Chard Leisure Centre

Negative experience: The pool is too cold. I've done floats and fun with a 9year old, so very active. Never warmed up, too cold. Since you allow adults in the soft play, you can't really impose a height restriction. My 9year old may be too tall but he's only 9 and when his friends go but he can't.......

Positive experience: Increased price but less time in child play

Negative experience: Water is like ice

Negative experience: Soft play: unfriendly staff with serious character flaws who demonstrate their flawed personalities by adhering to ridiculous rules. Told we could only have 45 mins play time when the place was empty because our arrival time didn't fit their time slots. We've been coming here regularly since it opened and are a bit sick of their miserable faces. Good riddance. Obvs won't be back

Fantastic experience: Me and my wife took our 1.5 year old son today (2/11/2024) he had a fantastic time in the toddler soft play area. The whole area was clean and tidy. Reasonable prices. Definitely recommend it. We shall be back again!

Positive experience: Fun for the kids but prices on food an drink a little to high but great place for the kids to hav fun

Fantastic experience: This centre is top notch. Facilities, staff, classes, pools - all wonderful. Utterly grateful to have this centre locally - has made immense difference to my health and well being .

Fantastic experience: Great for swimming!

Fantastic experience: Soft play fantastic staff are all helpful and very friendly, very clean tob

Fantastic experience: My two children are having private crash course lessons with a lady called Jacquie. Seeing the progress they made in half an hour has blew my mind and the teacher seems very good indeed. They came away saying it was the best day of their lives and can't wait tomorrow. On the top of that there was a lot of back and forth communication prior to booking the lessons and I felt that the staff really cared about trying to find the best lessons and times for my children. The place itself is beautiful, clean and a pleasure to be there. We drove from Dunkeswell and it is well worth the journey!

Fantastic experience: Good staff and excellent facilities

Fantastic experience: Very good people

Negative experience: So frustrating, want to enjoy the pools as a family but you get restricted to which pools you can access. So, you can't use the baby and the main pool - you have to choose one and stick to it. This means if you have a very confident swimmer and younger learner who has to use the learner pool - your family is separated. Such a silly system, won't be able to use the pool until this is sorted.

Fantastic experience: Came with my 2 young children late morning to the soft play area, ages 3&4, one of which has SEN, both had a fantastic time and the staff were so accomadating to my child with extra needs, over the hour his confidence soared and had such a fun time! Will be returning, thankyou.

Fantastic experience: Great fun at the family floats! Good value for . Great friendly staff. A really lovely atmosphere.

Fantastic experience: Lovely pool really clean facilities and family change areas. Good cafe too.

Positive experience: My granddaughter had a lovely party here. The staff were brilliant and very helpful.

Fantastic experience: Took my daughter swimming here today and was greeted with a wonderful receptionist called Lisa. She is a star and helped me out with the parking information and saved me from getting a ticket. The lifeguards on duty were super friendly and helped my child feel relaxed while swimming. The food at the cafe is very reasonable with prices and tastes great. 2 very happy customers Thank you to all the staff for a wonderful experience.

Fantastic experience: Byłem z synem w soft Play bardzo dobra cena. Parking pod samym wejściem. Super czysto i bezpiecznie

Fantastic experience: *My rating is purely about the gym - I have no experience with the café or soft play area.* I have been a member since the gym opened a couple years ago and been a regular attender at classes run by Kirsty, Hannah, Liz and Tash and they have all been fantastic! The enthusiasm and passion from them is contagious and really motivating, everybody is so friendly but really push you to achieve your best (which is generally something I struggle to do much when exercising alone). I have loved all my classes I would highly recommend to anybody. I haven't been as frequent a user at the gym and swimming pool but they are both to a high standard, they have all the equipment you would require.

Fantastic experience: Very impressed and interested in join

Fantastic experience: After reading recent reviews for the soft play I felt compelled to write my own. Contrary to the experience of others, we had a very positive one - the soft play is very well designed and has interest for all ages from 1-10. The staff were very friendly and accommodating, filling an empty water bottle for my son with a smile. Being a wet day in the school holidays, I was expecting it to be rammed, but whilst it was busy, it was not packed and there was plenty of room to sit, and the kids had more than enough room to play. The cafe is well stocked, there is lots of natural light and the vibe is very friendly. Let’s face it, you probably don’t want to be in a soft play, but as far as they go this is one of the better ones!

Fantastic experience: Had great fun with the kids on the soft play, drinks were a bit expensive but nevertheless well worth a visit.

