The Best Assisted Living Communities in Merrimack County, NH

"I visited somebody at Sunapee Cove Assisted Living. It was a very nice place and very well kept. The room was a lot smaller than what I would like. They added on to the buildings and blocked the view of the lake, but I like that it is on the water."

"Heritage Heights is the one that my friend likes in Concord. I like it, too. It's a wonderful place. It has many activities. It was much, much less expensive. I would give it a high review. It would seem like a 5-star hotel with an incredible number of activities and just a beautiful place. I had a wonderful visit there. If you have a scale of 1 to 10, it would be a 10 without a doubt. They let us see different rooms. They let us talk to a couple of the nurses. The person who brought us around was extremely good. I couldn't say enough good things about it. The tour guide was excellent. The apartments were very, very nice. I don't even know whether they were furnished by the person living there or by Heritage Heights, but it was beautifully furnished and just very nice rooms. With regards to food, I looked at the menu and then talked to a couple of the people and it was excellent. They have a unusual thing that I thought was quite nice. You have two choices for your dinner, and they have restaurants there, too. And if you didn't like either of those, you could go to the restaurant and get a free meal. That's one I never thought I'd hear about. Regarding upkeep, it was beautifully taken care of, very clean and nice. In my mind, it was spectacular."

"I went to Granite Ledges by the Concord Hospital. I liked this whole community. They were very friendly. It seemed like a good place; a place I wouldn’t mind leaving my mom. It was very comfortable. I liked that place so much that I considered taking a job there. It just felt very good. Everybody was really nice. I wanted her to go there, but it was out of our price range. The rooms were fairly small, but I guess that’s what you get. The place was beautiful, really clean, and seemed homey. If they wanted something to eat, the little kitchen parts were open. They could also walk outside and see deer in the backyard. I’d recommend anyone that can afford to go there. The menu looked good, and they have plenty of stuff going on, almost all day from morning to night. They also took respite. "

"The Presidential Oaks Assisted living home looked very nice, from the inside and outside. It appeared to be very well kept and the residents had a generally mellow and complacent demeanor. I really liked the amount of activities and things that were available to the elderly folks. The staff care seemed extremely thorough and everyone knew each others name. It was very refreshing to see that the people were getting the care and attention they deserve. One thing i didnt like is that it was very small and did not have very many rooms, it felt like it was almost too cozy with not enough stimulation for the very active senior residents. The staff took really great care of the more needy senior residents at Presidential Oaks and you can tell the caretakers really took the time to get to know the residents individual needs and also to take care and be respectful when they were having a tough time. I was really impressed with the way the staff interacted with the residents as more of friends and less as caretakers. It was a great experience and i think that the facility is very well kept. "

"My Step-mother was in this facility for almost five years and we found them to be very caring and professional. She was always dressed nicely including jewelry, she was taken out for lunches and trips, they had movies and shows at the facility and overall she was in a very happy mood when we visited her. She also ended up in the nursing home section for a period of months and the same was true there also. "

"My dad was in Pleasant View Center for a while. He was in the rehab, but we would go see the nursing home part for different things because it’s all one unit. I thought they were very good about his care. They got him rehabilitated; his therapists were great. I did have a concern with them sometimes leaving him for long periods of time. I would come in and find him tangled up in the sheets, and the bed was wet and it had been a while. I know they’re understaffed; they have 50 rooms to do in an hour. It’s the staffing part, but as far as the professional part and what he needed for his therapies, that was 100%. "

"This is easily the better of the care centers in Concord when it comes to elders. There is a more intensive, more luxurious center located directly in the Concord Hospital parking lot but it was far too intense for my 87 yr old MIL. We had her moved to HH, where they made her feel at home in a private room as she has dementia and would have disturbed a roommate. There is almost always a waiting list. That was frustrating but befits the fact that is is a better center than most. The usual problems of overstretched nursing assistants and the lack of an RN on duty at all times was one of my reasons for distracting a star. I admire the LPNs but really feel an RN should be there. They are better than average about changing underwear and keeping the rooms really clean. Mom was getting so comfortable there it would have been a thought to go ahead and let her stay if they had the same conditions up on the permanent stay floor as downstairs. Someone needs to understand that unless it's a couple in a room together, then permanent stay needs to be all single rooms, even if they must be tiny. People deserve the dignity of their own space, their own bathroom/shower area. The other reason I removed a star was the food. I brought Mom most of her food because the food was a big pool of grease, and nothing there would fit a low fat lifestyle to any measure. But again, that is unfortunately typical. I'd say if you are looking for short term rehab for an elder, there is really no place better locally. If you are looking for long term..well it's really up to your elder if they want to share a room. Perhaps s/he will. If so, the care is great if the food isn't :) "

