Assisted Living Communities in Virginia Beach, VA

"We have chosen Commonwealth Senior Living at Leigh Hall for my parents. It was a combination of reasons, but location was the key. It is really close to where my parents' home was, so that was one factor. The staff was really great. However, in terms of appearance, I would have chosen another place. My parents have not participated in activities. I saw them having a church service, and some residents were playing bingo."

"Excellent care... staff is professional and very caring. You will have peace of mind knowing that your loved one is getting the best care. The resident homes are beautiful and well maintained. I am blessed to have found Ms. Ravenall and her staff to care for my father."

"First Colonial Inn was really nice. They offered many services, entertainment, culture, fitness, and different kinds of activities. I liked that about it. It was really well maintained, and the people were extremely friendly."

"We toured and what we liked about that place is you don't have to change apartments between levels. It was really nice. It was one of our favorites. The rooms were nice, spacious, and the amenities were outstanding. It included three meals a day and activities. They had a salon and separate laundry facilities. Tom was fantastic. We were really impressed. Everything was very well maintained. They used the same staff members on each floor, everybody was very welcoming, and the staff was really nice. The facility was very clean. The menus were fantastic."

"The service at Indian River Residential Care Community is wonderful because this is a facility that all the people there are all in auxiliary grant, which mean that they are not a rich facility and I don't know if they have patients with private pay. There are a lot of things that they do not have. But for people like my son who cannot go even for one month on a private pay and can no longer live on his own, I thank God there is a facility like this. There is no choice menu, but that's alright. These people are happy that somebody is cooking for them. If they don't like what the dinner is, they can always have a sandwich. They don't have a lot of activities and that's very disappointing because I think old people need activities. But for activities, you need money. These are not well read people, so I think a library will be wasted. However, if a van can take them to a dollar store or Walmart once every other week, that will be wonderful. They will have something to look forward to, but they don't have that. There are some downfalls and yet for people who have nowhere else to go, thank God the place is there. I will rate the manager of that facility absolutely the highest mark plus double it. She is a wonder on this earth and all the people in that facilityand these are her words are her children. She is a wonderful human being. She is very good. She does what she has to do. She has taken a person out of there because he is a danger to others. She gives him a number of chances but it comes to a point that she can't keep him there any longer. Nothing is perfect and I am not saying that this place is perfect. Not all people are as nice or understanding or as kind as she. But ultimately she is in charge and she listen when you talk to her. She asks how we are doing and is everything is okay. She speaks with us and gives us a beautiful greeting when we come in. She runs the place beautifully. It is the love of her life and it shows. The people who are there are on auxiliary grant and these are the people who are not well-off at all. They haven't any abundance of anything in life and some of them like my son are mentally ill and other problems. So, they can't go out and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year so they can go to a private pay. This is a special place for special people. If somebody doesn't have enough money and can get an auxiliary, there is not that many places around to choose from. "

"I visited Bickford of Virginia Beach, and it was fabulous. The people and the staff there, and everything, was fabulous. They gave us so much information and made us feel like this could be the place when we get to a situation where my mom and dad needed to be together for assisted living. The woman we talked to give us information about checking with another place that had apartments, and then we can transition to assisted living when that need arises. The staff was superb. As we walked through the tour, in each section of that place, the cook, the maintenance people, and anybody who was in charge of anything made their way to us and introduced themselves and what their function was and made us feel like a family for real. If there was someplace for me to put my dad right away, that would have been it because they had a lot of senior activities. We came in when staff was doing a lip sync kind of program. All of the residents were there, and we got a chance to tour. The facility was clean, neat, and very well-appointed. It was like a family. It's very small and that's another appeal to it, they are not like hundreds of people. It was a small, family-oriented place. The person that we were with, her name's Heather, was a wealth of information as far as continuing our search. She was immensely helpful to my mom and me. I would recommend them to anyone ready to make that move. She really went above and beyond, even gave us some other information and made us feel free to go to different places I mentioned; she knew who was there and somebody that we could talk to. I saw the menu, and the chef and another kitchen person came out and talked to us about what they were offering. It was midday, so they were getting ready for lunch, but I didn't get a chance to try it."

