The Best Independent Living Communities in Fairfield County, CT

"My mom is a resident of Keystone Place at Wooster Heights. It is very much a welcoming home. The residents and staff are very friendly, helpful, and supportive. They have a two-bedroom, a studio, and a one-bedroom. They have a good variety of apartments. They have a great program of activities. They have bingo, karaoke, happy hour, and movie nights. They have their own theater, library, and workout room. They do non-denominational church services. They have a lot of people that come in for activities to play the piano or sing. They have activities around the holidays. They do have painting classes and a lot of puzzles. It's all in one building, so everybody can intermingle. My mom is very independent. Although she has Alzheimer's, she goes down to dinner regularly. She gets three meals a day, which is good. She has a small kitchen, mini-fridge, microwave oven, countertops, and cabinets. It's definitely worth the money. It is a little bit expensive, especially now that they've moved mom into assisted living. But I would say we feel very good that my mom's there and secure. The nursing staff is awesome also."

"I am a resident of Edgehill and needed their skilled nursing rehabilitation after a total knee replacement. Compared to other similar facilities in the area, Edgehill provides the best care in my experience. The physical therapists addressed my needs and were able to help me on my way to recovery. The aids were very helpful in providing personalized care. The Customer Service Manage was lovely, caring and kind. "

"Bethel has the finest staff of professionals. Starting with their rehabilitation center. The staff evaluates the needs of each of there patients. They work together to achieve the goals they have set. It was a blessing choosing bethel . His achievements have been stunning. The nursing staff treats each patient as family . I could not ask for more. My family made the right choice. A facility is only as good as its staff. Bethel is the best. "

"Gladhaven Club is a small community. There are only about 12 to 15 people there. It's located in an old house so it's very homey. I feel like it's a nice community to be moving into. My tour experience was very good. The rooms vary in size, but they're all quite nice and they are very nicely furnished. If you prefer, you can bring your own furniture too. It appeared to be very well kept. The dining area is communal dining. I didn't have any food, but they said it was all home cooking. I'm hoping it's going to be good. They don't have activities like they do in some places. They have parties occasionally, but they don't have regular activities."

"My father is in Atria Rye Brook. It's exceeded our expectations on every level. The staff is absolutely wonderful, caring, attentive, and responsive throughout, across the board, from the person in sales, to the person who runs things, the restaurant manager, the guy who drives dad places. Every single one of them is caring and kind, both to me and to dad. It's also a wonderful community of residents. They have really wonderful activities and amazing food. The place is lovely. It's clean. We couldn't be happier. He loves going to bingo. He loves the movies every day. He loves special visitors that come. They have entertainment coming in. There's something every day. They have everything you could want. He had some health issues and onsite, they have Atria homecare. He came home from the hospital and they immediately started helping us and taking care of us. I wrote up a menu for dad because he has to have low salt and he can't unfortunately enjoy all that Atria has to offer and they let him order off his special menu every night. I've eaten there, too, and I love their Caesar salad with grilled chicken or with salmon, which is delicious. They have a very nice selection. It's not like a gourmet Michelin star restaurant, but it's very nice. It's very good food, good quality, and fresh. You can get as much as you want. They have vegetables. They give smaller portions, but if you want more, you can order more, but they're very conscious of making sure that they're not overfeeding people. Everything is well thought out and done so well. They've exceeded our expectations so much. The staff all know me, they all welcomed me, and they said they'll look after my dad. They're just really terrific. It's well kept. They have access to a gym and a pool. They have everything you could possibly need. They constantly have something going on and they're engaging them. I toured a lot of facilities and this one just felt really nice, warm, cozy, comfortable, and well kept up. It's like a hotel or an apartment building. You feel like it's very alive. It feels like home, too. It's wonderful."

"Charter Senior Living of Orange is absolutely beautiful. It has plenty of options for what kind of room, how much care you need, and how big a place you need. However, it was a little over the budget at the time, with what Mom wanted to spend or what she was expecting, so it was a bit of a sticker shock, and so Mom kind of got cold feet with the whole thing. The people who were running the tour were great. They were fine. They did a great job. They showed us everything we needed to see and told us everything we needed to find out. The place was only a couple of years old; it was just a great place."

