Continuing Care Retirement Communities Communities in Alhambra, CA

"We like Villa Gardens, but Pasadena has its own health rules. They couldn't eat in the dining room or anything, so they were delivering meals. The hallways had chairs outside where they'd put the trays down and it just made the hallways look junky. They looked like a motel. They didn't look like a nice residential place, and it felt more like assisted living than independent living in the apartments. There just seemed to be not as much flexibility. There didn't seem to be as much a resident-driven activity. They don't hang their artwork. A lot of places have people that are rather accomplished painters. They don't honor those people with their work being displayed. I didn't even end up getting to see the art studio because the staff was just sort of sloughing it off. However, she asked us the most interesting questions of us and my husband liked her very much. I just didn't like it when she put off the thing about the residents' contributions being displayed. They also sent us home with the best cookies we've ever had. The location of it is unbelievably wonderful. You can literally in a 5-minute walk, get to a trolley stop, and go into Los Angeles on their wonderful streetcar and that is amazing. It was very compact and very urban. All the people that we met were quite nice and very thorough. We had to do a COVID test, swabs, and all that. The apartments didn't thrill us. They probably had some that were fine, but they weren't impressive. They didn't make us feel excited to be there. It looked like an old apartment complex from the outside."

"We chose them because it's close to my parents' home. It's clean, and they've got a friendly vibe, and competent staff. We were informed of activities and facilities. They have a physical therapy room, a workout room, a dining room area, and crafts and games for mental acuity for the residents."

"I visited Royal Oaks. During this visit to Royal Oaks, we began to understand what the parameters were to look for. One of the most important things that I discovered as you're going through these places, as you're seeing other residents and having some minimal interaction, in most of the places we saw, the people who live there just didn't look or sound happy. They would usually have sort of a grumpy look on their face, and they didn't seem to be happy with life. When we walked into Royal Oaks, the people who were residents there looked happy. They had smiles, they would wave at you and say, "Hello, how are you?" I feel that is something that comes from the operational management, that they interact with their residents in a manner that the residents liked being there. In almost six of the seven places we saw, the people just looked like they were an institutional statistic. The person who gave me the tour was wonderful. The units we looked at all have, at the minimum, a kitchenette, which is fine. Some of them have full kitchens. But we didn't have any of their food. The older buildings have been well-upgraded and maintained. It was a clean, pretty place."

"I went to the Masonic Home at Covina. It's a private place. I'm a freemason, so I would be able to have access for myself or my mom because I know that if your son is a mason, your parents could be residents there too. It's very good to me. I would consider it for myself if I needed to go to a place. The staff is excellent, very professional, helpful, and informative. It's a very nice facility. I know they were, at that time, looking at building a memory care. They have a swimming pool, they have a gym, they have a dining hall, and I believe they even have a library. They even have a little store, like a 7-Eleven type convenience store. I only got to see the independent living part and they looked very nice, very roomy, they even had a kitchenette as well."

"Villa Scalabrini is run by nuns. I thought the community was lovely. The main place and the memory care place are very nice. It has beautiful grounds, and it is such a clean place. The patients seemed very happy -- which was nice. I really liked it. "

"We live in Brethren Hillcrest Homes, and it is great. We are doing excellent. We have a large living room with a large TV, a couch, reclining chairs, and a piano. For our activities, I walk, and my wife gardens. There are all kinds of activities, and every half hour there is something going on. The food is above average. We had turkey with gravy last night with cheesecake and strawberries for dessert, spinach and bacon salad, and mushroom soup. I like the ability to move from one level to the next -- from independent living where are in to assisted living to a nursing home -- and then they have a hospital. "

"Del Amo Gardens offers skilled nursing to patients. The patient's level of care is a priority at this facility. The nursing staff and caregivers offer above average care, concern, and quality nursing to the patients. The environment is safe, sound, trustworthy, and clean. The Director of Nursing offers the family members an opportunity to vocalize their questions or concerns at periodic plan of care meetings. This is comforting and reassuring to the family member whose loved one is enrolled at the Del Amo Gardens Convalescent facility. "

