Barrington Ice Arena

We were up in the area and decided to stop by and check it out. This was the rink my son played his first sanctioned hockey game 8 years ago. It was about 5:00 on a Saturday and the only thing in the parking lot were two broken down old Zambonis. Not sure if they are even still open for business. We checked the website and it looks like the hockey club that played there is doa too. Too bad.

Would not go back! Signed my daughter up for beginner ice skating lessons. They reassured me that they would be able to teach her the basics of ice skating. We show up for the first lesson & I get asked several times if I paid the $ 15 fee for the National Figure Skating Association. Not really sure why I had to pay this fee but it was extremely important that I pay it (according to the staff that work there). Go to rent the skates, not really sure what size to get, but finally figure it out. My daughter goes on the ice, she’s terrified & doesn’t want to leave the wall. Everyone else in the beginner class can skate, so my daughter is just left to hang on the wall. The skates aren’t working for her either. When the lessons are over, one of the instructors again asks me if I paid the $ 15. I said I did. She then tells me my daughter is terrified, I tell her I know that! That is why I wanted her to have lessons! And she tells me I need to buy her skates. Manager comes over & she said let’s see if we can find some skates (that was good service recovery). Each lesson is like this– my daughter is afraid to leave the wall. They tell me she is afraid & I remind them that is why she is taking lessons. I suggest that maybe they give her a chair & let her push that. I’m told by the manager they can’t do that because this is a figure skating rink (not sure what that means because they play hockey there to). She then suggests private lessons & she gives me her number to call her. I don’t call her because I won’t give them another dime of my money! Another time skating is cancelled, we drive to the rink & find out they are playing hockey. Very disappointed in the beginner lessons, would not recommend this place, poor customer service, instructors look bored & disengaged, go to Crystal Lake Ice House where I should have gone originally.

This rink was a total disappointment! We typically go to the Crystal Lake Icehouse and thought we would give this rink a try.
1) The rental skates are beyond horrible. Laces that don’t work, sizes way off. Service behind the counter was slow.
2) Changing area tight.
3) Rink was in such poor shape. Not smooth would be an understatement. The pond near my house would be in better shape that this was. No reason the rink was not cleaned up at least once while we were there.
4) No skate guards, which meant kids going in the wrong direction and numerous people trying to skate with their cell phones.
Overall, poor experience.

The location was very far from where we were coming from. It took an hour drive. The lobby was very small. I went there to watch a Chicago Hawks game and we won and will move on to championship game.
Pros: There was heater fans facing the bleachers so that you do not stay freezing
Con: Very small and old looking. It can use some updating or remodeling,

Good enough for league hockey games, but not amongst the elites.
Small, one sheet of ice, no restaurant/​bar/​snack shop, but vending machines. Not much around the area to kill time for the hour waiting during warm ups before a game, better time sitting in the car in the parking lot reading reviews on Unilocal.
The building is older and the ceilings are really low. The puck will repeatedly hit the beams in the ceiling during games.
A nice feature is the overhead heaters that hang above the bleachers to warm you in a cold ice rink. However, sit in the HOME section. The visitors’ heaters do not work.