Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre

Fantastic experience: Loving my group fitness membership, so much to do! I am a Zumba tragic so very happy with the number of these classes and having an amazing variety of Zumba instructors is just terrific.

Negative experience: NARC charges a 'non-participant' fee for parents just watching their 5 to 10 year-old kids swim. This is an indefensible fee. NARC's response says nothing of substance. Your non participant fee is not a fee that provides any service. By all community standards, it is unethical, and you should remove it. Saying others charge it is not an argument of substance. And trying to say 'we are reviewing our fees' without action is an example of PR nonsense.

Positive experience: A great facility and always a welcoming “hello” and “goodbye”. The main aspects of the construction are brilliant and the layout has been well considered. Many aspects of the details in the construction were curtailed by cost saving measures; a panel falling off here, a door lock and hinge broken there and a shower not working elsewhere. I hope the builders need to cover these repairs. I love that the spa, sauna and steam are in a seperate part that is child free. Helps me to relax. Sometimes there are many lads in the sauna, just choose quiet times; not 3-7pm essentially. The GYM facility is brilliant. Plenty of room to do something even when it is busy. One change would be brilliant - replace the electric showers (an honest over hyped solution to water saving) with a manual system. Usually 2 of the 4 work.

Negative experience: Great gym and pool. Staff are great. The only thing stopping it from five stars, and unfortunately it is a huge issue is parking parking parking have been going multiple days in a row. Unable to get a park leaving me unable to use facilities which I paid for thought the parking situation would’ve been sorted out well in advance when designing this facility clearly not. I feel that uses should be given away to access the facilities that they paid for. Updated : Actually gave this place 3 stars prior. Since continuing my membership, the facilities have gone downhill. Showers are dirty and don’t work most of the time. Pools have had to be shut down and deep cleaned with from what I can tell quite an industrial process and even though im glad it’s done it’s a little concerning. As for parking nothing at all has been done to address this by the council or developers everything is lip service. It’s leaning on the point of fraud at this point when paying customers can’t even access the facility. Was this not factored into the planning at all? Steam rooms are so small and always packed. At least make the facility 24/7 at that rate people can go at a more spread out rate. Really disappointing as the launch of the centre was great but too many memberships have lead to the facility being unusable for locals. The gym equipment is good however even though it has a large floor space and a good selection of machines it is still ridiculously packed. Now I have seen the excuse of not coming near capacity. Yes but a reasonable place would see that if every machine is in use then it’s already at capacity even though it’s legal to funnel in more. You need to put a smaller cap on the gym (yes less then the 250 you have already!), set a time limit or do something because it’s been months of this. Clearly memberships have been oversold. Possibly adding a live and accurate! (quiet/minimal/moderate/busy/packed) system on your website. At this point I’m looking at other options in the area.

Negative experience: Not a great renovation. Found out it’s been sold to by the council to private owners and not even owned by the council! That’s why it’s so bad, cheap and lacking of generosity regarding keeping their bills down by making the spa cold even when they are raking in cash. Who made a quick buck off of this? Outside only has one pool because they’ve deleted two of the outside pools and the place looks like it’s built cheap as chips. Cheapest options. The lockers charge for more than 2 hours and can’t use cash for them or pay for them at the counter. The outdoor chairs are good but should add some more of them. They even made the outdoors area smaller and have cut off the whole corner of the property which could have fit another pool that they could have made into the kids pool so they could use that like the original pool had. Then normal people could use the lap pool and kids could have their own pool. Only one pool outside is terrible! You can’t make the pool smaller and expect people to be impressed. No one wants to use that warm indoor lap pool anyway. But as I said this renovation was all about greed and making money, not about making the best possible aquatic centre for the public. They know that saunas aren’t big enough and should make them bigger or make two but the sauna doesn’t look big enough. The hot pools room is nice with big windows and tiling but the water is Luke warm at best! It’s not even hot in the spa why.. a spa that isn’t even hot. The nanny state excuse that they’d give you is probably that it’s for safety or some fib like that, which they use for everything but they are probably just trying to save money by not making the spa hot enough. Also an outdoor pool shouldn’t be heated at all. Like the original. The Darebin council only cares about making money for themselves and has for sure made lots and saved lots in dodgey ways making this place too. Kept the extra cash for themselves maybe.

