The Best Communities in Jefferson County, AL

"I liked the services, and the fact that with the kitchen you can order your food or you have a choice to come down. If there's one of those bad days, you could just order your food up. I was very impressed with that. You didn't have to actually just come down. They had more than one conference room. They have recreation that you can go to. They had the library, the gym, and several places that you could just sit and watch TV, or you could just sit and relax, and that's either inside or outside. It wasn't just one room that you had to go to for relaxation out of your apartment. The staff was excellent. Kudos to the chef. You had a choice to choose the onboard menu, and then you had a choice to order some other food, so that way you don't have to taste the same thing. The facility was clean in every area, from the restrooms to the entrance, the sitting area, and the outside area. Everything was immaculate. We didn't see anything out of order. The bathrooms were clean."

"Very good food. I don't like fried food, so the cook bakes or grills for me. We also have activities like bingo, dominoes, rook, and crafts like making decorations for the tables according to the holiday. "

"The admininstrator of Covenant Place is caring and thoughtful. The place is kept clean and the residents are kept active. It is in a great location and very easy to get to for family and friends visiting a resident. There are also numerous restaurants in this area that I can take my great aunt on outings to. My only concern about this Covenant Place is that some of the staff aren't friendly enough and don't communicate well about the care of my great aunt. "

"My mom loves Maplewood and her caregivers. They take excellent care of her. She has her very own large room and large bathroom. We decorated her room and brought her bed. The caregivers are very sweet and attentive to her needs. She also loves her neighbors (other residents). I love that it is a small facility and they become very close to each other. The manager, Shay, is wonderful. I’m so glad we chose Maplewood. "

"My dad is doing pretty good at Sunrise Ridge. His room is spacious and clean. The food is good and the activities are well-rounded. They have places where you can sit, read, or watch TV. The staff is very nice and cooperative."

"Alzheimer's is a wicked enemy. A vibrant successful woman stripped of memory now no longer able to speak. An active hiker in her prime her 92 year old body continues. My mother goes daily to the Adult Day Care where dear loving workers and patients stroke her hands to make her feel supported. Art, music, and physical activities are provided as well as a good lunch. Without it what would I do? "

"I chose Greenbriar on Hanover for my mom because of its proximity to the family and the staff. It is an open facility with a memory care unit where patients have lots of mobility. My mother has a room to herself and is very happy there. "

"I'm a resident of Mount Royal Towers. It's clean, nice, and neat. The staff is OK. Unfortunately, they turn over once in a while. The dining area is clean and well maintained. The food is very acceptable and well prepared but could be better if the budget was bigger. We have a lot of activities going on. We can keep busy if we want to. I'm teaching people how to play bridge. It's independent living, plus assisted living, and a nursing home. It's a wide-range place. I'm in the independent living plus area. If I need assistance, I could get it. They have also an Alzheimer's unit."

"When I toured Morningside of Vestavia Hills, they had a man singing and playing the piano, and the residents were there. The facility was very clean. It smelled nice when you walked in the door. You didn't get that nursing home smell. I actually knew two of the residents there. They couldn't remember me by face, but I know their family and they said they were satisfied with the care and the food. I met one lady who took us on the tour and the other lady who was in charge of activities. My complaint with the lady who took me on the tour was when I asked her if she found out about a one bedroom, she called me back and said they were going to ask this lady who was in the hospital at that time if she would move to a studio room and my husband could have the one bedroom, and then she never returned my call. Then my son called and she also never returned his call. Their rooms were kept pretty well. It's an older place, but it looks like it has new paint. Even the courtyard out back where they can go and plant vegetables and do gardening was very nice. The rooms were fairly good size, even the studio room. You could separate it to where one side is for the bedroom and the other side is for a sitting area for visitors."

"I visited Regency Retirement Village and it was fine. I only went on a tour and she was wonderful, she was a nice lady. The rooms were big, huge and very nice. The dining area was okay. From what I saw, the dining area is kind of like a bar-type deal. From what I saw, there was really no place to go walk around. They just had a little area downstairs where you can sit. The apartments were huge, and nice. The people who worked there seemed like they were extremely nice people. My drawback is that it didn't seem to have a lot of activities and outside area that I needed for my mom. It looks good just minus those things that I needed. "

"Fair Haven Retirement Center is convenient for one thing, it's very close to where we live. It was nice and clean. The residents all seemed very happy and active. The rooms were nice, they had plenty of space, and there was good light. There was a lot of organization and activities for the residents. We saw their assisted living. It was very welcoming and the residents that we met, it was at mealtime when we happened to go, all seemed well cared for. The staff that toured us was very good. She's very knowledgeable, gave us a lot of information, answered all of our questions and, just about anything we asked to see, she made sure that we got to see. She introduced us to all of the workers that we came in contact with. She introduced us to many of the residents and she knew all of the residents by name, which I found very impressive."

"My mother is in Riverchase Village, and she is doing really good. They are taking good care of her. I don't have any problem with that. They have a lot of activities during the week. They have bingo and another game they play. They have a library. They have someone come in to entertain them. Sometimes my mother doesn't feel like doing activities because she tends to have a lot of pain, but if she's feeling good, she likes to do the activities. It is beautiful in the inside. They have flowers, and they are decorated nicely. The tables are really cheerful. It is just a nice place to be. I want to live there myself. They have rooms with a little sitting room, a kitchen, and a bedroom. My mother has a bedroom, a little kitchen area, and a bath. It is big enough for her because she has a walker, and she really can't really get around it. However, the food is the problem. They have different cooks, and that's one thing that they really need to work on. "

"I toured The Ridge at Grandview. It's beyond my means. But I like that it was clean and the people seemed attentive to their clients. The people were free to walk because they were already in a secure place, as long as they weren't disturbing other patients. So they were really courteous and they didn't hassle me about looking around. And of course, they showed me what my husband's room would look like. The room was clean and nice. It had a bed and a TV. It is like he's at home. It would have his personal stuff. The layout of the building was beautifully done, too."

"We were going to Morningside of Riverchase, but we knew we would have to move my mother again because it didn't have the skilled living part. It has been redone. The director took us around and showed us all the facilities, and we were treated very well. They had a little beauty shop, a library, TV rooms, and different sized rooms. But they're not overly convenient because of where they're located. "