This review is an odd one for me. Here goes!…read more When I was checking in at the hotel, I asked the nice man helping me out whether there were fireworks in the area on Canada Day. He directed me to a sign a couple of feet to my right. The University of Waterloo has Canada Day festivities throughout the day at Columbia Lake, just behind Columbia Icefield. He indicated that I could spend thirty minutes walking over there from the hotel or spend seven minutes by car. It was 36°C outside. With the humidity, it felt more like 46°C. I drove over there without sweating buckets. I managed to drive around Columbia Icefield. I saw the treadmills without walking into the recreational centre. There seemed to be twenty of them. Wow! The centre looked impressive from the quick view that I got. I wouldn't mind giving the place a tour when it is open. (243)

This is the better recreation centre at UW. Lots of machines and free weights at the fitness…read morecentre. There are many machines available for cardio as well. The gym is usually quite busy with little room. The stretching area ends up being extremely crowded. You also can end up waiting for the bench press station or squat racks for more like 20 minutes. The trainers here tend to friendlier than the PAC (even though they might work at both gyms? Maybe they're in better moods at the CIF). This gym is more "commercial" than the PAC which is more "hardcore". More appropriate for your average or begginer weightlifter here. There is one ice rink here which hosts free skate and intramurals. This ice can be rented for good prices but usually at odd times, perfect for shinny. There is also the warrior field which hosts all of the home games for field sports at UW.

Beautiful spot. Lots of parking, sitting places and clean. Whether it's to park, have a picnic or…read moretake a walk, great place

A beautiful, well-maintained park that offers a bit of everything trails, gardens, water features,…read moreand play areas. It's peaceful and lively at the same time, with tons of space to walk, relax, or picnic. Great for an afternoon escape!

The PAC is the older of the two gyms at the University. There are variety of things to do here from…read morethe rock climbing wall (join the Outer's Club for access), golf simulator, the pool, the basketball court and the fitness centre (including the Astro turf on the upper level). I would say the variety of activities here is quite high as well as lots of fitness classes take place here. The actual fitness centre is aging with far less machines than Columbia Ice Fields. That being said, the environment is best for varsity athletes, bodybuilders, olympic lifters and powerlifters. The gym has that old school Rocky mentality. A new or casual exerciser would enjoy the CIF much more than the PAC. While there are lots of activities to do here the staff here are hit or miss in terms of their helpfulness. I noticed that the older staff during the day to be quite rude at times and are not welcoming. The student staff are usually quite friendly but are obviously some who are newer and still in training. The trainers at the PAC I have found to show extreme favouritism towards their friends and other gym regulars. For example: the PAC does not allow you to take in any bags, fine. However, trainers who are off duty place all of theirs scattered near the desk, and allow of their friends to do the same. If you're going to do that least put it inside of the office so it's not in everyone's way. Lastly, are also off duty trainers. I encountered one gentleman who was super rude to a newer exerciser. He had left for about 10 min and left all of his weights on the bar in a squat rack. The newer guy went to remove this and start his own workout. Once the trainer returned he aggressively said the following: "that's nice, you can go ahead and put 225 LB back on the bar thanks. Apparently you don't know when weights are on the bar that someone's obviously using it". Okay dude, that may be true but if you leave for 10 minutes don't expect it to still be there for you. Learn some gym etiquette yourself. Okay rant over. TL/DR: lots of variety of activities, old facility (but getting a renovation I believe) and super inconsistent staff.

3.5 if only I could…read more Pleasantly surprised with free wifi throughout the entire city of Waterloo. I guess it's a while since I've been here! Typical bench seating (uncomfortable), with heating coils overhead for the fans / parents. The view is somewhat obstructed by the penalty box and that awful mesh to protect the fans from those furiously flying pucks. How is a parent supposed to get great action shots under these conditions?! LOL! High echoes in the rink, a little on the cool side; I wonder how it is for the players? And parking is at a premium. I might add that the rink we were playing on seemed a bit on the smaller side. The sound system was useless! None the less, "GO, team GO!!"

McLennan Park is the site of the old landfill in Kitchener (hence the nickname of "Mount Trashmore"…read moreby the locals) and occupies 39 hectares in the Laurentian Hills neighbourhood. There's truly something for everyone, including a dog park and a skate park, playground, and a relatively new BMX bike park. There is also a washroom building here as well as parking on-site. There are pedestrian trails for those who like to take a nice walk. Beach volleyball and basketball courts are also available for booking. In the winter, people of all ages love to toboggan down the hill. For those looking for fun in the great outdoors, look no further than McLennan Park!

Poop! There was soo much poop that we didn't stay longer…read morethan 5 minutes. I was completely ready to forfeit my money and just admit my loss. The staff were super understanding and actually gave me my money back, about the only good thing about this place. I did not want to set my towel down anywhere, even the sand was covered in poo about one piece every inch. There are only portapoties no washroom which I was a little disappointed in since I have 3 children but it thankfully didn't matter to us once we quickly saw the state of the beach. Atleast I got my money back, but I will never return. Some poo from the geese is expected but the beach looked like it had never been cleaned and it's July.

Some friends and I usually do a camping/softball tournament every year as part of the summer to…read morerelax. This year we decided to go to Laurel Creek in Kitchener. What a horrible decision. As soon as we got their the guards were prejudicial harassing us, hiding in the bushes by our camp site, making frequent stops by our site then sticking around our site waiting for us to do something 'wrong.' We gave them the benefit of the doubt and made sure we kept it down, even though our own neighbours said we weren't noise at all. After speaking with the guards the next morning we thought we had addressed the issue. Boy were we wrong the harassment kept up. Then when we weren't giving them enough to evict us, they said we weren't going to be given any warnings. Next thing we knew at 1:30am the guard came out of the bushes and the squad cars pulled up. The guards tried to make us drive after we had been drinking, it wasn't until the police officers realized the incompetence of the guards that they called for the cabs. The administration for the campsite isn't any better the supported the guards after I made a complaint even though there were no complaints or reports filed. The manager of the conversation area even said that 'I would suggest since Laurel Creek is a more urban park that you select a site that is further out in the country.' So if you are not Laurel Creek's 'traditional' clientele then find somewhere else to try and have a relaxing fun filled weekend, without being faced with prejudice and harassment.

Well managed. Clean. Great for a young family. Enjoy year around…read more Staff will accept ideas or concerns and promote Public input.

Great place to bring your kids the staff is very friendly and they make sure that your kid is…read morehaving a good time I have an autistic brother and we come here every Wednesday and Friday and so far the staff have been amazing and very sweet towards him I am happy with the service BC and greatly appreciate such a wonderful team and workers