Recently, I was invited to a birthday party a friend of mine was throwing for her boyfriend and was…read morepleasantly surprised to see that it was going to be held at H-F Ice Arena. These days, it seems, they offer packages where people can rent out a party room along with ice time in the adjoining studio rink for the exclusive use of all the guests. The perfect setting for her hockey player beau. On the invitations, we were told to bring our sticks and pucks to shoot around on the ice if we liked, which surprised me a little because the studio I remembered in the past was not painted with blue lines, face off circles and creases. It is now. Anyhow, everyone had a blast. So much so that they had to peel a couple of us off the ice when our time was done. The party was a huge success and now we're thinking about renting the studio to have a mini game or two in the near future. Time to dust off the pads, I guess...and update my Blue Cross policy.

HF Ice arena has some of the best ice around for the serious skater. The ice is always…read moreimmaculately maintained, the arena is clean and bright, the staff is friendly and the store has a nice selection of both figure skating and hockey gear. They have a nice party room and a small studio rink that can both be rented for a reasonable cost for birthday parties and such. The only downside is their extremely limited public skate hours (currently only on Friday and Saturday nights for an hour and a half) which means it is often very crowded, and there is not a lot of freestyle time available either. A few years ago, the little HF ice arena was nationally known because its figure skating program was truly outstanding. The synchronized skating teams (the HF Icettes) occasionally won the ISI or USFSA national championship, and often took silver or gold medals, earning them frequent invitations to skate in professional ice shows such as Superstars on Ice, etc. Unfortunately, a couple of years ago, the park district stopped supporting the arena, and the Icettes disbanded. Its sad. Within a couple of years a great ice arena with a national reputation for its stellar figure skating program became a good ice arena that few have ever heard of. Still a great place to skate though, if you can get there during the few times they are open.

We came here for a hockey game, but the Ninja Park is awesome!…read more For hockey, it was a nice rink with a raised adjacent bar with windows, so it made for a great viewing spot for the game. There's also a huge overlook where many of the spectators watched from, because the bleachers were not much higher than the glass. The only complaint is that there are only two stairwells to get to the balcony... one on the far side of the ice and one through the bar. Slightly challenging with little ones. As far as the Ninja Park, we didn't use it, but we were able to observe it from the lobby and it is quite the adventure! There were tons of inflatable spaces to jump, climb, and play on. There were long slides and trampoline areas and you could tell the kids were having a blast. The concession stand was hopping, here. The smell of the fresh pizza was awesome. The line for concessions was always packed and the prices were above average, but still reasonable. Lastly, the local police was handing out for a few hours while we were there, so it felt safe.

We came here on a Thursday around 5pm in October and almost had the entire place to ourself. Around…read more6pm it started to get busy. The price was around $20 for a 90 minute jump. We had purchased a groupon so it was a little cheaper. You have to purchase socks there for $3 or if you bring old ninja socks from here they will trade them. My 2 year old was free. He absolutely loved it. Loved jumping and the toddler area. The parking lot was huge. Overall this was convenient and a good value.

5 stars for staff running classes, quality of facilities, and offered programs. The problem is team…read moreselection/player placement in their sports programs. These programs are directed for elementary ages and someone is clearly being paid off or strong armed somewhere in the park district when choosing these teams (read cliques). Honestly, it's embarrassing to watch the lists season after season. The park district will scream from the rooftops that the teams are chosen based on when a person signs up but it's the biggest load and everyone knows it. Shame bc even the kids know it. Unfortunately we will be seeking programs outside the park district from now on.

