Arrow Swim Club

Things I like:
–Free drink when it rains!
–2 free guests during happy hour
-****when you suggest, they listen****
–really yummy brunch
–free yoga on the weekends by the pool in the morning, followed by a free smoothie
–drink prices at happy hour are now very competitive
–staff is SO friendly, and accommodating
–showers fully equipped with shampoo, conditioner and body wash, yay!
–my tan this summer has NEVER looked better
Things I would like to see happen in 2012:
–Guest pricing and/​or couples membership discount, I would like it to be more reasonable so I can bring my friends/​boyfriend along. Trust me, they’ll be spending money at the bar anyway!
–Make the pool a lap pool with diving board. Almost all members are athletic to some degree and I think we would love to be able to swim laps. I’m dying to do a cannonball into the pool.
–Floating beer pong; ladderball

I have to say that its more of a bar then an actual swim club. Small pool made to hang out… you cant even swim laps say for an early morning workout.
That being said, there is a great party every Tuesday night and is open for nonmembers. Its a really laid back time in which you can swim, drink, chill at a cabana, or get dressed up and hit it hard.
It seems that Arrow is not living up to expectations, but give it a chance and it will find its own identity. Its great for the neighborhood so I try my best to support it!
Go Libs!

Upon my first visit with a friend who is a paid member, I encountered great seating, a nice cool drink (though very pricey), accommodating staff, relaxed surroundings, a refreshing pool and a pleasant day in the sun. The locker room was clean and inviting (nice on the razors) and the atmosphere seemed low key. Best of all, no children splashing, running around or screaming.
I can’t really say this is a «club» either. At least not in the traditional private club sense. It’s more like a bar with a small pool for cooling off during sun time. I’m ok with this concept.
I was interested! I wanted to make a second visit to make sure this is where I wanted to spend my funds.
Now for this chicken’s second visit.
I with another member friend — the day I hoped to get a membership — something threw me off. There was a party. It was open to the public. My friend who does regularly check her emails never received one saying there would be an open party. She checked from her phone and no, there was no email.
Chairs were not available, the bartender was rude (sorry I wasn’t one of your hot, nubile friends Mr. Bartender) and the DJ’s audio level was over the top. I saw a woman flash her *floobs. Not that that was even a problem but I was lead to believe ASC’s standards were different (I didn’t say «better» I said «different»). We were treated as if we were not hip enough to be there. I was very disappointed. I kept my grand. Well I didn’t really, I gave to to an airline for a vacation.
I have no problem with the caliber of attendees at the party. They were the promoters intended clientele. I clucked with some interesting and fun people. My problem was with the attitude of the staff and the lack of treating a paid member and her paying guest as such during the open event.
Really Arrow, I would like to see you fare well as the only adults only pool in the city but there are a few things I hope the partners take under consideration.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Start with either refunding part of the $ 1,000 membership fee to people who paid or end promoted parties open to the public for the remainder of the season.
2. Prepare for next season starting now. Do you want to be private and exclusive or do you want to be the next hip thing in Northern Liberties? You cannot have both. Those $ 1k per season customers and the NoLibs hipsters? They’re not spending a G on the same things.
3. Please for the love of all things sacred, use Survey Monkey to ask your existing, paid members and area residents what they want.
4. Your social media presence could use a community manager who is, how do I say? Less uptight, actually addresses members complaints, apologizes when things go wrong then works to remedy those things and stops repeating themselves. Yes we know it’s sunny. No we don’t need your community manager to tell us every other day. If the community manager is in Cashman’s office this may be the problem. While Cashman and her people may have their fingers on the pulse of «posh» Philly (read: Mainliners hanging out in Philly), they are not familiar with the actual vibe of the neighborhood or the people who attend the open parties. Get someone in who –is-​.
5. Do not add gratuity to the bill. It is up to the customer to decide if the service was worth a gratuity. If you believe your $ 1k a pop members aren’t kind enough to tip good service then there’s a major issue within your organization.
6. I fully understand a pool cannot serve drinks in glassware but serving drinks in plastic cups that not even the divey-​est of bars in the city use is tacky. There is more stylish plastic serving ware out there. Please find it. Please use it. Otherwise, it comes across as cheap.
7. Cabanas: Stop charging members for these. If at some point, you end up going the open-​to-​all route still, don’t charge paid members but do lower the price to something more attractive to the open party goers.
8. Musical variety. Please.
9. Review your staff. Please. Two friends of mine went for interviews. One has been in the hospitality industry for 10 years. They were all but told straight out they didn’t «fit» and «may be better off» elsewhere. Were they too old? To experienced? Not experienced enough in your industry? These are actually people who have their finger on the pulse of a variety of social circles in the city, not just the one you aimed for and missed but the ones at the party I ended up at. There is an art to working these two vastly different crowds.
10. Probably impossible at this point but having a heated pool for almost year round opening could have been a very good
Please listen to Unilocalers and the bad publicity you’ve been getting and «do better» because ASC is sliding down that slippery slope of giving someone else with funding ideas of how to do this same concept better.

