This is probably the best indoor rink in the area, and it is also the only place I know of currently offering broomball. The location is good, since it is easily accessible by either metro or car, and parking is only $1. The selection of surrounding bars and restaurants to go to afterward is average but adequate. Some people complain that it is too far from DC, and I wish it were closer, but this is still the only full-sheet ice rink inside the beltway. The pro-shop is also decent, and offers skate sharpening. However, I have to deduct stars for the following reasons: -1.5 stars because it is WAY too warm inside the building. I guess this is because they have the heat up because the yuppies and their kids complain that it's too cold. But it's an ICE rink; it's supposed to be cold. The warm conditions make you far too hot and sweaty when trying to play hockey or broomball wearing equipment. More importantly, the ice doesn't fully freeze and there is actually water on top if it, especially at the edges of the rink. This makes it less fun to play, and it is also dangerous. When the ice surface is literally MELTING, it's time to turn down the heat. -.5 stars for the prices which are too high. $300/hour for off-peak ice time in the suburbs is a pretty steep, especially for a rink that's not in tip-top condition as I just mentioned. Although they are probably able to get away with this due to the lack of competition from other ice rinks. The facility is still fairly new, and other than the ice, everything is in pretty good shape (the ice is kind of the most important part though). They offer a pretty good variety of activities and during the months that the outdoor rinks are closed, this is probably the best place to come for public skating with friends or a date. There can be a lot of annoying kids at times, but they do offer adult-only skating sessions as well. The website is also good and has all the schedules and other info you might need. read more

Finally made it to Kettler!!! LET'S GO CAPS!!! Although for this outing, there was not a cap in sight for I was attending a 6 year-old's hockey tourney 7 a.m. match. I now have mad respect for all the hockey moms across America (well, except for one...) Adjacent parking was convenient, and the various areas to watch the game from were nice - a place for the rowdies, and a place for the calm cool and collected. Really had more of an aquatic center setup, except there was a rink instead of the Olympic pool. Snack bar left much to be desired. Some things never change and ice rinks never have good food. This needs to change! read more

I find it pretty unique that I'm skating on an ice rink on top of a roof. This is the official facility of the Washington Capitals, based out in Arlington. I've come out here to check out the ice for a couple Sticks-N-Pucks sessions. First, there are two rinks out there; the Arlington rink and Caps rink. I've only skated on the Caps rink. The quality of the ice has been pretty good and haven't had any complaints there. The benches and everything are very clean and done nicely, appropriate for being the official facility of the Caps. I also understand that during the season, the public can come and watch the Caps practice. There are four locker rooms, all named after prominent NHL trophies: Ross, Hart, Norris and some other name I am forgetting at present. I have been in the Norris locker room, where there are three pictures of defensemen hanging above the locker room. The benches are sturdy and new and there's an upper shelf where you can hang equipment over your head. The pro shop is a bit on the small end, but has a decent selection of equipment and anything you may need if you are in need for a missing piece of equipment that you might have left at home or don't have. However, they don't really have a big selection of wood sticks so for you older guys, you will have to either go somewhere else or just suck it up and buy one of the composites that everyone seems to be using these days. They also do on-site ice sharpening of skates as well for about $15 I believe. You can park at the facility for about 3 hours for $1. Relative to the area, I have to say it's a pretty good deal, but as a hockey player, it does seem a bit weird you have to pay for parking. Either way, I definitely wouldn't mind coming back to Kettler IcePlex and enjoy that it's a pretty quality rink so close to living in the District. read more

Kettler is a great place to catch an afternoon or early evening pick-up game. The pro shop is small but well stocked and manned by knowledgable staff. The ice is good do primarily to the fact that this is the Capitals practice facility which is contrary to the norm, ice, like the hockey programs, sucks in this part of the country. Kettler loses a star and sits at 4 for two reasons: 1. The snack bar is weak, has no definable options. Concessions staff is slow and lazy. 2. Front desk workers are ill tempered, and maintain no semblance of customer service skills. read more

One star for Team Store. Team Store - The shop by the main entrance selling hats, jerseys and tees: supplies are hit and miss. Service is awful - impatient, borderline rude, short and unhelpful. Pro shop - hockey and figure skating equipment and skate sharpening top floor. These guys are great - patient, helpful, great customer service and sharpening. Rinks - skated on both rinks many times. Ice is always in good shape regardless of season. No complaints. read more

