Hitchin Swimming Centre

Fantastic experience: Have been going to different pools to see which one I prefer I found Hitchin staff friendly cafe food variety of foods including brown and wholemeal Hitchin is my choice

Negative experience: It’s really a senior center with a kids swim school attached to it….

Negative experience: Poor value for money. One adult and one 2 year costs £14.40. At first they tried to charge me £25 which I challenged. This used to be a public swimming pool for the community but now they are only for direct debit memberships and swindling pay as you go customers. 'Everyone Active' is an inappropriate name as it definitely is not for families. Don't deal with a company that makes prices up on a whim and will take any sum of money they can from you.

Positive experience: The place has seen better days but is still one of the best swimming pools around. Especially in the summer just make sure you bring a pound for the locker

Negative experience: Tuesday morning horrible man.Came in about 11am receptionists was lovely most lifeguards were spectacular.However I came across a issue when asking a young man a question about swimming lessons I was rudely shunned when I went to ask again the young boy he Ignored me once again on purpose after seeing me and walked off. I, distraught went to ask another life guard the young man’s name and was soon met with the name Kieran.Now this wouldn’t be a issue normally I understand lifeguards are very busy.But when I soon overheard a racist comment about not only me a person of colour but overhearing him shaming his other Female colleague about her race.PLEASE please please resort this issue at once!!!

Fantastic experience: Been going to the swimming pool 2 days a week for about 6 months, I started in the outdoors pool as I love swimming outdoors, but now it closes for the winter I've been using the indoor pool, highly recommend Hitchin pool.

Fantastic experience: Great pool with a lovely cafe. Staff seem friendly and a nice little park connected outside.

Fantastic experience: Love this pool for little ones! Price is steep but we don't go to often

Fantastic experience: Staff were friendly and so helpful

Fantastic experience: Wow wow wow! What an incredible, heated, 50m outdoor pool. Lovely, traditional, 1930s vintage art deco, accessed through a modern leisure centre (with indoor pool). We booked an early morning lane swim via the everyone active app. The session was for an hour, but there was no rush to leave (apparently we were welcome to stay all morning). We used the indoor changing facilities which were clean, hot showers, and lockers available (£1 refundable). The walk out to the pool is fairly long (up some steps or an accessible ramp), so recommend wearing sliders. There are outdoor changing rooms and lockers in the 1930s building, which is slightly closer to the pool. The pool is heated to around 25° and there were 4 lifeguards on when we visited, constantly fishing leaves etc from the pool on what was a fairly breezy day. Went for a sausage sandwich at the pool cafe after our swim - tasty On site parking (£1 for 3 hours, refundable at the reception after your swim). Smashing, well organised facility which is well worth a visit.

Fantastic experience: Nice pools, inside got a bit busy so braved outside was nice once in and did rain a bit . my daughter got tripped in the showers, staff were very easy and quick to help.

Negative experience: They are not selling all day passes anymore!

Fantastic experience: Decent facilities here and the pools are great. Recommend the outdoor pools when it’s clear skies and sunny.

Negative experience: Monday a very hot day so many people were let in to the outside pool, they have a booking system but it’s useless as there’s no control over how long people stay. A very danger to life situation.

Positive experience: Lovely outside pool. Awful new management. They kick everyone out at 1pm on a Sunday and close for an hour.

Fantastic experience: Great clean pool with clean changing rooms.

Positive experience: Really warm and sunny day, decided to go for a visit to the outdoor pool The place was so so busy. At one point thought, this is unsafe and how on earth do the life guards meant to keep an eye on everyone. The place is always clean as always. Plenty of space, not a lot of seating, grass areas were well used. The ladies changing room outdoors, a bit dated. There is food available there also.At the end of our visit, the was a disagreement between two males in the changing rooms inside the building, they have security so they quickly intervened. We made a very quick exit !well as making sure the outdoor area was clear when it closed.