Great nine hole course. Tougher than it looks. Walking is great exercise with all of the hills.read more

I'm not a skater but my husband is an avid skater and he learned here as a kid. We've come a few…read moretimes and I watched him but decided to skate and try it. They do offer classes which I will take as well and we met one of the owners who was so gracious and he gave a friendly reminder that they do have lessons. We went on Sunday which was gospel skate day from 1pm-330 and it is free to the community. This is every Sunday! Donations are encouraged and if you need rentals it's $3. I think that is a tenfold blessing that they do that! This will be our go to after church. It was beautiful to see families skating of all ages! Loved seeing and feeling COMMUNITY:)

When I was here at the rink I had an awful and terrible experience! The staff seemed nice but were…read moreextremely heartless and cold. I pitched a ticket for 5$ at 7 and skated for a bit. While skating I thought the music was obnoxiously loud it read 89-93 on the online decibel reader. However the music became not just over stimulating, but nausea inducing. So I asked to step outside, they said yes but that they usually don't do it but, the one worker said if you need to get some air yes, which was the case. I stepped out for approximately 30 minutes and while that's a long time, why does it matter? Upon returning I was told I took too long and have to re pay to get in. Mind you I was told I was ok, if I had know it wasn't I would have stayed as I didn't drive myself. In the end I payed an additional 8 dollars as I had no other choice. It's a shame because I visited this place as a kid when I visited Chicago and had fond memories, now I will never return. Overall I had a terrible experience, received nothing but negative and cold energy. You never know what a costumer is going through. And in the opportunity to choose kindness and compassion they chose to do the opposite. (One worker though tried to help me shout out u! )

Noise ordinance is not followed. Loud leaf blowers as early as 6am, unfortunately. Very disturbing…read morein the morning and not following the local noise standards.

Fantastic and scenic course in immaculate condition. It's a diamond in the rough…read more My only issue was the sand traps. They need to bring in truckloads of good sand to fill their traps. It's like hitting out of cement and it wouldn't cost a lot to fill them in with good sand, at least the ones that are near the greens. It's impossible to get your wedge under the sand.

I've been anticipating the completion of the park since a first opened. This is a 3.5 star place at…read morethe moment but this used to be a former parking lot and they have converted it into a giant city Square for potential Gatherings and events which will possibly bring in some revenue for the city. I'm not a fan of the " Unity Dome " it's not worth the $200,000 that was fit for this. The park itself looks very beautiful but I do feel like it is a bit underwhelming and not really worth the wait. The city does have plenty of great events coming up in the future so we'll see how more locals respond to it. Overall, I did enjoy my peaceful little walk around here. You get to learn nice interesting facts about Route 66. Hopefully they allow alcohol in the park which is what they plan on doing with this city square is to turn it into a social space of sorts.

Come play hockey with the most fun Women's team out there!…read moreWe have fun on and off the ice. There's no other club out there like ours! Great way to exercise and make new friends.

Beware, ice assesment was conducted and the managers of the Storm charged each girl $20 for ice…read moretime in the small training arena. There were ten girls, and ice time on the small arena is $115.00. While the $20 is typical for ice time on the large arena, what did the husband wife duo do with the extra $85.00 cash? Adult "play for fun" Hockey league coaches are volunteers. That is pretty dishonest.

This place is living relic on the east side of Joliet. As an "athletic club" you can only enter as…read morea dues paying member or with a member. This allows them to be very selective on who is able to hang out. This keeps people in line and has ensured that it stay a friendly and family oriented place. If you have the ability, belly up, it is a laid back old school bar and much more.

Don't know why it's called an Athletic club, they don't do anything athletic, think it's so they…read morecan have a tax thing, First I have to say the drinks are cheap $1.00 for draft beer, $2.00 for bottled beer, Mixed drinks are only $2.50 or $3.00, and they give plenty of free ones out, you can't beat that, Oh and Friday night is ladies night where the women get drinks for half price. Second they have free food for football games and on many occasions, The summer picnic is fantastic. Third the gambling machines pay off well and it's cash money, also many football pools, pull tabs, raffles, etc. Texas hold-em, small crowds but big payoffs. The down side is the bartenders are paid cash and not enough, so you don't get the best quality people, some have poor attitudes, It is a mans club so women can not belong, so for the single guys ,it's pretty slim pickens, The saddest thing with a black man running for the presidency of the United States, there are no black members, don't really know why? considering it's in the middle of a black neighborhood.