The Best Continuing Care Retirement Communities Communities in Alameda County, CA

"I went to Acacia Creek. I like the location. They have it in a gated community on a hillside, so it has trees, grass, and a walking path. And so it's very nice. It's not in the middle of a city or anything. It's lovely. And, it has lots of daily activities and excursions. The building was attractive. The rooms were nice and I did interact with the people there. Everybody was friendly. It's a little expensive, but this was the most expensive one I looked at. It would be my first choice if I could move today and figure out if I could afford it. I met the residents and the people who gave the tour, and everybody was very friendly. The facility was very clean and attractive. It has a friendly atmosphere. It felt homey. You didn't feel like you were in an institution. It felt like a very nice, friendly residence."

"Our New Life at Stoneridge Creek We just celebrated our one year anniversary at SRC in January. After living in our country home that we loved for 43 years, we moved into SRC, after making the decision that our house was just too big and too much to care for at this stage in our lives. We never expected to move to a Senior Community, however after visiting SRC and finding out all the benefits of a CCRC, it was easy to make the decision (but the move was NOT EASY). We couldn’t be happier! We feel like we are on a perpetual vacation with endless opportunities for activities, exercise, intellectual stimulation, socialization, good food, health resources and safety. We love the convenience of so many opportunities right here on campus. We have more socialization here, have made many new wonderful friends and have the opportunity to join in new activities, new exercise classes we haven’t done before, endless wonderful music programs, movies and excursions off campus to places like Filoli, California Academy of Sciences and more museums, sporting events, wine tours….on and on. We have our own community garden bed and hope to start using the wood shop this year. The three restaurants offer many dining choices, so the need to cook is minimal. Plus our maintenance needs are taken care of and we have a cleaning service bi-weekly. We are so happy at SRC and our adult children are happy that we are here as well. We have given ourselves and our family a beautiful gift by moving here, as we traverse our golden years in comfort and style!"

"The staff at Grand Lake Gardens who gave us the interview was extremely helpful. We felt very comfortable in that interview. She also took us around and showed us a couple of rooms, a 1-bedroom, and a 2-bedroom. I liked the setup of their dining room. You could order the menu of the day or you could order what you want from the menu. All the residents that I came across were quite friendly. My overall sense was that the residents were happy and comfortable there. I particularly liked the idea that they have acreage outside with a lot of foliage, shrubs, flowers, and trees. There's an area that's set aside with planter boxes where the residents can grow their own plants. We had lunch there and the food was quite acceptable. Even if the food wasn't that great, the people serving made it very pleasant."

"My experience at Lake Park Senior Living was great. Everything was great. However, I was looking for a facility that was based on my grandmother's income. It's a beautiful facility. I wish we could afford it, but we can't. The lady that gave me the tour was wonderful. She showed me all around. She was very informative. I appreciate it. I saw the menu, and it's a wonderful menu. They have a library, a painting room, and an exercise room. It was a wonderful place."

"I toured St. Paul's Towers. The apartments are a good size. They have a good kitchen. I haven't had too much contact with the staff, but I have a friend who lives there who has. I've tried the food several times, and it's really good. They have a lot of variety. It's well done. The dining room and everything are very warm and hospitable. The common areas are not as good as some of the others. There are some options, but it's an old facility, so it's kind of smaller when it comes to common areas."

"My sister-in-law is a resident of Piedmont Gardens CCRC. It's a very nice people and a nice community. It's in a place where there are a lot of restaurants. I can push her in the wheelchair now, but we used to be able to walk to restaurants and shopping. It's a lovely community. The food is good. Her room right now it's very small. She started in an apartment, but now it is just one room. The facility is beautiful."

"I was less impressed with the ambiance at Merrill Gardens at Rockridge. The memory care area was good. The entry was kind of utilitarian. The people were very nice. Everything was nice. There was something about it that just didn't feel as good to me having come off of maybe seeing the other place. The tour experience was fine though. The staff who toured me was good. They have garden spaces that are always available to the people and are both safe and nicely laid out where they could spend time that is specific to the memory care area."

"I thought Merrill Gardens at Lafayette was very welcoming and very nice. It seemed like it would be also a fit. However, there was limited availability for space, and the only thing they had available was a shared unit. Nevertheless, I would recommend it. It felt good. The tour was quite good. There was nothing negative about it. The shared apartment was a large room, and each side had a window. It also had kind of a ceiling-high divider that divided most of the room into two sections. Each had its own bathroom. It was adequate. It would be fine. However, it seemed to me a little problematic for my mother, especially since she tends to get up in the middle of the night and wander, and it could be disturbing to the person in the other room unless they were a heavy sleeper because the room is open to each other. They had private rooms; they just didn't have any available."