Negative experience: Bad service! I went to reception and lady just stared at my face I said I need to pay. No manners at all. Staff have bad customer service and are very rude spoken. Staff look miserable. Children were misbehaving and very loud and did not approach them, there were distubing everyone. Just keep coming to me and my childrens. Came first time with children and will not come again. My children wasn't happy with the service too and just stress them out. Came to have a lovely day and just gave me a headake and stress. What a awful day. Staff and managers need to understand people situation and I had to come home and make my children happy

Fantastic experience: Nice large pool! Great for the kids, we went at 5pm and it wasn't too busy though still warm

Positive experience: Lovely lido in hitchin. Since the takeover of everyone active the centre seems much more organised and clean. The cafe is very reasonably priced and has a wide selection.

Negative experience: Pool close from 1 p.m till 2.pm so u have to go out and come back,which i dont see the point...very crowded too many kids in the main pool instead of the kids pool...result the pool is quite dirty..not really a good experience

Fantastic experience: I booked both the morning and afternoon session for myself and 2 boys. A very hot 29c Monday and school holidays. It's the first time we had been ever... and we loved it! We brought in our own food (which everyone did) and was told this was fine. We did get some chips from the cafe too, reasonably priced and tasted nice. The outside pool area was kept very clean, and the lifeguards were well presented and did a great job. Even though they shut for an hour at 1pm it didn't bother us as the park was right next door and these staff needed a break! With the amount of people they were watching over it makes sense. We had a fabulous time and for £14 for 3 of us for 4 hours is better than our local pool! We will definitely be returning.

Fantastic experience: The best outdoor pool around herts. Great for putting in exercise or having fun with the family in. 50 metres long and always decently heated in the open season. The council car park for the centre is outdated though and ramjammed on hot weekends. Arrive by bicycle or motorbike to avoid queuing for parking. However, the car park is the council's issue not everyone actives issue.

Positive experience: Buying tickets in advance allows you to scam and access the pool quickly - bare in mind that if you turn up too early i.e 15 minutes The QR code won't allow access. Pool and changing area were both clean, well lit though the indoor pool could have been a bit warmer

Negative experience: Change of management means we will not be coming here anymore, along with the new management come lousy new rules such as two sessions and a 1 hour break between 1pm-2pm, when questioned why this is the answer from the staff was 'atleast we get a lunch now'. Could the leisure centre not organise a simple rota so some staff can have their lunch whilst others are working and the business remains open, the 1 hour gap means people must leave the centre along with their belongings and queue again. In addition to this, new management means you are no longer allowed to bring food from outside, the smoking area has been abolished and some female security staff think they are police officers. Bridgett at the till however is lovely.

Negative experience: Have been going here for a few years now, have been yesturday and found that they have changed the system into 2 sessions which is a dreadful idea, meaning everyone had to leave to site although I have paid for both sessions and to wait 1 hour outside just to go back inside, system needs to change as its not good the families with small children to pack up and ho back outside and wait and then line up to go back inside, another inconvienance was for visitors who had a disability and had to go through the hassle of going out and then back in after 1 hour, theres not much seating area outside the entrance and closest cafe is a good 15 minutes away. The staff looked so unhappy and you can see in their faces that they cannot cope with telling visitors to go back outside, they kept repeating its new management and they DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS SYSTEM AS WELL AND THAT NEW MANAGEMENT HAS DONE THIS ONLY FOR EXTRA MONEY. Suggestion... increase the entrance fee but keep only 1 session as it was previously. If profit is in companies interest.

Fantastic experience: Me and my husband and our boy have been going to the pool often for years, especially on the weekends, it's true that they put some new rules with the schedule but it doesn't bother us because we plan our time in such a way that we get there earlier and to enjoy the pool until they have to close at 1pm now with the new role for summer time. We like both the outside and the inside pool.

Negative experience: Everyone Active ruined this swimming centre with their ridiculous rules to maximise profits. Pools are being closed every day between 1pm to 2pm and everybody gets kicked out and has to queue and pay again for a new session.

