Vivo

Good experience. Went to the back and used the free space with the ruber pad on the floor to practice my group dance for PE. Had pleanty of room and the other people using the space were friendly. Clean.

Very disappointed. I went to Vivo recently with my 3-​year-​old on the recommendation of my wife. She recommended their open gym which she has gone to during the week which included activities and a bouncy castle etc.
I paid the $ 19 (ouch!) and went in to the yellow gym. There was nothing set up, no families, no equipment that wasn’t already being used by the people overflowing from the red gym. I really thought I went to the wrong gym.
After realizing that this wasn’t what I had wanted, I went to get a refund. No problem, right? Nope. Apparently, they can only give out free passes. I just wanted my money back so I declined the free passes.
They made a copy of my receipt and passed along my info to guest services which, I guess, are the only people who can issue refunds.
I probably won’t go back anytime soon as I still have yet to receive the refund.

Wish the water in the pool was warmer. My twins lips are always turning purple and they get so cold :(

I went here for a workout last week. At first it looked good, that soon changed. With all the signs posted about belongings not being safe, I didn’t even want to use a locker. I made sure to take my wallet, keys, watch and anything of value with me. When I work out at World Health I feel like I can leave my things locked up in the locker without worry.
I started my warmup on the treadmill and went to put my water bottle in the cup holder. I was disgusted to see gum in the cup holder. I moved to the next treadmill even worse, a used band aid in that cup holder. Geez doesn’t this place have cleaning staff with eyes. I put my water bottle on the floor and finished the warm up. I moved on to start my workout in the free weight area. I felt like I was the only one there to actually work out and not hangout with my homies. People were at the benches and platforms, not doing anything with them and clearly not caring that I was waiting to jump in for a set. Overall I felt like I wasted my money, because I didn’t get my regular workout done.
I’ll stick to World Health instead.

Fun place for me an some friends to hang out. I love this place! Basically a second home for me

I’m so grossed out by this place & will only use it if I’m passing by & need to use the washroom, even then I’ll hover. My son went here a couple days ago & was freaked out with some of the other users & filth, he won’t go back either. This place is within a km of my home & is only 12 years old but boy it sure isn’t looked after. The cleaning people clearly don’t know how to clean, they don’t have anybody training or supervising their work, yuck! You’ll be sick for certain if you use the pool. I stopped going to the fitness centre there years back because they use a community cleaning towel & watered down spray cleaner. They regularly have out of order cardio equipment that’s awaiting repairs & people are lined up almost standing over your shoulder waiting for you to finish on the equipment you’ve just started using. If this is what a fitness centre is I’d rather not have a membership. The cost of memberships here is higher than a city facility, this place hasn’t seen any renovations or upgrades in 12 years. How are the interior concrete stairs in such disrepair. & chipped away so badly? The pool is small, no slides or waves — nothing to do there either. Even the food court is a joke. Go to a City of a Calgary recreation centre. Parking is impossible even at the best of times.

Great place for families. Swimming, working out, gym, rock climbling etc etc. something for everyone. We have gone many times and even signed up in programs at this location. Highly recommended.

Excellent facility! Gym is nice, pool could be bigger but no complaints. Friendly staff. Overall awesome gym!

Really love this place. If u ever want to go swimming there’s a pool. It has a kiddie pool, jacuzzi, river, steam rooms, also a deep end with water wall climb. You can also go to the gym. Go wall climbing or even rent out a court to play basketball, badminton etc. There’s also a library and a Jugo Juice. Parking is ok but if full there’s a school nearby where u can park.