Negative experience: We use the children's swimming here every week and it's great, I couldn't fault them. However the soft play area and cafe seems to run on a totally different system. The staff were rude and unhelpful. We weren't allowed to enter the soft play area even though my daughter and wife were already inside with a pre booked party. I'm sure the kids enjoyed the party but I would have liked to have sat with my wife and other friends to watch and chat. I think they need to rethink their policies and maybe have a lesson or two on customer service. Shame

Fantastic experience: Amazing facility in the town. Swim school, softplay, cafe and gym...what more could you ask for. We come to chard specifically to use the leisure centre over others more local to us. Great space, clean and tidy!

Fantastic experience: This place has been done really well. We went for a swim first, lovely clean and well thought out changing rooms with a good range of cubicle sizes. We managed to fit 2 adults and 2 children in one which was great as we could all get changed together. We stayed in the shallow pool, which was the perfect height for my 4 year old and my 2 year old could also get quite far while still touching the floor. They had some noodles and floats which were available to use and this was a nice touch. The staff were constantly cleaning. We then went to use the soft play which is also brilliant. Nice Costa coffee, good value lunch and a lovely play area. One of those where it feels safe enough to let them run off and keep an eye on them while enjoying a coffee!

Fantastic experience: Very clean, modern building. Good changing area for swimming. Didn't go to the gym can't comment. Swimming pool is warm and well staffed . Children enjoyed the pool and the floats that were provided. Went to the on site cafe , had a baked potato with chilli and cheese. Good vegetarian options available. Coffee is Costa which is the usual mediocre coffee. Staff were helpful and service was good. Overall a really great leisure centre. Negative, was paying for parking which cost me £1.70 for 3 hours.

Negative experience: Really poor, booked online for 2 children and an adult , got here and was told one of the children was too tall to enter, as to quote them “older kids break stuff” ( she was just over the line) They can’t process a refund as it was booked online. So if have to claim that separately. Every table is covered with signs dictating the rules , pretty grim place won’t be coming back Go to Seals cove in bridport if your looking for somewhere good

Fantastic experience: Great friendly staff

Fantastic experience: A lovely leisure center in the area. Highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: Swimming lessons for the children very good

Fantastic experience: My kids love the soft play area at chard leisure centre. It’s the one they always ask to go to! I like going there too as there is a nice cafe which is reasonably priced!

Fantastic experience: First visit to the soft play today with the children. They had so much fun, the soft play was clean and wasn’t too busy. The food prices are very reasonable and the halloween face paint was a lovely extra! we will definitely be back

Fantastic experience: Beautiful and clean, staff really lovely, good prices for food and activities, would of give more than 5 stars

Fantastic experience: We booked a month pass whilst house-sitting nearby. We only used the swimming pool and it was great. The poolside staff are upbeat and friendly. Lisa on reception is extremely welcoming, informative and friendly.

Fantastic experience: This is the place to get fit and the staff swimming teachers are great thanks

Fantastic experience: Great size swimming pools for beginners and experienced swimming! Lots of seating for relaxing with a bite to eat from the cafe! And good poolside views to watch the little ones in their lessons. Soft play is good value and lots of fun for the little ones

Negative experience: This is aimed at the soft play only. Good soft play but the staff are time and time again terrible. Completely let the whole place down

Positive experience: We visit the pool and the soft play, the pool although not quite as warm as others is always so clean, the changing area is big, and again kept very clean, lovely warm showers. Only downside is sometimes the young life guards do let children get away with things they perhaps shouldn't, like kicking a ball across the pool. The soft play here is a good size, and the cafe has lovely food and a good price too.

Positive experience: I'm into my second year's membership, so I must like it. I can't comment on the pool or class studios, but the gym is a pleasant, airy space with a good range of equipment, nice lighting and a decent set of free weights. Staff range from polite to really friendly. Impressed by the maintenance of the gear and cleaning of the gym and changing rooms. If you want to start a conversation in the changing rooms, though, just talk about how oddly small they are, compared to the large open space in the area outside - I don't believe the architect was a gym user. I think the (now defunct) district council was mean not to allow cheaper parking for Leisure Centre users - and it would make more sense if the bike racks were protected from the rain.

