Carlton Baths

Negative experience: Can’t find worse

Negative experience: Questionable staff ethics. My partner (who is Nigerian) was told at the front desk she wasn’t allowed to come in if she was ‘drunk’? It was 3:30pm and we were meeting friends inside for a swim? Why would we come to a public pool drunk? This staff member said nothing to me (I’m a white woman) even though I walked in and was standing next to her. Smells like racial profiling. Very strange experience. Anybody else experienced this? Definitely not comfortable enough to return

Negative experience: Had someone get racially profiled yesterday at the reception and ontop of that there were several lifeguards patrolling a group of young black boys when the pool was empty and told them off a few times for things that were completely fine as it was just us and them in the pool. Don’t go here as a person of colour

Negative experience: Incredibly racist employees. Racially profiling people who enter your business is absolutely reprehensible. Further training is needed by all employed, including cultural sensitivity and complete removal of racist employees and ideologies within your business model.

Fantastic experience: 好，服务态度好 环境舒适

Positive experience: I come here to swim once a week and you never really know what to expect. Some days the water is clean, others it’s not. Some days the male changing room has strong urine smell others it does not. Go figure

Fantastic experience: Great facilities, well managed, wonderful staff and friendly inclusive atmosphere. Thank you!

Fantastic experience: I love love love this place!!! I’ve been for ten years and this place brings so many memories. Now I take my friends and many of my family members and they all love the outdoor pool!!! Even came here with my school to train for the swimming competition a few years ago.

Negative experience: Looking forward to a refreshing lap swim on a warm afternoon to find the outdoor pool heated to more than 30 degrees. Is it a spa or a lap pool? Ridiculous temperature and needless waste of heating gas in an ever warming atmosphere. I originally posted the review over a year ago. During the summer of 2023/24 the temperature has been a little more reasonable, 28 degrees or so. However over the past few weeks, the pool has consistently been over 30 degrees. I asked a pool lifeguard if they could put a thermometer in the water to check. “Sorry, our pool thermometer is broken and the temperature has been turned up to compensate for the broken pool cover.” Add the main automatic pool deck doors being broken for the last few weeks and it seems my favourite pool isn’t being managed very well, sad. Be interested how a fire evacuation would go with the main access doors broken and blocked? Must admit to being a little bemused when a duty manager told me they had to keep the pool extra warm as “it’s a community pool”. Obviously old grumpy lap swimmers aren’t considered part of the community.

Negative experience: Please don't support this business and their disgusting behavior.

Positive experience: Great pool! Shame that management charge you $4 to supervise your children swimming! Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Thought they would want to encourage supervision!! Makes life easier on pool guards and a lot safer. Money hungry Melb Council!

Fantastic experience: Very comfortable place and friendly staff!

Negative experience: Wow staff at the front desk are unacceptably rude. Customer service is severely lacking. Not hard to be friendly to customers simply paying an entry fee sheeeesh.

Fantastic experience: Highly recommend Danny Wilson the original RoyBoy - awesome encouraging trainer. Great facilities for the best price in town

Positive experience: If you are an adult without children and want to enjoy a pool on a hot day, this is not the place for you. Kids spread out over the entire pool which is not big, no room for anyone else to enjoy.

Positive experience: Haven't been there yet, but they r giving us homeless (but not Thx to launch housing) free use of the pool. How cool is that. Thx Carlton baths xx

Fantastic experience: I was going there pre-winter lovely pool to swim in. Lovely pool for the kids to splash around in - great gym and facilities and various classes. Friendly staff.

Fantastic experience: Great gym, small but has everything you need from a free weight perspective - squat rack, free weights plates, dumbbells etc. Would return Day pass is around 20 AUD

Fantastic experience: I attended a rollerskating group session last week and very impressed with the facilities especially the indoor gym! It was a lovely venue and easily accessible.

Fantastic experience: Booked the stadium for volleyball. Found the courts clean, staff were helpful and kind, and there were water fountains available.

Negative experience: Very irresponsible staff allowing teenagers to come in with small kids to the water without parents Present I told the staff that there was a four year old in the water alone without a parent. teenage boy looking after five kids I just saw the danger and stuff did not kick them out of the water so Disappointed

Negative experience: Disgustingly warm water in the middle of a hot summer! Felt like we were swimming in a bath of thick soup. Little to no shelter. UPDATE 6 hrs later , kid has Gastro! What a coincidence!!

Negative experience: I've been trying to book a badminton court with them since 3 weeks now. Everytime I call, I am told the court is available. Always followed by an email from them changing availability. Multiple modifications from Carlton baths making it impossible to book the court!!! $58 an hour for a badminton court is apparently the rate now from 2 weeks ago when I was informed it was $27.90 an hour!!! Steep much?