Fantastic experience: This recreation centre is the best I've ever been to! Absolutely state of the art facilities, fantastic pools, friendly staff and hyper clean facilities. Having gone weekly for the past year I truly cannot comprehend some of the negative reviews/feedback this recently renovated centre has received. Some people have absolutely no idea how good they've got it! I cannot recommend NARC enough!

Negative experience: Can someone please explain why there are no shallow pool areas for smaller children to play in? Why were these omitted from the design? Not everyone wants to play in the splash / slide area. The lack of a toddler pool means the ramps into all pools are jammed with parents / carers playing with little kids, making access very difficult for older people and those with disabilities. And today (22/9) ALL of the showers in the female change area were out of action. The signs on the doors said they would be closed on 19/9, but they are still shut. How can such a relatively new, expensive facility have so many maintenance problems so soon?

Positive experience: Facilities are good. But gym becomes very busy, fast. You are often waiting for gym equipment to become available. Classes can also be difficult to get into due to high demand. If you take the 30 min Les Mills Cycle class, plan to buy a back brace as the program is literally up down for 30 mins.

Fantastic experience: I have to shout out to the experience staff members who helped me challenge and encourage me to do more each week. Yes l have my favourites as they say, but l have quite a few from Kellie and Carl in management to Maddy, Nick, Jason and Demi, but l have to say a BIG thank you to Allison who has inspired & encouraged me each week to help me achieve more. You are all special and l have to also state the people that l have met as it is them too recommending new classes that l appreciate the new friendships that l have formed.

Positive experience: The renovation has been very well received. Always very busy in the gym area from 6pm, however usually there's a machine or two available.

Fantastic experience: Lots of people raging in the comments, dunno why. Staff were friendly, didn’t mind the outdoor heated pool for the colder months. Will give it a crack ongoing

Positive experience: Really nice modern pool. 2 stars lost for cleaning and maintenance and that annoying lady that walks around the gym harrassing people to have towels.

Negative experience: this review only applies to the gym. The equipment is nice but their simply isnt enough for the amount of members. It’s impossible to get a workout in at peak times . Even off peak like mid day on a monday you have to wait for squat racks. There is only one leg extension machine which is insane for the amount of members. I kept my membership as I was hoping people would quit but that hasn’t happened. Again would be a great facility but there just isnt enough equipment. I saw they responded to another review saying the legal capacity is 250 and they haven’t hit anywhere near that. Not sure if thats really relevant to what people are complaining about.

Negative experience: Did you know that Northcote Aquatic charge their members/customers for being late to a group fitness class? They charge you $5 for being late to a group fitness class. (They ALSO charge you $5 for being a no-show to class or if you cancel less than 1 hr before class.) This charge is done automatically through your direct debit. You will have no way of knowing when or why you incurred this charge! There is no way to track it. They don't provide you with a receipt or any kind of evidence- they just take your money if you scan in to a class late (this could be 30 seconds late- if you don't believe me, ask at the front desk, they will confirm this). Considering that it is difficult to find a park, this is a pretty smart move on their behalf to raise their revenue and get your money!

Positive experience: Great facilities and staff but gender biased. On Mother’s Day they had free coffee and muffins for mothers. On Father’s Day they do absolutely nothing. In this day and age she fathers are trying to be evermore present and involved this is disgusting.

Fantastic experience: My swim teacher Richard is awesome. He has taught me some great survivor skills like the chicken, aeroplane, soldier move. I appreciate him breaking down and correcting my strokes in simple language. Also a great all around human. Thanks Richardo!

Positive experience: My daughter does her swimming lessons here, there have been some improvements over the last few months to cleanliness which during peak times was an issue. I think the biggest issue that definitely needs addressing is the parking with the warmer weather just about here parking is going to be impossible, I already see people parking illegally. An extra 20 or so carparks would be perfect.

Negative experience: Honestly not the most nicest people working here. Constantly reprimanding everyone for everything. Can’t even throw out a couple of pool noodles for the kids to use.. that’s when they actually leave any space for kids to swim. Showers are always cold and dirty. Get charged a different price every time for a family. Cold showers, cold staff, cold atmosphere. Given this place a go a few times, always disappointing, won’t be back.

Negative experience: It’s ok. Doesn’t live up to the potential or the first impressions. I’ve been a member since it opened and after initial excitement I’m pretty indifferent about the place now. If I only wanted gym and classes I would go elsewhere, but with the pools as well they have a captive market. Definitely overcrowded, or at least not enough cleans scheduled throughout the day. Difficult to get a car park or book into a class. Staff are nice. Instructors are good. But why are the doors at the entrance so narrow lol.

