The Best Senior Living Communities in San Pablo, CA

"I'm at The Lodge at Glen Cove right now. I went to three communities, and The Lodge is the most modern, the most caring, has the most money invested in it, and it's the newest. And in addition to that, it's right on the water in Vallejo whereas the others are stuck in the woods somewhere, and there is no scenery whatsoever. In addition, the food is very good; I just came from breakfast. The waiters are very good. The front desk is very helpful. The security is very good. I could go on and on and on. I like it. They have a full activity calendar with music, games, and puzzles. Amanda, who is the activity director, and Tina, the assistant activity director, have been very helpful. That's something else that's important. They don't just have one activity director. They have an activity director and an assistant activity director so that it's available seven days a week. The same applies to maintenance. They have the head of maintenance (he's also in charge of the housekeeping) and then they have the assistant of the maintenance. Therefore, they're covering it for seven days, and they have to pay two employees, which is not cheap. Also, the parking is very good. There's a big parking lot. Even more than that, there are two buses that the community owns for outside activities, and in addition, a local public bus comes. The Lodge is very lively. In the other two places, the people were kind of sleepy. And I think that reflects on what's going on here. The value for money is better here than in the other two places but more expensive."

"I toured The Point at Rockridge. The room was spacious and had good large windows, so it was well-lit. It had its own bathroom that was appropriately done. It had very adequate space for the storage of clothing. The room itself was not bad; it had a good feel. The large windows made it more welcoming and it was a spacious room. There would be plenty of room for a dresser, a bed, side tables, a small table, and a large chair that would easily fit in the room. I thought it was quite generous and welcoming. The staff who toured me was very informative and took the time. And this was a walk-in. We didn't even have an appointment. Everybody that we met was gracious and nice and seemed tuned to what was going on. I feel quite confident that it would be a place where my mother could be comfortable and would find a lot of the services that would be helpful for her to be safe in a friendly environment. The other thing is that, if memory care was not necessarily where my mother wanted to be, but assisted living, that seemed to be an open possibility. They seemed to have some fair flexibility. Another thing is that the staff that was doing the tour with us, ran the place, and she got into it because she had parents who had Alzheimer's that she was a personal caregiver for until they died. She went back to college to get a degree so that she could be helpful to people who were going through what she had gone through handling and dealing with parents with dementia. So I think it gave her a particular insight and competency for the position. I think that helps the entire ethos of the place."

"My mom is happy at the moment at Cogir of San Rafael Memory Care. They have a new director, and I'm fairly confident that this will be good. They went through two directors in a couple of months and that was hard. We went there a year and a half ago, so my mom has been there for a while now. The appearance of the food was very beautiful. It's tasty, and it meets all the nutritional needs. We had beautiful Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving meals there. But their daily meals are also well-rounded and delicious. When you first come in, there's a beautiful foyer. You're greeted at the front desk by a very nice gentleman who has a lovely British accent that makes you feel kind of relaxed. It's very clean, open and spacious. It smells good. There are usually 2 or 3 residents sitting around reading the newspaper or having conversations. They have three different areas that they use for the activities. They have a small TV room for morning coffee, and they also do their televised church services there, which is really great. Upstairs, they have an activity room that they also use in the evening for watching movies, and they do all their exercises in there. And then they use their dining room for larger things like different musicians come in at least three times a week. There's a guy that comes in twice a month to do Tai Chi, and there is a person that comes in twice a month that does a gardening thing with them called Elder Grow. That's just amazing to see the seniors with their hands in the soil and connecting with plants. It's just powerful. On top of that, they have a morning sitting exercise every day. There's a lovely park around the corner where they can walk in a sort of circle. They take everybody out whether they're in wheelchairs or walkers or walking, and they get them out and moving every single day. They're great activities. They're well-rounded activities. I felt that we were paying less than some of the other places that I had talked to. I thought it was great value for our money. My mother has a junior bedroom, so she has like a living space and then an actual bedroom. It's really nice because she went from being in her own apartment to having this space. In the interim, we had been in a small facility up in Healdsburg, and she said it felt like being in a hotel, and now she says she feels like she has a home. The staff is amazing. They're very attentive. They make sure my mom is up every morning and dressed in clothes that match. They helped my mom pick out clothes and do her hair. And then they make sure everybody gets to all the meals and let her know when all the activities are there. Sometimes my mom just wants to read her newspaper in the morning, and they let her be. I think one of the best things I like about Cogir is their new communication method. They use something called the LifeLoop, which is an app. It lets me know what activities my mother has attended, and what activities are being offered. Cogir was the only one that just had memory care, and that appealed to me because the staff was more trained, and it didn't feel like they were locking away the memory care people."