People only hype this place because it sounds cool to have an open air pool right in the hippest neighborhood in Philadelphia.
I went for their opening party in early June and I really liked it. There were lounge chairs surrounding the pool and daybed/​cabanas on one side. If you look above, an upstairs area with more lounge chairs.
Music and soundsystem made me bounce in my lounge chair. DJ played very summery and relaxing beats.
I ordered 3 cran-​vodkas and they came in clear plastic cups? By far the warmest/​blandest cran-​vodkas ever. Not trying to be a snob, but you think a swim club that charges members 1k would have prettier glassware or have talented bartenders.
The past Saturday I went and heard it was overcapacity. I was working the event so I walked right in. Came inside and it DID NOT look overcapacity at all. The upstairs was not even occupied by anyone.
There were MORE people at the Grand Opening party for sure. I could only hear music on one side of the club. I swear by the cabanas you could hear sounds of crickets.
They have staffs that open doors for you at all times. I walk through to check out the other room and walk back out and got scolded by the door holder saying «COME on, make up your mind!» WTF this dude.
CONCLUSION: I would ONLY go back because I do not know any other spot in the city with an outdoor adult pool. IF u know any please let me know so I dont have to go to ASC.

I went here as a guest of a member on a Wednesday after work. Despite the nice day, it was pretty dead. Cocktails were $ 5 during happy hour, although most of them are usually $ 11. Way overpriced if you want to hang out by the pool all day. The locker room was really nice, the chairs were pretty comfy, and the pool was okay, just small. Seems like it could be a great spot, but the management has come kinks to work through.

My biggest complaint is that they reserve the right to throw really douchey pool parties that are open to the public. This happened on one Monday that I had off from work and wanted some quiet time at the pool. I couldn’t even find a chair. The management assured me that this was the last public event, then lo and behold, on a beautiful Sunday that I wanted to spend at the pool they had a «Trophy Wives» party complete with jell-​o shots for $ 3. I’m sorry, but your desire to do jell-​o shots should have ended at age 19.
Management at Arrow seems more interested in getting new members than making their existing members happy. They do not have any sort of feedback system or way to communicate suggestions or complaints. I sent two emails about the pool parties, asking if there would be any more this year. Both were ignored.
Pros:
— pool temperature is nice
— nice, chill post-​work atmosphere during the week
— staff members are generally very nice and accomodating
— happy hour daily from 5:30 — 7:30 where you can bring 2 guests for free and have $ 5 cocktails
— comfy chairs
— very nice lockerooms, with thoughtful touches like jars of razors and hair ties
— decent food
Cons:
— pool is kind of tiny
— the music absolutely sucks. Think of the sort of generic clubby music you would hear at some overpriced Northern Liberties or Old City bar. Silence would be preferrable. Music is quiet when it’s not busy, but during the weekend, they play it at a volume that makes me want to claw my ears out. Also, there is no variety to the music, it’s always that same genre of crap. And again, they don’t ask the members what kind of music they would like to hear, or if they even want music. They just assume we want to hear this crap.
— non happy-​hour prices for drinks are totally unreasonable. Cocktails run about $ 13 with the added gratuity. I refuse to pay that, so when it’s not happy hour, i’m annoyingly sober.
–a few of the bartenders are inattentive frat boys
— management doesn’t really seem to know what they are doing. Policies constantly change, which I can understand, it’s their first year and they’re trying to figure out what works. But they don’t seem to communicate these changes to their staff.

I went yesterday as a guest of my roommate, who’s a member. It was great to hang out by the pool, and fantastic that there weren’t any kids there!
However, it was $ 40 for a one day guest pass. That’s a bit ridiculous. $ 20 would be more reasonable!
If you order food or drinks, check your bill– they added on 20% to ours.
Overall it was nice, but not worth it. I would maybe go back during the week, when entry prices go down.

