Webster House

We liked Webster House because the apartment was larger and lighter, and the building was located on a pretty well-travelled street in Palo Alto, which would make walking outside more appealing. It's not in the middle of a busy block. It's very close to downtown, which has a movie house and a little cafe. You won't get a lot of downtown city noise at night. It's very comfortable to live in. We have nothing to complain about how we were treated. It was very nice and very clean, and we saw people in the lounge of the third floor and the dining room.

I moved to Webster House more than a decade ago. It was a smart choice. The House is small, personable, and friendly. Residents are educated. There’s an easy walk to banks, theaters, medical, and emergency services, downtown stores and eateries, pharmacies, the Post Office, and Stanford. Three bus lines stop right here. The free Stanford shuttle passes a few blocks away. The magic is the culture of the House. We all come in determined to protect and enrich our independence. We help each other do that. Management is committed to helping us do for ourselves all that we can. But we all wear out over time. As we do, assistance is here when we need it. That’s the continuing care feature. We also have a highly rated full-service health center. Webster House is distinctive and special.

Five years ago my wife and I made the momentous decision to move from our home to a retirement facility. While we were in generally good health and mobility we knew that we had reached an age where before too long we might need help, and we didn't want to be a burden on our children when that time came. Early on in our search we happened upon Webster House and knew immediately that we had found the right place for us. Small (less than 50 residents), well-kept, beautiful common-living areas and truly friendly staff. Within three months from the time we started our search we were living in our Webster House apartment, enjoying new friends and not at all missing having to cook dinners or clean the house and garden. :-) An important part of the Webster House living package is one we personally haven't had to avail ourselves much, that of medical assistance, but the little we needed was provided very promptly, very competently and with caring warmth. Fellow residents who have required such help have strongly praised the assistance they have received. Our medical staff members are superb.

I stayed at The Webster House for three months. This place is really expensive. People have paid as much as one million dollars for a little two bedroom, besides that they have to pay between three or four thousand dollars a month. They were only being provided one meal a day for five days a week. On the sixth day they're supposed to be provided a meal that will be brought to their little apartment, but the meal only consisted of a sandwich. So for Sunday, that sandwich for dinner didn't work for me for dinner and then Monday, no meal at all. One a month they have lunch and lunch consisted of a salad which didn't amount to much. It's a serious issue. The sales pitch when you go in and then you get stuck in the place. I made friends when I lived there and recently I called one of the ladies, she had a relapse of the cancer and now can't chew food. She complained to me that they're not giving her soft food that she could eat. The Webster House has a very expensive buy in. That seems to be the trend now in senior residences that not only are people paying exorbitant fees by the month; they also have a lot of money tied up in a buy in which is as expensive as when you have bought a house but it is a tiny apartment. When anybody needs any extra help they have to pay extra. There was one lady who needed help to tie her shoes because she had a problem with her hand and when she asked for help, the girl from Guatemala was happy to do it. But one of the supervisors overheard the conversation and the girl from Guatemala was reprimanded, she shouldn't have done that because you have to pay extra for any of those little services. I overheard the conversation. I called the lady who was having problems with her hand and then I told her I would be happy to tie her shoes for her. When people are paying for that kind of exorbitant money and now having to get help from the current residents living there. That's outrageous paying that kind of money and you have a temporary problem and they won't do little things to help the residents. It's such an outrageous financial rip off that our seniors in America have to deal with when they need a little bit of assistance.