I decided to sign my daughter up for the free "try out" session to see how she, my husband, and I liked Big Blue Swim School. We were asked to come a few minutes before our scheduled lesson time. When we arrived, there was plenty of parking in their parking lot. We were greeted and given a quick tour of the facilities. I was immediately impressed with the hair drying station, changing rooms, cubby storage, children's play/waiting area, and even the pool, which is kept at I believe 90 degrees year round, which is a huge plus for my daughter. When it was time, someone calls all the kids scheduled for that time to check in with them and tells the kids which swim lane to go to. Parents can choose to wait and watch behind glass, or go in and sit on the benches next to the pool. They do little tests during the lesson, but they make it so fun that the kids don't even realize they're being watched and tested. My daughter was rated on her current abilities, and we were approached by Julie (I think), given a welcome bag with some goodies, and told of my daughter's swim level. She went over how everything worked, rates, and answered all of our questions. When the lesson was over, the kids walk over to the shower stations (which are right next to the pool) to wash off. We decided to sign my daughter up for weekly lessons. She's gone a few times now, tried a few instructors, and we have concluded that Alexis is the best. He is so engaged the whole time, not looking off into space like some other instructors. The kids are always laughing with him, and my daughter actually smiles during her lesson with him. Additionally, I feel that his methods are more efficient and have seen improvement in my daughter's abilities. I have navigated Big Blue's website and give the site 4 stars. As much as I like the ease of signing up, changing/editing, adding, or canceling lessons and paying, I wish there was a way to see a month view with lesson and instructor labeled. Currently, I am having to edit each lesson individually to request the specific instructor. Overall, I am more than happy paying the $23 a lesson for my daughter to get swim lessons here. I recommend trying to free trial lesson. You have nothing to lose and will not be disappointed! read more

**Rating:** (1/5) We originally signed up for a trial class for my daughter last Saturday. It is a far drive for us coming from Chicago, and we were literally 10 minutes away from the facility when they texted to say the class was canceled. No explanation was given. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and had a second class scheduled for today. Just as we were about to walk out the door to leave, they texted us saying they were canceling again. That is twice now they have canceled on us completely out of the blue, without any explanation, and at the absolute last minute. It's one thing if a business needs to cancel and provides a respectful 24-hour notice, but it is an entirely different thing to consistently cancel at the last possible second. When I confronted them about this via text, they dodged the question entirely. Instead of offering a real reason or trying to make it up to us in any way, they just gave a canned "we apologize and understand you're frustrated" response. As someone with influence over other parents on social media, I will absolutely be sharing this experience. I will be telling everyone to take their business elsewhere. This location operates with complete unprofessionalism and a glaring disregard for simple respect for their customers' time. Look for another swim school. read more

We've tried a few places and we settled here. My goal was to get my son to go underwater and now he does. But...with goggles, because they require them to wear that here. Going to a pool without goggles - well, that's another story. At least he is learning techniques to swim. I like the fact they have an app where you can check in, change classes, and see his progress - if something is entered. He was in Bold Blue 1 for quite a long time and it kept showing he had not fulfilled the requirements, nor has done any of them. Then one day...boom, it was all done and he moved up to Bold Blue 2. So one week passes, no progress, week 2 and nothing. Week 3 - one task fulfilled. I don't understand how and when it is monitored. BUT...we go weekly. We sit in the bright room and watch our little boy swim for half an hour. He's happy. We're happy. read more

Big Blue Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Niles, Illinois

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When my daughter initially started swimming classes here, everything went well, but things took a turn later on. The school repeatedly canceled classes without explanation and promised to send us make-up vouchers, which we never received. They charged a significant amount for each class but canceled whenever they chose. We paid over hundred dollars a month for 4 sessions, but they canceled so frequently. It's a waste of money and complete waste of our time too, as we'd show up only to find out the class was canceled without any prior notice. I strongly recommend AVOIDING this place if you don't want to waste both your time and money! We called customer service multiple times and they never pick up their phone. AVOID AT ALL COST. read more

My daughter started swimming with Alexandra C at Big Blue in Niles and she loved her teacher! Alexandra made swim so much fun that my daughter, who is not a swimmer at all, excited to go to class every week. read more