Review for Skating Lessons Only: Wife, Kid and I have been taking lessons on Sunday afternoons for the last two months. 6YO kid is in beginner 1 and wife and I (pushing 50) have advanced to Adult 2. Jenna was our instructor for 1 and we now have Margaret. Kid has had Hannah and ?. I have to say- these ladies have a real commitment to teaching, are incredibly patient, and their passion for ice skating shows. We were petrified and they quickly made us feel welcome and capable. Both Jenna and Margaret have an uncanny ability to size you up in two seconds: "Hey- you are doing this...turn your foot this way and...voila." It really is inspiring and we are stoked to keep at this. Totally enjoying this. read more

Bottom Line: For being the Capital's practice rink, I expected more from this iceplex in Ballston. If you have aspirations of being the next start of Yelpers on Ice, here are some tips about the Kettler Capitals Iceplex: - Located in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington on top of the Ballston Mall. - The Ballston Mall is basically defunct so that means plenty of parking for ice rink-goers but you will have to wind your way to the top of the garage. If you are prone to motion sickness, take Dramamine before you go! - Inside the Iceplex there are two rinks. There is regularly open skate and you can check the schedule online for times. - The Iceplex itself is not fancy. The place looks a little beat up and plenty of things in the ladies room weren't working. I expected something a little more fancy being that its the home practice rink of a NHL team. Having said that, I realize that the nature of ice rinks is that they take a beating, but still, it was a little sad in here. - Since this is the Capitals practice rink, you can buy Caps gear and tickets here. - There isn't a ton of seating for either rink so if you are going here for a popular game then you might want to arrive early to secure your spot on the bleachers. - As a spectator, I was not cold in here. I found the temperature to be slightly below room temperature. I am sure it helped that the stands were packed. Admittedly, I have not set blade on this ice so consider this review with that in mind. Toe pick! read more

If you haven't been skating in a while, this is definitely the place to get back on the ice. Good rental skates, so my friends have said, and large rink (not like those dinky rinks at all those other places). Nice staff, great classes, nice people, good skating shop with knowledgeable staff (just don't ask them about figure skating). read more

Despite the chaos of ice transfer when everybody is getting off the ice, taking off their skates, and the new cadre of skaters is coming in, the place is very well run. The lessons are great - well organized, skill appropriate, and not too long. Definitely nice to have a place like this close to town. read more

Went last night to watch a club hockey game that my boyfriend was playing in. Clean environment and lots of seating room. Be ready for a crazy ride up/down through the express exit. read more

Anyone who is going to skate here needs to check the times for public skating closely (which might seem obvious, but you don't really expect public skating to end as early as 8pm on a Friday). My friends and I were not aware that public skating was so short and when we got there and paid, none of the workers mentioned that public skating was ending in 15 minutes. It was a waste of money, and when I nicely mentioned something to the people working there about warning future customers that public skating is almost over before purchasing entry, they brushed me off. read more

My daughter wanted to have a birthday party here. There wasn't anything listed on the website so I called. Due to Covid, they had just recently started doing them again, so I was given an email address of who to contact. I sent an email, and I had a prompt return within a few hours (Wednesday). I emailed them back the next day (Thursday) to let them know we would like to book the party, and I would pay the deposit. I didn't hear anything back. I emailed again on Friday morning, and didn't hear back by Friday afternoon, so I called again. I was told that the person who handles parties wasn't at work and to send another email. I'm sorry but a business like this should have more than one person who can help with this. Finally Saturday I get an email saying they will book my party into the system and I would get an email to pay the deposit. Saturday night comes and nothing so I logged into my account that you have to have and nothing was posted there either. I emailed Sunday, saying I was sorry for emailing yet again and that if I couldn't book the party please let me know so I could make alternate arrangements for my daughter's party. It's Monday night, I'm still waiting, but I have since booked her party somewhere else. Once again, it's a shame that supposedly only one person is in charge of booking parties. If you're out of the office and email is your only communication, an out of office reply would be nice to have set up as opposed to thinking I'm just being ignored. read more

Great place for hockey and ice skating and it's the practice facility for the 2018 Stanley Cup champions Washington Capitals. However the only issue is that they refuse to govern the referees, who at times allow overly ambitious adult rec league hockey players to play outside the rules. So for adults, play at your own risk. read more