Positive experience: Good place to have a dip, sauna and spa in the heart of the city. While this place may not have all the flash and shine of a modern gym/pool/spa, it's a Melbourne classic. Very affordable for causal visits.

Positive experience: Good pool but often has capacity issues and no ability to track patron numbers other than random and lengthy head counts.

Fantastic experience: This is such an amazing Centre, super clean pool, very friendly and helpful staff. My go to pool when visiting the city

Fantastic experience: I've lived in the Carlton area since 2018 and I've been a member since that time. The gym and pool are good and the staff simply excellent. My trainer Emily is fantastic and has helped me on my weight loss journey (I lost 22 kgs in 3 years). They've been supportive through the lockdowns as well and very helpful for me to get back on track. I'm writing this review after all this time because this morning after a night of thunderstorms and a burst water mains led to a water outage in my apartment block, I called the Carlton baths to check if they had water for me to come shower - and they said absolutely! I said I was a member and they said even if you weren't, you're welcome to come and use the facilities. This was a young staff member called Mia. Really excellent values, LGBT friendly, warm and inclusive space. Much recommended! Only wish the pool was open all year around but that's a small issue. I'll be sad when I move away.

Positive experience: Small gym but the equipment is good.

Negative experience: What a shame. After a very very tough year and so many challenges ongoing, I’ve decided to do something nice for myself and join a gym. I slip in and out of pre-diabetes and exercise is vital. I turned up here and was told about “license to move” - no joining fee and two weeks free trial, was shown the information on a pamphlet and was told it would include here, Bourke Street, Swanston Street and Kensington. I advised how important it was for me to practice swimming, as being ethnic, we are not culturally strong swimmers, and was told about all the swimming facilities. I was told to ring back end of the week to see if it had been finalised and I was given a free session for that one Sunday. I loved the session and was looking forward to joining. I then rang on Friday and was told that it was ready to commence on Monday and I could join over the weekend. I turned up to the Swanston Street branch where I live and he was dismissive and told me I was after the “30 days for $30”. I said no I’m after the “license to move”, and tried to tell him what that was - he dismissively said “same thing”. It wasn’t. He was trying to move me on and I said No. I want to discuss what I was told last week at the Carlton branch. I rang Carlton. I spoke to a man who told me “license to move was reciprocal access to all the YMCA affiliated baths” which he said were Brunswick, Kensington, Carlton ... and he mumbled another one. I was confused and clarified what I was been told and shown when I visited - and he told me I had not been told that. I told him that I wasn’t imagining what I was told and shown last week and asked him if he was now saying the branches included were different to the ones that I was initially offered. He suddenly put me on hold came back and changed the story again, insisting that all along he had been telling me it was only involving the Carlton branch itself or any of the branches that you sign up at, and that there’s no reciprocal agreement and he never said there was a reciprocal agreement and I was imagining it all - and when I sought to clarify whether the information had changed before and after he put me on hold, he told me to “come in” and hung up on me. I rang back and he argued and argued that he hadn’t changed the story, he has only “clarified”, then gave a very begrudging “apology” for changing the information and insisted effectively I take a day off work, in effect cease vaccinating people against COVID-19 for a day (my job) and come in on a business day to get my questions answered and he wouldn’t put me through to a supervisor, pretending to not understand what I was asking, over and over again. He finally put me through to somebody else who kept rushedly “apologising I feel that way” but wanting to move the dialogue onto the requirements, terms and conditions. I finally got her to understand that I was too agitated and annoyed to care any more what the requirements, terms and conditions were. She eventually gave an apology that didn’t sound impatient or dismissive. Carlton Baths. Teachable Moments. People’s skills.

Negative experience: Was informed by the admin that my membership would be put on hold during the lockdown because of Covid until I asked for it to be reinstated. They restarted my membership in the second week of Feb when melbourne went back into lockdown of all times. Now, I'm not eligible for a refund because their email went to my spam folder and even though I did not consent to the renewal or use the gym facilities. These are tough times and it's sad to see Carlton Baths acting so poorly with their long term members just to make an extra buck.

Fantastic experience: This place has done such a wonderful job looking after member needs with all the ongoing lockdowns. As a member, they consistently take care to manage services, and member payments, accurately whenever closures are in place. It must be hard and frustrating for the dedicated staff here, but when we’re allowed back after every lockdown, they are always so welcoming to their members!

Fantastic experience: Top spot

Fantastic experience: Very good outdoor swimming pool

Fantastic experience: A well equipped gym with friendly, helpful staff. The pool is clean and warm. Lots of sun lounges and grassed area. Also structured gym classes included in membership.