"My experience was very good. The staff was very nice, informative, and helpful; I was very impressed with everyone I met there. The rooms were very clean and spacious. It is not as old as the other facility I went to, and the residents all seemed very content, they had a lot of interaction and seemed to be very happy. "

"We're moving my mother-in-law into Harmony at Oakbrooke. It was very nice, very welcoming, and very clean. The concierge was very polite. This was very affordable with all her retirements. This was the only one that I went to and we were so pleased. We had to wait until after the holidays. They weren't pushy at all. I called them and I assured them that they were the one and I dealt with Vivian there. She didn't do any follow-ups, which I liked and when I called her, she was good. I know she's in the sales division. Some places they call you and call you and call you. I said, "I'll call you after the holidays" and she said OK. I am very impressed with that. I saw the dining area for assisted living and where you can take your family and for memory care and that's all very nice. It's a good place. They have movie nights, games, and bingo, and they do field trips. I was impressed. The staff that I met was very nice. The nurse came to our house to visit my mother-in-law and do an assessment and she was very nice and pleasant."

"I visited Bickford of Chesapeake. They had the salon, the physical therapy, and the restaurant. They have all the things that you would think you'd need. The staff was very friendly, knowledgeable, very welcoming, very personable, and very good at her job, and we liked her very much. The issue was that it came down to making a decision, and she didn't have availability. The facility was very nice. I never went to anything that was nicer. It just had a nice warm feeling, a place where anybody would be happy to live, and it was well-kept."

"It is a nice place, clean, new, and has nice people. Everything there was great. When I called them wanting a tour, they said to come on over and they spent about 45 minutes showing me the place and discussing their programs and facilities. They also introduced us to some of the people there and it was very good. Their amenities are all fine; there wasn't anything they don't have."

"I toured Commonwealth Senior Living at Cedar Manor. It was really pretty. When we walked in there, it was decorated for Christmas. It was very vibrant. The receptionist at the front door greeted us, and they had coffee and water. It was really nice. The apartment was nice. Everything was very neat. You can tell that they put a lot of thought into how everything was specifically placed for memory care. For example, they were telling us that they make sure they can see the four corners of the room. It was really nice. The person who was in charge of memory care gave us the tour. She was really nice. She knew a lot about senior care. She gave us a lot of tips about what we should do, even if we were going to look at another facility. She was really good. The food was good. They grow their own vegetables, which I really like. The dining area was nice, and I like how they have a private dining area for the family as well. Every Thursday at the end of the month, they have a family social where the family gets together. They have a live band in there. They have an ice cream social, which I like. They also do Catholic mass as well. They were really good."

"My friend stayed at Commonwealth Senior Living at Churchland House for respite care. I thought it was good. The majority of the people were there because they wanted to be there, not just because they had a job. They had smoking areas outside of the building that were pretty convenient. It was really nice-looking inside. I think the only complaint I had was they made you pay ahead. When the next person's coming in, you've already paid to have it cleaned, painted if it needed, have the carpet removed, or whatever. I thought that was a little steep for 30 days; but in long term, I think it would have worked out better. She was there to continue to build up her strength, and it was helpful for her. The halls were clear, so she could walk up and down the hall and walk to dinner. She could go sit outside and enjoy the day if it was a nice day. She got to know people and sit and talk with them. I think it was a pretty nice community. They had plenty of activities, if you wanted to participate. They had lots of arts and crafts. They had somebody that painted their nails for free at Easter, and they put little bunnies on them. They had bingo, devotions everyday, and monthly birthday parties. They were very active."

"My mother is there. She had been in their independent living facility several years ago before she had her stroke and that's where she wanted to go back. They're good. They have a lot of activities and seem to take good care of them. She can hear and tell that the nurse is somewhere close by just about all the time especially if she leaves her door open. They push her around to go to different activities and do different things. She made a lot of good friends there, and she's really enjoying it. The only problem I had was whether or not they feed them too much. It's brand new and fancy."

"First Choice Assisted Living II was a home. It was nice, clean, and quiet, and the residents seemed happy. They had a little patio, and they had activities for their residents."