Independent Living Communities in Encinitas, CA

"My sister-in-law is staying at Everest at Oceanside. It seems nice. The new owners are very open. They have an excellent full-time nurse, who's been very helpful with my sister-in-law's family. My sister-in-law is very Catholic, and so they offer communion services once a week and spiritual as well as physical kinds of things, and, of course, a lot of social socialization is offered. So those are good things. They have activities all the time. Everything's posted well. They have all sorts of things, from people coming into the game day to movie night to luau parties. They do a lot. They have suites and studio apartments, and my sister-in-law has a studio apartment. It has a small refrigerator and a microwave."

"It looks clean. The patients appeared to be very happy and had good things to say about it. People we talk to are knowledgeable. They had a model we could look at. Then they had the exact room that my dad would move into if he was determined to go that direction. It was very nice. "

"I went to Cypress at Junipers Senior Apartments. I thought it was awesome. It's new, it's clean, and the surrounding areas are nice. The people that were there that we talked to were nice. It was great. They're brand new. The apartment is pristine and clean. It was a good size. It was very nice. A friend of mine is moving there from Hawaii, so I'm considering getting a place there."

"Silvergate Rancho Bernardo is my favorite of all the places I've toured. I ate there and experienced everything during my visit, but there was a long waiting list. The staff who gave me the tour was extremely nice, professional, and knowledgeable, I could tell that everybody liked her. Everybody said hi to her, she's a part of the community. She then followed through and has been excellent as well. Their cottages have a 5-year waiting list and I put a lot of money down to be on the waiting list, they're my favorite. They had everything, it's fairly new so everything is new and shiny. It's very, very nice. They had a beautiful heated outdoor pool and a very nice dining room, and the lobby was beautiful. So my first impression was very good. I also ate there and the food was excellent. I'm also going to a party they're having for everyone there. The apartments were so small but I would put up living there because everything else about the place was wonderful. They also have a free service to help you move, or help you do an estate sale of what you don't need, and a garage sale. They'll help you choose the furniture and they'll do all the moving for you. So you just walk over and it's there. I thought that was wonderful."

"After looking at many different facilities, my 90-year old parents chose Redwood Terrace in 2010. They are very pleased! With the nearest family 1,300 miles away, it was essential that the Redwood staff be available by phone 24/7 and function as a surrogate family. Thier professionalism and skill levels are top notch. But the most important attribute is the "caring." Every member of the staff from reception, security, maintenance, medical, social, dining, administrative, finance to management--they all care! And it shows in everything they do! Superb organization and facilities! "

"Belmont Village Sabre Springs is really nice. It's a beautiful community. It seemed like they had good programming. I saw the calendar for assisted living and for memory care. They just seem like they had a good program. The dining room looks really nice. They have an outdoor pool where they do activities, and the way that they kind of transitioned patients from assisted living into memory care seemed really comprehensive and well done. I saw the studio apartments in assisted living. They're nice, it's just a little studio and a kitchenette. Then the bathrooms all got the shower chair already in there, and the bars near the toilet. And so, it seems it would be very accessible. The staff was really nice. She was very good. It was actually the memory care coordinator, I think. She was very knowledgeable about the whole property and the different programing and kind of how people transition from one part of the property to others."

"My mother moved into Las Villas Del Norte. I chose it for the openness of the grounds and the property. They had a large courtyard; a large open area of grass. It made it feel more like a residential area versus less like a hospital. I give the staff a five for the care they've shown her so early on, and doing things that we didn't ask for, like they braided her hair, and just have shown a lot of care towards her; they painted her nails, those kinds of things. We went to dinner there and the food was amazing. Every day there's kinds of activities, whether it's painting, arts and crafts, and there's groups like karaoke. They have a pool that's accessible."

"My mother truly loves living here and days that she wants to spend the rest of her life there. The staff really care about the residents. They are so friendly and obliging. They have wonderful activities and take fun day trips. Such a wonderful place."

"Belmont Village La Jolla was a beautiful facility and the food was great. All of the amenities were great. It was just that the square footage was way too small for what we would be paying. There was some ability to do art or something like that. They also had physical fitness activities. The facility was new, well thought out, and planned. The staff who gave us the tour was very helpful and very knowledgeable about their facility. All in all, a top level of service. They would provide meals 3 times a day. We had lunch there and the food tasted great, with lots of variety."

"I love Westmont Town Court. I looked at several places and it's by far the best. I like the administrative service crew. It's restricted because of the virus, but we have a pool, an exercise room, a billiard room, a card room, and a library. The food is great; you don't need artificial seasoning."

"Vi at La Jolla is really top level service. My mother-in-law is in a facility similar to that, so we took a tour, saw one of their apartments, and saw the level of care and what recreational facilities they had. The thing we like about that location is that it is right in the middle of an area in San Diego called UTC, which is a shopping center, and it is very close to the University of California San Diego. You can practically walk there to the shopping malls across the street, where there are movie theaters, bookstores, and lots of things. And then, they also mentioned there's going to be a trolley that goes there and you can take the trolley down to San Diego, but they also have driving services so you can get around within 12 miles, and they have lots of activities. They'll take you to your doctors' appointments for no cost if it is within 12 miles, and there are lots of medical facilities around there -- there is Scripps, the VA, and the UCSD Medical Center. They have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but only two of them are included in your monthly due. "

"My husband moved to Oakmont of Escondido Hills. They're very attentive. It's clean. It's fun, lots of nice people, and he's made good friends. The dining hall is fabulous. The meals, everything, just no complaints. They have physical therapy for him and then additional group classes for exercise. It's a very nice place. The staff is very nice. They know him. They take good care of him and know what he likes for breakfast. When he comes down for breakfast, they get it ready for him. I have meals with him often, and it's delicious. They have a menu. They have specials. They always have regular things, like you can always get a cheeseburger. They keep it interesting. The facility is very clean. It's pretty. They have courtyards you can walk around and there's a swimming pool if you want. They bake cookies twice a day. You can always get nice, fresh cookies, and coffee. It's similar to a hotel. They have a lot of activities, a couple of exercise classes, and art classes once a week. They have other things like Wii bowling and they have a movie theater. They have a movie in the afternoon or in the evening, and a lot of stuff to do. Everything is so expensive, but anybody else is the same, so we're getting our money's worth. They have a living room when you come in, there's people there and they always have a fire going, and there's a little snack area. It's comfortable."

"Arcadia Place is one of the places I really liked. The one that they showed me was a studio on the ground floor and it had an exterior door to the parking lot. For me, this would be very good. It had water damage though, and it's not going to be available for another month to 90 days. It's just one of the few that they have there, but it's a very large area for that type of place. It has a little kitchenette, which is good. It's about 500 square feet, which is a pretty good size for one room. The other thing is there's a zero community fee. There are no additional charges, but the cost is a little high for me. It's $2700. The staff was very good. I didn't get the person that I initially talked to, but that worked out OK. The manager showed me the place, but when I called him back about availability, that's when they told me that they had water damage. A lot of other people were affected as well, so they have to do some repair. The cleanliness and structure of the building were very good. You walk into kind of like the initial area right there. It's like a meeting room, and there are offices along the way, and then on the ground floor, there's a large community room and the eating area, which is kind of restaurant style."

"My dad was at The Gateway, which is independent living. He really liked that place, but he couldn't stay there because of his memory. I liked everything about it. It was great. I liked the people. The staff was friendly. The accommodations were very nice and kept up nicely. They had a weight room. They had a lot of like barbecues and fun activities. He was able to walk everywhere to stores and stuff; he really liked that. It's right next to the hospital."