The Best Independent Living Communities in Polk County, FL

"My husband and I liked the Osprey Heights Gracious Retirement Living. We had lunch there and met some people living there who were very friendly. I wasn't really comfortable with the girl who took us around so that's why I wanted to go back and see the person who we had talked to one other time when we just drove by there. I felt like he might give us a little bit more information. I think she said she was afraid to overload us with a lot of information. Another problem is that they also didn't have assisted living. Independent living is the only thing they have. We did feel comfortable there, though, and I could have easily moved there, as long as it was something that wasn't expensive and we could afford it. The place was nice and clean, the food was good, and everybody that we talked to was very nice. What they offered, I thought, was very nice, too. They even had a kitchen there if you wanted to go and make something special. I also felt comfortable there. We had lunch and I thought the food was very good. They served us well."

"I have chosen Osprey Manor because of the price. It was quite reasonable for what I needed. They had a very nicely laid-out two-bedroom for a reasonable price. The people are so nice. The place is just lovely. Meals are included. I've been so busy unpacking and moving in that I haven't tried a lot of the meals, but they seem fine. I did breakfast one day, and I've done dinner twice. The food is well prepared. There are available extra snacks like soup, cake, or fruit readily available all the time, so that is handy. The amenities are lovely. They're really nice. On each floor there is a sitting area leading out to a balcony, and on the main floor there is a very large activity room and craft area. There is laundry, too. All of that is available. I am really, really impressed. I like it. The people are very friendly, too. The place is very clean. I have a housekeeper that comes into my apartment once a week and does the floors and the bathroom and that sort of thing. Housekeeping is very nice and very good. The halls are always clean, and everything is fine. I haven't been here long enough to talk about their activities, but they have a printout of all their programs, and it seems quite nice. There are games, movies, and church services. It looks like there's plenty to do. I'm very pleased with the value for money too."

"I like that Westminster Lakeland is on Lake Hunter which we have always talked about living on. Also, we have friends that live there. They have a very nice dining room. They've remodeled and it looks out over the lake. We will have a duplex, and it looks good. They have a nice, warm swimming pool. That's something we look forward to using. The staff members are very good at doing what they do. The food is delicious. They bring the chef out to meet everybody. We have been in group meetings and so we have a couple of times. The staff who gave the tour was great. They did fine. Cleanliness and upkeep are alright. I think the value is good."

"I visited The Meetinghouse at Bartow last year. It's for low-income people, and it's been there for a while now. It's a nice place, and people like to live there. I never really met anyone except the person in charge of the apartments, but he was really nice. It's an independent place to live for seniors. It's nice, it's clean, and the people are very nice. It's in a location where it's easy to go places, and I like it; it's a nice location."

"We toured Orange Manor West. I like how clean it is, and it's very well taken care of. The roads are smooth, and everything is beautiful. The staff I met was very nice. All of them are modular homes. It was all wonderful. The only thing I don't like is that sometimes the fee for the land is so high. The atmosphere was very friendly."

"I visited Mas Verde Mobile Home Estates. It was too expensive. It's basically modular homes, and there are some trailers in there. It was a very nice community. It was very well kept, and I was trying to get away from having to mow my garden and do stuff like that. They didn't do that there, and they charge more. They have a pool, and they have a place where you can go eat if you don't like to cook. You could go in and have a meal in the dining room. They have an exercise room, and the pool. The dining room was empty. It's just a bunch of chairs. They have a kitchen. I don't know how they work, and I don't know if you have to tell them ahead of time, so they know how much to cook. They were kind of expensive. The staff members were very nice and helpful. They gave me lots of information and paperwork and stuff, and they mailed paperwork. The apartment was in very nice condition. It had been remodeled. It was a two-bedroom, living room, dining room. They had a carport and an outside laundry room. It's not a gym, but they have workout equipment. People can go in there, and they can ride their bikes. Their animals have to be kept on chains if they have them. You can have pets, but you have to keep them under control. You had to go down to get license tags; you have to get this for your household. You have to get stickers, they used to give you license plates. They looked very nice. It was very clean."

