Aquatic Centre At Hillcrest Park

My favorite place to swim, indoors, on the west coast. Massive lazy river, sauna, and hot tub. Huge area for kids always filled with toys and the changing rooms seemed to be hosed down every hour, as they are constantly clean.

Lazy river pool, leisure pool area with water toys and sprays, hot tub, lanes for length swimming, sauna, steam room, 3 heights of diving boards… what more can you ask for? Ok, maybe they’re missing a water-​slide.
I think this place is great to bring young children and introduce them to swimming or the pool since they have a beach-​style entry into the water. The water in the leisure pool is also ridiculously warm. Staff are all so friendly here, and this place is very family-​friendly as well. In addition to men’s and women’s change rooms, they also have a large area for family rooms. This location will be able to accommodate everyone in your family. It is missing a star in my ratings because of a couple of things. First of all, I really do not think the steam room is steamy enough. Compared to other steam rooms that I’ve been to in another community center (ie. YMCA), the one here is very, very mild. Secondly, this location can get super crowded during peak times, which makes it difficult to actually swim sometimes!

For the unique circumstances of our family — three kids four years and under, the older two being autistic — this place is a disaster.
Access and parking is difficult and confusing, and not particularly near the pool itself.
The changing area is a disaster. There are no family change rooms. What they do have is the large locker area between the men’s and women’s change rooms where there is a… I don’t know what to call it. There are two banks of private change cubicles along the wall, and many if not all of those cubicles have showers inside them. Then there are two banks of cubicles running across the area, which don’t have showers. This area is not designated as a family change area, so most of the people using it end up being singles who, for whatever reason, have a hang-​up about getting undressed in their respective change room.
Common sense would suggest that when you’re putting your suit on to go swimming, you don’t need one of the larger cubicles with a shower. You could use one of the plentiful smaller ones without a shower, and leave ones with a shower for those getting out of the pool. But no, it doesn’t work that way at Hillcrest.
As it was, our older son had a melt down when we got changed both going in and coming out. The cubicles have seven foot walls, but the ceilings are like 20 feet high, so it gets really noisy and echo-​y, and he was quickly overwhelmed. I’d suspect that’s the rule rather than the exception with autistic kids at this facility.
If you have to use a toilet, I recommend going somewhere else before, or holding it in until later. It’s not a good setup there at all, they aren’t clean, and the odds of finding TP seem to be about 50 – 50.
The pool is completely unsuitable for small children. There’s a small area with water jets shooting up and across that’s about two inches deep. Then the rest of the pool the shallowest part is .9 meters. It just doesn’t work for the smaller kids.
You can see from the photos that the swimming area is huge. It, and the locker area, are completely open. The view of the outside is great, with the two long walls basically being all windows. But the flip side is that as a parent, I found it very creepy, and I didn’t feel as safe as I’d when taking my kids swimming.

This pool sucks if your looking for a public pool to have fun with friends this is not a good place all lane swimming one little lap for slower people complained to lifeguard told me to swim in kiddie pool if i wanted to do exercise and swim at my leisure seriously who wants to swim in the kiddie piss poo pool and wouldn’t 2 35 year old guys look kinda weird swimming around in kiddie pool keep your $ 6 much better places

That one star is for the good facility.
I am rating their pool party package that is $ 195. DO NOT… EVER! make the same mistake we did by booking the Percy Norman Room.
1. We chose that room because it is adjacent to the pool. Much easier for our guests to be in and out but no. We
cannot use the access door.
2. The hours are strictly 1 ½ hours. They do not allow extension. They should skip hosting a kids party if they will limit their hours. We are talking about kids/​toddlers here! They can be very unpredictable no matter how much you plan your time. 1 ½ hours is not even enough for snacks and chit chats. They should just tear that room down! It’s useless! Also 1 ½ hours includes set-​up and pack-​up!
3. They did not let us use their caddy for our stuff! Because they only have one or two caddies and they
are booked on another party! I asked the party leader in another room if I can use it BUT no he said I can’t even if the host hasn’t arrived yet while me and my husband are already there and will only take us 5 mins to load things up and unload everything. The party leaders did not even helped us find any available caddy or could have at least spoke to the other party leader and negotiate. They just effortlessly said no, they don’t have any caddy for us!
4. DECORS! This is part of what we paid for and I was told I can choose a theme. Guess what?! they just provided us with plain purple and green table cloth a fee balloons. I still provided the tinkerbell stuff! While a friend of mine who had their son’s party at another community center provided their transformer’s themed decors!
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!

Attentive, alert lifeguards, awesome staff, awesome facility. Generally clean, especially considering the volume of people it handles.
My only complaint is how the family change rooms are constantly taken by older singles or couples with cultural-​based modesty issues using what are clearly marked family change rooms while I’m standing with a crying, freezing baby. It’s amazing how these people suddenly know no English when called out for their rudeness. I’d love to see the family showers restricted to families with small children only.

