The Best Assisted Living Communities in Erie County, NY

"I have visited, and they have basically one room. I don't want a one room; I wanted the bedroom separate. They are basically a one room apartment, and they don't have a kitchenette. They just got one room and a bathroom right off that room. Basically everybody had almost the same things as far as the activities goes. I actually viewed it on the cleanliness of the rooms, the cleanliness of the place, and the personnel in the facility. They are all good. I didn't care for it because when I saw they only have one room, I didn't take the whole tour. I wanted a one bedroom. Everybody is very friendly, very nice, and warm. But when I heard they had just one room, I didn't care for it. "

"I love Elderwood Assisted Living at Tonawanada, and my mom loves it, too. They have a gazebo outside, an ice cream shop, and a beauty salon, and it's all on one floor. They have a TV room and a backyard area for everybody. They have bingo, movie nights, and rides to hotdog stands. "

"The Amberleigh had a friendly environment and felt very much like a home, but the thing I didn't like was the distance things were from everything. It's a very large facility. It's a long distance to go to some places, like to a dining hall or even to go sit in an outside place. The other thing is they are not an all-inclusive facility, so if you outlive your money, Medicaid would not take over there. The person that did the tour was very good. She was extremely interested in what she was doing. She even said that she cared about the people that were there and she answered my questions, but there weren't many things for the people to do there. They have a salon and an outdoor area, and I don't recall there being much of anything going on. In terms of location, it's very close to a lot of things. There's a hospital nearby, shopping, and it's very close to a main road where you can find just about anything on it."

"Elderwood Assisted Living at Hamburg is very nice and seemed very clean. Everyone seemed friendly. They have a library and a number of community areas with big screen TVs. There was a family dining room, an activities room, and an outdoor patio that actually faced one of the village streets so folks could see activities going on in the village."

"Brookdale Niagara was very nice. They had a small, efficiency apartment with a very small kitchenette, a living room that you first walked into, and then a bedroom off to the side. I know. They had three different unit sizes, including patio rooms. They had a salon and a small entertainment room where they do recreational activities. The dining room was very nice and everything was very clean and looked updated. It's probably the best in the area."

"My mom is at a nursing home called Elderwood in Wheatfield. Her condition is such that she can't do an enhanced assisted living, so that's where we are at. It seems to be fine, she says she's happy there. I haven't been able to see her, so I'm going with what I'm hearing from the nurses and social workers, plus my mother. She says she likes her room but cognitively she has some issues. What I'm getting from her is that she likes the staff and that they're good to her. She seems to be content there. I don't get as many updates, generally I call and I ask. It's not that they don't update, it's just that if I have questions, I always call and ask. For activities, they have many activity levels, but I don't know if she can participate in any of them. She has breathing issues and she's on oxygen, cognitively she's deteriorating. Physically, I'm guessing now she's in a wheelchair. Right now, she's happy, and they seem to be on top of what's going on with her. If I call they do answer my questions. They're probably understaffed and overwhelmed like everybody else today, but they seem to be doing well with her and she likes them. It's a very expensive place, it's $13,000 a month, but I have not been in there to judge the rooms sizes or the conditions. All I know is that I've been online to check them before and they seemed to have good reviews."

"Heritage Manor of Lockport was nice and clean. People are very friendly. The dining rooms are big. It's a nice place, but they don't take insurance. That's the only downfall of that place. It's going to be out of pocket. They offered us refreshments. They have a puzzle room where they work on puzzles. They take the people out to parks and they go on boat rides, and they do a lot with them. It was very clean. They just did a renovation."

