Portishead Open Air Pool

I really enjoyed my trip last year, I went and it was affordable and fun. Not everything was perfect but it's the experience and pool that matters - not just the paint work. 🤣 Lately, after being closed, I looked and now it seems you have to book a week in advance - which is fine - it just means no walk-ins. 😥 I also noticed that in the working week, it is open before and after work times but there isn't much in the day. It would be nice to be open most of the day to go when it's quieter before school kids come. It's still a great place to go and swim in a heated pool like a bath with a beautiful view. Chef's kiss. But I would just like to see some more flexibility as of late! 🙈

· via Google

“A complete waste of money” was something I heard someone in the queue say, and I thought it summed up our experience perfectly. Yes, I said queue. Apparently, it’s appropriate to oversell, fill the pool with people and then make the remaining people queue up and wait, despite having paid to come and swim. Ridiculous, and made even worse with young kids. The best bit is, when you finally get in the pool, not only is it chaos because the pool is at capacity, you get 20 minutes before a whistle is blown and you have to get out and queue up again. I’m not sure who’s running this place, but this is quite clearly a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you have to wait to use the thing you’ve paid for, and time is limited, you’re not going to get out, chill on the side, buy a drink or pop into the kids pool, which puts even more pressure on this ridiculous system. Plus, quite frankly, it spoils the whole experience. When I spoke to a member of staff, he told me that there is a cap of 250 people. Anybody can see that this is too high and that this system doesn’t work. If you need to drop it to 200 and charge more, do it. I’d rather pay a bit more and actually be able to enjoy myself. The thing is, this just comes across as greedy. The reason the pool is full is because they have a good reputation and people want to visit. Thankfully for them, once that reputation is tarnished and they’ve spoilt their relationships with their customers, they won’t have the problem of too many people wanting to come. I won’t be coming back, and I can’t imagine anyone I know will either, after what I’ve shared. Complete waste of time, money and a good Sunday afternoon.

· via Google

Fantastic heated outdoor pool. Super clean changing rooms with hot showers and individual and family changing pods. Lifeguards on duty which is great. Pool is lovely and warm. Loads of seating to relax. Really good value for money. Definitely will return and keep recommending to others.

· via Google

Absolutely brilliant place for a swim in the summer! Not too busy even when fully booked!

· via Google