"Very professional staff- beautiful facilities - great care for my mom- "

"Over the past few months, I toured numerous retirement communities within 2o miles of Pomperaug Woods with my dad as he started to consider the idea of moving from his condo after the loss of my mom. Some were just rental communities but more were with the financial arrangement of Pomperaug where there is a "buy in" that you get mostly back when you leave the apartment. The monthly rent at Pomperaug was very affordable and even after we calculated the money we had to put down, it was more financially feasible in the long run to go this route than paying 5-7K/mth or more at the others. After the tours, lunches (food varied widely), meeting residents on the visits, looking at apartment floor plans, amenities, and looking closely at the financial end, we selected Pomperaug. Our dad is late 80's, active, healthy, loves playing bridge, socializing, still drives, and by far he felt most "at home" at Pomperaug. We were able to fit all his favorite furniture in his one bdrm "Putnam" including his drop leaf table, living room set, entertainement center, and in the bedroom, bed, two dressers, bedside table, and his desk comfortably. The apt has a walk in closet which they double racked for him, a stackable washer dryer, and beautiful kitchen, it is a terrific apartment! The welcoming committee has already been up to meet him, the staff has been incredible and made the move seamless, the food is great, and we all agree we made the right choice. I live in Michigan but have already planned a visit in July because I want to hang out there and meet my dads new friends! Pomperaug Woods is a gem."

"I stayed in Atria for three days for respite care. They were extremely reasonable in price. The facility was pleasantly decorated and handicapped accessible of course. The environment was clean and pleasant. Their rooms were pleasant and neat too. The dining room was clean, but what impressed me the most was that you have a white-tablecloth service. They have white tablecloth and white napkin and that's important. They provide three meals a day. You have a menu with at least four entrees every meal and then you can have, if you want, a chicken salad with sides or tuna salad. The food was plentiful and it was excellent. They have a little kitchen area where they have coffee, tea and drinks available all the time around-the-clock and that was pleasant. There were fair amounts of activities there, not a lot though. They have exercise class and bingo. I would have liked more. The staff was all pleasant and available from the front desk. They did have an RN available too and their service was good. "

"The Country House was a very nice community, and the grounds were very lovely. We really liked it. The staff was very nice, very congenial, and outgoing. They had everything. The food looked very good, and the dining room was very lovely. "

"I'm very impressed with Birchwood Suites. I liked it very much, but I want to see other options, and the price was high. I want independent living, and I'd like to have a place to sit outside, and I am coming with my cat. I like that I had kind of my own cottage with two entrances, and it had an outside little tiny patio where I could sit. I spoke to the director, Natasha, and she led me around the place. She was very nice and very encouraging. The facility looked pretty good. I had a separate bedroom, a separate living room, and a small kitchenette. The bathroom looked good."

"The person I visited at The Knolls really likes the place. It has a very big Olympic-sized swimming pool, and she is a swimmer, so she really loves that. She can drive her car and everything, so she is kind of on her own, and she likes that of course. She has a two-bedroom that has a really nice kitchen, and she can cook her own food if she wants. She has a washer and dryer in the bathroom, and there's one room that is set up like an office with a desk, and she can use that. I saw the dining room, but no one was eating in it. I didn't meet any staff, but my friend showed us the place herself. The facility is not brand new, but it's not really old either, so it's nice."

"My dad moved to Atria Briarcliff Manor. I like it very much because it is relatively small. So easy for him to navigate. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. The energy is positive. There's no foul smell. It's very nicely run. I don't find a negative. Maybe too soon to tell, but so far everything has been very organized, very well-run, and very welcoming for him. The staff is attentive. They are responsive. They seem to genuinely care about their jobs and the residents. The facility is extremely clean. The furniture is relatively new. Everything is clean and bright, and plenty of activities going on at all hours of the day. They paired my father with an ambassador resident to help transition him in and bring him out to events. They have minimal activities like cute karaoke and things like that, but every time I go, he's engaged. He's out of his room and he's doing something. I feel welcomed. I feel that he is cared for. There's plenty of staff, which is unusual."

"The intake at The Club at Briarcliff Manor was very thorough and friendly. The tour was informative. The building and the grounds were beautiful and tasteful. I particularly liked the respite program (the one month trial)."