Positive experience: Please clean the toilets and shower and changing rooms :(

Negative experience: Me and my disabled mum came today around 10.30am . We have been coming for 20 yrs or more and we have always got in quickly , found a spot and stayed there until closing. However , we were shocked to be told at 12.45 we had to go, leave the premises completely and if we wanted to come back in we would have to queu outside for an hour and pay all over again. Not at any point was we told at the front desk about these new awful rules. This is robbing people of money , if you can knowingly take peoples money for a 4 hr session when you know full well they would only get 1-2 hrs in the pool I have to make 3 journeys to get me , my disabled mum and our belongings into the pool. So today , i had to make 8 journeys to and from the car park, to enable us to get back in for the afternoon and pay again. What on earth has happened to your once wonderful , day out. Im sure we are mot the only ones that were very angry and dissapointed today. Its highly unlikely we shall ever return now, my mum is very dissapointed as shes been coming since the 60's.

Negative experience: Avoid this at any cost ! Me and 5 of my friends went to swimming from Luton The staff didn’t allow us inside We wait twice in queue for more than 20 mins The security and manager talk very rude with us We were only Asians there Racism from your staff was on peak Will never comeback will also tell everyone to avoid your place

Fantastic experience: Fantastic place with friendly staff. Clean changeing room

Fantastic experience: Fantastic early morning summer solstice swim today. Thank you to all the staff for getting up so early so we could have this great experience in the Lido as the sun came up. The hot coffee and pastry were very welcome too.

Negative experience: Told I had to book.which I've never had to before which I can understand during school holidays but not on a weekday morning.then told to get up and move away from the pool area even the grass area as they were closed for an hour. The new ownership of everyone active has ruined the best place in Hitchin.

Fantastic experience: I reallylike the pool?and pool is the correct temperature

Negative experience: And a 20 minute wait on the phone to be told ..(by Bam) No evening outdoor swimming this year. It just goes from bad to worse. How long does the everyone active contract last?

Negative experience: Dangerous, intimidating and out of control. Life guards where afraid to approach unruly gangs of young men. Manager wasn't overly concerned.

Negative experience: A great site BUT since Everyone Active have taken over the running its a shambles. The staff are doing their best but they are trying to run a site with a system that is not fit for purpose. EA do not take any notice of the customers views. You need to book sessions or get staff to book you in at the door, even as a member and if the system does nor record your entry you get an email telling you off. As a long time user I did not think it could get worse but it just has. The proposal for the outdoor pool is two sessions DOUBLING INCOME, and closing the pool between 1 and 2 this takes no account of previous way the pool operated and as a member your contract allows swimming at any time. All EA advertising gives the impression you have to be a member, its a public pool not a members club.

Negative experience: A terrible Company, but lovely place recommend they get a different company to take over The prices are ridiculous for how long you get to stay

Fantastic experience: So much improved since take over clean showers and changing rooms with lifeguards actively checking and cleaning which rarely happened before

Negative experience: Price increase and family tickets no longer available with new management. However, only pool I know within tens of miles that you pay once to swim for as long as you like. Kids pool is heated, but not quite enough, rules are ignored mainly with teenagers' public displays of affection (inappropriate touching, cuddling kissing as if it was their personal hot tub), some kids diving and bombing, had to retreat to the kids pool with my young daughter. Observers were allowed their phones poolside.

Negative experience: Everything was spot on with SLL before, now Everyone Active took over and they are a proper mess. I had to move my kids swimming lessons because of them on previous location ( same story they took over and they’ve messed up everything from DD payments to swimming lessons). Now they’ve messed up things in Hitchin as well. Big queue at their front desk with people trying to sort out their membership accounts with them. At least all the staff is the same.

Negative experience: What a joke everyone active is!!! Booking a swimming session in advance is a complete joke and being time limited doesn’t work for adults children and anyone who is disabled! Bring back the old system!!!

Positive experience: Scrupulously clean with friendly staff and great facilities. It's a bit of a victim of it's own success as often it's so busy that getting in a decent lane swim can be very frustrating. Also, it does seem to take quite a long time for them to fix broken showers which often seem to be out of order. I suspect that this is some kind of underlying plumbing issue that they struggle to keep on top of. Quite a few of the lockers are not working either.

Fantastic experience: Been going there for years, amazing! Bit too crowded during summer as a lot of people go to the outdoor pool but swimming lessons are great and the indoor pool is available all year long.

