Feedback on pools -- Arlington Forest, Dominion Hills, Overlee, High Point

[Anonymous]

Tuckahoe is very close to High Point and is awesome. Multiple pools, an indoor pool also, tennis, a playground. The wait list is 1-2 years. (Under a year for me, I got on last summer and will be in for this summer)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband is being transferred to DC and we're house hunting now in North Arlington. Our Agent has shown us a few houses near Overlee and Westover, for one she said the house came with an Overlee membership, is this a scam?
Our youngest daughter (11) is on the swim team and we'd like to find a fun team for her. Is Overlee too competitive? Also, we drove by Overlee and Dominion Hills (haven't found Arlington Forest or Columbus) Overlee is a mess. Their new pools sound nice (although expensive, nothing like that in Atlanta, even country clubs) BUT will it be ready this summer? Our agent said its on track, but I can't see how they can build a new pool when they haven't started. We only have one friend in the area and they live in McLean. Looking for some advice for pools, especially if they have long wait lists. Thanks

It's not a scam, as pool memberships can be transferred with houses and sometimes that's the only way you can get in without waiting 2-3 years. That said, Overlee is DRAMATICALLY more expensive than the others, and I'm not convinced it's that much better, even with the renovations, to warrant such a big difference. But if your kid is already 11 and on the swim team now, and you have a chance to get into Overlee, I would consider that valuable because you are unlikely to get into a cheaper one for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you visited them? We were fortunate enough to have friends invite us to both Overlee and Dominion Hills this year. While both were nice - of course -after going to Overlee, I thought I would never want to join a pool. It got as crowded and chaotic as the county pool. Ok, maybe not QUITE as bad, but close. And the county pool bounce pass is so much cheaper and you can go to several pools.

But, then we went to Dominion Hills. Granted we probably went on a less crowded day, but the atmosphere was so much more laid back and relaxing, we actually decided to get on the wait list. I'm not saying it is better, it just fit our personalities more. If you want a larger, more amenities atmosphere, Overlee would be good (I haven't been able to visit the others, so I can't say).

We go to Dominion Hills and love it. The only time I've seen it really busy is on the days that they have the picnics (with free food) for Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. By and far, everyone is laid back, nice, and friendly. I've been to Overlee a few times with friends and it is definitely busier and not as laid back.

[Anonymous]

We do not belong to Highpoint, but I've been there for a swim meet and it looked really nice.

[Anonymous]

I grew up at high point, my parents still belong and we go as guests frequently. We are in the overlee neighborhood and we looked into joining the overlee pool. When I looked at the cost comparison while it was true that Overlee was much more expensive, it also had a much longer season-- the pool opens in early April for lap swimming and stays open through Sept or Oct.

Overlee is very swim team focused and much more competitive. High Point has a swim team too, and a weaker swimmer has a better chance at getting to swim at meets.


High Point is very relaxed, and a fairly basic pool- it is a pool with changing rooms.

[Anonymous]

We love DOminion Hills too. It stays open until September 30 and the pools are heated. But we only got our membership by buying it from the people who sold us our house.

OP, the biggest issue really is going to be what neighborhood you live in. You will find that kids from certain schools tend to belong to certain pools, and your daughter will probably want to be with her school friends rather than with kids from other schools who already know each other. If the sellers of a particular house belong to Overlee, maybe that's the popular neighborhood pool for that area.

[Anonymous]

we got on the waitlist at Highpoint last summer and I believe we are 2-3 years from getting a membership. That said, I agree with PP that it suits our needs-we both WOHM and would only use the pool on weekends, basically, so we want a low-cost pool that has the basics but is not as crowded as Upton Hill. Highpoint also offers an August-only membership for those on the waitlist, so that might be something to check out if it's available.

We are thinking of joining KOC because 1) it is near us and has a great pool, although we go to FFX county schools (Haycock elementary in nearby Falls Church), and we are Catholic so my husband can be a knight and it's cheaper. Also looking at summer camp there. Also, this is the first year I would consider having my DC in a swim team so before that a swim club was less necessary.

The other clubs (Tuckahoe, Kent Gardens, Overlee) are all too expensive ($500-1000 per summer) for what we would use them for, and we don't play tennis, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we got on the waitlist at Highpoint last summer and I believe we are 2-3 years from getting a membership. That said, I agree with PP that it suits our needs-we both WOHM and would only use the pool on weekends, basically, so we want a low-cost pool that has the basics but is not as crowded as Upton Hill. Highpoint also offers an August-only membership for those on the waitlist, so that might be something to check out if it's available.