We'll give it three stars, for now. At this point, I can't quite say it's worth the $130 per month for four classes per week. We had our first lesson recently and no one gave us any direction at all of what should be doing once we get in the water, so the baby and I were just sitting there for at least 10 minutes--it wasn't until I finally asked someone with a clipboard walking around when we would actually get the lesson started that we finally started to get some instruction. If I had to add it up, we got about five minutes--TOPS--of 1:1 time; otherwise, there was one guy literally helping roughly 10 other parents/children. $130 for five mins of 1:1 time?! Not a good value proposition. We'll give it a month since one of our friends gifted our baby one month. If things don't improve, we'll be canceling and going elsewhere. read more

They offer a free trial lesson and of course I had to take advantage of that. My daughter had gone to another swim school when we lived in another part of the city before we moved to Edison Park so I was interested to see what may be different. She is old enough now that I do not have to enter the pool with her as well. They have an amazing staff to kids ratio. I have never seen more than 3 kids to an instructor at her age/skill level. Then the pool also has life guards and a few others walking around observing and checking to see if a child has passed a skill level. There is seating for parents both inside and outside of the pool area. Then the large train table and coloring station makes us come early or stay a little later after class. The online parent portal makes it easy to book a class last minute and see what skills your child is still working on. I love easy...... read more

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They continue to auto charge my credit card despite trying to cancel multiple times. Completely unacceptable. The lessons and environment are too intense for brand new learners and those under 2 years. Most of the littles are just screaming and crying in the pool the entire half hour, which is not a good investment. We have found several other places in the area to be better equipped, and with much better customer service. read more

My grandson George attends here. The staff here are amazing! Special shout-out to Alexander. His patience and caring for George is amazing. I have witnessed several occasions of kids that were afraid to go into the pool. The team here do not force the issue but have some sort of magical way and get those kids in the water. Highly recommend Big Blue! read more

Big Blue Swim School - Celebrating passing level - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Niles, Illinois

The staff here are very rude, my child has taken some lessons and after a week of the lessons, he came to me crying.

I'm sad to say that after having my kids at this swim school for several years, I am discontinuing their classes. The place has unfortunately gone downhill. They keep losing their instructors so there's no continuity. This week, my daughter, who is in level Bold 3, was placed with kids who could barely get across the pool with a floatie. This means the instructor has to devote his time to the less experienced swimmers and barely teaches the other kids how to refine their stroke. When I asked about it, they said there wasn't room for my daughter in the Bold 3 class. Instead, they've been putting her in a "mixed level" class since her last instructor left. But no one bothers to tell me this despite charging $30+ per class. With them constantly increasing their prices, it's just not worth it anymore. The 1 star is for Christina who teaches my son in the Big Blue level. She is an absolute rockstar, and I hope management recognizes that and does what they can to keep her around. read more

My son has learned a lot from this swim school. He is no longer afraid of getting water in his face and has learned some swim skills. Mya is a great instructor! The only thing I'm not a fan of is when you call to reschedule lessons you can only schedule one week a head of time. This makes it difficult to organize your lessons for the month. I end up forgetting to call or have to call multiple times a month which has become annoying. I may purchase fewer sessions next time because of this. read more

I was a skeptic. My daughter has been attending for several years, and I questioned the progress. Yesterday I watched her swim all four strokes with authority. These folks did a good job with her and for her. Thanks read more

As a first time mom, I wanted to take my son for a swim lesson and document this first experience. I understand the pool has a policy that only one parent is allowed in the pool, but I find it absolutely ridiculous that I was not allowed to stay inside the pool are on the benches. Yes I was allowed in once to take a couple of pictures but I did ask the front desk if I could sit inside and they said yes. The manger kicked me out and made me watch the rest of the class behind the glass window where I could barely see my son and was robbed of this fist experience. For this reason I would not recommend this place. I would gladly pay for both my husband and I to be In the pool with him but was not given the option. read more

I have been taking my children here for almost a year, weekly classes. At the beginning, Chris, the manager was great and helped us have consistency with the instructors so my children were actually learning something for the $30 for 30 minutes per child lessons. The past few months there has been no consistency, each instructor has their own rules, the instructors are leaving on a weekly basis. The ratio is 3 children to 1 instructor. These instructors are not trained to handle little children. I received a phone call from Patty the manager, stating they "can no longer accommodate my 3 year old son for swimming lessons because he keeps jumping in the water." I was there weekly with my children and no one brought up any issues, yet i get a phone call stating they recommend 1:1 swimming classes for him. My son was in the big blue 2 class. That level means swimming laps back and forth most of the time. At their last session, my kids swam 3 laps one way in 30 minutes, and were given toys to play on the side of the pool for most of the time. Clearly a 3 year old will not be patient on the side of the pool playing with toys, when he is in "swimming class" The instructors are constantly changing and the quality of this place has really gone downhill since Chris, the manager left. I was considering canceling classes for a while due to the decline in quality, different instructors every lesson, and my children not advancing in any way due to the inconsistency. Thankfully, they decided to let me know with a phone call that my son is no longer welcome during their busy times because they can not handle it (but they would let him swim if it was an earlier, not as busy time). It is disappointing that after a year of building connections with big blue staff and my children meeting new instructors on a weekly basis, all I get is a phone call. Big Blue staff, I hope you learn to value your long time customers in the future. read more