Positive experience: Took my 11 week old for his first swim. Facilities are fine, kids pool is a little cold. Young woman at the front desk was a little rude and more interested in talking to other staff members and personal life rather than assisting public, which was unfortunate.

Fantastic experience: Decent sized pool with a good small pool for kids, swimming lessons are a good standard. Lots of changing and family changing. Plenty of space for observers. The outdoor pool is great in summer but very busy.

Fantastic experience: Indoor and outdoor pools available plus a baby pool. If you fancy a dip really good choice you won't be disappointed.

Negative experience: My husband and I took out monthly memberships here and decided to cancel after the first month. Whilst the indoor pool itself is very clean, it is very crowded, even at off peak times. If you decide to use the sauna or steam room, you have to brave a freezing cold wind tunnel to get there and back! It just wasn't for us, so we gave notice to cancel on the app. When we clicked to cancel on it, it just had a message saying our request had been sent to an administrator. A few days went by and we didn't receive any confirmation, not even an automated email response, so we called up to confirm. We were told that even though we had given just under 2 weeks notice, they needed slightly more than 2 weeks and it had to be in writing! We were surprised as we didn't remember being told that. I tried asking the sales manager Candice to accept that it was an honest mistake and would they cancel the direct debit, but she said it was too late. I then asked her to refund us the next month's payment after it had gone out and she flatly refused. When we first joined up, as we were getting our parking pass from the friendly girl who signed us up, another person leaned over and firmly said 'if you lose that pass, you won't get another one'. We laughed to each other uncomfortably at how rude that was, but looking back on that experience, we should have run for the hills. If you have a problem here, you won't get any help so join at your own risk.

Positive experience: Brilliant outdoor swimming pool, wasn’t to busy for a really hot and price was really fair, nice and clean, only problem I could see is the car park.

Fantastic experience: The outdoor pool looks not maintained. Other than that yes it is a good place to spend a day in the sun

Negative experience: Filthy dirty. Full of non English speaking customers. Litter every where but the bin in the car park. The changing room had a strong stench of urine. Shall be avoiding.

Fantastic experience: Lovely atmosphere with sunbeds & picnic areas. Nice, big indoor & outdoor pools, suitable for swimmers & non-swimmers alike. It even has paddling pools for toddlers. Free parking for pool users - buy a 'pay & display' parking ticket for £1 and get a refund when you buy a swimming ticket. The cafe has a limited range of food & drink with good seating overlooking the outdoor pools.

Fantastic experience: Lovely place to swim in the 50 metre outdoor pool. Grass around to lounge on. Snack bar had a good choice. Gets busy in school holidays when you have to queue to get in.

Negative experience: They are doing 3h session without any informations.... Reception lie that doesn't do spectator but they do..... £1.80 Its not worth it for coming from outside Hitchin just for 3hrs Bad decisions. Staff are lying. I been coming here for last 12 years. Today is my last day.

Positive experience: Love the outdoor pool in the summer not too over crowded. Good value for money.

Fantastic experience: Nice place. Perfect for a day out with family. Inside heated pools, outside pools, and a little playground for kids. Eating area with nice terrace. Helpful and friendly lifeguards everywhere. Very competitive price with 3 hours stay, can be extended at reception. Highly recommend all year long.

Negative experience: Session needs booking via app prior attending. The pools works in 2 session. 1st session ends 1pm. 2nd starts 2pm. Nothing said on the website so...1*. A sunday afternoon spoiled by the management team by not updating their website. The pool should be heated, but not this time. The water was quite cold. Dissapointing is at least said

Fantastic experience: Nice little pool... outdoor pool was very cold, indoors is great though

Fantastic experience: Lovely clean changing area, water temperature very pleasant, staff very friendly, incredible value for money for senior citizens

Fantastic experience: Olympic size pools both indoor and out, went during school time so it wasn't busy (by choice) so that I could enjoy myself without it being so busy, because I know it gets rammed

Fantastic experience: This was my first time going to this indoor and outdoor pool was very nice will be back again soon!!