As I tower resident I get access to the swim club during weekdays until June 15^th. I tried it out and was not impressed. There was nothing really wrong with it, but it didn’t give the impression of a high end swim club which is what I expect for $ 1000 membership that only gets you in the door.
Overall it looks very unfinished. The furniture is nice but the pool surface is low quality they should have gone with a Diamond Brite finish or something that has a nicer feel on your feet. The pool deck surface is also pretty lame just concrete. Come July and August that deck is going to get really hot. Also there is unfinished wood all over the place.
The staff there was really nice and the lounge chairs were really comfortable but those are about the only positive things about the club. I had a margarita which was $ 10 and was one of the worst margaritas I’ve had.
I haven’t tried Chenango yet but just looking at the menu and the atmosphere I’m not very tempted to try it. If the food isn’t great the only business Chenango is going to get is from the people at the pool who don’t want to walk across the street to PYT.

im a member. i have been to the club many times. i see many positives but i have higher aspirations.
last night i went to the pool and it was DISGUSTING. hair floating in the pool, dirt ringing the perimeter, the water even looked oily. wtf!!!
i had brought a friend who was thinking about becoming a member and she was so disgusted with the pool’s condition she wouldnt even go in the water.
one of the day beds had like dirt or spilled soda or SOMETHING crusted on it — and i almost sat down before i realized!
on memorial day, i went with a friend and we couldnt even get a server to pay any attention to us. we tried to order food and were STARVING, but despite the servers seriously hustling– there just wasnt enough staff to cover all the demanding patrons.
overall everyone who works there is really nice accommodating but they are clearly overworked, under paid, and most likely abused by other clients.
i wish the menu had more vegan items, like maybe a tofurkey club sandwich, or tofu hot dog… i’m getting sick of the salad and hummus already. but more than better food options i’d just like the place to be CLEAN and SANITARY
i dont know if this is just a useless management team? bad luck? or a complete lack of sanitary standards? but either way this place has the potential to be a great summer hang out, but so far they are not cutting it.

As a tower resident I’ve always been a big fan of the neighborhood and all that Tower has to offer with fun restaurants, the piazza and unique shops. However, I’ll try not be to biased with my opinion of this place.
Obviously, this club was meant to entice the hip, young, affluent clientele of Philadelphia but having this club in NoLibs (where you are literally blocks from Girard Ave) was not the smartest idea. I can’t be sure the success of this place but a source tells me that it is having issues filling up their membership. It’s not surprising when you are charging $ 1000 for only using this space for 3 months out of the year. Last time I checked, I thought we were still in a down economy especially with gas prices still so high. The $ 1000 just gets you into the club; that doesn’t mean that the cabanas are included in that price. That is still an additional cost of some odd hundred dollars.
There is a restaurant within the same building which looks nice but I have not had the opportunity to try the food and taste of food better be good because you have a few staple places in this neighborhood such as PYT and Dos Segundos and Standard Tap that if the food isn’t good it won’t do well (ie Swift Half, Vino)
I know that as a Tower resident I have access to the club till June 15 but during the weekdays. I was under the assumption that Memorial Day was a weekday but they denied me access. How are you supposed to gain more clientele when you deny them access? Not so epic fail, but fail nonetheless.

Since also having taken a tour of Arrow Swim Club a few weeks ago, I attended ASC’s Grand Opening VIP Event last night and the place looks great, has a nice clientele, and all around cool vibe. Specialty drinks for the night were the Beach Bum, the Cherry Blossom, and the Moscow Mule – all good. Bartenders were all very friendly and fairly quick and drink prices weren’t too bad – membership prices on the other hand are a different story… it’s $ 1K to join :/​Where are the recession prices?
Anyways, even though I’m used to the adult pool parties in Vegas, I’m giving ASC a pass and letting it set it’s own tone, although the parallels are there. For example, the pool itself is only 4.5 feet deep and not very spacious but it’s not meant for you to do Olympic laps in it or anything; it’s for hanging out in it, around it, and looking cute by it. There’s also poolside food and drinks service, music playing or a DJ spinning (book me!), private cabanas, daybeds and a restaurant on the opposite side of the venue called Chenango that looks promising, so I’m looking forward to trying them one day.
Overall, Arrow Swim Club is hopefully going to continue to attract a young, hip crowd, host amazing events, and be an oasis for fun and sun away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. I think ASC will be a definite summer hangout so def try to check it out for yourself… and oh if you’re a member give me a good look on a guest pass, k? Thanks.

Very cool that they let the residence of the Piazza come during the week for free. We deserve it. This is only until June 15^th so far as I know.