Great school. Managers and staffs are always welcoming and keeping my kids' progress on track. Our instructor Alexis is awesome and patient at coaching kids. They sanitize chair after a parent use and leave, keep social distancing, check temperature and put sanitizers many places in convenient reach. read more

My two daughters had started swim lessons twice a week in March 2021 - when things were starting to shift during the pandemic in a positive way. Our experience at first was awesome - would have given 5 stars - class sizes were 2-3 kids at most, the instructors were consistent, our girls were earning stars and learning and progressing quickly. Each lesson you could see exactly what they were working on so when they earned a star you knew they deserved it. It was so motivating and wonderful! They learned how to swim so quickly! However, about a month or two ago, it seems like all of the awesome, engaging staff left for some reason. The girls haven't earned a star since, despite clearly knowing how to do the strokes and swim. Sometimes the instructors literally don't even work on what they're supposed to - they just swim back and forth for 30 minutes without any attempt at different strokes, styles, or progress they're supposed to be doing. One of the instructors looks angry the entire time. I'm not an employee obviously - but I've been watching them both swim twice a week for 6 months, so the change has been stark. We were planning to end the sessions once the school year started anyways and come back next spring/summer but are rethinking returning given the less than stellar end to our experience. Hope it turns back around! read more

So originally I had 5 stars but I deleted my other review and I'm giving you an update. So we were members before covid when covid hit we stopped it because why get charged over $100 each month when they were closed. You would think they would just pause it for you but whatever. But I did pay for a month before I stopped. So I had make ups on my account. Well finally I decided to get my child back into it. On my account they offered a free trial swim so you can make sure your comfortable with how everything is which thats awesome. So I scheduled my daughter for last Saturday. Well I know the governor changed things so I decided I'd give them a call before I left for her swim. Her swim was at 2pm. I called at 12:45 and was on hold up until we had to leave at 1:30pm. I ended up hanging up and just heading over there. Come to find out that they canceled all trial swims. You would think they would send an email, call me, put a note on my account ANYTHING! nope. I wasted my time driving over there and my daughter was super upset. How unprofessional. It takes 2 seconds to call someone or even put it on your website. Something. I demanded a refund for my month I payed for and a random credit I had. Which supposedly he gave me but it hasn't hit my account. But they lost my business. Sad how 1 little mistake could have been avoided. And they refused to find a solution to let my daughter swim after driving all the way over there. Disappointing!!! read more

Not clean and employees are rude not professional!!!. I had such an bad experience with employee named Jean. She was super rude and disrespectful! My kids get sick every time we use the pool. It happened 3 times already. Whenever they get sick I cant take them to swimming so I have to cancel everything and they just keep billing you no matter what the situation is! Would never recommend this place! Will never come back! Don't waste your time coming here take your kids somewhere else where they don't get sick and have nice and friendly staff. read more

I have been sending my 3 and 7 year old to big blu and they love it. Staff like Chris Gloria and Maya make them feel so comfortable and always help with scheduling. They are very nice and easy to talk to. Instructors like Angus and Jayla are very patient, fun and consistent. They have helped the boys love swimming. read more

This place is a ZOO! I went in for a trail swim with my 3yo. Walking into the place I already knew it was going to be a disaster. The women at the front desk was on her phone the entire time I was speaking with her asking questions. (Her phone to her ear and speaking with me) The locker room was clean and HUGE compare to Goldfish. Kids are running around like animals and its super loud! Again, it was a ZOO! The swimming part was a mess. The kids have to line up and wait for a man with an IPad to let them know what lane they will be in. (This takes up time, it took 2 mins for me to know what lane my son will be in) In the pool, they teacher was not paying attention to my son. My son was playing with the puzzle at the side of the pool (Why is that there??!?!?) and she skipped over him a few times. So annoying. I rather pay Goldfish swim school almost 100$ a month for teacher who care on teaching the children to swim. read more