Sure it got crowded, but everyone seemed to be having fun including my family (my sister and I are old: I’m in my 20s and she’s 16 along with our parents). Went in July 2014, beautiful sunny day.
The facilities are big and modern. I enjoyed how Hillcrest offers an outdoor heated pool with sun bathing opportunities (with chairs!). The indoor pools were a lot of fun: a «river» that pushes everyone along, hot tub that looks like it can accommodate 30 people, kiddie pools and lap pools with a diving board.
Hillcrest also has a steam room and a sauna. Didn’t use it but it was great to have that option.
There were lockers that you can use for a quarter and shower rooms for individuals and families (with body wash). The change rooms didn’t feel crowded and it was also decent in terms of cleanliness.
Parking was crowded, but to be expected on a sunny day. We just need to be a bit patient knowing that lots of people are enjoying this centre.
Having it been our first time visiting, I thought that Hillcrest is a well-​maintained facility with lots of visible staff including lifeguards. Had a great time and would definitely return.

Beautiful facility for sure, but the lane swimming can be horrible. Too busy and too chaotic.
There is always lap swimming available, but usually only 25m lanes are open rather than 50m lanes. The moveable bulkheads seem handy and smart but they essentially eliminate the 50m lengths which is too bad.
There is no policing of the lanes by the lifeguards, so you get an awful lot of people who don’t really know how to swim, doing weird back strokes and clogging up the medium lane. The other problem is they rent way too many lanes out to clubs, so even at peak times you will often find only three narrow (no passing) 25 m lanes for public lengths. This in a wildly popular pool with the capacity for 8 50m lanes. What a zoo.
The outdoor pool is a nice place to cool off after your lap swim in the summer.
The hot tubs is very large, holds like 50 people, but is very shallow and not hot enough.
Steam room and sauna are okay.
Parking is a nightmare after work and people are so very rude.
Never use the ice rink or gym so cannot comment.
So… In a nutshell this is a truly beautiful facility that is just too crowded with jerks and not properly run.

Definitely the best pool in Vancouver– lap pool, lessons pool, kiddie pool, lazy river, hot tub, sauna and outdoor pool in the summer. What’s not to love?

this complex is amazing. Modern, great natural light, airy, full-​featured. Olympic curling ice, skating, aquatic center, library, exercise & fitness, dance classes.
If their workout center was larger — I would give them a 5 star review

I swim here, 4 – 5 times a week. It get’s crowded. People are generally dicks in the lanes and every-​time I swim and catch sight of a band-​aid sitting on the pool floor.
But the water is heated. The showers have good pressure. There are lots of staff on hand.
For families this is the spot, indoor lazy river, outdoor kiddy funtime splash pool.
WARNING: This s not a place to go if you are afraid of naked old people. I’ve seen so many old, naked, Asian men’s penises.
WARNING: This is not the place to go if you’re afraid to see naked children. Children have no shame. They pee on each other in the showers! I’ve seen it!

Today was the coldest wettest July 2^nd in Vancouver that I can remember. Biking outdoors seemed unappealing.
After a little bit of thought a Cold Gray Day in July plan appeared. So we got into the car and drove (blasphemy) to Hillcrest Pool and we realized we where not alone the parking lot was full but this is because Hillcrest is a Great Pool Adults and Kids like.
What Makes this Pool Great
Everyone I interacted with were great. Check-​In person smiled as they took our frees. The Lifeguards actively managed the pools manged. The pools and cleaning staff also do a great job.
The Diving Pool is a world class and fun to swim in and even more fun to jump into. The Lap Pool was fine and third pool is what I call and Adult Aqua Aerobics Pool/​Play area for using kick boards and flotation sticks made for a fun visit.
My visit to the pool made today’s cold wet weather feel irrelevant for a while and I hope to go back soon.

Of all the pools, in all the towns, in all the world (or at least the ones I’ve been to!)… I’d probably walk into this one first.
I go there regularly for fitness three times a week, participating in their deep water aquafit classes.
The space designated for DWF is excellent — large and deep. It certainly surpasses the area in the community pool this one replaced, the Percy Norman Pool (although I do have a warm spot for that pool, where I went for eight years.) The quality of the classes vary, depending on the instructor (not all instructors are created equal, after all) but I believe you can get value from any class — it’s up to the participant to make the most of the class, but some instructors are better than others. The line-​up changes fairly regularly, so you don’t normally get stuck with the same instructors for long time periods.
My one comment about some instructors is, they rely too much on «swimming-​type» routines. One of the reasons I quit swimming lengths was because of continuing shoulder problems; many people who chose aquafit do so because they cannot swim lengths. When I first started doing aquafit in 2002, this was not an issue; it’s just in the past couple of years that «swimming» has crept into the routines.
A real plus: since moving over from PNP, they’ve added three additional DWF classes on M-​W-​F. They maintained the M-​W 8 – 9 p.m. classes, but also added 12:45−1 p.m. classes on M-​W-​F, which really adds to the flexibility of scheduling fitness activities. I guess there were some Sunday morning classes, but I never even attempted to get up that early for them, so I can’t speak to them.
Moving on from the programs, the facility is top-​notch. There is an excellent steam room and a dry sauna, as well.
The hot tub is very spacious; however, the vast majority of the jets do not shoot out with enough pressure, in my opinion. The best jacuzzi jets I’ve been to at a public pool are at Bonsor, in Burnaby.
There is also a leisure pool and fully regulation sized pool for swimming lengths. The changing facilities — lockers, showers, bathroom facilities — are also all top-​notch.
The staff is very friendly and helpful.
Overall, it’s a great facility, whether you’re looking for fitness or just some family fun.

