Continuing Care Retirement Communities Communities in Brooklyn Park, MN

"We moved to Vernon Terrace of Edina. We like it very much. There are all kinds of activities and they serve three meals a day. It's very comfortable and the people are very nice. The staff is very helpful and couldn't be nicer. There's a van and you can have additional services if you want."

"We need two bedrooms and a library in our unit and they have that at Waverly Gardens. We've been on the list there for a couple of years now. I think it's very popular or else people just aren't moving. They have a pool, and a workshop for the men, and they also have meals provided if you're interested. They have the three steps, independent living, assisted living, and beyond, which we like. It's very pretty and it looks comfortable, and we like the units that we looked at. They have a laundry facility and a fireplace. The staff during the tour was very lovely, and knowledgeable, took plenty of time with us, and answered all our questions. We stayed for lunch one day and it was delicious. They have a nice little shop and a cafe that you can go to."

"The Waters was one of the high-end places we saw. It basically has apartments instead of rooms, you get a full, functional apartment with a full kitchen. They have just about everything, including a advanced work-out equipment. It's laid out nice and it's in a convenient location from the highway. Some of the food is good, some is not good, but the specials have been pretty good. The staff was nice, but one of the nurses messed up my mom's meds."

"My mother was at Friendship Village of Bloomington. She was there for rehab. It is a new facility, it's beautiful, and it's terrific. The room was fairly big. The staff was good. They had meetings once a week or once every other week. Now and then you could catch somebody and ask them how she was doing. Finally, in the end, they said, "She's got about ten days and she'll be out of here." I had ten days to get her up and moving. The staff was all friendly except for the social worker she had. She didn't communicate very well. She was supposed to be calling you back but she never did. They didn't have too many activities because it's a nursing facility. They just stayed in their rooms. She had a broken or cracked leg, so she didn't do much. She had physical therapy and occupational therapy. The food looked good. However, they gave her spinach, it is a big leaf and nobody bothered cutting things up for her, so she had to figure out how to eat it herself or eat it with her fingers. That's kind of a crummy way to eat a salad. They didn't serve it according to people who needed help. It was all under insurance so it didn't cost me anything, but after that, it was going to be $203 a day."

"I am thinking of moving to Amira Choice Bloomington. It's brand new, it's upscale, it's very nice. The staff was very friendly and they have a lot of activities. It just seemed to be a nice place that I would be happy at. There's an exercise room on every floor, they also have garbage and recycling on every floor. I will have my own balcony, which is a considerable size, my own laundry facilities, and big walk-in closets. I just met the receptionist, because this place is manned 24 hours so there's always somebody there. And she was a young girl, but very, very friendly and outgoing, and the sales manager is a very outgoing young guy too. I also met the recreation director and they were very nice. It all looked very nice because it's brand new. But they had lots of places where you could sit and visit with somebody else, or be by yourself if you want to, so you didn't have to stay in your unit."

"Summit Place was a very fancy place with exercise equipment, and exercise room, and big apartments. They were expensive, but they had lots of activities, bus tours, trips to grocery stores, oil painting, jewelry, reading, and book club. The location was beautiful right off the freeway. They had two pool: a salt pool for soaking or healing and a regular, heated, Olympic-sized pool. They had a nice dining room with a nice menu, but we did not eat there. They had a happy hour every day from 3 to 5 and separate bars and rooms for that. However, I did not like their paint and decoration. They had dark grey upper walls and the bottom part was green. The carpeting was dark. "

"We toured Timber Hills. The place was immaculate and well kept. They had plenty of space but it was easy to navigate. The services that they offered were pretty comprehensive. The rent seemed fairly reasonable. The staff were very helpful and very forthcoming."

"I visited Willows Landing Senior Living. I'm young and the age there is older than I wanted. The rooms were teeny tiny. There were people in the cafeteria area, and I saw people walking around. I wouldn't be able to get into their laundry room because it's narrow and doesn't have an automatic door. You can get them to do the laundry and take care of the trash, but it was an extra cost. They had a beautiful dining area and the outdoor seating area was beautiful. The grounds are pretty. It might be a better fit for someone that's over 53. It was cute because I had my grandkids there with us and they gave them some treats and stuff, and they had a great time. They had very nice staff. All of them were very wonderful. I looked at their independent living but I could also get assistance there as well. The kitchen sink was right there when you open the door, it was against that wall immediately, and that was just weird."