"We chose Peabody Home because I think their facility was a good fit for my father, and it was close to where we lived. It's in a small town. There are some restaurants and shopping there, but it's not in the city. The staff have been great. They are very attentive to my father's needs and our needs. He has a single room. It's large and bright with big windows that overlook the river. There was a nice community room. People are friendly. The other residents were also friendly. They have games. It was a good place to be. In memory care, their activities are more on puzzles and games like that. As far as amenities, there is just a courtyard, a little walking area, and a sitting area. There's a restaurant on the campus. There are places for haircuts, like a barbershop. There's PT and OT. It was a new facility. It was just built a few years ago so it's clean and updated. Being in the memory care, they kept them as busy as they could."

"My friend has been in Vintage Hill for half a year now. It's a beautiful place. There are only 11 ladies there, and they revamped it this past year. They have a new dining area, and they decorated it wonderfully. It's in the same place, but bigger. The rooms are nice, but aren't spacious. They bring in their own stuff. She has a shared room with nobody in it. If you have to be there, it's a good one. The staff is wonderful, and they're really nice people. The food looks great. They have a beautiful kitchen, and the dining area is beautifully appointed and gorgeous. They take them on trips, they play games, they have crafts and entertainment once in a while, and they can go outside when the weather permits. They have a porch. I would recommend them. It's homey, not fancy; it's country, and the people that run it are very nice too. "

"My mother is at The Villager Retirement Home. It is a 16-bed private residential, but it has gone beyond our expectations. My mother absolutely loves it. The price is right too. Everything has exceeded our expectations. The facility is a really old Victorian home. They have a big wrap-around porch. There are 16 residents, and their porch has 16 white rocking chairs that, to me, it tells a lot right there. They have activities three times a day that they are expected to attend to. When you go over there, all the residents are out and about. It is a wonderful place, and my mother loves it. "

"I like the Genesis Laconia Rehabilitation Center but they didn't have enough staff. They seemed fairly stretched out on the staffing, though the staff that they did have was very pleasant. I think they have too much to do to give extra attention. They didn't treat mom like a princess, but they took care of her needs. I didn't feel like they had as many activities as her current community. It's in a lot better condition as far as being updated including the building itself compared to the other place I toured. I ate a lot of times there with my mother, and the food was very good. The room that she was in was very nice and the atmosphere was also nice."

"Courville provided a very pleasant experience for my Mother in Law who was staying there and they went well beyond expectations to accommodate the family visiting. For her Birthday, they set us up with a private lounge room and we had 20+ guests. I never saw anything that was unsanitary. They have some TV's in nice rooms for their residents. My only complaint was that at times they were short staffed, which caused a long wait for assistance. Not very good when someone needed assistance to the restroom. "

"Myrtle Manor was family-owned by a mother, a father, and a son. It was an old building, but it was clean. I have my own room. I have a little garden I can work on. They were very friendly. They only prepare one meal for everyone. It's a small place. There are 25 rooms, and they only had 12 people there when I was there. They weren't overstaffed. The room I saw was on the first floor, and it was quite a big room."

"Rose meadow isn't the normal assisted living facility. It's located on an old renovated farm. The old farm house was converted to aid the handicapped and they did a very nice job. This particular facility is dedicated to people who have had traumatic brain injuries and s set up for rehabilitation. The nicest thing about the facilities is that it's a house and each patient has their own bedroom, with a communal living room, kitchen and all kinds of space outdoors. I think it helps greatly that they aren't in a hospital setting even though they are equip ed for any emergency and the staff doctors are on hand for regular checkups and meetings on the patients progress.The facility cares for only 11 patients at a time and I believe the staff numbered between 20-25. The staff seemed very caring and friendly and the entire facility was very clean and well kept.Aside from the regular rehabilitation and special equipment and whirlpool baths for the patients they also seemed to have a pretty extensive recreational activities from inside games and activities to outside activities on the large grounds.Obviously having someone you care about in any facility is never a great experience but when you know they are well taken care of in a very comfortable home like setting like Rose Meadow then it makes it all a little more bearable. "