We ended up at this facility by accident over the weekend, when we discovered that the pool at the Clareview Rec Centre was out of service. It was 7 am when we arrived (right when the pool opened) and the staff at the front desk were very friendly, without being overbearing.
The cost for 4 (2 adults, 2 kids - one 5, one 8) was around $25.00.
The family change room was clean and I really liked the set up. There are lockers in the centre (there are some that you can bring your own lock for, and others that you pay a quarter to lock) and private change rooms around the perimeter of the room. There are also male and female washrooms, hair dryers, and showers (I didn't notice any private showers). Some of the showers seemed to have some problems, ie. not turning off all the way, or shooting water into the hallway.
There are also small lockers in the pool area for valuables. Keys for those seem to be attached to rubber bracelets that you wear. I thought it was a nice options.
Since we were so early, there was only 3 other people in the whole pool - which was awesome. Around 7:30 another group came int and by 9 it was about half full. There are 3 different pools for you to enjoy - the main one is split into two sections, one shallow and one deep. There is also a pool for lane swimming (4 lanes in total, but the one furthest away is also used for the climbing wall, so if somebody wants to use that feature, you should avoid that lane). And the final pool is the "hot tub", which is quite large, but not as hot as a typical hot tub.
The climbing wall was an interesting feature. Before your child is allowed to use it, a lifeguard must observe them swimming the length of one lane (with or without a life jacket). They then put a mark on the child's arm to indicate that they are cleared to use it.
The only thing missing for me was the lazy river that Clareview has. I was really looking forward to that one.
I think that they are really targeting the downtown crowed that relies more on public transportation, because the parking lot is TINY. We got there early enough that it was not an issue at all, but when we were leaving it was a bit of a mess.
I did not check out any other amenitites of this facility, but we enjoyed the pool. read more