We are thinking of joining KOC because 1) it is near us and has a great pool, although we go to FFX county schools (Haycock elementary in nearby Falls Church), and we are Catholic so my husband can be a knight and it's cheaper. Also looking at summer camp there. Also, this is the first year I would consider having my DC in a swim team so before that a swim club was less necessary.
The other clubs (Tuckahoe, Kent Gardens, Overlee) are all too expensive ($500-1000 per summer) for what we would use them for, and we don't play tennis, etc.

We joined KOC last year and it was fine for us - especially the price. My husband is a Knight so the pool is quite a bit cheaper. My son also went to camp there last summer for a week and he liked it.

[Anonymous]

For those of you closer to Falls Church, I wanted to throw out a rec for Woodley Pool. It has a lovely, low-key feel, lots of shade and friendly people. Right now there's no waiting list and you don't have to buy a share until your third year. (Basically the surrounding neighborhood doesn't provide as many members as it used to, so the pool needs to go further afield to find families.) Not sure about the intensity of the swim/dive teams as my DCs are still learning to swim, but it's clean, in good repair and has cheap popsicles.

[Anonymous]

I'm reviving this very old post. Can anyone tell me what pool most of the kids that go to Jamestown Elementary in Arlington belong to? Other than Washington Golf and Country Club - cannot afford that! Knights of Columbus seems to be the closest but Overlee and some in McLean are pretty close too. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm reviving this very old post. Can anyone tell me what pool most of the kids that go to Jamestown Elementary in Arlington belong to? Other than Washington Golf and Country Club - cannot afford that! Knights of Columbus seems to be the closest but Overlee and some in McLean are pretty close too. Thanks.

Another revival, we are at Science Focus and looking for a neighborhood pool, but most folks we know are at Army Navy which is not in our budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm reviving this very old post. Can anyone tell me what pool most of the kids that go to Jamestown Elementary in Arlington belong to? Other than Washington Golf and Country Club - cannot afford that! Knights of Columbus seems to be the closest but Overlee and some in McLean are pretty close too. Thanks.

Another revival, we are at Science Focus and looking for a neighborhood pool, but most folks we know are at Army Navy which is not in our budget.

What about Donaldson Run? I have friends who are member there and they are in Lyon Village/Taylor ES. That's probably the closest thing to a neighborhood pool for your area of Arlington. I have no idea what the waitlist situation is there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm reviving this very old post. Can anyone tell me what pool most of the kids that go to Jamestown Elementary in Arlington belong to? Other than Washington Golf and Country Club - cannot afford that! Knights of Columbus seems to be the closest but Overlee and some in McLean are pretty close too. Thanks.

Another revival, we are at Science Focus and looking for a neighborhood pool, but most folks we know are at Army Navy which is not in our budget.

There aren't great options. There are 4 private pools in Arlington- Overlee, Dominion Hills, Arlington Forest, Donaldson Run.
Donaldson Run has a very limited geographical area (e.g. substantially less than North Arlington) and I don't think Lyon Park would be included.
Overlee is near Lee Harrison- it has around a 8-10 year waitlist.
I'm not sure how long the Dominion Hills waitlist is (its really close to Upton Hill)
Arlington Forest has a priority area, which Lyon Park is not in, and for those outside the priority area the waitlist is over 10 years. However- it allows people to privately sell their memberships- so if you know someone who is a member who wants to leave, you could buy their membership.


Then there are the country clubs, and the aforementioned knights of columbus.

after those 4- people go out of the county. Here is a map of NVSL pools- https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Mj716Usy...8305%2C-77.17975474804689&z=11

if that link doesn't work- go here- http://www.mynvsl.com/documents?folder_id=28206

lots of Arlington families go to pools right over the border- Tuckahoe, High Point, Kent Gardens, etc.

[Anonymous]

Another option if you work for the federal government (at a certain level and above, I don't know what the cut-off is) is the pool at Ft Myer. We're in Lyon Park and probably more of my neighbors go there than anywhere else.

We did KOC for a couple years but my kids missed the play structures at Upton Hill so then we decided to just go there until we figured out where their ES friends were going. Turns out they all go to either Ft. Myer (which we can't join), country clubs (we can't afford), or Upton Hill or W-L. So, we just continued with the NVRPA Bounce Passes and go to Upton Hill or the water park in Alexandria that has the big wave pool.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for reviving this. We are highpoint members but there is a HUGE spike in fees this year so considering not renewing. I think it's about $900 for a family of three. We both WOH and our kid goes to camp so we'll only be going on weekends (and not all weekends either). It seemed pretty high (I think like $100 per visit or something) when we calculated it.