Fantastic experience: Wery nice place ,2 swiming pools, 1 big 1 for children, ticket for 6£,ice cream, food,drink no alcohol, car Parc it's free in the weekend

Negative experience: I was waiting în The que for 2 hours and they send me back to the que... Very bad staff and 2 old ladies was very rude With europene People... I m very dissapointed my kids cried because outsider was hot Security very bad I never come back there

Positive experience: Too many people. Should be more pools and limited time like 2hrs. Stood in the queue for ages with kidS.

Fantastic experience: Love both the indoor and the outdoor pools. We're members and keep going regularly. Loads of family changing rooms.

Fantastic experience: A lovely swim in the indoor and outdoor pool, nice temperatures in both and clean

Negative experience: Was okay. Obviously busy on a hot day. But felt too busy, loud, no space. Kids being kids…splash you, bump into you etc. People drinking beer on the grassed area…all bathrooms-not one women’s loo has toilet paper. Just not for me. Thought the admission price felt a lot for the lack of facilities and upkeep. Also-parking is beyond frustrating and you pay for that too.

Fantastic experience: Hitchin poool out door and indoor is superb Staff are wonderful.. I feel so lucky to have this wonderful place to enjoy Thank-you

Fantastic experience: Beautiful place! Very recommended at hot day to chill in perfect water. All clean and nice. Hot and cold food and drinks on site. Strictly no smoking and alcohol inside

Fantastic experience: Excellent pools Indoors and outdoors with very good facilities.

Positive experience: Son loved his swimming lessons here & partner enjoyed reminiscing about his.

Positive experience: Hitchin Swimming Pool is a popular recreational facility located in the town of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. The swimming pool offers a range of activities, including swimming lessons, aqua aerobics, and general swimming sessions for all ages. The facility is well-maintained, clean, and spacious, with separate areas for swimmers of different abilities. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and always available to help. The pool also has a range of amenities, including changing rooms, showers, lockers, and a small cafe serving snacks and drinks. In addition to the swimming pool, the facility offers a range of other fitness and wellness activities, including a gym, fitness classes, and a sauna and steam room. Overall, Hitchin Swimming Pool is a great facility for anyone looking to swim, stay fit, or simply relax. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced swimmer, the staff and amenities here will make your visit enjoyable and rewarding.

Negative experience: Update your pool timetable properly - waste of space. (Edit - I think it’s an issue with how it appears on mobile sometimes, so would recommend you check on a desktop)

Fantastic experience: Thoroughly enjoyed going this week. Very clean and warm pool. Warm showers. Some lockers broken, which should be marked up to prevent using, then realising it's unable to lock. Other than this a great pool.

Fantastic experience: I know the staff work really hard to keep this pool open for us all. Double shifts etc. Coz they're so short staffed...that's true community thoughtfulness...

Fantastic experience: We go here often but only for indoor swimming. Good facilities. It can be crowded both indoor and outdoor. Outdoor is overcrowded on a nice day in summer so we don't go anymore.

Positive experience: Is very convenient for families, it could be modernised a bit, but we will enjoy it anyway.

Fantastic experience: Lovely and clean swimming pool Family friendly Had a great time with my 6 month old baby

Negative experience: Signing up your children for swimming lessons is a nightmare. They will tell you to join a waiting list, but in reality they never call you back. We were in the waiting list for more than one year, when we called we were told that the person in charge of the registrations had changed and that the waiting list was lost. Apparently the only way to get your children signed up is to call again and again every few weeks and ask if there are places. When our son started the swimming lessons, the instructor barely talked to him. He was put with children that had already started the year and were more proficient, and the instructor focused on them and barely did anything to encourage our son to start. I signed up for the swimming pool myself. The facilities are ok, but they get very busy early in the morning (7-8am) and there are usually only 3 free lanes, as the others are taken for courses or other activities. So there is not much space to swim, you have to take turns with the others. When I cancelled my membership, the app said that I had to do it 15 days before the collection date otherwise I would be charged for the next month. I submitted the request from the app on July 14th, yet I was charged because the request was completed on the 20th. They did not send me any notification about this, so I ended up paying for August without knowing that my membership was still active, wasting one full month.

Fantastic experience: Been going on a thursday morning for a few years to aquasplash class with Linda, all good fun, great bunch of girls..now doing wednesday night too. Glutton for punishment.

