found here. Lily pads were a hit with my kids last year, but now that they're a year older, stronger swimmers, and taller, they're not as challenging. Still fun though. Variety of aquatic amenities and the Flash Taco keeps us returning here! A Morton Grove gem!

Pool is nice, but it does get crowded. It's pretty clean. There are good coverage of life guards…read more I gave it only a 1 star since my experience wasn't great since when we did go there, someone took my son's stuff. I still would recommend keeping an eye on your stuff since someone might walk off with your things.