"We looked at a two-bedroom-two-bath cottage at Mount San Antonio Gardens. You can cook, and you can do whatever you want there. It's in an architecturally distinctive community. It's immediately adjacent to the city of Claremont, and the other place we visited is adjacent to the city of Laverne, but both of them, being from the same time period, are not nearly as congested as the San Fernando Valley or the San Gabriel Valley. The person we worked with had almost as many years' experience as the lady at the other place, except that she was about 20 years younger in age. She is working with seniors, and she has tried to do what she could, but I was more impressed with the overall staff at the other place. Mount San Antonio Gardens is a full-service retirement community inclusive of anything and everything that you could hope for. It is also a fully secure facility. I met and dined with the staff members and the residents who have been there for 10 years, and also those who have been there for a year."

"We've been residents of Pilgrim Place for several years and we chose them because at that time, they're only accepting missionaries, ministers and heads of non-profit agencies. Since then, the admission procedures have changed and it's now open to anyone above 60 years of age. They have a board that's very interested of our being and takes good care of us. The staff is responsive and very supportive of us for the most part. We have about 250 residents in all levels of care, the residents are progressive thinkers and are caring and active. The amenities include a swimming pool, a fitness center, and healthcare center and clinic where I can call a nurse any time day or night. We also have a pendant so that if I need help I can push that button and somebody will come. The dining service is outstanding, and the community is very open to the fact that residents come up with great ideas for being concerned about world affairs, promoting diversity within our community. We also have Eucharistic circles on a weekly basis, people come in to help us with yoga and Tai chi. we're not a chandelier place and we don't have golf courses and such. We're democratic in a sense that when we go to the dining hall, a computer scrambles us up so every day and we get to know each other that way. So we don’t have cliques forming around the dinner table so that's really wonderful. The food and service are exceptional, we've had really nice things like lamb shanks and Cornish game hens."

"The Canterbury seemed like a very nice facility. It was in a good location and it had good support services for their clientele. The staff is very kind, showed us around, treated us to dinner in the cafeteria, answered all our questions, and showed us a variety of accommodations that would potentially be available. We looked at 1- and 2-bedroom apartments. They showed us a meeting room, library, music room, and exercise room."

"My sister stayed in Inland Christian Home, Inc. for rehab. It was very good. The lady who helped us is a sociologist. She's the one who operates the transition in and out and communicates with the doctors. She was really, really thorough. Everything is so nice and clean. Their equipment and people's ability are good. They were able to get her up on a lift and give her a shower, which she hadn't had for years. She had been getting sponge baths, and she began to look really good in her legs where she had lymphedema. They took care of that. She didn't really like the food, but she had to be on a puréed diet for a while because she would choke. Everybody was so nice; I would recommend it to anybody. We talked with them, and we didn't have any problems. Everything went smoothly; I couldn't have asked for a better place. The dietician only comes in once a week, so on the second week, we went and talked with her, and she got a change because she had improved. The physical therapy was good. They had two people working with her because she did not want to do anything."

"At Town & Country Manor, the physical therapy was very professional. They got a good range of therapists, and they were able to help make some progress with my father's condition. "

"Merrill Gardens at Huntington Beach was a very impressive place with especially impressive staff. It had a very large, open environment, which I don't think it was a good fit for my mom. It was a place that I would recommend to a lot of people with a certain ability to be active and socialize. It was very clean, very new, and had a little bit of an institutional feel, although it was a very open type of facility where it's very bright with a lot of natural light. "

"The staff at the Woodland Hills Motion Picture and TV Fund were very welcoming and warm. While the place did tend to have the typical "assited living home" smell the place was clean. There was no trash and everything had looked washed. The people who lived there seemed happy and seemed to enjoy the place. The facility seemed like it was well managed and the outside was beautifully landscaped and maintained. Right near Calabasas, this place was in a very upscale neighborhood. The people who lived there seemed to immediately get help when they ask for it and receive quality care at this facility. The food seemed to be well prepared and the people who lived there seemed to appreciate it. Overall the entire experience was an interesting look into a facility that I didn't know much about. I think it's a nice place and that the people generally enjoy living there. I also want to add the place is always kept up nice for the holidays. There are decorations and fun stuff galore. "