Fantastic experience: Great place where to have a swim and relax. Big green area behind, where you can find nice shadows spots under the trees

Fantastic experience: Lovely well done to who get this great idea for building something like this every town need one swimming pool like this one. The only issue I had it’s because the water outside was not hot enough for me as I love warm water and was around 20C-22C I don’t want to lie Maybe more but felt so cold The rest fun love it and I will go back

Negative experience: There are no seperate changing rooms for adults - It's mixed!!!! Children, men and women all shower together its awful! I cannot get my head around it. I have children and cannot shower them down afterwards as there are all sorts of rif raf floating around the changing rooms watching. Its 2022 sort it out!

Positive experience: Very busy in the summer holidays. Customer service not very good and staff don’t appear to be very attentive. Cleanliness of changing rooms has gone downhill over the years. Great pool for little ones tho!

Positive experience: Great place to take the children. Lovely full size pool and good kids pool. Very reasonably priced. Need to arrive early if you want a chair by the pool and amenities could do with a bit of an update, but all round a good place to go with the family.

Positive experience: With an own picnic bag it's OK otherwise you risk of being very hungry and very thirsty...the cafe shop close early and the vending machines not working. Indoor pools very nice.

Negative experience: Far too busy to actually be able to enjoy it.no shade areas, ran out of food was only serving chips. Pool was dirty. Can Imagen would be better allowing people to pre book into sessions rather than all day.

Positive experience: Had a great day here. Grandchildren loved it. Cafe was good,quite reasonable prices. We sat over the far side near the old changing rooms,showers and toilets. They really need some refurbishment. Toilets need to be checked through the day. There was no tissue after 1pm and they needed a good clean

Positive experience: Nice outdoor pool, very busy though. Changing rooms and toilets definitely need extra cleaning

Fantastic experience: Close to the town centre, the outdoor pool really does feel like you're on holiday in good weather, with an indoor pool when it's raining. Good place to spend the morning! Bring your own camping chair if you want to guarantee a seat unless you're there early.

Fantastic experience: The outdoor pool is fantastic, the old buildings and fountain transport you back in time and are beautifully renovated. When we went it wasn't busy and so we had a great time.

Positive experience: Not the cleanest changing rooms, disabled changing and shower room was horrendous, toilet was blocked with waste of all kinds. Changing rooms smelt like urine and do occasionally but sometimes they don't. Staff are always super friendly and the lifeguards are great!

Fantastic experience: Wonderful day out with the family. Pools are nice and warm and the grounds kept very nicely. Big pool for all ages as well as a kids shallow pool, as well as a few indoor pools too! Friendly staff and plenty of seats to chill in. Fantastic find, highly recommended!

Positive experience: Some life guards especially the young girls ignore people all the time and the Toilets and changing are always filthy! Pool lovely thou and very good price

Positive experience: We were greeted by a very friendly lady on reception who even lent the family with a baby in the queue ahead of us a watering can to play with in the pool as they had forgotten theirs. The pools themselves are lovely but sadly let down by aspects like the toilets and changing rooms which were not very clean. Of 3 toilets, 1 was blocked and 1 had no lock on the door. Indoor pool door into the stairway area was open which was letting a very cold breeze onto poolside which meant it was really too cold to have shoulders out of the water which is a pain when looking after small children who want to jump in (although wouldn't be an issue if you just want to swim lengths). Not a great visit for us unfortunately.

Positive experience: Great place, feels like being on holiday on a hot day! Pool is perfect temperature and surrounds very clean with lots of seating space though could do with a few more sun loungers! Get there early on a weekend on a hot day if you want to avoid the queue, by 12:00, queue was nearly at car park!

Positive experience: Pool is amazing especially in the sun , there was no hot food or sandwiches and the changing room smelt of pee

Fantastic experience: Great outdoor pool with clean changing rooms and café. Has inside pool also. So glad I found this, will be going often!

Fantastic experience: Had a lovely day with my grandchildren today. Everywhere is clean and tidy and the staff are friendly and professional even during very busy times. Plenty of parking with an overflow car park provided across the road.