Senior Suites of Belmont Cragin

My father is at Senior Suites of Belmont Cragin. They have a friendly staff, it's clean, and they were able to get to us quickly. His apartment is clean and spacious. Everybody's very friendly and welcoming. It has everything he needs. The staff is great. At this point, I don't think they have services. The only thing they have is housekeeping that they have once a month.

Senior Suites seemed to be quiet and quaint. It offered some nice amenities, like security, emergency, vending machine, social area, and library. The staff was very helpful, very patient, and very considerate.

I went to Senior Suites of Belmont, and it was no good. It's old fashioned, and it looked dirty. Everything looked old like it was not even updated. I didn’t like it at all. The staff was nonchalant. She just took me to one floor and showed me the family room like it was a lot, but it was really like nothing. From what she showed me, there was nothing to like. I didn't care for it, and I wasn't impressed at all. I just wouldn't live there.

While in the Chicago area, we happened upon Senior Suites of Belmont Cragin. We had been visiting some other facilities around the region for our aunt. We were glad and impressed that we didn't need an appointment to take a tour of the facility. The staff was welcoming and seemed to really like their jobs. That's really important to us, since our aunt's family is scattered around the U.S. - which means some won't be able to visit as much as they'd like to. The outside grounds were very nicely kept, with plenty of seating areas. Residents are encouraged to walk around regularly as they desire and supervision is always available. The indoors were also impressive, with a nice library area and a large room for other activities, like board games and computers. There are other areas where residents may read, sit with friends or just relax. The film collection looked interesting - and they regularly go to local movie houses - sometimes venturing to Chicago to see foreign and independent films, which are our aunt's favorites. The exercise room where they had yoga mats and machines. They also have scheduled classes for those who are interested. We happened to be there when they were offering snacks. The options offered all looked great. The food looked delicious and the dining room was beautiful. This is a very cozy environment meant to give the residents a sense of home. The activity calendar features many healthy and stimulating activities. We liked that the staff encourages participation and tries to make everything interesting for its residents. They have outings to local libraries, events, culture, restaurants, shopping and athletic activities. The private living spaces offered were fresh and bright. They were also beautifully decorated. We could see that our aunt would be comfortable in any one of them. Each unit had individually controlled temperatures. All of the seniors looked very well cared for and seemed quite content living within this environment - where they had plenty of freedom, in a safe and comforting place.