Saratoga Retirement Community

The staff at Saratoga Retirement Community Memory Care was very friendly during our visit. They have good community support like they had other people in my mom's religion live there, and that would be helpful. They have onsite religious services that would be helpful as well, but the actual memory care unit seems too low key for my mom.

It was a very difficult and emotional decision to move my grandmother into an assisted living facility. She had recently lost her spouse of 60 years and was no longer able to care for herself alone in the home they shared. We wanted to find an assisted living facility that could meet her level of care, but many we visited that offered dementia level care had an institutional, hospital like environments. When we found Saratoga retirement it was a huge relief. We did have to wait for an opening on a list, but it was worth it. The facility is similar in feel to a nice, residential hotel. The rooms and halls are carpeted and the furniture is well appointed. Most residents have their own rooms of various sizes, depending on level of care needed. My grandmother had to start in the "special care" level, bit was soon able to move into a lower care level. The lounge areas and recreational facilities were comfortable and had a feel of sophistication. The campus has a wide variety of care levels to meet all stages of elder care. All of the staff was warm and seemed to genuinely care for the residents. They also seemed happy in their workplace. I also appreciated that they spoke to the residents, even the ones with dementia like adults, they never "dumbed down" the words they used. This allowed my grandmother to retain a sense of dignity, which was important to her and to our family. The food facility was as close to a restaurant as one could expect given the many levels of food needs that had to be met at each meal. Residents on a non restricted dietary plan could select from a menu of healthy choices. They could also have guests at meals. Our family ate many times with my grandmother and found the food to be homey and quite palatable. Saratoga retirement is definitely not the least expensive option in the area. Fortunately, my grandparents had planned ahead and had good long term care insurance. For people in this position, I would strongly recommend visiting Saratoga retirement.

We have reviewed and toured the facility this last weekend; we have a family member who soon will be retiring there in this parklike environment with good food, sleep & rest and unending activities to stimulate ther residents' lives to be more meaningful and rewarding. I personally, have seen so many facilities like these since many of my past family members have gone to places like this one...this is the best one that i have seen so far and their management team is on top of everything! The rates are very reasonable and they have thought of ever contingency for their residents and their families supporting same. I would recommend SRC and maybe further down that road, I will become a happy resident myself

My mother's medications were not administered properly, and care programs described for dementia care patients were either non-existent or poorly administered. Our feedback to management on the need to correct various structural and program issues was acknowledged, but never acted upon.

I do not recommend Saratoga Retirement Community's Assisted Living facility for the care of someone with dementia. Services discussed during the marketing and clinical assessment meetings, were denied immediately after move-in. Our parent was never allowed access to advertised weekly shopping trips and within the first 30 days we were asked to hire additional caregivers to cover trips and daily walks. Staff, including Directors, have had little training specific to dementia care. If you are considering this facility, please make sure to speak with every Director in Assisted Living and observe the staff significantly interact with residents before entrusting your parent to their care. In addition, understand that this "continuing care facility" does not guarantee continuous care for all residents. For our parent and family, SRC lacked clarity in communication, lacked a staff specifically trained in dementia care and lacked compassionate assistance.

I visited Saratoga Retirement Community. It was smaller, so it had a better feel to it. They did not have cottage availability, and it had a waiting list, which made it difficult. Because of continuous care, they can decide that you are no longer independent and that you have to go to assisted-living. I don’t want someone making that decision for me. I was not impressed with the nursing home or the assisted living facilities. I wouldn't want to live there. I had one meal there. I ate with people who had been asked to be our hosts. They were nice enough, but in the whole dining room, there was one other couple. I don't know where all the people were; nobody was eating. I was concerned that the residents were not active and participating in the activities, that they were just staying in their little rooms. They had exercise classes, bingo, and card games. They had a pool. They have a big buy-in. You'd pay half a million dollars, and if you don't like the place, that money is gone, and then they charge $6,000, $7,000 a month to stay there.

We went to see Saratoga Retirement Community, and we thought it was delightful. I was very much impressed with it. We would absolutely consider it when the time comes. It's beautifully run. The apartments are beautiful. They have a terrific gym and a beautiful pool and lots and lots of activities.