Negative experience: There needs to be a cap on member numbers. The gym is always busy, forget about peak times such as after work, that's if you can get a carpark. There is not enough equipment for the amount of people attending. It is hard getting on equipment, and you spend more time waiting around, especially when people plant themselves on there while looking at their phone. Even supposedly quieter times is a struggle. Classes such as Barre Fusion are booked to capacity when there really should only be at max 15 in a class so that everyone has ample space at the bar. I left the Sunday morning class it was so cramped. I am seriously considering cancelling my membership.The centre seems motivated making lots of money at the expense of individual client experience.

Fantastic experience: EDIT: You seem to have fixed the issue. Thanks so much I love this place, it's like my second home, brilliant facilities, great membership deals including the aquatic section, gym and classes! Friendly and helpful staff. The cafe is a great place to chill with their huge diner-like booths and delicious coffee and croissants. However, I cannot give 5 stars until you do something about your doors, it's my only complaint, and it almost makes me never want to return to the cafe, which is a shame because the cafe is great. Every few minutes someone goes in or out of the staff room next to the cafe booths and the door slams and it is so unbelievably loud and disruptive that I can't focus or relax whenever I'm there. I've brought friends here for coffee and they have had to leave after 20 minutes because of the door slamming every few minutes. It happens with other doors as well, down the hallway. I've heard other customers complain about it too. One time a staff member left the staff room and he casually closed the door lightly, with barely any sound, it wasn't difficult for him to do. If every staff member did this, there would be no issue. I know it sounds like a small thing to complain about, but if you sat in the cafe booths and heard it a few times, you would understand what I mean.

Positive experience: Check out the review below me, what a sook. FFS, some people will never be happy. This guy would probably complain if he won the lottery. This is a great facility for a local council fitness center. It’s not a premium health club you’d spend $300 a month on, let’s align our expectations to what we’re paying. Yes it does get packed but that’s because it’s good. Another outdoor pool would be good but the council isn’t made of money. Great value spot with good staff. If you don’t like it don’t go, more room for me in the sauna.

Negative experience: Imagine building a huge venue like this and a teensy eensy sauna that’s constantly chock full of sweating shoulder to shoulder men. Ugh. What a disappointment.

Fantastic experience: Great to get in two gymnasium sessions today pleasant environment great equipment friendly helpful staff

Negative experience: The space is absolutely lovely, but bad policies like a very low discount for concession and a mandated months wait on cancelation make the NARC inaccessable for the low income members of our community.

Fantastic experience: Always found the staff very friendly and willing to offer assistance. Had a medical incident the other day and they went above and beyond in looking after me and ensuring I was ok. Very professional indeed. Thank you !!!

Negative experience: - The chlorine in the water is so high that sitting in the spa hurts your eyes. - Charging locker hire fees on top of the entry. - Cold showers. - Showers dont even include basic soap.

Negative experience: Showers are cold water. 1.The steam and sauna have large amounts of people in them who are all having conversations at the same time, nothing is being done to advise people and educate. 2.Towel rule is a joke in these rooms there is admin to ensure all are following rules. 3. Sadly I have written, on all these points specially on being respectful in saunas and steam room. The reply was ignored I had to email again,the response was double talk, and it was 2 months ago. So is the reply below , just double talk. Telling clients you’re aware is not a resolve.

Fantastic experience: Magnificent new facility. I take a child for swim lessons and haven't yet had a swim. Excellent lessons, great range of pools and gym. Very popular

Negative experience: It's so bad, I don't even know wehere to start. Showers are super dirty at any time of the day. IF there's a cleaner they're are either cleaning areas that don't need cleaning or just standing around looking at their phone. For two months now showers are COLD. One staff member said technician was there and it'll fix itself within 48 hours (that's OBVIOUSLY not how it works). PLUS "If you don't like it go somewhere else". Sauna and steam room WAY too small. PLEASE: - Keep the showers clean - Fix the hot water issue - Remove those "fancy" showers. No one wants them. No one needs them

Positive experience: Nice facilities with a great play space for toddlers. We had our toddler enrolled in swim lessons here but the pool was often too cold unfortunately. Therefore, we discontinued our membership. However, we still had some make up lessons left, which according to the system could be used until 28 days after the missed lesson (the system shows an expiry date until which you can make up the lesson). When we tried to use the make up lessons before their expiry, it was not possible because our membership was already discontinued. Really confusing that the system does not reflect an accurate 'use until date'. We still had four make up lessons left. No refund was offered and we were instructed to read the fine print. It would be ideal if the system were to be updated to show an accurate 'use until date' and for the pool to be adequately heated for young children.