"We were able to visit The Vincent. It was not a building that was converted, so I liked that it was built originally for seniors. The walls are soundproof. The food was excellent. The amenities are great. The staff members that we met were knowledgeable. They train their caregivers there at the facility. It's not a corporate facility, but they have everything a person could want. We actually left a deposit to hold a room, but the only problem with them is that the room is on the third floor. My friend has mobility issues, and so he is afraid of being on any floor in case there is an earthquake or a fire. He is afraid that he would not be able to get out of the building, and that's his only hesitation. I was going to call back to see if there was any chance that they would have a resident that wanted to move up to the third floor, and so my friend is definitely looking for a ground floor. They offer a discount on the community fee. The building had a very warm and natural feeling. The grab bars looked like chair molding around the walls. They had linen tablecloths and a full table setting service. Everything was just top-notch and clean. There is a library, and they have what's running in the theater now in their movie facility, so it's not old movies. At The Vincent, it was like eating in a restaurant. It was pizza day the day that we were there, and they had their own brick pizza oven to cook pizzas. To order from the menu, everything was fresh, and nothing frozen. It was a totally different experience."

"Benicia Angel's Home I was amazing. I felt that it was exactly what I wanted my mother-in-law to be. The grounds were lovely and the house inside was lovely. Each bedroom had its own bathroom or a shared bathroom. It was very nice and very clean. The workers there were very kind. The owner took us on a tour and she was lovely as well. They had a backyard where they encouraged people to go out daily to get some fresh air and stuff. I had no complaints about it, except for the price."

"I was visiting a friend at Lakeside Park. It was a very nice facility. It was well run. They were very friendly and very attentive to the people who lived there. They would take them out for walks in the neighboring park along Lake Merritt. They were very supportive of their patients, but also very concerned about their safety. The staff was competent and caring. They had a nice courtyard outside and they're also half a block from a big park along Lake Merritt. They seemed to have several activities going on every day."

"I liked Drake Terrace. It was a smaller place and I think the employees have worked there a long time. The residents were friendly during the short time my husband was there. The food was really good. The staff was very good. I was very happy with them. Although the facility was not new, it was still nice."

"The Bluffs at Hamilton Hill seemed a little bigger, which was good. I liked that. The location is very nice. It's an extension of where the old hospital was and the building itself, the structure, is very nice and very, very well located. It's essentially almost across the street from where we live. They had a snack bar and there was a kind of a little cafe, not a big restaurant, with few tables and a coffee bar. I went into a couple of different rooms that were slightly different sizes, but they seemed to be a little larger and a little more homelike rather than a studio or hotel. Jeanette was excellent."

"My husband will be going to Windchime of Marin. It is a very highly recommended facility for people with memory care issues such as Alzheimer's and dementia, and he has Alzheimer's and because it's close to my home, I chose that facility. It's a beautiful facility. It's very clean. The people are very helpful in trying to help me arrange his transfer, and I feel that it's the appropriate facility for him rather than a nursing home or an assisted living facility. Being a strict memory care facility, I think, is more what my needs are for my husband, and that's why I chose them. I feel that for the kind of care my husband is going to get there, even though it may have been more money than some other facilities, I think the quality of the care is going to be better and because it's more accessible for me, I'm able to go there and be with him as much as I want. That was my primary concern. Accessibility to me was very important, and some of the facilities are farther away, which will involve me traveling 35 to 40 minutes to get to. I can be at this facility in five minutes."

"I want to recognize the exceptional service at Cogir Vallejo Hills under Susan's leadership. After a measurement mistake with my storage shelving, Denice from management immediately assured me, "Misako, don't worry. We will take care of it." She coordinated with Albert from maintenance to re-measure, return incorrect shelves, and install proper ones. Having moved to Cogir Vallejo Hills five months ago, this experience confirmed I made the right choice. In any organization, mistakes happen—we're all human. What truly matters is how those issues are handled. Susan's team demonstrated exceptional care, compassion, and efficiency throughout this situation. I'm grateful to Susan, Denice, Albert, and the entire team for their dedication to resident satisfaction. This attentive service creates a community where residents feel valued and heard. m.m."

Park Glenview Apartments offers modern, remodeled one-bedroom units for adults 62+. Enjoy amenities like a fitness room and community deck, plus easy access to Oakland's shopping and public transport.

"My life has improved since moving to Cardinal Point . I enjoy my quiet apartment, meals in the dining room, many opportunities to exercise, join reading/discussion groups, play board/card games, work in the garden, walk along the estuary and thru the lovely neighborhood. With advance planning, transportation to neighboring cities, medical appointments and local errands is provided . The laundry rooms, reading rooms and library, all public spaces are well maintained. Staff is helpful and pleasant."

"I saw Heritage on the Marina for the fourth time now. It’s a three-tiered community with independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing. I like the cleanliness, the friendliness, the knowledgeability, the quality, and the payment structure of the whole place. They don’t have any rooms to be seen available right now because they are refurbishing. "

"I toured the Oakmont of Mariner Point. It's beautiful and in a beautiful neighborhood, overlooking the water. I'm not choosing it because they don't have enough level of care. Janet and Charles are great. They gave a gift bag like a box of cookies but no sampling of meals. They didn't even show me rooms. I only talked to them and the dining room, they didn't show me. Maybe there wasn't a room that was clean at that moment. I don't know. I don't care, I didn't need to see the room because I knew it wasn't appropriate."