Continuing Care Retirement Communities Communities in Oakland, CA

"Piedmont Gardens was OK. I thought they were just fine. They said they were going to take care of the services; we didn’t have to have anything done. The atmosphere was fine. They’ll supply the food for us. They had quite a few of activities for different things. The staff was nice, very accommodating. "

"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 went to Merrill Gardens at Rockridge. They showed us an apartment for independent living. It was very nice. It's a brand new apartment. It had a stove, a refrigerator if you need it, a microwave, a room for the bed, a bathroom, a washing machine and dryer within the place, and their own door key lock. Whenever they wanted to go down to the other part of the building, they could just walk down to the other part. They had a beauty salon, a library, doctors on certain floors, a light gym, a bistro where they can go, eat and play music, and a common area where everybody can go and talk to one another. It was very nice, but it's also very expensive. The lady who took us on the tour was kind and considerate."

"The overall atmosphere at Merrill Gardens is very pleasant and very inviting. The place that I was showed was a two bedroom. It is basically an apartment room with two beds. It is way too small for our needs. But the place is otherwise very nice. If the two small bedrooms would have met our needs, I thought I'd probably be a lot more interested, but right now, I couldn't care less. For the appearance, it is a five. However, it is way too small, and it didn't meet our needs. So I had no interest whatsoever when I saw the size of the apartment. Otherwise, it was a very nice place. "

"I saw some rooms at San Francisco Towers. It looked like someone had moved out, and they were getting ready to sell it so they had it all redone for that. What we found is that the age difference was quite a bit different from what we were looking for so I think that that probably had a big impact on our decision to wait. I would say that the average age at the Towers was probably 85. Everything was wonderful. It could not have been any better. "

"I toured The Sequoias San Francisco. It's a wonderful, comfortable, and friendly place. The rooms were very nice, generously sized with lovely windows, and needed some updating. The staff was outstanding. He was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and accommodating. He answered our questions. The way he showed me around, he was just very good at this job. The dining area was very nice. I didn't eat the food, but I saw it and it looked appetizing. They have a wide variety and a very extensive meal program. So, I was very pleased with the food offerings, its presentation, and the dining area which is inside and outside."

"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."

"The things that impressed me at Acacia Creek are the size of the apartments, the dining room, the menus they present, the number of the amenities, the gymnasium, and the swimming pool. They also have many activities that were appealing. They have trips, crafts, jewelry making, various lectures, card games, movies, fitness classes, and Tai Chi. The staff has been excellent. "

"I was at Bonnie Brae Terrace a little bit more than a month ago for a tour. The experience was good. The infrastructure seems a little bit outdated, but the showroom looks nice. I think there is like a $300-something mandatory for food service where it offers breakfast and dinner, and there's no lunch, so I found that kind of weird. The studio has a microwave, but it does not have a kitchen, so my father can't cook lunches. I think there is a one-bedroom apartment that does offer a kitchen, but it's a little bit more. The staff who gave the tour was very nice, though."

"Stoneridge Creek is a beautiful, wonderful retirement community and they have different stages. My mother was in independent living there for nine years. She absolutely loved it. She was on the fourth floor, the highest that she can go. They ended up building up around her but at the time she moved in, she could look at her balcony and see Mount Diablo and all of that. You go down, if you want, for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they had the main dining room plus they had little offshoots where you could go. They had different kinds of food that you could have so it wasn't boring. They had holidays where the family could come in, like Thanksgiving, Christmas and 4th of July, and they do barbecues. It's a huge facility. They have a pool, a spa, a steam, and exercises. My mom had a garden there. They had pickleball tennis. People could go and take their dogs. They had a pantry. My mom volunteered to work there. She also volunteered to decorate and stuff like that and then they had a lot of activities. They would have opera singers come in. They have country western bands come in and they would go out and go on many excursions. It was jampacked. My mom walked the whole place twice a day. She did like four miles. She was in really good shape. They have a reception area and they have a nurse station that you can go to for blood pressure or if you're worried about something. They also have transportation. When my mom needed to go to any of her appointments, I'd schedule transportation. She would get on the bus, and they would drop her off at Kaiser, at the door. Mom would walk in and they'd come back and get her. Across the board, it's excellent. It's just very expensive. There's a huge waiting list to get into Stoneridge and also it's a gated community so they have security guards there. Not just anybody can get in. You have to go in and say who you're visiting and if you're not on the list, they call, and if you don't want to see that person or whatever, you can't get in. There's that huge element of security and then there's parking which is really nice. They've pretty much covered it all."

"My father-in-law is currently in Villa Marin, and it was very positive and very nice. I think it's pretty well run. The people are extremely nice and extremely helpful. The food is great; we've had dinner there several times before the pandemic. He's been there for a couple of years. So before the pandemic, we would go and have dinner there every once in a while with them, and food was always great. It's a different experience because it's independent, but they have good activities. He's very, very involved in the social activities there. They have movie nights and sometimes they have dances and he likes that. He's been involved in the resident advisory boards. It's pretty darn expensive; you have to buy in. It's not just paying a monthly rent. It's like a condo, so you have to come up with a lot of money upfront and then pay a monthly fee also. It's a nice place though."

"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."

"The people at Channing House talked less about sales and more about value, and they have everything I need. They have a pool, exercises, and trips. It's a little old place, but it's clean and it's downtown, so it's a walk to everything. The bedroom was just very small."

"At The Terraces, we were able to visit the places where you eat and have things for people to do. We saw stand-alone units or small house types. The new part however was very expensive, and we were not interested in it. We talked to a lot of the people that lived there, and they were very happy with it. They have a lot of things for people to do. "