I have played ice hockey at Kettler for a couple of years now mainly because I want to play with my buddies, but there is A LOT to be desired from this place. The facility itself is nice and is in a great spot, but its pretty obvious that management there doesn't take care of the place like it should. Locker rooms are almost always a disaster as if a tornado has gone through them, especially the shower area where broken shower heads and mold infested shower liners are the norm. The two people who are mainly in charge of overseeing the leagues (Dan & Kristen) are two of the most worthless people I have ever come across in all of my years of playing league hockey. When inquiring about league concerns, they are always either very unresponsive (Dan) or give you an attitude and won't listen (Kristen). Other teams in the league I play in tell us similiar/exact issues with these two, and it definitely reflects given how poorly my league is run. The scorekeepers are hardly that...they are constantly playing on their phones and the boxscores are constantly wrong week in & week out. The skill difference in our league as well is a total joke...with multiple teams having obvious ringers that has been addressed multiples times...but yet nothing is ever done. The "referees" that they also have officiate the games are a complete joke. A few of them are good, but most of them have a total attitude issue and seem to just come into games with a chip on their shoulders. I am a hockey referee in another hockey league in the area, so I definitely can see poor officiating when I see it and Kettler is not short of that. If you want to head over for a public skate or even a class, the place is good for that. However, STAY OUT OF THE LEAGUES. They are a total disaster and there is no light at the end of the tunnel as long as Dan and Kristen are in charge. read more

This place is great. I've only played pick up a few times, but also have had my skates repaired at the proshop. The rinks are well lit and clean and have good ice. The pro shop is well stocked and has knowledgeable employees. You can also come here and watch the Capitals practice! read more

The management for Broomball is terrible. We were asked our availability, and our group did not receive a response from management until after 3 attempts (each spaced out 1 week apart), only to find out that the spots were full. I am sorry - but what viable business does that? read more

As pysched as I am to have an ice rink in Arlington, I'm even happier that it's well run and they have TWO full sized rinks. Skating is reasonable ($8 for 90 minute public session, $3 skate rental) and if you visit in the daytime, it's much less crowded. Pro-shop is nice, there's food available, and they have a wide variety of class offerings, leagues, and lessons. Rental skates are as good as any other footwear that's been worn by hundreds of other feet, but for $3... read more

Ice skating was okay. Got yelled at by a random old guy for having my cellphone out when the rink patrol guy didn't mind it and offered to take pictures. He threatened us we'd get kicked out although everyone else had there's out. read more

Always enjoy coming here to watch the Capitals practice. Great chance to meet your favorite players after a practice, buy some Caps swag and get a coffee from their cafe. This is an awesome place to go enjoy a day with your favorite hockey team and then go for a skate of you own. Family fun level 10/10. read more

Skating is fun. Watching your friends play hockey is fun. This place is fun. Also, very cold. Bring a jacket. (Seriously, who knew an ice rink would be so chilly? It's not like they're freezing a giant puddle solid at all times or anything). read more

Skating here is a great experience. The ice quality is top notch and they keep the rental skates in good condition. I like that you can rent a locker to store your belongings for only 50 cents. read more

Probably the nicest ice complex I've ever been in. Two full sized rinks, easy parking, reasonable prices and tons of classes for kids.

If you are a figure skater or a beginner, DO NOT go to this rink. The public skate is overcrowded and the monitors are competely inattentive. A group of around 15 little boys were racing, darting between people and cutting them off, and the "rink guard" could not look up from his fingernails long enough to pay attention. I am an experienced figure skater and was still taken down by a pile of little boys crashing from behind into my legs, blades flying. I would not bring children to a public skating session here because it was truly dangerous. If you are a hockey skater, maybe you'll like this rink. But inexperienced or beginners should look elsewhere and figure skaters should go to Fairfax Ice Arena or Mount Vernon. read more

My review is based on the public skating. The facility is clean and well maintained. However, the skate guards are not very friendly or helpful. They mostly skate around ignoring everyone else. As an obvious beginner, I would have appreciated being asked if I needed any help, some tips and tricks, or at the very least a greeting. The atmosphere was not very welcoming. I felt like an inconvenience rather than a guest who paid money to be here. read more

This is not a bad ice rink, and most people enjoy it since it's where the Capitals practice. For the public skate it gets really crowded and they put these stupid cones in the middle of the ice which is supposed to be a pretend boundary for people taking lessons. The location is really strange, as it's on top of a mall. The ice gets really choppy fairly quick. All in all, not a bad ice rink but I've definitely been to better facilities, and you should really expect more from an NHL team. read more

