Royal Palms Largo, FL

My friend (her past life as an actress from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London) decided on Royal Palms Independent Living seven years ago. Ergo, I do think that thespian offerings need to be added to the list of activities AND the opportunities to serve the larger community as a volunteer to our local theatres, Hospice shop, etc. With a RP=provided golf cart ride to tennis or either Largo community center and a stunning outdoor pool on the RP campus, with much shade and perfect temp' Jacuzzi, exercise from yoga to boxing, cards, games, dancing, Royal Palms is a LOCATION! LOCATION! haven. With its manicured grounds, RP is where you choose to really LIVE, not die (as I have seen adult children mistakenly place parents here and become awed by "the new person" that resident evolves to be when offered so much to do since the basic needs are so well addressed and doc' appointments and meds delivery are overseen). Safety, nutrition, singing, holidays festivities,,, entertainers come in, family visits are encouraged. Add day trips, hotel level service re my friend's room (bed change, sheets and towels weekly services). One bill only unless the resident chooses to add others (hairstyling at the salon, massage at Bonsai Spa?) I see concerns mentioned out here about the RP chef? I dine often with my friend here; I ALSO would like to see creative flavoring added by the present chef: ginger, turmeric, lemon sauces, other spices? Salt is seldom added due to residents' BP restrictions but food can be very tasty without much salt at all. The soups are excellent! All in all, because of the "no initial $$ huge payment," and the 30-day lease-type living, this is the BEST "bang for your buck," the choice for many academicians or retired professionals of diverse ethnicities and religions. Truly. "cruise living on land," as advertised. Kudos to the grand staff that continue the Goodman traditions keeping the pleasant formalities, that many enjoyed prior to having to consider assisted living. "The beat goes on"?

Despite the fact that many apartments are very small the decor of Royal Palms is beautiful. The staff are wonderful and friendly., There are numerous interesting activities, to suit most people, cards, art classes, exercise of all types amd outings to many interesting places. Yje biggest downfall is the food. It is classified as fine dining. This is false. When we first moved here one year ago it was fine dining but it has deterioated ever since. We used to have filet mignon every week/ We regularly had huge shrimpand occasionally freshtuna and huge scallops. We had great home-made cheesecake, key lime pie and other tempting desserts. These haven't been seen for ages. Where this chef learnt to cook I cannot guess; he serves vegetable combinations you wouldn't see anywhere else.. Don't let anyone try to convince you he is award-winning. He won a competition between 3 chefs of adjacent properties, one of whom was disqualified.

The apartments at Royal Palms were tiny. Only two meals a day were included, and one of them had to be breakfast and the other one either lunch or dinner. The breakfast was just like a continental breakfast, so it's like getting only one full meal a day. The place is much more expensive compared to the other places, but it was a beautiful place, like a 5-star resort. The common areas were gorgeous but once you get inside your own apartment, it was very tiny.

Royal Palms was beautiful, wonderful, and spectacular. The one-bedroom was a little small, but the one-bedroom deluxe on the first floor was very nice because it comes with a screened room or a patio. I have a dog, so I have to have access to the outside. The staff treated us like kings and queens. We had two lunches and then went down for a special event. They have everything, including a holistic spa.

Royal Palms of Largo looked like a very clean, energetic, and vibrant community. I loved the fact that they had screened-in balconies so residents could get fresh air. The food tasted OK but wasn't the greatest. We had two meals there, and they were dry. They had a one-bedroom apartment with a nice, workable kitchen and a great bedroom with a big walk-in closet, plus another closet. They had laundry service on each floor, too.

It was gorgeous and wonderful, and the food was phenomenal. We went there during Mother's Day and when my brother visited his mother-in-law. We just pigged out; the food and the service and everything they had there was unbelievable. The staff was phenomenal. They were all well dressed, and I thought I was in a resort. They have a calendar, they go day-by-day, and the people get involved. I love Royal Palms.

Everything looked nice and clean at Royal Palms. The rooms were adequate, and they offered a lot of services. The lady we met was very nice. The food was excellent.

Royal Palms is a very good facility. The rooms are very good as well. The staff is wonderful. The food used to be good, but not anymore. I was happy as I could be when I was there.

The Palms is great, we would like to go there although it’s very pricey. It is a nice place we really like it. I would be happy to tell you that it’s very clean, nice, and the staff is very friendly; it just seemed to be a really nice place. I would give it a very high rating, and I think it would serve our needs. They have a pool for exercise, a gymnasium, and they had a lot of really good things.

I liked Royal Palms very much. In the last year marketing sort of tipped over because they were trying so hard to get new people in. They took some of our activities away from us and put them in another small facility which we would have to go up to and that was not much fun. The food was good and most of the people enjoyed eating. Of all the places in that area I would rate it a five (being the highest). That doesn’t mean that I was all that happy with it but it was the best facility in Largo Florida. They made great effort for all of just to know one another, and that was good. They have activities all day and into the evening hours. I think we got to go out once or twice a month for dinner, and once or twice a month for lunch just to get away. We had an excellent and wonderful transportation there. They took us by bus; anybody who wanted to go out to dinner or took us to doctors. They had limousines and five buses so there was plenty of transportation, you didn’t have to wait anywhere for anything. I want them to know that I’m saying ‘thank you’ to them. I lived there for 7 years. The employees there went out of their way to help every one of us. They become part of our extended family. I was very happy there.

I choose Royal Palms because it has an independent living where I am now. It also has an assisted living and a nursing home which has a facility for Parkinson's, Dementia, Alzheimer's and a rehab center all in the same campus. I think that is a good feature. The staff is fabulous. I have my own private apartment, which they redid before I move in. My meals are fixed for me, I just go down to the dining room. I don't need to worry about cooking unless I want to. When I walk out there is a little pond. They have all kinds of cards games, board games and bingo sometimes in the afternoon or sometimes in the evening. On Fridays, they have entertainment and a happy hour type time. They have music entertainment usually on Wednesday afternoons. They have crafts, exercise classes and water aerobics on a heated pool. There is also an inside heated pool and a spa. They also have transportation to the doctors, bus runs to the grocery stores and the shopping centers.

My sister-in-law is at Royal Palms. It's very professionally-run and it has a very cheerful, helpful and attentive staff. The food is delicious. They have an Italian chef. Everything is convenient for the residents. All they need is located right on the premises. Transportation is available wherever they need to go some place. The facility is very well-kept and maintained. It's a beautiful place.