"My parents have moved into Viamonte at Walnut Creek. It is a very nice facility. It's new and very well done. They are also expensive, but nice. They're brand new, modern, and stylish. They have nice amenities. The location is good. The staff is nice. It's a very nice, upscale place. They have activities. I think they are minimal, but they do have activities."

"Webster House is a small place, and there are few residents. Everything looks very nice. It doesn't have any views. It's only four stories high and it looks onto trees if you're up on the fourth floor. But it is on a very busy street corner. The side street that it's adjacent to is busy, and that is a disadvantage. People can walk downtown Palo Alto, and it's a pleasant area. It's a senior- friendly area. We didn't have a meal. We had a good tour. The place is very nice. The units are a little smaller. They had a couple of larger units on the top floor that are very nice two-bedroom units. I'd say that if I could live there, I'd be happy at this building, but I wouldn't want to look out onto Lytton Avenue, which is one of the things to look out on. So, there's a little disadvantage with the location. But they have a pool, a nice dining area, and protected parking. I think it's important that in all of the cases, these people have parking that is protected. The staff was very nice. But the patio was not as large and it's a little more constricted."

"Channing House is very nice. It's quite large. They have a walking track on the top of the building so people can walk around the top. There's a gorgeous view of the Santa Cruz mountain range, which is near us. The units cost by the floor. So if you live on the second floor, you don't pay as much as the people who live on the 10th with a wonderful view. The view is spectacular. It overlooks Stanford University and the mountain range beyond that, so it's quite a nice view. It's to die for, I would say. It's a huge, huge complex. On each floor, I would guess there might be at least 20 units. They have a stovetop, a microwave, and a fridge. On each floor, there is a full kitchen, so if someone wanted to bake cookies at Christmas, she could go down the hall, sign up for the kitchen and use that. But they don't have full kitchens. They also don't have washing machines. All the other places have a washing machine in a little closet. So you have to sign up for your day, you go down the hall, and you do the wash. So it's a little bit less service. All the others have full other things in the apartment. Channing House has some wonderful activities and lots of trips out. This place also has a shop, which my husband liked a lot in the basement for men who want to build like they have electric saws in there. It's run by a resident who makes sure that men don't go in there and cut their fingers off, so that was a nice feature. It does have parking for residents. At Channing House, you have to pay a thousand dollars to even apply and then you use your money up and you don't get anything back. When you die, your unit gets resold."

"I toured the San Francisco Towers. The facility is beautiful and meticulously maintained. Everything about it is lovely, thought about, and polished. It is highly secure, which is very important. The apartments are good size. The small ones are well sized and they have a range of apartments. The staff was very professional, very knowledgeable, and very gracious about everything. The dining area is lovely. I did not sample the food. They have exercise classes. They have movies and performances and clubs. There are all sorts of things to do and you're right in the middle of the city. So there is a bus line and streetcar line right outside the front door. That's one thing that draws me to it. It's so close to the Performing Arts Center of San Francisco."

"I have known several people who have lived at The Sequoias San Francisco. My cousins live there now, and in both cases, they've been very happy there. I had lunch with them while I was there, and the setting was good. The only reason I wouldn't go further with it is that it's in San Francisco, and I'm more interested now in the East Bay. The food was quite good, particularly because it had a range of dietary choices. I tried to be a vegetarian, and there were lots of good options. The staff members seemed quite friendly, but I didn't have very much interaction with them. The common areas were quite nice. The dining room had an indoor and outdoor terrace to it. The apartments were nice, but there was a lack of good kitchen facilities. There was barely a kitchen, and that was the biggest drawback, because I wouldn't want to eat all my meals in the dining hall."

"The Terraces at Los Altos is not a large facility, and it looks pretty decent. They have a below-market value on different units, so that's also habitable. I've made two visits there. One was a luncheon with the facility so we could taste their food and get a little idea of what's going on there. Then the second one was to view the sites, see the units that were available, and see what they offer as far as amenities go. The people who gave the tour were very knowledgeable and very nice. The residents seemed very nice, too. It's very well kept up, very clean, and neat. The grounds are kept up. It doesn't have any odors. It smells fresh and clean. The food was delicious. I like the facility. The dining area was very nice. It was a large room with a lot of staff to help."