Chilled Ponds

I am only giving this place 4 stars because my daughter enjoyed it. We came here for a kids birthday party. I saw the pricing for the birthday room and skating and my jaw just about hit the floor. It was something over $ 300. I love my kids, but that is good chunk of money for a birthday party.
What I liked about the place was that it was easy to get to, plenty of parking, they have two rinks available and they serve beer. The bathrooms were really clean and I thought that it was cool that your kids could have a skating lesson while you get a bite to eat and drink. When we got there, they were having figure skating lessons. When I returned, there was a full blown hockey game going on.
As a parent, waiting for you kid to finish skating with the party, there was plenty to do while they played around.
My only hesitation would be the cost. It seemed pricey, but I didn’t check that part out.

I brought my 13 year old daughter and 2 of her friends to skate on a day school was closed for a teacher work day. The lady taking payments and handing out the skates was courteous and efficient. We got there just after noon and there were a few skaters, but it wasn’t crowded at all. The front rink was being used for hockey practice, so we skated on the back rink. We had fun and left around 2:30. It was getting pretty busy by then. We turned our skates back in with no problem. This is a great place to take your kids to get them off the couch and get them moving. They offer group lessons in 8-​week sessions. They even have adult lessons.

Rude, rude, rude. Every employee ever encountered here with emphasis on the front desk has had an attitude. They all seem like they don’t want to be bothered working or helping you. The metal push around little kids use to help learn to skate is an extra fee here! It is not an extra expense at other rinks and are readily avaliable for anyone learning how to skate! They seriously need to revamp their staff and offer more included amenities for the children. Not everyone is a pro.

I have given CP a chance for almost a year now, and every time I run into a mess. First, the condition of the facility is appalling considering it’s age. The bathrooms are a disaster, the locker rooms are disgusting and unclean. There is always water on the floor, TP and other gross items. It would take no time at all for the staff to run checks after teams leave the locker rooms. They don’t properly care for the ice so it’s usually pretty bad.
Speaking of the staff, this is perhaps the most consistent let down. From the owner on down, no one really seems to care at all. Every time I enter, I am greeted with the «I hate my job» look by someone just going through the motions. I brought my kids to skate during a really busy open skate. The line to «rent» a helper for the kids, the metal horse that kids can hold onto and skate, was at least 10 minutes long as it was run by the same person handing out rental skates. Someone in line was waiting to return theirs and explained to me that they are $ 5 that is refundable when you turn it back in. So, I gave him $ 5 and saved us both 10 minutes of ice time. When I went to return it, I was told by the owner that because I didn’t have a wrist band for it, that I could not get my $ 5 back. She accused me of lying and was just down right mean. Maybe if she bothered to notice I was skating there at that point 3 times a week, she would have known I was a regular customer. In any case, I was out the $ 5 and I certainly wasn’t thrilled about the reason given. I don’t understand why anyone would steel these anyway, all of them looked to be falling apart, like the rest of the place.
I play hockey, and decided to play for a team there. I only ended up playing half of the games, and as per my prior experience, should be refunded the games I did not play. After speaking to the hockey director, she said she would look into the matter and get back to me. My phone calls to the cell phone she gave to me went un-​returned for a month and the texts I could see her reading were met with the same fate. After calling from an out of town phone number, she finally picked up and said, she had just been busy. I was then told she herself was owed a refund for over 6 months and to take it up with accounting. I later find out that the accounting department is the owner, who also doesn’t bother to return my calls.
I have been skating and playing hockey for 25+ years and have never been treated so poorly. Stick to Iceland where the people are friendly and the programs are well managed with competent staff.

I like Chilled Ponds. I’ve been to the other two ice rinks in the area (Iceland and Iceplex) and I prefer CP over both of them. I play hockey at Chilled Ponds in the adult league and take the adult hockey lessons as well. The rink is pretty well maintained, the locker rooms are the best in the area. Staff is friendly.

I’ve been here a few times but I came recently with my wife and daughter who is almost 4 years old. She had never been ice skating before and I wanted her to try.
First of all, the place always has something on the schedule being one of the only ice skating rinks in the Hampton Roads area. Between figure skating, hockey practices and games etc there is plenty so check the schedule for the public skate times.
The rental skates themselves are as you would expect… Kinda old and a bit ratty. Oh well, my daughter got right out on the ice and had a great time! After skating for about 10 minutes she noticed some of the other little kids using a PVC pipe apparatus that looked like a small soccer goal with no net to help them stay up and balance.
Long story short, you can rent those for another $ 5 and if it helps your child find a love for ice skating rather than hating your guts with a bruised tailbone all the better!
This is a relatively clean, family friendly location that I’m sure we’ll be back to in the near future.

been going to the Pickup Hockey games for the past 3 Wednesdays. guess no one really plays on weds, but i’d say an overall OK experience. Nice hockey rink, and boarded well. Locker rooms are big and there’s 6 i believe. Smells each time i go in though, but i guess that’s what they’re supposed to smell like? I like pickup there ‘cuz its spacious, but i wish it would be cheaper, i mean cmon 12 bucks for pickup and u bring your own pucks? not to mention the last time i went they didnt level out the ice with the zamboni. Overall, it’s nice and pretty clean.