Negative experience: Not good for badminton as the court is very poor implemented. Very difficult to play with the sun directly above us. Very faint paint for the outline too

Negative experience: Admin staff don't know what's going on. I spoke over the phone to sign up and was told to sign up face-to-face. When I did go to their office, they messed up the dates and said I've been given wrong information over the phone. The instructor wasn't that great also. While signing up, I double checked about the dates as I was leaving for holidays after. They still deducted money from my account for 3 lessons I didn't even do and wasn't aware of either. I went back and forth about reimbursement but they refused. Nothing is smooth and it was a headache and waste of time. Wouldn't recommend.

Fantastic experience: Very friendly staff and clean place

Fantastic experience: Great pool, gym and sport centre that’s brilliant in summer and keeps everyone fit through winter! Clean friendly and wonderful staff

Negative experience: Moved further north, didn't go for 6 months, cancelled membership, insisted on still charging final fortnights fees.. Other than that nice gym & lessons.

Negative experience: I have been asked to leave the class. I did a Monday morning yoga class with a very friendly teacher, so all was good but when I decided to continue with the next class which is the ballet sculpt class, the teacher asked me to leave. I am a member of YMCA, so I can join as many classes as I want. I apologized explaining that I just haven't had the time to rush downstairs to get the ticket but that I could get it after the class. But no, the teacher, Cat, asked me to leave immediately. She followed up with a public humiliaton, asking her students: "we all know here we need a ticket, don't we? " and everyone to answered:"Yes we do"... like a troup of good soldiers...Which made me look like a fraudster.There was no need for such a public humiliation. After the positive effect of yoga she made me feel dejected! Well done Cat!

Fantastic experience: Very nice and clean. Comfortable and friendly environment. Also very good to see seniors get active.

Fantastic experience: Great gym. Always vibing!

Fantastic experience: Great centre with lots of new equipment. Good to see that local government is spending money where it is needed. Garry Aspect Property Photography https://www.aspectpro.com.au/

Positive experience: Great part of older Melbourne!

Fantastic experience: Very nice and clean. Comfortable and friendly environment. Also very good to see seniors get active.

Fantastic experience: Great staff. Casual sports run often

Fantastic experience: Excellent facilities, so clean and modern. I play Futsal here and everything is so good. Highly recommend

Positive experience: Nice place with pool, gym and badminton courts facilities. Helping staff

Fantastic experience: Nice staff!

Fantastic experience: Man o man I love this place. Sometimes go twice a day on weekends lol. There is a house and you can see directly into their room, I wonder what they think? Does it increase the value of their property. Hmmm I will ponder this next time I’m there . Yay guys

Positive experience: The place is very clean, modern and well maintained equipment there exists

Negative experience: admin staff have no clue. we made a permanent booking for the stadium... they cancelled it without telling us and gave it away to someone else.....

Negative experience: Be aware...I was told there was a man masturbating in the male change rooms in public view, someone should have reported him to staff

Fantastic experience: Great place to swim post work!

Fantastic experience: A really facility. Gym, pool, group fitness, kids club and so much more is going on here. The staff are really friendly, approachable and incredibly attentive. The outdoor pool is closed through the winter months, however the activity seems to spill over into the stadium space with all sorts of sports going on. There is a really welcoming and relaxed vibe about this place, which is unusual as you're here to burn up a sweat and leave with limbs and muscles aching!

Fantastic experience: Awesome!!!! ❤️it!

Positive experience: Expensive but has good classes and friendly people.

Fantastic experience: Nice, new facilities, good staff and never too busy.

Positive experience: Good one

Fantastic experience: New pool is very good with plenty of space. Gym is very spacious and equipment is in very good condition.

Fantastic experience: Staff are very helpful, knowledgeable and very friendly. ..just loved the experience

Fantastic experience: Staff are incredibly friendly. Gym has everything you need, while being relatively low-key. There's enough of a buzz to keep things exciting, without being too busy. Group fitness classes are fun and effective. PT's really know their stuff.

Positive experience: Nice old looking on the outside place. Located at the northern end of the city. They offer swimming lessons. Have a spa and sauna, squash courts.

Negative experience: They have a massive spotlight that shines in my bedroom window that they leave on 24/7. The issue has been brought to their attention many times before but they only periodically manage to stop wasting electricity and flooding neighbours properties with light. But the place is nice and all that.

Positive experience: The pool is 25 metres and very well kept, it's a shame it isn't open all year around. The gym is very new but does clearly have an imbalance of types of equipment. You can easily stand about waiting to use weights in busy times, yet there are many running machines that aren't always used. There are some excellent staff in gymnasium that are always willing to help, but unfortunately there are some that are not so helpful who would rather hide in an office and act busy rather than trying to help and offer advice on techniques when you have requested them to do so. If you live locally it's worth giving it a go to see what you think.