Negative experience: Nice renovation, looks great. They've completely oversold memberships. The carpark is a nightmare, the sauna rooms are always over crowded, classes are difficult to book and it's impossible get a full workout done in the gym. Good concept but I'll be cancelling my membership. It's not worth the hassle.

Positive experience: I need to thank the designers of this renovation for adding noise reduction elements into the redesign. It's one of the quietest indoor pools with minimal echo. It's much more sensory friendly than any other indoor pool I've been to. The lighting is nice too, not intense like other pools. I'm also so happy that an outdoor area, outdoor pool and grass area was retained because that was always the best part of this pool in summer. The only major issue with this place is the warm (not hot) spa, which seems to make people livid. My friend didn't want to come back because the spa wasn't hot enough.

Positive experience: I'm mostly happy with the venue, especially in the Summer it was an awesome place to swim and hang! A big issue for me is the showers- most of them run cold, this has been going on since the beginning. And then very recently, the spa and therapy pool have been hardly warm. Maybe the water heating is struggling with winter?

Fantastic experience: Bit cold this morning but lovely in the water....

Negative experience: I am almost done with this place. This is the 3rd time I’ve walked in to find the entire 25m pool in use by a class. Nothing on the timetable says the entire pool will be unavailable. In fact it says 6/8 free. And it’s impossible to find a park.

Positive experience: Great pool to swim at! Staff are friendly and the centre is quite modern. Only downside is that the showers can be a bit unclean sometimes.

Negative experience: Changed review from hero to zero. The showers have gone down hill since opening and for weeks there's been horribly cold showers. No hot showers available. Plus the hall way touch screen showers are always broken. Please get some hot water.

Fantastic experience: Probably the best fitness centre in Melbourne! Good value for money, pools are great, they have so many classes, including reformer pilates and the staff are awesome!

Fantastic experience: Northcote aquatic centre has become my go to for any fitness! I got signed up by michelle, who is absolutely lovely and gave me a tour of the whole facility! I’m signed up at the moment to gym, pools and fitness classes which the classes are great!! and instructors are so sweet, shoutout to marianne :) The gym does get busy at times which is understandable and sometimes fitness classes will fill up quick, which means to get in quick hehe. Id only suggest to stay consistent with cleaning around swimming pool showers/change rooms however it’s so popular which wouldn’t help. Despite some of the recent negative reviews, this venue doesn’t compare to any other recreation centre!

Negative experience: The gym is okay, but it's extremely busy in the afternoons. The last time I was there, every single piece of equipment was in use. I work within walking distance, so I go there out of convenience, but I'm starting to consider going elsewhere because it's just too crowded and lacks space. They are reportedly planning to add more equipment soon, which will only make it worse.

Fantastic experience: Good things Pools, steam room, adult only warm pool and spa area Not good things The carpark, concession rates are barely cheaper than full fare, slippery tiles between main pool and spa area

Positive experience: Such a great pool and cafe in the SUMMER but so far not in the winter the indoor pool is beyond ridiculously cold around 29 degrees this pool has so much potential but it’s to cold please heat it also credit to the extra cleaning services recently I’ve noticed less wet floors thanks

Fantastic experience: Not sure about the poor rating but this place is pretty great. I go for the non-aquatics classes and the facilities are top notch, modern well lit with natural lights, great sound system, staff are super friendly, modern, Les Mills classes and equipment etc. my feedback is that the cafe is quite overpriced, casual classes isn't given a fob to enter or exit the studios (if you have to unfortunately go to the bathroom or step out for any reason during a class - someone will have to let you back in - mid class), surrounding roads to get here by bike isn't very bike friendly, but there is ample bike parking out front. There's even electrical outlets if you need to charge your ebike if you aren't worried the charger might be stolen. There also really should be a map of the place on the website. As with any gyms, there are decent trainers and then there are phenomenal ones like Christopher Benson whose classes I thoroughly enjoy.