Positive experience: Swimming pool was really nice, as were changing rooms and staff. £5 per swim and the swim session I went to was an adult swim 8:30-10

Negative experience: Learner pool all the time closed, discriminates working parents who can’t take their children swimming after work. I’ve pay almost £60 per month to be able to get in once every 3 months !!!! Staff unpleasant

Positive experience: Good

Negative experience: On looking at the website, my children were excited to come for the inflatable session. On arrival we were told adults were not allowed to go in with the children and there was a swimming test which had to be done before swimming. Our 10 year old can't swim so we didn't go in. The next public swim was an hour later. We had a coffee in the very slow to serve cafe then went to pay for our family swim. We were told "They won't let you in until 12.05pm". Fine. We got changed and waited. When we were allowed to enter, my (very well-behaved) 10 year old non-swimmer went in the beginner pool with our 14 year old swimming child. The lifeguard told us they were too old to be in this pool and they instructed us to bring them into the main pool. The main pool had lanes of swimmers in it and having a non-swimmer we were confined to one area of the huge pool only with lots of other people in the same situation as didn't want to get in the way of the swimming lanes. The main pool was very cold and after 45 minutes, we had enough. The staff were not friendly at all. The receptionist with blonde hair was too busy chatting to acknowledge us! Further to my comments, your website and online booking is terrible. I had also tried to ring to make an enquiry but no one answered the phone and no one got back to me. You need to do better.

Fantastic experience: It was wet and warm, its what I look for in a pool

Fantastic experience: Nice clear water (at least when we've been) and great new building with comfortable cubicles in the mixed changing area.

Fantastic experience: Nice, clean modern swimming pool. Shallow end of the big pool was perfect for our boy to standup in.

Positive experience: It's a great pool, but there is definitely no spectator area.

Fantastic experience: Ballroom and Latin dancing lessons at the Leisure centre. Really good teacher.

Negative experience: The pool temperature seems to be getting colder and colder in the child's pool. Had the get out early as my 10 month old was shivering. When asked the reason for the low temperature I was told they couldn't afford to keep it so warm. Not really what you want to hear when you have a membership and swimming lessons for your child.

Fantastic experience: Clean and tidy. We went to the soft play zone so can only comment on this area. Lots to keep the kiddies occupied, there's a special baby/toddler section too Would recommend

Positive experience: Baby pool isn't the warmest but overall lovely place to be.

Positive experience: Visit the play area often. Great for the kids.

Fantastic experience: Wonderful staff

Negative experience: The majority of the swim staff are brilliant, with one or two awful exceptions who seem to be more interested in chatting than teaching (choose carefully!). The general management is pathetic, especially the 'man' in charge and the soft play staff are awful. The poor receptionists are not provided up-to-date information to be able to convey to customers and noone answers email enquiries. They tried to serve a pile of whole grapes at a young child's softplay birthday party - anyone with half a clue of choking H&S would know that that's simply not ok - yet their view was that it 'didn't apply to them'. They create lots of rules for the building without thinking through how it will affect those with disabilities or single parents, eg no prams/shoes in the changing rooms. The hot cafe food is sadly very poor - stale rolls with minimal, greasy contents and incredibly lazy service.

Fantastic experience: Great aqua fit class. Clean changing rooms

Positive experience: Very nice place only problem was getting in pool and out as this was designed in such a stupid way no entry ramp for a disability so u have try to put feet in slots in wall which is very hard . If you're able body this wouldn't be a problem

Positive experience: Downside: paid parking 65p for an hour but the pay and display machine mostly will not accept 5p coins, more of an ssdc issue. Most staff are OK, but not fully switched on to their customer's requirements and will allow a queue to form unnecessarily, many are young an inexperienced. Swimming Time table will often change, so what you think is a regular slot may have been changed overnight, so when you turn up to swim it has been cancelled, which is a waste of your time and a car parking payment. The staff play fast and loose with the rules, when my wife ask if my daughter (30) could join in with the over fifties session she was told definitely not as other swimmers would not like it, but there was no issue when a staff member allowed a child into the over fifties session, double standards. The cleaning of swimming pool changing rooms/showers (floors/walls) sub-standard, even with the outside shoes ban. There are no warm down areas in the gym, I have ask to use one of the gym class rooms (not in use at the time) I was told it could not be used without supervision. Upside: the staff in the gym and swimming pool areas are helpful and happy to advise, equipment is new and in good working order, all gym areas accessible by the public are clean. The Leisure Centre is still new, so not surprisingly there are a few teething problems which can easily be sorted out with strong management.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic swimming team, I cannot rate them highly enough!

Fantastic experience: Clean, great staff great equipment. Just had a not to surprising price rise, but still very reasonable.

Positive experience: Very good most of the time

Fantastic experience: Aqua fit is amazing!

