Assisted Living Communities in Lake Charles, LA

"I thought the Gardens Assisted Living was nice, but it was older. The rooms were a fair size. The people I visited with seemed fine. Although they said it was assisted living, my dad would have had to do his own laundry, but they did have rooms in the inside courtyard with a garden, and he would have enjoyed that. That was my second choice. They also had their Alzheimer's unit right in the same area, and that was one of my focuses because it tends to run in Dad's family, so I wanted some place where, if we ever got to that point, we wouldn't be picking him up and moving him far away. The staff already would already know him, it would be familiar, and it wouldn't be as big of a transition. I liked that they had access to a pretty courtyard because my father has always enjoyed being outside; he would have enjoyed that part of it. "

"This facility was extremely nice. Walking into this place was like walking into an upscale hotel. There was a beauty shop there that was small but well equipped to cater to any hairstyle that a resident might request. When I saw the dining room I gasped... it was like an uptown restaraunt complete with fancy dining chairs and great food. The guests rooms we saw were like a five star hotel room. The residents seemed very independant. They seemed to move about freely without needing much assistant. The residents also seemed very happy, full of smiles. I really liked it here. It was more of a community of slighty older people who just needed companionship more than medical care. "

"I toured Sage Oak Assisted Living and Memory Care of Lake Charles. We did look at the memory care, it's good, and it's like a group home. The rooms are very, very small like I probably would have to borrow a twin bed. The only complaint I had was the room size. There was no place for privacy, if your family wants to come to visit, the open areas are completely open. She wouldn't have room to accommodate chairs for visitors and things like that. It's a nice facility, the ratio of caregivers to patients is very good. They have a chef preparing meals, and the cooking is interactive. I thought that it had a lot of good things about it. The common area is one big room. On one side, it's a kitchen with a very long counter, and on the other side, there's one TV. Everybody has to watch the same thing or whatever or go sit in that room, which is extremely tiny. She would have a twin-sized bed and her chair, and that would have been that. The staff was great. They were nice. The facility is good for some people, but my mother wasn't ready for that yet. There was no one in the building that we went in for memory care. It was a building they had just finished. They have 16 rooms in each building, so it's kind of like a group home. It was a fast and furious go-through, because we got a call at the same time, and we had to meet with the doctor at the hospital."

"The Verandah Independent and Assisted Living was beautiful and clean. It was big. They offer a lot of amenities and they offer great care with a care package that's not included in the apartment package or your regular monthly fee. It just seemed like a very nice community. Ms. Ginger was very, very nice and she was very thorough in explaining everything and seemed concerned about helping find my brother a place. The food and menu looked delicious, and the dining area was very nice, big enough, and had a lot of residents when we went to eat the meals and enjoy conversations with other people. It was a very wonderful place to be."

"I've been at Stonebridge Place for the past three years. It was a real nice place to live. I liked it, but some changes were made with the staff and the administrator in the last year and things kind of went downhill. Then we had the hurricane and it kind of demolished it almost, so it's in a state of repair right now. It's an assisted living, and they have an Alzheimer's unit separately. It's all the same building, but it's attached. You have those that are capable of doing for themselves and those that need help. Whatever extra help you need, you pay for. They had private rooms and they had some 2-bedrooms. The private rooms had a small kitchenette, bath, and one bedroom. There were activities. We had an activity director, she kept things going, and she was really good in her job, but I don't think she's gonna be with us any longer. The food sucks because I'm a southerner, but it is hard to please 100 or so people. The price was a little high, but it wasn't the highest one in Lake Charles. After my daughter visited them all, we decided money wise and convenience, that this was my best fit, and the staff was very nice."

"Villa Maria was the first place we visited, and it was very nice. They had activities, transportation, and a barber shop. They had studio rooms that were nice, although small. The staff were all very friendly and very attentive. They asked us if we had any questions. "