Fantastic experience: Nice, brand new facilities, friendly staff. I understand a lot of people seems to think it's not good enough. I lived in 4 different countries and many more cities this is by far the best swimming pool I have been to. Maybe some people should take a minute to think how lucky they are to have access to that kind of facilities at reasonable price

Fantastic experience: I love going to the pool with my son. I like that there are many pools here, they are warm and clean.

Positive experience: Have been swimming here for a while, I enjoy it but can you please sort out the cleanliness of the change rooms it’s incredibly filthy and slippery !! I’d honestly rather get changed in public concealing myself with a towel then to walk in there.

Negative experience: Can you pleaseeee consider heating up the spa temperature? You’ve had so many requests to do this and it’s something you really need to action. I would recommend heating up both the spa and the hydrotherapy pool, as they are both cold. If this is not possible however, please consider separating the spa and the pool and heating up the spa. As the months get colder, the spa is becoming unbearably cold and it needs to be heated up.

Fantastic experience: I do have to tip my hat to the team at Darebin. The pool is a fantastic facility and we are lucky as residents to have access to it. It’s wonderful to have an integrated facility with workout studios, saunas, steam room, a cafe and even a physio on site.

Fantastic experience: Great facility,clean and modern facilities. Staff are very friendly and customer focused.Family friendly change rooms. Learn to swim instructor was very good as well. Well done team.

Fantastic experience: Awesome facility, rightfully popular in the community. Only criticisms: 1. Sauna is too small; during peak hours have to cram in like sardines standing room only 2. Casual visits are too expensive (especially if you gym + spa)

Negative experience: Centre shut without notice due to plumbing issues today. Constant construction quality issues. Outdoor pole lights on during the day. Did any qualified trades work on this site? How about compensating your members instead of empty apologies and promises to do better.

Fantastic experience: Ignore the naysayers. This is a great facility. The staff are excellent and welcoming. The gym facilities are great, and the equipment is regularly maintained. The fitness classes are very good with knowledgeable trainers. My only suggestion is to enable it to be 24/7 with the high patronage. Parking is also a challenge at peak times, but we'd all benefit from walking there if we live locally. There is no comparison to other facilities in the area and this is one of the best in Melbourne for the price.

Negative experience: OMG.......those lockers are so frustrating. They rarely work when they do someone else belongings are in them. As a casual you have to set a pin code while 5 people are waiting behind you so, they also know your pin which defeats the purpose. Staff are constantly assisting-time to bring back the keys !

Negative experience: Where to start, lets start with being asked by a "supervisor" if I was here with a child, yes was my response she is actually having swimming lessons at this moment. Well, I need to get off my phone as it is my job to be watching her at all times, but she is having swimming lessons with a qualified teacher I say. The answer I got was the teachers are qualified in first aid but they cant be watching them at all times...What!!! There are 3 kids in the class, two lifeguards standing looking bored on the side but yet I need to have my eyes on at all times during a swimming lesson??? Now I understand that its my responsibility to watch my child when she has free time in the pool, at the beach when ever she is around water, which I do, I dont take my eyes off her but during swimming lessons, are you f joking me. No offence but I cant swim so me watching while she is having lessons is not going to help if the s hits the fan cause Im sure Im going to be causing more issues. Also why was it that she came up to me and not others that were also on the phone until I said are you going to say something to that person, or that person, or that person or that person, was it because Im brown skinned? I never say that but you came and stood over me to try and intimate me, I dont think you realised I was going to say anything back or point out others. I spoke to another lady who also got told off, she had one ear bud in and she told you she has sensory issue and this helps and you couldn't give a f about her issues. So what happens if I need to go to the toilet, am I not allowed to cause I need to be watching my child in lessons, what about talking to other people there, is that allowed during lessons because that is more of a distraction than me looking down at my phone. If the staff were bored today why not make them clean up the dressing rooms or the pick up some litter that is around. The places is always dirty. Instead of having contract cleaners, hire cleaners who are there around the clock cleaning/spot cleaning.

Positive experience: Love this facility and attend a few days a week. Few things that keep me from a higher rating. 1) cleanliness of bathrooms and change rooms - seems to constantly feel like I'm standing in tepid smelly(urine) goo in there. More frequent floor squeegying will help this 2) up the temperature of the spas and rehab pool and the sauna / steam room are way too small and 3) the tiles in some areas are very slippery (eg. Outside the poolside to the cafe and outside the change rooms as you walk in. Again more frequent squeegying would help.