Fantastic experience: Had a great time in swimming pool with grandchildren, so much fun

Negative experience: Booked an adult swimming lesson young instructors rather talk to each other than help a paying customer

Positive experience: Fine selection of classes with helpful and friendly staff. Great studio cycle classes. I would say that, being an instructor.

Fantastic experience: A great facility, very modern with a good layout. The pool is amazing, the weight room has everything you would need from cardio machines, weight machines and free weights using technogym equipment it is easy to track digitally your progress and save your workouts to your phone. Go check out the Chard Leisure Centre it is awesome

Positive experience: Very clean, tidy and friendly Staff (Only used the pool so far) Shame they don't have their own Car Park, which if using the Leisure Centre you get your money back or a discount. You have to pay so don't get caught out. (They have steps in to the pool now, before the steps were in the wall)

Negative experience: Was great when it first opened started putting in ridiculous policies regarding everyone taking shoes off and no prams in the changing room.

Positive experience: Great place to swim, would love it if there was a better selection of things to eat in the cafe

Fantastic experience: Lovely soft play, my 4 year old really enjoyed it. It was all new and well contained with lots to do for all ages (up to their limit of age 11). You can see the pool from the main entrance and we thought it looked lovely. Everything is clean and staff were friendly. Recommended

Fantastic experience: Great gym and pool Showers and changing rooms clean staff very helpful.

Negative experience: Very poor, called to enquire about swimming times, advised that the pool was open during the times I wished to attend. Arrived and paid for the swimming, got the children changed and into the pool only to be kicked out soon after due to both pools being used for lessons. Staff offered me vouchers but refused to issue refund. Waste of time, waste of money avoid.

Fantastic experience: Went for booster jab Very impressed with the centre and the swimming pool looks amazing.

Fantastic experience: New Leisure centre

Fantastic experience: New gym go'er alert. Totally inexperienced but the induction helped prepare for that. The centre is clean and includes everything you need. Everyone is friendly and supportive, Scott covered our induction and after my brief panic over the weighing machine and with Scott's encouragement I find myself quite comfortable going to sessions. The cafe staff are amazing helping with parties in the kids play area and still covering the prep of refreshments even in busy periods. 5 stars guys ☺️

Positive experience: All good.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant place to have in chard and friendly staff.

Fantastic experience: Nice light and airy building. Cafe for refreshments and an ice cream fridge. Perfect while my son had his swimming lesson.

Fantastic experience: Our first visit, we went for our spring vaccination which was very well organised despite lack of advertisement. The leisure centre was very impressive.

Positive experience: It's pk but seems information that's passed to customers changes by each person

Positive experience: Very smart newly built leisure centre. Cafe serves Costa coffee. Car park charges apply every day of the year.

Fantastic experience: Great facilities!

Fantastic experience: Lovely swim and pool.

Fantastic experience: Excellent facilities

Positive experience: Pool was wet and the staff were friendly

Positive experience: Very nice, and so happy to finally have a pool again in chard.

Fantastic experience: Love taking my kids there

Positive experience: Pool lovely however changing rooms need to be cleaned more often.

Fantastic experience: Nice leasure centre. Modern and clean. Poor parking and access though

Fantastic experience: very good

Fantastic experience: Great space. I would only suggest to provide shoe cover instead of these shoe storage at the pool entrance.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant facilities. Lovely pool, staff always friendly and helpful. Great coffee in the cafe and the children love the softplay.

Negative experience: The receptionist with long dark curly hair was the most unhelpful person I have ever met clearly doesn't want to be there ...Nice pool though and the lad who was guarding the pool was spot on, very nice indeed.

Negative experience: Today at the play area we were asked to move by one of the soft play staff as a party had booked the table but there wasn't any signage on the table I was sat at ... when challenged the staff responded well you will have to stand and wait for a seat and walked off ... totally unprofessional and unacceptable will never use this place again they over book slots and expect you to stand worse soft play I have ever been to

Positive experience: Lovely new leisure complex and swimming pools. Unfortunately let down by filthy floors in changing cubicles and treacherous slippery floor in showers from people using shampoo and shower gels .

Positive experience: What chard needed, very clean and tidy

Fantastic experience: Took the children to Soft play and have used the swimming pool very enjoyable time will now making regular visits with grandchildren but would benefit from a separate SEN session once a week in the swimming pool. Went to pool again today paid for main pool swim had tiny area at top end of pool due to swim lessons and lane swimmers wont go again!!!!! 13/08/22

Fantastic experience: Very nice place for kids and adults

Positive experience: Water temperature alot colder than the previous week

Fantastic experience: Excellent swim, good coffee, friendly staff.