Bummed out. Did the big cross town trek and it’s annual maintenance to April 29 :(

Always busy, but such a great space! The kids pool is incredible and is probably only second to the Wave Pool at Richmond Riverport (in my humble opinion). Besides the crowds, my only complaint is the depth of the hot tub; I’m short (5’2″) and I have to crouch to get my shoulders under the water when sitting.
There is free parking and it’s a great location near Queen Elizabeth Park, Little Mountain baseball diamonds, and between Main St. and Cambie St. The #16 bus stops mere yards away from the entrance.

Awesome Pool! I would put the rating as «as good as it gets», but it is super crowded. I generally will be doing laps, and there is always space. the kids pool however is crazy — but it is by far the best kids pool ever!
After your swim, you can go upstairs to the fitness center and do some biking or weights. But this place is definately the best because of the pool.

Allowing people to pre-​book several cardio machines at a time??? The rules clearly states you cannot do this WTF? I hate having to enforce it myself but I’ll do it if I have to… unless you’re an old goat.
C’mon staff, keep any eye on it or use the clipboard system and print the gym rules on the clipboard and tie it to the cardio machines.

Best gym pool in Vancouver. after living in the U.S. for so long I forgot how spoiled my fellow canadian comrades are with public pools and gym. I can pay 150 a month in California and the amenities don’t even come close.
Remember it is a public pool so bring your flip, flops.
Their is the most amazing lazy river and that I could float for hours, great diving boards and platforms, huge lap pool and hot tub.
The gym overlooks Queen E. park which is nice and blissfull; it’s small but clean. Over all no brainer 5 stars.

This is a top-​notch facility; having spent some time at the other community centre (Creekside) constructed with the Olympics as it’s impetus, it was a really pleasant surprise.
The fitness centre is well equipped with a practical layout, lots of benches and free weights, all the necessary machines, and a great view. there’s plenty of cardio equipment and everything is spaced out nicely.
The pool is excellent with a very large hot tub, a children’s area, diving, lanes, and a third area partitioned off for classes. I’m told that there is an outdoor pool as well but i did not see it my first visit. Furthermore, they offer swimming lessons for adults as well as children, which as an adult who unfortunately needs them, had until now been impossible to find.
The staff seemed friendly and knowledgeable, and the patrons a reflection of the neighbourhood, which is as it should be.
I will be going out of my way to attend swim lessons there, and to use the fitness centre also. I suspect many will do the same and before long the place will get over-​crowded (a la Mount Pleasant) … I’ll keep you posted if it does, but in the 2.5 hours i was there today it was fine.

Having watched this building grow and having visited it in its incarnation as an Olympic venue, our whole family was very excited to see it finally open. Our first opportunity to visit was after it had been open about a week and we were certainly not disappointed.
The main pool is a great facility with movable bulkheads separating out the lap area from the diving, with 1, 3 and 5m boards, and shallow ends. It has a huge indoor play pool for kids with a big lazy river and lots of fun sprays and splash toys to play with. The hot tub is pretty large too with plenty of space to sit and relax. The changing rooms are good too with plenty of cubicles in the family changing area — despite it being busy we didn’t have to wait around for somewhere to change.
The one thing I’m not convinced about, though, is the outdoor pool area. It’s shallow — although it does get up to 1m deep in places. It also has a few splash/​spray installations. When we went, it was raining outside and whilst we had fun, it seems like it’s a bit misconceived overall. As a splash park, there are better free splash parks to cool down in around the city. As a wading pool, then it’s really a bit too deep in places for smaller children. But it’s not deep enough realistically to replace an outdoor swimming pool — plus it has a very rough non-​slip surface that, whilst super-​safe for wading, gets very hard on the knees and elbows if you’re an adult. It may well grow on me, but first impressions are that it’s not really one thing or another. It’s certainly no replacement for the wonderful old Mount Pleasant outdoor pool.
All in all, it’s a great improvement on Percy Norman pool and I look forward to the rest of the centre coming opening up.