Fantastic experience: Special thanks to Chris Benson and Simon Shaw for the motivating classes I have attended since the opening of the new facility. I have been in training for a 7 day Rotary Charity cycling event in Tasmania, raising funds for Ovarian Cancer Australia. The event was held last week and with a team of 23 riders, I completed 700kms in 7 days and collectively we raised $40,000. My level of fitness was enhanced greatly by these two fabulous instructors. Thank you.

Negative experience: I was at the gym today and witnessed a person in a wheelchair trying to get out of the gym. The main door (to the gym entry) where you have to press it 'for a few seconds' then try to open a heavy door towards you...NARC you should be catering to everyone in the community. Shame on you. Do better.

Positive experience: I like the gym area and there are plenty of equipment to chose from. Regarding the pool area the individual shower rooms on the paper seems like a good idea, but alot of people are filthy and leave behind trash and hair (and worse..., etc), so it is sometimes somewhat unhygienic. There is also no consensus amongst guests for the sauna area whether towels and thongs are mandatory or not, and how towels are used. Do you sit on them, do sit with them in your lap, etc. adding to the unhygienic feeling. I think the place has a great potential, and it's already decent but lacks a bit here and there from the get-go. Wish the showers could get colder! Staff always friendly! Keep it up.

Negative experience: For such an amazing new facility there are a few significant let downs. Parking is number 1 (not the staffs fault more so the people who designed it) And the cleanliness is deplorable, inside and out. The pool is less than 6 months old and already has significant grime and mould on the bottom of the out door which is a very easy thing to clean. Also it’s not fun swimming there and taking a mouthful of human hair whilst you are taking a breath (unfortunately this is has happened to me more than once) Likely to change it up to Brunswick Baths as they are nearby and far more cleaner *UPDATE* I returned one month later thinking it being quieter = cleaner Incorrect, the entire floor of the outdoor pool is green…… The water so so murky you could not see past half way and then to hear (unsure if accurate) but there was a gastro out break a few weeks back? How hard is it to clean a pool? Please answer me NARC

Positive experience: Edited review - after posting my concerns in a 1 Star review and via email, and being told I would have more direct debits than I thought I would, they contacted me to say their T&C's are getting reviewed (but not changed) to make sure people agree to the longer cancellation period they have. I had my cancellation period waived due to this issue, going forward at least it seems they will be more transparent about cancellation stuff in future.

Negative experience: It is beyond comprehension that in this day and age the baby pool has no shade sail and cover. I hope the Skin Health Institute in Carlton and state government asks for a please explain? Whoever approved the plans had clearly no idea of reality and certainly isn’t aware of skin cancers and melanomas. Total incompetence. Shade for children and ample shade for everyone else should be mandatory. Example of a renovation done on the cheap without consideration for welfare.

Positive experience: Great facilities BUT ... if you need to cancel your subscription for any reason other than "medical" it takes 28 days so you end up getting stung $000's and you're not using the facilities! For a pensioner living on $75/day these terms and conditions are despicable, but they steadfastly stick to them. Very disappointing!

Positive experience: Echoing comments from others that the change rooms / showers are absolutely filthy. The family change rooms and showers are small and there’s no dry spaces. Every square inch is wet and our dry clothes all eventually ended up at least partially wet or dropped into a hairy puddle. The kids love the waterslide but there are so many blind spots so watching small children is tricky…. especially with its proximity to the lap pool . The parking area also doesn’t have many safe walking routes and there are cars constantly circling looking for parks. The QR code entrance system is beyond idiotic. A family of 5 receives 5 separate QR codes on the same docket with about 1cm gap between them. The gates shut quickly and with decent force. One of the gates didn’t even work for us when we went. Not sure why they can’t incorporate the QR codes into the wristbands they give you. That would make things much easier. Or move the kiosk closer to the entry and do away with the QR codes altogether. All in all it was a pretty stressful visit but the kids at least had fun!

Fantastic experience: I signed up to NARC as soon as they opened so I could start going to the gym. After some weeks of going past the cafe to get to the gym, one day I decided to stop by the cafe to get a coffee. I was greeted by lovely smiles and great service. I often will take my laptop to study in the booths there and enjoy a cuppa by good natural lighting, nestled in my own little study space. The staff are so lovely, always checking in on me and having small chats here and there. Nice food there too but I do love my caffeine - hehe. It's been such a great space for me to get work done, thanks NARC!