"I visited my grandmother for two weeks in this complex. The complex itself is very beautiful. The grass is well kept and the dumpsters are contained in little houses so it looks very nice. The complex has the usual woes of any apartment complex: the windows are drafty, the appliances outdated, the HVAC needs to be cleaned, etc. There is, however, one HUGE complaint: my grandmother lives UPstairs. Who puts senior citizens in upstairs apartments? There are twenty five steep stairs leading to the second floor of her building that she must climb with groceries and trash. "

"The best thing about the entire experience was the people working there. Everyone from the staff, to volunteers, to administrators was very kind, courteous and professional. They made you feel very comfortable and that your family member would be in great hands. You also felt like the care being given was top of the line. They were very quick to respond to each and every need. The facility itself was nice, nothing out of the ordinary but clean and well maintained. The room we visited was always clean and it was rather large for an assisted living room. The single units were an added bonus. One other nice thing was that there was always some type of free food or beverage available. Whether it was coffee, pop or cookies, there was always something to grab. But all of this comes second to the staff and volunteers. They are what makes this place special. "

"My wife grandmother was at Glenwell A DePaul Senior Living Facility. She was there until her estate was liquidated and was forced to go to an Erie County nursing home where medicaid picked up the cost. I remeber Glenwell DePaul to be a very clean and friendly facility that provided assisted living and care to middle class seniors. The several times we visited, I remember that my grandmother in law (who was like a grandmother to me was always helped with bathing and grooming. She was clean and well looked after. Also, I remember that the food they gave her was always presentable and looked and smelled great. I can't say anything about how the food tasted because I never tried it. they also provided activities and areas where she could sit with others who lived there for entertainment, friendship and leisure. The staff was always pleasant and "down to earth"; ready to address any concerns of the family and make you feel welcome. The staff would even sometimes wheel my wife's grandmother outside to sit in front and they would stay and chat a while with her. I was very impressed with the respect they gave her and the way they treated her. I have seen more upscale assisted living facilities in that area that had a "colder" atmosphere. My wife's grandmother was kept clean, treated with respect and built relationships with the staff and residents. I would recommend this facility to anyone in a similar situation that my wife's family had to face. "

"My mom is now in Eden Heights of West Seneca and being taken care of there. We chose them because they gave us a great feeling. We like it. It isn't really big, and it seems perfect for my mom. They're very nice people, too. Everything to me looks really good. Everybody is very helpful. The place is clean. The people are awesome and very helpful. They seem to take care of my mom. She seems happy, too. I was afraid it was going to be a problem because she doesn't want to move, but she seems to fit right in. The staff members all seem to be very nice and very helpful. My mom has no complaints about the food. Everything seems to be perfect. However, they're expensive."

"Mary Agnes Manor is what I was looking for. It is centrally located and easy for me to get to here and the city. They have a private room and do not have to share a bathroom. There are plenty of activities and little stores where my mother can go and purchase things she needs. They have a dining room and a breakfast area, and a choice to eat either breakfast or dinner. They also have a solarium with a view of the lake. It was very nice. They had everything that I was looking for. They take them to their doctors’ appointments. Everyone that I met was friendly and helpful. "

"We toured Fredonia Place of Williamsville. They have a nice facility, although it is a little bit larger, so their activities room is bigger. The chapel here was bigger, and here they have a deacon that's onsite that does masses and stuff like that, so that was a viable option for people who have a religious background. One nice thing is that every section has a nurse's station. They put it behind the wall, so that way, as you're walking around, you don't see that. It feels more like an apartment area as opposed to a health facility. They have a really large kitchen that can be reserved for family use. They stock everything that you would need to use it with, like pots, pans, dishes, utensils and spices, and stuff like that. All you have to do is bring in your food if you're going to cook a meal for the resident that's living there. The person that we were working with was not very responsive. His name was Michael. Even when we had the tour scheduled for my mother-in-law, he didn't even show up and someone else had to do the tour for us. That just made us a little leery about it. If he's not responding and then doesn't show up for the tour, what's going on in this place is not well managed. That just didn't give us a very comfortable feeling. The building is two stories and they only have availability on the bottom floor, which means my mother-in-law would have to take an elevator to get to all the activities and the eating area. We knew she wouldn't be comfortable with that because she has mobility issues. "

"Blocher Homes was very organized. The staff was courteous, informative, and so forth. However, the accommodations or the rooms needed updating. The rooms were very small -- especially the bathroom and the shower area. The amenities were good. They had a young group leader who seemed to be very organized and interact with the residents and so forth. "