Oh how I wish we had some place like this is Chicago! The Wil-Mar community center and the folks…read morewho attend the classes there are so warm and welcoming! I am a healthcare traveler in Madison for an assignment, for 3 months, so I went to an event here last week to try and meet folks. The Thursday night Ecstatic Dance gathering, from 7:30-9:00 PM was exactly what I was looking for and it was wonderful! There were about 40 of us dancing in this beautiful open space with a lovely clean wooden floor, awesome sound system, STAGE, and clean spacious bathrooms. It was only a suggested donation of $5 per person to attend and parking across the street was FREE! I will definitely come back every Thursday while I am working in Madison and I highly recommend this weekly event! Just bring a water bottle and $5 and a desire to dance and get to know folks in this beautiful community. Thank you, Wil-Mar, for offering this event!

When planning a surprise birthday party with more than 100 guest, finding a local, flexible and…read moreaffordable location in Madison can be hard. I stopped looking when I found the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center. The center is an old church, the former sanctuary is the main room. It has a stage, small but very functional kitchen, lots of open space with wood floors, windows and a wide variety of lighting options. There is a projection screen on the back wall of the stage. Other amenities include low and high tables, chairs, coolers, table cloths and a very nice PA system that was super-easy to use. If you hire a DJ, he/she can simply plug into their system, no hauling amps and speakers! There are two other rooms on the main floor, mostly meeting rooms with living-room type furniture. There is a lift to all floors making the building accessible. There is parking across the street, and street parking as well. This is handy, as the center is located in a mostly residential neighborhood The staff I worked with were friendly, accommodating and easy to work with. A few days before the event I put down my key deposit and was given, basically, keys to the whole place. THAT was handy! But one of the very best things is the center allows party planners to bring in outside food with no extra fees or charges. This makes the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center a very affordable option to have a party or event. A few things that would make this 5-star: - a built-in projector - 25 more chairs - reminder photos or floor plans of how the furniture should be put back at the end

Gilda's Club reaches out to children and adults with a cancer diagnosis (and their families) to…read moreoffer free emotional support, cancer education, and hope. This organization has a big heart and changes lives.

Excellent space for community groups to meet; at least twice the size of their former location…read moredowntown. So many resources available, and I can't wait to see what plans they have for the new location!

From the owner: Our mission is to promote equality and quality of life for LGBT people.read more

The apartments used to be an attractive option for graduate students due to proximity to campus and…read morelow rents. Unfortunately, rents at Eagle Heights have been increasing much faster than elsewhere in Madison, so now the cost is almost the same, and thats not even considering somewhat Spartan amenities in Eagle Heights (no AC, old refrigerators, tiny apartments). The bedrooms are good for one queen bed and that's about it. There is a space for AC, but good luck trying to cool 2-bedroom apartments with one window AC unit. The endless fire alarm tests (and false fire alarms) don't help either. It's not clear what niche these apartments occupy now as they are sub-par quality for regular price (after all the rent increases).

This is the commons area, party room, entertainment center for graduate student housing in the…read moreEagle Heights complex. It's available for private events, I was here for Sri Lankan New Years and it was a suitable venue. The kitchen is serviceable for a pretty large party, there's a good indoor outdoor combination, with a little playground area for children to safely play when they get bored with the grown up stuff going on inside. The main weakness is that there isn't adequate parking for a lot of guests coming from outside of the complex, I guess since this is Madison the expectation is that everyone can walk or bicycle in.

This is a hiddem gem in the Madison area. It's a bit off the beaten path in Verona but worth the…read moretrip. Zero depth entry, salt water, solar heated pool. It doesn't get any better than this. I wear contacts and usually I take them out because my eyes become irritated from the chlorine. Not here though! I can keep my eyes open (without googles) and there are no issues. They take a break for 15 minutes on the hour for 18 and over swim. Otherwise, kids reign free in the pool for 45 minutes. There's a shallow end with some kid features and a deep end. Kids will need to pass a test from the lifeguards in order to swim on their own in the deep end (it's marked off). When you're taking a break, enjoy a freezie pop for 25 cents or a choco taco from the concessions area. If you're looking to cool off on a hot summer day, look no further!

Summer fun. Jennifer Gray move over! This pool was like an…read moreOasis on a hot day. All the other local pools were closing for the summer and they were still open through labor day. Still close to Madison and surrounding areas, it is open to the public and a short drive. Decent changing rooms, large parking lot and then we get to the actual pool. Nice layout of the adult pool connecting with the kids pool. Tons of lounging chairs, picnic tables at actual pool area. Large deep end area and lap pool permanently roped off. Pool was extremely clean, tidy and staff was great. This felt a little old fashioned, in a fun way. Surrounded my big mature trees, rolling hills of Verona, it was a breath of fresh air! The picnic and playground area just north of the pool has a huge wooden playground set in the shape of an ark. There's Zebras, Lions and giraffes in pairs to accompany the ark. Who doesn't love a zebra to climb on? Huge field to play in and more picnic tables. FUN! We will be there next summer, two by two!