Negative experience: Got to be one of the worst kept leisure centres. Old, dingy and dirty. Staff equally rude. The nearest one for me. Hope had a choice I have been member for 5 years. I just wonder why. Money down the drain. Place is old and dingy. Staff is rude and unprofessional. I just have a regret that I spent so much time in actually quite a racist place. Staff is absolutely pathetic. They have attitude problem. Have no clue or manners as to how to engage with customers. They don't care about any hazards. Place is super dirty especially steam/sauna and usually leaves and dirt at the bottom of pool. Don't use spa if you care about your health. Probably an inch of grime on the walls and of course germs and bacteria. Place should be shut till it is fit for public use.

Fantastic experience: l have never seen such clean, clear water in a public swimming pool. Hardly any smell or sense of chlorine. Well done ‼️

Negative experience: NARC has clearly chosen greed over quality. A paid member and couldn’t even get in, Saturday lined up for 30mins for a one in one out policy just to swim. Sunday, all areas were denied entry and the line was even longer on a 38 degree day. Will be seeking a refund for a membership I can’t even seem to use when it’s hot. It’s VERY obvious this place sold WAY to many memberships at the expense of the quality, cleanliness, general vibe of the space and the ability to even get in something ive already paid for. Also, the amount of punks in the gym sitting on all the equipment doing nothing but talking, being obnoxiously loud in the sauna and grown adults doing bombs into the pool, whilst teenage life guards are too fearful to say anything, even after being alerted to the clear dangers and antisocial and downright feral behaviors. All the while, the security guard stands pool side chatting up girls for an hour straught and shakes hands with the delinquents as the walk past. And how hard is it to install water bottle refill stations into a new design and build. Comical oversight For shame NARC, what a wasted oppertunity

Positive experience: I really like the facilities and have been swimming multiple times a week, but have noticed the pools getting dirtier and dirtier. The indoor 25m is cloudy, and the outdoor 50m has green stains on the bottom. I don’t think these are cleaned often enough for the volume of people using them. Can we expect to see this improve?

Positive experience: The centre looks good after the redevelopment, but for a facility that is primarily aquatic, there are issues which make it apparent that swimmers weren’t really thought of in the design process. For example: There is no pace clock above the indoor lap pool, only a LED hour/minute clock. Bizarrely, there is a pace clock above the hydro pool. Very strange choice having the pace clock above a recreational pool and not the lap pool. The showers are too small and there is no hot water. On the hottest setting the water is tepid at best, even when the other showers aren’t being used. The indoor lap pool in particular almost always has rubbish in it, whether it’s bandaids, wrappers, tissues, etc. Even first thing in the mornings. The diving blocks are always covered so can’t be used. Really not sure what the point of even having diving blocks is if they can’t be used by the swimmers. Quite often lanes don’t have speed markers, and it leads to swimmers who should be in a slow lane ending up in a fast lane and slowing other swimmers down. There’s been a few times where children in the rec lanes have been screaming profanities and the lifeguards don’t do anything. The first few times it happened I thought someone was in trouble, luckily that wasn’t the case but there was no intervention from the lifeguards to ask them to stop. I haven’t used the gym so can’t comment on those facilities. It’s a shame there’s no refillable water bottle stations. Don’t know if there is but only upstairs at the gym level, I haven’t seen any on the pool level. A few simple fixes would make it a better facility for swimmers, and would increase my rating. As it stands my rating would currently be 2.5 stars but I'm being generous in rating it 3. As the centre reopened a few months ago now, I would have assumed these issues would have been noticed and rectified but unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.

Negative experience: Really wanted to like this place. On first look it seemed great. New equipment, change rooms and facilities. The 3 months I'd joined, I was able to attend one class as basically all of the others were booked out. The gym itself is ridiculously hot and unacceptable for a new facility. To their credit the gym installed fans for airflow, except for some strange reason they were installed facing away from the treadmills and some weren't even on. The parking is abysmal. They had years to plan for this and potentially thousands of members have access to a couple of hundred spaces? Perhaps a two story or under ground car park should've been part of the planning process. Now since cancelling my membership, they've informed members that we're unable to use the pools due to hygiene issues with no apology for the hundreds of dollars wasted and the comments section turned off. I guess this will sort the parking issues.

Fantastic experience: The new pool is amazing with great facilities for all ages and experiences. Definitely worth the wait!

