The Best Independent Living Communities in Pinellas County, FL

"I took advantage of Freedom Square's mini staycation and found the facility to be extremely clean, well cared for, the staff friendly, happy residents, and the food delicious. Joey, the GM, is very hands on and it is evident how much he (and staff) cares about the community. I didn't think I would like the property as much as I did. So much so, I put a deposit on after just a few days. There is an indoor heated salt-water pool and I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time in that. Many exercise classes, events, and trips. So much more than like communities provide. Major shopping and beaches close by made this an easy decision. So glad to call Freedom Square home!"

"Regency Oaks was beautiful. They provided a short seminar for residents to talk to people who worked in accounting and there's plenty of administration to answer all of our questions. There's a lot to do. It's a first-class place. It's gorgeous. The grounds are gorgeous. They remind me of Philippe Park. The rooms are beautiful and there's spacious closet space, which was one of our primary concerns and it all looks new. They provided us with a gourmet meal for lunch and it was outstanding. They have a pool."

"I visited the assisted living of The Oaks of Clearwater, and the person who toured me was very friendly and knowledgeable about the whole industry. I thought she was very good and very helpful in explaining their facility and how it operates. There is a downside, though, and that is the amount of parking for guests. They have a three-story parking garage, and there are only four spaces for guests on the first floor of it, so you have to go all the way up to the third floor to find any other spaces. You'd also have to know where the elevator is to get from the third floor down to the first because it's not obvious that they have an elevator there. The place was clean. They were having vendors that were selling jewelry and other items in their lobby area during my visit. I guess they bring them in once or twice a month for residents to do shopping inside the facility. Their dining area was adequate for the building. It was large enough to house people, although they weren't serving anybody at the time I was there. They have plenty of tables and chairs, though. They have different floors that do different things, but the view from their rooms on the upper floors is spectacular. They overlook parts of Tampa Bay, so you're right by the water, and it's a really nice view."

"My mom stays there...has been there for almost 2 years and it's absolutely great!!! A full calendar of events and such a friendly great staff!! The food and dining roomS are great! SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO HOLLY FOR ALL THE EXTRA HELP GETTING MY MOM SETTLED AND WHAT SHE NEEDED!"

"American House St. Petersburg was pretty nice. We were looking for memory care places specifically and they're all pretty depressing. American House was the nicest of all the options here in Pinellas. The facility was pretty nice, very new, modern, clean, and well-lit. They have a nice pool. The staff I met has been very friendly and helpful. We already selected a room for my grandmother. She's in kind of an unusual room. The typical room for memory care is just a bedroom and an attached bathroom. For my grandmother, it's normally a room for two people that has two small bedrooms and a central living room, and then a bathroom, so it's a little larger. Part of the decision-making process was that she would get more private space than she would get at any of the other facilities."

"My mom has been living in Stratford Court for several years, and my dad was there, too. He was in one part of Stratford Court where he was living off a feeding tube and couldn't walk or talk, so we moved them both in there. He passed away two years ago, and now she's still there. They have a library, an audio room, and computers. They have Wii bowling, and they have a little bowling alley for Wii bowling, and they have just about everything you could need. They have game night. They have a little bar where they have happy hour and play games. She's very pleased. I think they're pretty good. Mom is starting to complain about the food, but I thought it was good. The staff is just fine. They have a bus, but we have a lady who takes her instead because my mom doesn't really use all those kinds of benefits that they have there. "

"My mother will be moving into Coral Oaks. It was very nice. The staff was extremely helpful. My mom's having a hard time with it, and they're very good at calming her down and appeasing her. She chose it. I think she thought she was gonna get a first floor apartment and that's why she went there. She went to Coral Oaks on her own and decided that was the place she wanted to go. The only thing that I don't like about it is they don't really have continued care. They have assisted living adjacent to the independent living building. I think it's better to be in a place where you have continued care. The rooms are beautiful. Everybody gets a washer and dryer. The staff was amazing. The community looked traditional."

"Addington Place at College Harbor was very nice, and I loved it, but it was out of my price range. The staff was friendly, said hello, and smiled. The amenities that I wanted were there. It's right on the water and had a fishing dock and equipment, so I don’t have to buy a fishing pole. It seemed like the staff was overworked."

"Grand Court Tampa is by far the most luxurious assisted facility that I have placed my grandparents in. Previously based in New York, my grandparents had a rough time with the weather and hard labor. I decided to fly them up to Grand Court Tampa for an assisted living experience. The atmosphere is by far high class, and the facility has great activities and social events to get residents involved. The food is amazing, from my grandparents reviews. They are able to go out with friends on scheduled nights by the facility. They love it! The Grand Court Tampa was able to create a custom and inexpensive plan for my grandparents! What a fine facility. "

"I was a patient for a month. They had good rehab therapy and lots of activities. I got myself back in shape again. It was clean, and their meals were really good. The staff was good. I liked them. "

"I visited Amilcat Care Home LLC. It was more of a respite environment. It was clean, friendly, and well-kept. If I was in need of that type of a place, it would have been on my list. The staff was very friendly, very knowledgeable, and open. It was a good place. It was small. It wasn't a facility. It was just a house with I don't know exactly how many rooms. I saw a couple of people there. I spoke, I believe with the owner, and she was great. I only saw the main entry in the house where there were a couple of people. I didn't go back and tour any of the rooms or anything."

"It is a very big community. They have several floors. It is the best one I've visited. It's very clean and very well structured. The staff was very nice and seemed to be concerned about our situation. However, in the end, they couldn't help us because of my brother's criminal record in the past. The dining area was set up like a hotel. The private room was nice and roomy, and it had a bathroom. The residents all seemed happy and engaged in whatever activity they were doing."

"I toured The Meridian at Brandon. It was very overwhelming. It's a very large facility and it's incredible. It's beautiful and very well decorated because it's geared more towards people who are non-dementia patients who expect to be able to take care of themselves for the most part. They offer different levels of care, but they also charge for those different levels of care, and that was one thing I did not like. It could get very expensive very quickly. It was very tall and very, very long. They had hundreds of units there, but they had lots and lots of scheduled activities. The scheduled activities were just out of this world. They had chef-prepared meals and stuff like that. The only thing is that, because my mother has COPD and she can't walk very far, that was the downfall of the place. Just to go eat in the dining room, if her room wasn't down the hall from the dining room, she would have to take an elevator and then walk all over the facility, which is ginormous. They had studios, one-bedrooms, and then they had two-bedroom companion suites, so they had a lot of floor plans to choose from. The staff who toured us was very professional. Everyone that I encountered was very professional. It's not as friendly or family-oriented as with the other place because they were a very large community. The price was out of my mother's range. They catered more to affluent individuals and couples. "

"I am moving to Osprey Heights Gracious Retirement Living. What I like best is its location, the people who run and manage the property, and the physical plant. The staff were all wonderful. I can't say enough good things about them. The architecture is superb and ideal. Of all the places I visited, they offered the most activities, so I was most happy with that. They had two buses there and they were always going and moving. They go around shopping, going to doctor's offices, medical appointments, pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, or off to the movies. They had a lot of activities that you could choose from, which was wonderful."