Goldfish Swim School - Williamsville

"I had a mixed experience at this place. While we enjoyed our instructor Liv, who was incredibly sweet and made the experience fun, there were some aspects that left me disappointed. The setup of the place was not as baby-friendly as I expected. It was quite challenging to undress and dress my 8-month-old baby, as there was only one changing table and limited space in the fitting rooms. The benches in the fitting rooms were small and difficult to maneuver around. This made it particularly inconvenient for dressing my baby in and out of his winter clothes. Additionally, the changing table being located in one of the bathrooms made me feel rushed. I also had some negative interactions with the staff. The girl at the front desk seemed disappointed or upset when I mentioned that I wasn't ready to sign up for anything yet. She also gave us a very rushed tour of the place when we arrived. Furthermore, receiving up to three phone calls and voicemails a day asking about our experience, even after I had already answered that question after finishing our free trial, felt pushy, unnecessary and intrusive. While Liv was fantastic and made us feel extremely welcomed, the rest of the staff, including the lady who walked us into the pool, gave off a judgmental, unwelcoming, and pushy vibe. Also, as our time was coming to an end, I couldn't help but notice the lady giving us a rather unsettling death stare. It made me feel uncomfortable and added to the overall negative impression I had of the staff. It was clear that Liv was the standout among the staff members. The only reason I would consider going back is to see Liv again, as she interacted well with my son and made our time there enjoyable. If it wasn’t for our great experience with Liv I would have given this place 1 star. Overall, I wanted to like this place more, but the issues with the baby-friendliness of the setup and the negative experiences with some of the staff members left me and my fiancé feeling hesitant about returning with our baby boy."

"I have been very happy with goldfish for swim lessons for my daughter. At previous places , being in a group class she would be lucky to get 8 mins of actual swim time in a 30 min class and at goldfish she is swimming most of class in a similar size group. I also really appreciate that after every class I get feedback from the instructor on what she is doing well and what she needs to work on."

"The instructors (mainly Jake and Kelly) are so good with our son, especially when he's not listening or doing his own thing. The pool and facility is always clean, the staff are friendly. Only thing I would change would be to put a location in the south towns."

"We love the instructor Nick Patterson, for his strong leadership skill, awesome swimming style meaning he teaches zoey properly and corrects her immediately if wrong so that incorrect learning isn't created! He does it in a way that the kids learn and also have fun! They're are a handful of other instructor/lifeguards who are just as awesome as Nick! Alex, Eric, Jake and several others! The workers at tge desk are also always very professional knowledgeable friendly and helpful in helping us schedule make up lessons, selling merchandise or just general questions! We drive 45 minutes to the school and though another swim school has opened closer to us we didn't even consider leaving due to commute! Thank you Goldfish Swim school for teaching my now 4 year old granddaughter to swim and swim properly"

"My son loved this class at first. He went from J1 to J2 quickly. Now he has been in J2 for over 6 months, here's why. Classes are actually only 25 min because of class changeover time. There is 1 instructor per 4 students, which leaves aroun 5-6 minutes of actual lesson time per for each student. The other 19-20 minutes the children sit on the ledge waiting thier turn. Classes are repetitive with no focus on specific needs. He had 10 different instructors over this time frame and still only 1 knows his name. I saw my son become bored and actually regress. They lack motivated/experienced leadership. I wish things were different since this is good for children. My child can watch through the glass if observation is part of you regiment. You charge for 30 min, teach for 30 min...nice try!"