Well, we started big blue for our child before Covid and it was good. We didn't attend during Covid and then since 2 months ago we started again. The quality of classes is sucks. Rugs in changing rooms are smelly and dirty. Just two blow dryers and most of the times one of them doesn't work. Bathrooms flushes doesn't work.the facility is becoming very loud. And the worst thing is they change the instructors 4-5 times since we started 2 months ago. I understand emergency call off but it's not emergency. It was very important for me to my kid stay with same teacher and I asked and they said yes but they lied. I'm really thinking about changing my child's swimming school and don't recommend this school. read more

Due to Covid I withdrew my daughter from the class just before the new session started. They informed me that I will be refunded. Its almost a year now and after talking to all possible staff who pick the phone ( who assures that refund will happen in a week) , they started telling that there is some technical issue. Finally today when we called we were informed that the amount cannot be refunded as its been over an year now. Big Blue simply didn't want to refund at the first place. This is purely ripping off. After posting this review in their site someone calls me and says they cant refund me because its been a year now. --- Thanks to Katrina & Christina, the refund was processed successfully. I do appreciate their prompt response after contacting me about this refund. Special thanks to Katrina ( GM of Niles center) for reaching out and solving the issue. read more

My niece attends classes here. She is super excited to learn to swim and the classes are small sized so she is monitored at all times. The instructors are attentive, have great energy, and keep the classes fun while kids of all ages are learning to swim or just having their first experiences in water (they have "baby and me" classes for moms and dads). Changing areas, showers, and even a hair dryer area so you don't let your kid leave with a wet head. Nice facility and friendly staff. read more

Unfortunately this place isn't equipped to work with kids that are terrified to swim. The swim instructors are always changing so it's hard for the little ones to build a trusting relationship. Chris the manager is fantastic. Charles the other manager, unfortunately is awful. read more

Our boys have a lot of fun and the swim school has great teachers( Ms Adriana and Mr Aidan). The swim school addressed all our requests in a professional and courteous manner. The facility is kept warm and clean :) , with plenty parking spots. read more

I can't rave about our experience at Big Blue in Niles enough. I have 5 year old triplets and we started classes there at the beginning of December. We've had multiple swim instructors due to our inconsistent and ever changing plans, and they have all been so wonderful! My boys love the pool and always leave so happy and proud. MOST IMPORTANTLY the management team, Jeremiah in particular, have gone above and beyond to get to know our kids personally. Having one child with special needs, I'm deeply touched by their care and understanding. Thank you!!! read more

I wouldn't take my kids back here if I was paid $1 million to do so. They treated my son horribly. They are unhelpful, & clearly don't really care about the kids. read more

After addressing an issue I had, the general manager reached out to me right away. They listened to my problem and helped resolve it right away in a very professional manner. Definitely give them a 5 star for exceptional customer service. read more

What an awesome school! It is amazing how quickly this new beautiful school was opened. My two sons are taking lessons at Big Blue for over two years now. We fallowed Glenn the manager from Buffalo Grove where we started to Niles where he continues to take excellent care of my two boys. Glen had to face many challenges with my little one who in the beginning refused to even be in the water not saying to place his had under the water. He found him fun, playful teacher who he coached over the lessons to get through tough beginnings. He keeps taking care of this stubborn munchkin, looking after him and getting in the water by himself if it's necessary, every week when we come. Talking and explaining everything to his worried mom. My older son makes such a quick progress that I truly can't believe my eyes. He use to attend another swim school for over a year and couldn't learn to swim at all. Now he is already on Junior Team 2! Rescheduling or scheduling makeup lessons with Glen is a blast. It makes my busy life so much easier. Thank you Glenn for taking such a good care of us read more

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this place is disgusting the water was so cloudy and you can see multiple used band aids floating in the pool and I was able to see them through the glass because they won't let me sit on the pool deck, probably because they didn't want me to see how dirty the pool is. but I can see algae growth through the viewing windows. I'm not sure what the instructor name is because they have different instructors every time which is also ridiculous but they were very mean to my kid even though he wasn't screwing around or anythin. he started to cry and the instructor basically yelled at him and said your a big boy stop cryin. i withdrew my child from this horrible place and I highly recommend nobody bring there children there. read more