Signed up my 11 year old for Learn To Skate Camp, advertised for 8-12 year olds as, "Campers will enjoy themed activities and lessons while learning basic skating skills and preparing for the end of the week demonstration. Campers will improve their skating skills while having fun! Basic 1 skating skills preferred, but beginners are welcome." The camp is half day and runs for 3 1/2 hours each morning. Thought this would be a great way to beat the heat and have my kid improve in her skating skills. The positives: She has learned a few new things in this camp and her ice skating is better. Hurray for that! The negatives: Out of a 3 1/2 hour camp, they are on the ice 55 minutes each day. What are they doing the other 2 1/2 hours? You won't believe this: COLORING. Coloring computer print out pages. Disney princesses anyone? Yesterday she brought home a piece of white paper, cut in a circle, with a lion's face drawn by her in the middle. This was their "craft" for the day. For nearly $300 a week, I expect age appropriate activities, not pre-K coloring and baby sitting. And I expect my kid to come home camp saying, "Guess what great thing I did today?!" Not with this camp. I've written to the organization with my concerns and received no response. Will never sign up for this camp again. Such a disappointment. Want to learn to skate? Take the weekly classes. Avoid the camp. Unless you need a babysitter for Kindergarten aged child. read more

Kettler is a great place to train. Nice people and good coaches. If you ever need an excellent skate sharpening you must see Erich Bookwalter. He is the absolute best in the area. He hooked me up when someone else jacked me up. read more

This is a beautiful facility. Unfortunately, the hockey program is a disaster. The new hockey director is unresponsive and irresponsible. He is entirely uninterested in keeping customers satisfied, probably because he knows that ice is so limited in this area that he'll have a constant supply of new customers to replace the ones he has alienated. He has destroyed everything that Ben and Brian built during the early years. Now it is all about making money; no more love for growing the great sport of hockey. It's a sad state of affairs. read more

Terrible customer service! After purchasing a class, I decided to withdrawl from the class as it appeared to be not the appropriate skill level. After asking for a refund several times and being deferred for weeks, they finally told me that they do not process refunds for classes. I play hockey here and like the rinks themselves just fine. Just the customer service is very bad. read more

Here for my sons hockey practice. The complex does a great job introducing and teaching ice hockey.

I've been here a so many times I can't even count. But, today there was a stick n shoot cancelation 30 minutes before it started. Not right. Not right. read more

Good choice of figure skating classes for kids. Very nice facility.The staff is a little bit inept. The skating director is simply rude and does not care about quality of their skating school programs. read more

Didn't go to skate, so can't vouch for that. Went to check out the Capitals practice. Free admission, plenty of seating, coffee bar. The practiced for about 1.5 hrs. I didn't stick around to meet the team but saw many fans gathered by an outside door, so assuming they come out there and sign autographs. Caps tickets and apparel is for sale there as well. read more

I had my childs party at Kettler Capitals Iceplex and working with the Meghan the Event Mgr. was VERY disappointing, she took forever to responded to my emails, calls or messages. She did not even apologies after not hearing from her in over a week. I should have known that it was going to be a mess. The staff is young and do not know answers to questions when you ask them. Our server could not handle the number of child we had and the pizza was DISGUSTING, it made 6 children sick. I felt like we were being rushed during the entire time of the party, one hour is not enough. Kettler Capitals Iceplex's party package is overpriced for the quality of service and food. I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE FOR A PARTY. read more

Excellent facility, good skating coaches - that is if you are interested in private lessons. Public sessions are TOO CROWDED and staff doesn't do a thing to make this chaos on ice a little bit safer. read more

NOT GOOD FOR BEGINNERS. There are two problems. First, the instructor in the Beginner ("Adult One") class spends all her time with the 3 people in the class who already know how to skate. When the two true beginners in the class (who have never been on the ice before) do manage to get her attention, she tells us what to do ("glide now") not HOW to do the specified movement. If I knew how to glide, do swizzles and figure eights, stop, etc., I wouldn't be in the class. These lessons cost $20 for 30 minutes, so I expect real instruction, not disinterested supervision. I can get out there on my own and guess what I should be doing for free. The second problem is that during the public skate, the skating Guards do nothing when experienced skaters zoom around cutting off other skaters. This is dangerous for everyone; even other experienced skaters have expressed concerns. read more

I gave them one star because the ice rink is nice. However, I went to the Pro Shop the other day to browse with no intent of buying anything. I saw a hockey stick in their Clearance section. (yes their CLEARANCE section), and I noticed that total hockey was selling the EXACT same stick for less. The pro shop would not honor total hockey's price, and then they suggested that I drive my ass to sterling VA to get it from total hockey. UM NO dude. They are not there to please the customer all they care about are themselves. It was a clearance item, the only one left, and I hope they never sell that stick! I hope it sits in that pro shop until they close because they lost me as a customer. I hope whomever reads this also boycotts them as well. They are Over priced, and tiny. They have no selection of sticks or gear I'm surprised they call themselves a pro shop. I may as well start driving my ass to sterling. Much better store, and bigger selection. read more