Riviera International Centre - Torquay

Holly H.

The pool is great for children, you walk in with it gradually getting deeper like you are walking into the sea (especially when wave machine is on). There are water fountain stations which my baby loved watching spurt and tip out water at different speeds. There’s an assault course for rubber ducks and a pirate ship theme in a separate section to the main pool, and a further waterfall around a mini pool. There’s a water slide too but I don’t think this is always functional. It’s fantastic for kids. Reception staff were very helpful giving advice on membership etc.
The down sides were the changing rooms - there is nowhere to get dressed with privacy as there are only single changing rooms with a curtain, no family size changing rooms to put your baby down safely while you dress. It would be a squeeze to be in there with an older child too let alone more than one child. Nappy bins need emptying. The water was supposed to be 31 degrees but was very cold so must have not been heated to the correct temperature. Unfortunately parking adds quite an additional cost and drinks are basic but expensive in the cafe.
There is no accessible toilet apart from upstairs very far from the pool. Nowhere for you to go to the toilet and put your baby down or bring in the pram as toilets are too small.
There is also a gym, conference rooms and cafe on site.

Tash S.

Unfortunately we won't be revisiting! The pool is great, really good for our 3 old. However, the changing rooms are disgusting and freezing cold. There are little makeshift wooden cubicles with a shower curtain instead of actual private changing rooms, with barely enough space for one adult to change inside of. The floor was disgusting so even after using the showers your feet would end up dirty again. It's a real shame because the pool is really good but the facilities just aren't up to scratch making the visit start and end unpleasantly.

Joanna F.

After seeing so many bad reviews we were very pleased with our visit today, used both the gym & swimming with my 8 & 10 year old.
Excellent large spacious gym with new equipment, swimming pool had one slide, wave machine & toddler area. Changing rooms were good, clean with hot showers, only thing I would recommend is larger family changing rooms.
We ate in the cafe after, food was very good with a large selection & staff friendly & very helpful. Overall a great experience, we will be going back.

Andrew Y.

Went with my 2 boys. 3 year old (autistic ) and 9 year old. 9 year old loved the pool and waves !! And 3 year old loved the slide (50 steps a time ), which was good for getting exercise in ha ha.

Changing rooms are clean , only thing I would say is I had an issue with my son running off and jumping into deep end of the pool which is a high drop into the pool. Which he found hilarious and loved but could be slightly dangerous for him. Other than that amazing place, staff friendly and really clean !!

Luke B.

Staff at Leisure Centre HO seem more focused on procedures than resolving issues. The emphasis on navigating drop-down menus and red tape makes it hard to find practical solutions and to even be heard. Follow-up emails often go unanswered, and I hope the manager will get in touch, assuming they’ve seen my complaint given the communication breakdown.

Outside T. B.

Expensive membership for what you get. Swimming pool is pointless for adults as you can only swim across the pool. It is built for children so becomes too shallow too quickly in the other direction. You can probably get five adults swimming widths at any one time. If you are an adult don't even think about using it during school holidays or at the weekend .gym changing rooms are appalling outdated and much too small. Spa is ok "when working" but too small for the membership. Often overcrowded and unusable.
Gym is good and modern. during off peak times you will always find a free station, although I do notice a reluctance to fix broken equipment. Cafe is quite nice but certainly not a "brasserie", whatever one of those is, as they call it on their website.
I only use the leisure centre because I live around the corner and can easily walk there. Membership is double what it should be for the available, useable facilities.

Glen A.

Although the centre looks a bit like a prison from the outside, the centre holds some good facilities, the main pool with waves activated at times and a giant slide is very popular as its shared with the health club. There is a conference centre, arena area for events, the restaurant is good with a good meal menu, a soft play area for under 8s. The health club is dated and small and offers membership packages that include free parking on site. It is a good location for youngsters birthday parties.

jude L.

Updated and star added as the staff are great and Facility’s are good. Think they should have at least some private cubicles in changing rooms or family changing as when it’s very busy and you have your daughter with you in the mens I’d like some privacy tbh. (They are happy for you to use disabled cubicle as family if want and not taken which I appreciate but they arnt always free)
They don’t accept cash. Unfortunately though, Other than for my children’s swimming lessons I won’t use this place due to it being cashless. Anywhere cashless should be boycotted