I have been bringing my 2 kids here for 4 years now. I love this place for several reasons: 1. It's Very well organized. 2. Instructors are fun and at the same time focused on getting your kid to the next level. 3. Supervisors are all over the floor tracking your kid's progress constantly communicating with the instructors. 4. Never had an issue with their billing/accounting department. 5. In regards to hygiene, my wife is a nurse, so you get the idea :) she's very satisfied with the "cleaness" of this place and how well maintained it is. 6. If you're worried about the snow and the cold weather in the winter and are reluctant on having them in the water and then out in the cold, I worry no more because they have an area where kids can cool down and play with trains and do some art work. Plus of course, blow dryers for their hair so they don't go out in the cold with wet hair. 7. Free organic lollipops for kids with a sweet tooth :) plus a list of snacks they could crunch on while cooling down. 8. Very friendly staff, always in a good mood. 9. Pool water is CLEAN! And warm for the kids, the swimming area is very well heated. 10. Parents can watch their kids from behind the glass in a well cooled and clean sitting area. They can also be at pool side on a bench for a closer look to provide (if needed) more encouragement and comfort. 11. If you have a baby, a parent can get in the water and enjoy a parent and baby class! 12. The place is never too crowded because they never stuff their classes. 13. You get your money's worth for sure. Compared to other schools, they price their classes very fairly, the value you get is better than other schools. I am talking out of experience. 14. They have referral credits for families! We have enjoyed a few free classes because of that, lol. Big SHOUT OUT to instructors that I love so much: TYLER, ALEX (who is now a supervisor) and LEILY. Highly recommend this place. All the best. read more

We just changed locations and we really miss the old big blue in Niles. Our daughter really responded really well to her teacher Therese and made a lot of progress with her. She pushed her and encouraged her to do better, I think that's been especially obvious now that we had to switch locations and teachers just how much progress she made read more

My kids love swim lessons thanks to the awesome staff at Big Blue Swim School in Niles. We are so pleased with the progress they have made and their new found confidence. The school facility is efficient, organized, clean and friendly. read more

We switched to Big Blue from another swim school and couldn't be happier. The scheduling is very easy, teachers are fun and skilled, as facility is great. We have two kids in Big Blue and both really enjoy it. My daughter did not enjoy going to swimming classes before going to Big Blue but now she looks forward to going. She is swimming independently and proud of her progress! read more

I have to update my review as things have really turned around since my last review. My daughter got a new instructor who is great at teaching her swimming techniques while also having fun! Chris (the owner) has been updating me on her progress, and hopefully she will soon be able to move to the next level. My daughter is really enjoying going to Big Blue Swim School and I am happy to be able to see her both be learning and enjoying herself the same time. read more

A complete waste of time and money. After three months, we cancelled lessons for our 4.5 year-old son and will be researching for private 1:1 lessons going forward. My son was terrified the first few times and continues to be scared if his instructor is different. His more regular instructor, while a super nice guy, just wasn't great at teaching our son how to swim. As a result, he has not progressed at all in the 3 months we have been going. When watching, he gets maybe 5-10 minutes total in the water with attention from the instructor. The rest of the time he is on the sidelines playing with the water blocks. Absolutely absurd for the money we were paying. His instructor has changed quite a bit too, and they moved off his regular instructor permanently without any notice. I eventually had to switch our schedule to get his other instructor back but decided after awhile that it just was not worth it. They also never responded to my emails via member services. Go elsewhere. You can find more reasonably priced lessons with more consistency in coaches. read more

My oldest daughter learned to swim at the Big blue in Wilmette and Niles, she made it all the way to swim team, with no problem at all. We have been At Big Blue for about 3-4 years, after my oldest daughter almost drowned at a pool, a friend recommend Big Blue, I enrolled her at the Wilmette location, then transferred her to the Niles location after they opened. We had such a great experience and because of that I always recommend Big Blue to every one and I have referred quite a few kids. At this location, for my 3-5 year old, Diamond was really good until she resigned, Tyler is the best- really good with the kids and a great instructor, and Brittney is also awesome. I can't remember the instructors names for my older daughter but they were all awesome. The only person I don't recommend especially for the younger children is Therese, she has no patience with the little ones, she's aggressive and yells really mean/loud at them. read more

We are enjoying our experience with Big Blue. My daughter is three and advancing through the levels very well due to help by the instructors. I especially appreciate Therese for making swim fun for my daughter while teaching her new skills! read more

The instructors are attentive and very patient. This is our first experience with Swimming lesions, and I didn't think 30 minutes was enough time to teach multiple kids much -- but the instructors here really get a lot accomplished in those 30 minutes! My kids have learned so much and we are so happy we found Big Blue!!! read more