"It was beautiful. The people there were very interested in why we were there. They talked to us. The residents and the staff were very friendly and very informative. Everybody seemed to love everything about it. The apartments were beautiful. We saw the dining area, the living area, and all the common areas. We saw 2 different rooms. I saw the kitchen, but we didn't go into the kitchen. They had a beautiful courtyard where it's 100% safe for the residents to be out there because they can't get out."

"I like the fact that Beacon Terrace has residents who are related to me and are elderly. It has a nice area. It’s very current and modern. They have activities, like shuffleboard and things like that. They have the ability to have outside assistance, too. "

"Lake Gibson Village was nice. The staff member during the tour was very good. The apartments were beautiful. It was very clean, and it was on a lake, so it was really nice. I saw both their assisted and independent living facilities."

"I chose to live here in Colonnades because it is not far from my family. It's also very nice and it's a gated community. The people are very friendly and very helpful. They give you all the information about everything you can and can't have, and everything you can and can't do. They take care of your yard, so you don't want to worry about that, and if we don't feel like going out to eat, we just have to go down to register and they'll fix us a meal. They have a pool, bingo, card games, walking paths, and gatherings for different occasions where everybody is welcome to go. It's very close to shopping and to restaurants, too."

"Right now, we're in Lake Ashton. My husband loves to play golf, so that's perfect for him. The staff members are excellent. Everybody is just super, super nice. However, I don't care for the dining room because it's all like barbecue food. Our home has over 2000 living areas. It has a two-car garage plus a golf cart garage, so it's a corner lot. It's nice and high. I have hurricane shutters all the way around and a generator, so don't need to worry about hurricanes. They serve food at two places. One is in the main clubhouse and there's a big dining area and that's where they serve food also. It's a lot of barbeques, and I'm not a big fan of barbeque but my husband likes it. We have a homeowner's association that has a community of people that go through the neighborhood and make sure they would water the lawn, and make sure their shrub trees were trimmed. This is a very nice subdivision. It's wonderful, and they're very cooperative, too. They go out of their way to take care of everybody. They have a lot of entertainment. They run movies constantly. They have a movie theater. They do a good job. They have bocce ball, tennis court, and dog park. It just goes on and on and on. Everything you could ever want is here. You would have to be exhausted if you did it for a week."

Lux Village Living is a boutique-style independent living community for seniors aged 55 and older, offering a warm, supportive, and family-oriented environment. With a maximum capacity of six residents, we provide shared, comfortably furnished rooms that promote companionship, safety, and a true sense of belonging. Our residents enjoy personalized nutrition meal plans, daily wellness check-ins, engaging social activities, medication reminders, housekeeping, laundry services, and basic care coordination. We also arrange transportation to medical appointments, errands, and local beauty salon or barber visits, helping residents feel and look their best. Every detail of our home is designed to support a lifestyle rooted in dignity, independence, and peace of mind. At Lux Village Living, we go beyond housing. We create a vibrant lifestyle centered on comfort, compassion, and community.

"I'm staying in my own home within Cypress Lakes, which is a 55+ community. I came in and I like what they have here. The staff is very nice, cordial and very helpful. The food has been pretty good, too. They have plenty of activities, like golf clubs and different things. The facility is decent, like a modular home type of setting. You have choices for the size of the home that you want, from 1000 square feet up to 2600 square feet, and it goes up depending on the size of the property and the kind of building you want. The value is worth the money that you spend, and I think it is all pretty compatible with other places."

"The Glades at Champions Gate is a couple of notches above the other facility because of its location. It was newly built. The rooms are a bit bigger than the other facility, which is a plus. You can transfer from assisted living to memory care or vice versa, which is very nice because you have that option. The staff was very polite and nice. She showed us everything and gave us the numbers. The place was very clean. They have two courtyards and a pool. They're renovating and making it a little bit bigger and better than it was before. They have activities where people come in. They have a fabulous arts and crafts room where they can do sewing and all kinds of arts and crafts. The price is amazing."