We live in a townhome community with a pool and tennis association. We're required to join and pay the annual dues, which are about $300/year. Totally worth it to us.

Anonymous wrote:There's a pool club in our neighborhood, and the hotels nearby also offer a membership. I called one of the hotels--$1200 for three months!! Even if we went every weekend for the whole summer, that would still be $100/swim.

At $700 for the summer, that's still about $60 a week. I'd want to be going 4-5 times per week, every week, for that money.

I'd much rather do a pay as you go option (and I know the hotels used to do that). I'd definitely pay $20 (per person, even) to get a whole day hotel pool pass.

Ouch, that is expensive! Our pool club is about $700 a summer and stays open from mid-may through the end of September. (You pay an initial buy in of $800 but you get that back when you quit the club.) We probably use the pool at least 40 times during that period, and we have 2 kids and 2 adults in our family so it's totally worth it. I'd never pay $100 a swim!

There's a pool club in our neighborhood, and the hotels nearby also offer a membership. I called one of the hotels--$1200 for three months!! Even if we went every weekend for the whole summer, that would still be $100/swim.

At $700 for the summer, that's still about $60 a week. I'd want to be going 4-5 times per week, every week, for that money.

I'd much rather do a pay as you go option (and I know the hotels used to do that). I'd definitely pay $20 (per person, even) to get a whole day hotel pool pass.

Anonymous wrote:Why do people pay to use a pool when they are plenty of free and nice municipal ones? I'm not trying to be snarky; I just honestly don't know. What are the added benefits?

Where we live the public pools get really crowded, and they draw people from all over so you won't usually run into anyone you know. At our private (not fancy) pool club it is much calmer, you can always get a good seat, you can walk away from your stuff without worrying about it, and there are almost always friends from the neighborhood there for the kids to play with. Plus it's 2 minutes from home so it's easy to run over for an hour or two or even in the evening, as it stays open til 8 or 9. It is common for families to order pizza or pack dinner and hang out while the kids swim. They also have special events like BBQs, adult parties, 4th of July, etc. It's a totally different atmosphere, much more relaxing and community-oriented than a public pool.

That said, if you work a lot or have a vacation house or other things you like to do with your kids in the summer, I can see why it wouldn't be worth joining a pool. We go several times a week so it's totally money well spent for us.

We actually belong to three pools. It was an odd circumstance this year. Next year we'll cut it down.

Nope, you're not the only one. We have no interest in joining a pool. It's not worth the money to me. Our kids are in camp all day, and both of us work. At night the kids have sports, academic, and music lessons. We wouldn't have time. When we want to go to a pool, we use the pools at our gym or the local pools. We live in FFX county. DCs like other sports, so we wouldn't do swim team. I think they would be bored on swim team.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people pay to use a pool when they are plenty of free and nice municipal ones? I'm not trying to be snarky; I just honestly don't know. What are the added benefits?

Where are the free municipal pools?

All over DC: Wilson Aquatic Center, Francis Pool, Volta Pool, Jelleff Pool, etc etc. Some are better than others; the ones I've listed are clean and nice...

http://app.dpr.dc.gov/dprmap/index.asp?group=5&query=AND{%277%27.EX.%27All%20Aquatics%27}OR{%277%27.EX.%27Aquatic%20Center%27}OR{%277%27.EX.%27Outdoor%20Pool%27}OR{%277%27.EX.%27Children%20Pool%27}OR{%277%27.EX.%27Spray%20Park%27}

Because often the lifeguards are nicer and locker rooms are cleaner at private pools, and the pools tend to be less crowded. The lifeguards at Wilson are often very rude.

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Anonymous wrote:But they're only free for DC residents. We don't live in DC.

I would imagine that with their wealth and prosperity, MoCo and Fairfax County would have free pools for their residents. Look into it. You can use DC pools for a nominal fee.

Then you would imagine wrong -- at least for Montgomery County, where the cost for county residents is $4 per kid and $6 per adult. (Compared to the "nominal fee" for non-DC residents of $4 per kid and $7 per adult.)

So joining a pool would be cheaper? Again, what are the added benefits? I'm imagining cabana boys who serve pina coladas.

It's a good way to be part of your local neighborhood community especially if you go to private school.

There are not free towels or pina coladas. That is a country club. Most pools are pretty basic. The cost is very different at each pool. Our pool is $700 for the summer. Open May 22-Labor Day. Initiation was $1000 payable over 2 years. Lots of families do swim team so there are there every day till the end of July. August tends to be a little more quiet. There are tennis courts as well as a tennis program for an extra fee.

If you don't do camp, for a family a four or more it can be a pretty reasonable activity for the summer.

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Kids are in private, and we don't do camps. Our neighborhood pool is hugely popular, and my kids love the swim team. We also trek around DC and go to the beach for a week or two. But having a popular pool two minutes away can't be beat. Especially compared to paying for camps x3 kids. The parents are chill, and it's a fun place to hang out. Many of our friends do the CC thing, but that's a whole different thread...

I grew up in Southern California, near the beach and many outdoor pools (YMCA, apt. complexes, friends who had them). Loved going to the beach and pools growing up. Haven't really enjoyed the beaches in this area (not worth the drive). We've used the local rec center pool, but it's over-chlorinated and, well, indoors (and we're in FFX, so no, the pools aren't free). We joined an outdoor pool last summer and it's been great - DC is 4 and loves it, and DC's swimming skills have improved significantly just by being in the water a lot. DH and I both work full time, and DC is in camp during the summer. We still go to our pool at least 4 times a week - one of us watches DC in the pool while the other does laps, on weekdays we'll bring dinner or order pizza.

I came from an area where the pool options were the town pool (cheap but no frills, amenities), belonging to a country club (hideously expensive and not our social scene) or drive to the beach (an hour away). The whole DC swim club thing was new to us. I actually think we would have enjoyed having something like this in our neighborhood when are kids were younger. They are late teens now and avoid these sorts of things now, unfortunately.

We joined a pool this summer and have concluded it is really not worth it. We have been to the pool 7 times all summer for our $450 membership. Our kids go to summer camp and are too tired to go to the pool after a full day of camp. We will not join the pool next summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But they're only free for DC residents. We don't live in DC.

I would imagine that with their wealth and prosperity, MoCo and Fairfax County would have free pools for their residents. Look into it. You can use DC pools for a nominal fee.

Then you would imagine wrong -- at least for Montgomery County, where the cost for county residents is $4 per kid and $6 per adult. (Compared to the "nominal fee" for non-DC residents of $4 per kid and $7 per adult.)

So joining a pool would be cheaper? Again, what are the added benefits? I'm imagining cabana boys who serve pina coladas.

It's a good way to be part of your local neighborhood community especially if you go to private school.

There are not free towels or pina coladas. That is a country club. Most pools are pretty basic. The cost is very different at each pool. Our pool is $700 for the summer. Open May 22-Labor Day. Initiation was $1000 payable over 2 years. Lots of families do swim team so there are there every day till the end of July. August tends to be a little more quiet. There are tennis courts as well as a tennis program for an extra fee.

If you don't do camp, for a family a four or more it can be a pretty reasonable activity for the summer.

Grew up going to a swim/tennis club all summer. Loving it so far with our kids. Hope they get into swim team too.

We love our pool membership! Obviously personal preference, but it's so much fun and relaxing to have a nice pool to visit every weekend.

We used to go to Wilson, but it just wasn't fun. (mostly because indoor)

Anonymous wrote:No pool membership. No backyard pool. If kids want to swim, we do a drop-in at the Y or one of Monty County's community centers that has a pool. We do not feel deprived.

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