Tell Butlin’s what you would change about swimming pool changing rooms - £300 voucher prize draw! NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

Butlin's is redesigning one of its swimming pools and needs your help to make it as family-friendly as possible. In particular Butlin’s wants your help to understand what it’s like as a parent using a swimming pool changing room – and your input will genuinely help inform the new design and build on resort.

Why the changing room? Butlin’s have done research which shows that most parents love going swimming with their children – until they get to the changing room. From the wet floor, the often-freezing temperature, the small cubicles not suitable for a family to the fact you can never get your child dry – there’s a lot to be desired! Which is why Butlin’s wants the opinion of Mumsnetters to identify the biggest issues you face – and your ideas on how to solve them.

So two important questions:

What do you find particularly frustrating when using changing rooms at the swimming pool?

In an ideal world, can you think of anything which would make your life easier and solve these problems?

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 John Lewis voucher!

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

bigger cubicles, as always struggle to change myself and my little girl together comfortably

Larger family changing rooms and larger lockers.

1. Dirty, cold and constantly wet floor
2. Deal with all of the above!

Suggest a system similar to Center Parcs where you enter cubicles through one door and exit through another. Also include underfloor heating and adequate room for changing, plus changing tables and plenty of bins for nappy sacks - which are regularly emptied.

The small lockers and lack of space to get changed, it's a nightmare juggling clothes bags and kids

I 100% agree that there needs to be bigger changing rooms. They also need to be warmer. Having cold children just causes them to get upset. I would like to see shelves and hooks to hang things on. The main thing I would like is a safe seat to put your baby in the changing room. It's very hard to get the older children changed when I can't put the baby on the floor because it's dirty and I don't feel safe putting her on the little bench because she will fall. A seat I can strap her in would he brilliant.

Large family lockers. Shelves in the changing room to place dry things rather than on the wet floor/bench. Family changing rooms that have a small cot for baby.

somewhere for small children to sit whilst being dried and changed!

More family changing rooms with more hooks to hang clothes and towels from, larger lockers, more showers of a suitable temperature.

Loads of hooks to hang up the clothes for each person ready to be put on - can't stand it when they fall out the bag onto the floor.

Also there need to be more family changing rooms, the size is usually great, but BOY why are there only a few?

Would be awesome to have posters up like where's wally for the kids to look at while the parents get dressed!

Also how about 2 benches in the family changing rooms so the adults can sit down too?

While we are at it, the lockers are always so small! We always have to use 2!

I'd have three sets of changing rooms, male, female and family. Standard cubicles are just not big enough when you're trying to get changed yourself and you've got kids with you, but also, if you're going for a quick swim on your own, it's nice to be able to get in and out of the changing rooms without kids everywhere. Cleanliness is a big issue with me. I hate it when the cubicle has hair and tissues on the floor. Ugh.

Spacious changing cubicles with benches and a heated floor. Hooks to hang several bags or items so though don't end up on the floor. How about some sort of raised slatted (but comfy) floor surface that let's the water drain away and you get nice dry feet before trying to heave socks on!

The ideal changing room for me and my children would have plenty of hooks and maybe a shoe rack to keep things off the floor. A chair/playplen so little ones can sit and keep clean and dry rather than putting them on a wet floor. Trying to get dry and dressed with a toddler in your arm is not easy. My son is autistic/adhd so locks high enough for an adult too reach and out of the way of children would be great, its no fun chasing after your child when your half dressed. It would be great if the changing rooms could be bright and cheerful maybe with some toys to entertain the children while getting ready, and plenty of large changing rooms taking twins into a small room can be a nightmare.

they would put on one of those big body dryers like they have at theme parks - so it would be a lot quicker to dry and less towels

Bigger cubicles and more hooks on the wall to hang towels etc. And raised plastic mats to stand on instead of standing in puddles!

Oh,and hairdryers which actually dry your hair without having to put a fivers worth of 20ps in. And pay-as-you-go straighteners would be great.

Changing rooms need to be alot bigger, i put off going swimming because of the small size rooms and getting al cramped and hot when you get dry. ome way to keep the floor dryer would be better too but i dont know if thats possible!!

Warm, clean, and as dry as possible. Family sized cubicles would be good as would somewhere to put crawling babies so they couldn't escape whilst parents are changing.

Roomy family change rooms and plenty of them.

Warm! - atmosphere and floor. I hate being cold and wet and it makes everyone grumpy.

Lockers that don't require change (I always forget and have to faff around for a £1 coin)

On the subject of lockers, wider ones at reachable height - Carrying a small child and wrestling bags into tiny space is frustrating.

Clean ! Bins in each room is appreciated.

I have to say, I really like the change rooms at Butlins Minehead and Bognor they are bright, airy and clean. Although I'm guessing one of these is due to be update?!

A mid wall height child seat would be handy to keep children off of the wet floor whilst you get ready and a small enclosed soft play area/TV area in the vanity area to keep the little ones occupied whilst you are drying your hair etc.

Heated floors, always too cold

Bigger lockers which fit a families worth of clothes would be fantastic.

Mops available to dry the floor ourselves. Obviously a dry mop would be best, so the mops stored could do with being in a mop drying area! How such a thing could exist remaining economical would need a cleverer person than me to work out!

But we can but dream!

I would suggest spacious family cubicles, lots and lots of hooks on the walls to hang up everything, a good drainage in the changing area and maybe even an underfloor heating to dry up puddles on the floor quicker and keep the freezing little ones warm while they get changed.
And lastly, since I've known this from our family holiday hotels, a towel service (would more than happily pay a fee and leave a deposit for this) would also help very much.

More spacious changing rooms with its own shower. That way you don't have to clean yourself and then make the awkward and soaking wet walk to a changing room

no cold hard tiles x

heated floors, lots more pegs to hang things, more space, something that cleans the floor after each person, spin dryers for costumes and in general make them warmer

I wish that changing rooms could be equipped with highchair-type apparatus to hold the little ones once they're sorted. Oh and some child-friendly hooks to hold the towels/dry clothes/wet clothes/bags