Fantastic experience: So impressed with the new facility! The staff are super helpful (and there are so many of them to answer your questions). Such an amazing addition to Northcote

Fantastic experience: Absolutely love NARC and the new facilities are great! reformer classes are great and love the outdoor pool!

Fantastic experience: I am an Active member at Northcote Aquatic Centre and I couldn't be happier with the trainers and staff.

Positive experience: Very stylish new design and layout; looking forward to more time here over summer!

Fantastic experience: Wonderful vibe and state of the art facilities. Great time had by all

Fantastic experience: Really enjoying the variety of Group Fitness classes available.

Fantastic experience: Love it, great facilities and customer service.

Fantastic experience: Love using your new state of the art Technogym Equipment and interacting with other people and staff. Highly motivated and recommended. Sincerely, Basil Sher

Fantastic experience: Wonderful trainers, excellent facilities, helpful staff, couldnt be better! More car spaces would be nice, but hey you can't have it all.

Fantastic experience: Have been a member here since it reopened and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Great classes and instructors, clean facilities and pretty good value!

Fantastic experience: Thoughtful design and boundless amenities. Has really plunged me back into being more physical. An amazing facility for our community.

Fantastic experience: Clean, well maintained, and a safe environment for my family - we really enjoy the NARC and are thankful that it's so convenient, well priced, and close.

Negative experience: (UPDATE 29/1/24) 65 five-star reviews have been posted here in the past 7 hours... only one review posted in the 2 days prior to that *SCAM ALERT* December 2023 Does not offer any of the classes advertised. No refunds and no membership cancellations.

Fantastic experience: This facility is immaculate and has really brought the community together. Big fan of the gym and sauna set up, as well as outdoor area surrounding the pool, an elite place to relax and chill. Big ups the NARC team!

Fantastic experience: Absolutely loving the gym classes at the newly refurbished NARC! With flexible class times and numerous offerings of class styles like yoga and the Les Mills body workouts, it actually gets me excited to go to the gym ✨

Negative experience: The website is driving me up the wall! I'm a member and I try to log in. Yet when on the phone I can't access the menu. The website needs to be updated. As well as trying to enrol our kids in the swim classes. It should be a lot more simple and accessible.

Fantastic experience: Loving the new aquatic centre. Great indoor and outdoor play for the kids, big outdoor pool is great in summer, gym facilities have everything I need, my partner is loving the fitness classes.

Positive experience: Indoor pool is so much better than the old pool and while the outdoor pool is still not much different, the whole pool is so much nicer in general, and it is a great place to go with friends and your family. Very good overall :)

Fantastic experience: Great range of classes, good value for money, very clean in both the gym and pool area and the staff are very friendly. such a great addition to the community, it's made living an active life very accessible

Fantastic experience: The new NARC is a fantastic addition to the neighbourhood. My husband loves the pool and I love the gym. The staff is friendly and the equipment in the gym is great.

Fantastic experience: I’m just loving the outdoor pool area and the pool! I do some laps but then just laze on the grass under the shade and if I time it right, on a lounge and kick back and read my book. A perfect way to spend some of these summer days.

Positive experience: So far I have loved the new facility.....understandably, there have been teething problems but despite these, the staff have been unflappable and well-equipped to deal with everything! Well done to everyone and thanks for making my visits so welcoming and enjoyable.

Fantastic experience: Great to have Northcote Aquatic back open again. It is great that they kept the outdoor pool. Awesome fun. Kids swimming lessons are excellent. Great for the family. A+++

Fantastic experience: I really love Robs classes for active adults. They're great fun as well as great exercise. He takes lots of care of everyone's needs and I learn something every class!

Fantastic experience: A great facility with lots of different areas to use. Pool (of course), sauna, steam room, gym & group fitness. Our children love swimming here!

Negative experience: Informed that I was charged for a membership I have never attended or authorised payment for and that if I chose to sign up I will be charged overdue fee without this consideration.I would have liked to be a member as I live 1 street away but will now never join up due to the dishonesty.I spoke to management and they said this cannot be wavered.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic place. Different to the previous version, but a huge improvement overall. Staff are unfailingly helpful and cheerful despite the hordes of new users. Can't believe all the one star reviews. Most communities would be thrilled to have this centre.

Fantastic experience: I love the range and availability of classes such as reformer Pilates, Zumba and yoga. The indoor and outdoor pools are lovely too. I really enjoy the spa, warm water pool, the steam room and the sauna. Oh, I’m looking forward to the gym which I haven’t been yet.