Review #17 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012
We started coming to Cardel Place shortly after it opened. Our kids have been involved in swimming and skating lessons as well as have hosted birthday parties here. We’ve also come for different events that occur during the year.
When we first switched swimming lessons from the City of Calgary Recreation we were pleased to learn Cardel had a salt water pool. Not too long after the pool went from a salt water to chlorine… which really wasn’t an issue except we still to this day do not know why.
Our kids have pretty much done all their swimming lessons in this pool and as such we’ve seen many an instructor. We’ve had issues with the instructors in the past but some issues have been resolved and we continue to come back.
There are definitely areas they have to work on to make this a better recreation facility. Such as there is no leeway with cancelling swim lessons. Let’s say you book your child into session 1 and then the next level session 2 right after because you have to book that far in advance on the day registration opens. Said child does not pass session 1 so you are automatically screwed and lose most of your money for session 2 because the child can not advance if they don’t pass. There is no compassion or concern for a child that didn’t pass or whatever reason you may have to cancel the lesson. This is a money grab that needs to be addressed… «we have your money, not caring if you need to cancel, end of story».
Another disappointment I must add is which is not entirely Cardel’s fault is when swim lessons are happening the waiting area and family change rooms are absolutely disgusting. I do see employees around cleaning but you also see disrespect in the parents who walk around with their dirty shoes, getting the floor filthy, when it is very clear and obvious you are not to wear dirty outdoor shoes in the pool area. I guess people can’t read. You also have parents who go into the family changes rooms and save/​hold them for up to 15 minutes waiting for their child even though there are signs that say you are not allowed to do this making others wait. I’ve tried to find somebody to complain to about this but never anyone around that can do anything to help. We spend a lot of time at this pool and nothing has changed in this area in almost 7 yrs. They need full time policing, a guard or some form of full time supervision.
Parking can be frustrating when they have an event going on here and you don’t know about it but yet still have to get your kids in for swimming lessons. And it is always busy (which I think is a good thing?) but should also mean there is funding available for improvements. More food options would also be a great idea.
The first birthday party we had here in 2009 went over really well and everyone was very helpful. The latter one in 2011 let’s just say new employees when booking parties who were not as friendly but the kids still had fun and the party was a success.
In the end we do enjoy coming to Cardel Place. Registration is fairly easy even though you need to be on the phone the minute registration opens and then pray you get through. We like that the pool is geared towards kids and is warm.
If only some of the aforementioned areas could be improved upon… we would love it instead of just liking it there.

Compact, library in front with Jugo Juice just behind. Couple of basketball courts, bunch of activities and a fairly well stocked gym but sadly no squash courts and the climbing wall should be open more often.
Cardel is great for kids, and that’s definitely one thing it doesn’t lack. The pool is definitely oriented towards kids.

I really like this facility, but I don’t love it. Its location is great if you live in the Northern Hills, it is clean and most of the staff here are great but there are a couple of issues with it that I will elaborate on.
I usually enrol my kids in swimming here but good luck trying to get them into skating if you miss the first day of registration! I find that although the space itself is large, the swimming area is small compared to Thornhill and Village Square, hence, the limited classes. Also the lesson times are only half an hour where other places run for at least 45 minutes and have a 5 – 10 free play session. Beware, if you have to cancel a swimming session, the cancellation fee is about half of what the session costs! I was unaware of that till I saw my receipt. They really should stress that! Also, there was one specific instructor whose name rhymes with Derek who made my kid cry on his first day of swimming. I guess I was not the only parent with issues with this guy because I have not seen him there since my kids last swimming session. PS he failed my son because of jumping in the pool when it wasn’t his turn. What an ass. These kids are like 6. What kind of professionalism does he expect out of a 6 year old?
That aside, it has great birthday packages for kids and they do offer some pretty cool classes at decent prices and seasonal activities throughout the year. My kids love the climbing wall! I enjoy the library there and love the little kids section for my little guys to hang out and get their nerd on. Rink time is limited and unless you are in a class or have it reserved; there is only 1 free skate on Sunday afternoon.
There are not many options for grub there, really, the only thing I noticed was a sandwich place and a Jugo juice, but there are many places near-​by to eat.
For its location, variety of classes offered, and friendly staff I give it a solid 3 stars. Would have given it 4 if it wasn’t for the asshole swim instructor.

I always thought this area of the city deserved some sort of fitness centre. Okay, there is that jogging store, but that’s about it. You can imagine my delight when Cardel Place opened up.
This place literally has everything available to keep you active. There’s giant courts that you can play basketball in, they have squash rooms, there’s a huge pool for a little play — or serious swim, which ever you prefer — and in the winter there is a family skating rink.
The prices aren’t even that ridiculous. A one-​time drop-​in rate for an adult over 18 is only $ 11. That means you pay that little to be able to swim, exercise and use the weight room. Obviously, the more you buy the better the prices get. If you purchase a ten-​time pas it’s only $ 99, and a one hundred-​time pass is $ 803… a $ 300 value!
The staff are all super nice at Cardel as well. If you’re confused about how something works, don’t hesitate to ask them because I’m sure they’ve heard stupider things before! Cardel is your one-​stop-​shop for all your get-​fit needs.