Independent Living Communities in Valrico, FL

"I toured Azalea Park, and that was my favorite. We went in right around lunchtime. The dining room was excellent. As soon as you walk in the door it is to the left, and it's big. On their menus they show you an example of the food. They make the plates and cover them with Saran wrap and put them on a tray so you can actually see the food you're going to be eating, which I thought was very impressive. The apartment was excellent, too. It had everything you would want. It was just really good. The people were very friendly, explaining what kind of things they offer and the events they do and that kind of thing. I think everything is supplied but a microwave. Their apartment had one of those 24-inch stoves, but it was still a four-burner. The refrigerators were full-sized. They will do your laundry, they will come in and clean your apartment, and they will change your linens. They have a laundromat there if you want to do them on your own. They have a game room, an exercise room, and a fitness room. The game room has a pool table and different tables where you can do jigsaw puzzles and things like. They have card games and game nights and that kind of thing going on. The building was very clean and very organized. The grounds were beautiful. They serve three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"We toured Lake Morton Senior Living, which was very clean. We ate lunch there, and the food was delicious. I viewed some of the apartments, which were very nice and reasonably priced. They have activities there, and the apartments are very roomy."

"The area of Tampa Gardens Senior Living was very well-kept. The young lady at the front desk greeted us with open arms as if we were family. They escorted us to different activities they have, whether it was bingo night or movies. The young lady gave us so much literature and information to take home. They showed us around the memory care facility, which was very well-kept and secure. My dad is a wanderer and likes to walk around, but we felt very secure that he wouldn't be in any danger or anything like that. The staffing was amazing. The place was immaculate. They have menus and so many activities that would keep my dad occupied and very busy. We even spoke to one of the nurses there who takes care of these patients with these needs. She was very, very helpful. She speaks multiple languages, which is fantastic, not only English, but she also speaks Spanish. Someone else spoke Filipino, which is fantastic. Somebody else spoke Hindi, who is very well-balanced. We saw the menu, which had a large variety. They had vegan choices and choices for special diets and special needs. It was a very nice menu that we saw. The dining area was very clean and organized."

"We toured Keystone Place at Terra Bella. I like that very much. I thought that esthetically, it looked good, it was clean, and the staff we spoke to was very friendly. The residents appear to be happy, the ones we saw walking around. If it was me, I would have gotten into that place. It was very nice. They were very helpful and very friendly. They did a great job giving us a tour and telling us about the services they provide and the activities that are available for the residents. It was great. It was a good atmosphere."

"I thought Grand Villa of Clearwater was nice. It was a little bit more expensive, but I like the facility. I like the people that I met there. It seemed very clean. It seemed like they cared about the residents. There were no activities going on at the time because it was a weekend, but they had an activity center. And it looked like they had a place for physical therapy. The room that my dad would have had would have been a shared room. It was like two separate sleeping spaces, a shared bathroom, and a kitchen area. The salesperson I met was very helpful and gave me a lot of useful information as far as getting Dad Medicaid assistance. The residents seemed happy there, too."

"I liked StrawBerry Ridge because it was quiet and serene. The mobile homes that I saw were the ones that somebody else had lived in, but the layout was very easy to move around in. They also had brand new mobile homes available. The people there were friendly. They have a lot of activities there. The staff was awesome and helped a lot in explaining things. It was a good location for me because you don't get all that noise even though you're close to restaurants and malls. The grounds were very clean and easy to maneuver. There were flower gardens, so they made it nice and cozy."

"I went to Hacienda Heights. I like the idea that it seems to have the feel of a cruise ship. You have your food and choices. You don't have to be involved in anything because you have your own place. Instead of having an apartment, you have a little house. I'm calling it my dollhouse, coming from a big house to downsize. The people in the community are all younger than those that you would find in a home for assisted living. These people are on their own and they give you air between houses; you're not sitting on top of the other one. That's what I liked. I didn't want to go back to the housing situation of back to back or neck to neck. Here, they give you a little bit (not a lot) of land in between. Some of them are even prettier, but they're a little bit more expensive than what I can handle. The only thing I'm a little disappointed in is I wanted something a little bit more secluded. In the area of Riverview, everything's being built up. It's a community attached to a community, where there are lots of mini malls, stores, and traffic. When you pull into the Hacienda Heights, you have a little bit of a way where you get a lot more seclusion. It's so beautiful. They have the aerobics heated pool session to help you move health wise. None of it has to be by a doctor's prescription or anything. It's up to you to take the classes with whoever the instructors are. I love that they have sewing, and they have volunteering to sew for children's hospitals. I like that they have dancing lessons, if you're able to. They have potluck dinners that you are able to do if you want. It's all available at the large clubhouse that's centrally located."

"My grandmother was cared for by the loving staff, she enjoyed taking walks in the park, she loved going to bingo, she also enjoyed meeting other house mates. "

"I would like to live in Ella At Encore. It's a brand new building. It got spacious apartments. The apartment was 700 square feet, so it's more roomy. Everything is new so you're getting new appliances. They got nice and big bedroom. They also got screened balconies. "

"I will be moving to Aston Gardens at Sun City Center. They had a very good incentive, and the place was nice and clean. The staff was very nice, and everything was explained clearly. It's far away from where I wanted to be. My family lives about 25 minutes away, but that was less of an issue than the place itself. I got a one-bedroom, and the room size was more than sufficient for one person. I liked the size of the bedroom. They invited us for lunch with my daughter-in-law. It might have been a good day for me because I'm a sandwich person, and they had a Reuben on the menu."

"The people at Allegro Hyde Park were fabulous and the community is lovely. The food was fine, for the two meals that I sampled there. They had an apartment ready for me that is very clean and very adequate. It's small, it's 503 square feet, but it has a bedroom, a bathroom, a full kitchen with a dishwasher, a stackable washer and dryer, and a full refrigerator. The kitchen was lovely and it has a living room so it's quite adequate for me. The staff was so accommodating. It was just my pleasure to be there to see it. I hated to walk out but I had to go back to my apartment and start packing up so I could move there already. They have so many activities. They have a calendar that comes out every month and there are so many things to do. There are lectures and classes, they have a lovely pool that's heated, and they have water aerobics. They have book clubs, a room with card tables, and every afternoon they have a happy hour from 3 to 5 in their bar, which usually draws a big crowd. I was there to see it twice and I just could not believe how welcoming the people were. I signed up yesterday and I gave them my first month's rent. What they have is an independent living and assisted care living. They all live together so that's 140 lovely units. They also have a full-time staff. Even the staff in the restaurant came over to welcome me. I went there for two lunches, and I just found the food suitable for senior living. It was fine and they tried to vary the menu every day for dinner. I just have to get used to eating food that seniors eat. The staff was very efficient and perfect. No sooner than I got there and handed them my check for me to move, my name was already on the apartment door. Each apartment has the resident's name on it so if you knock on somebody's door, you know whose door you're knocking on. I'm very anxious to move in there full-time, which I will do before this month is over, but everybody there was so lovely and so welcoming so this is something I'm looking forward to. "

"Annie's Assisted Living is clean. I got my own private room here. There are only six of us. The staff is very helpful. The food is great. It's all home cooked."

"I liked Jewish Center Towers the best because my doctors are right there. The management is very friendly. It was very pleasant. I got to see how well-kept the building is and everything. I got to meet some of the very sweet residents and I just had a very pleasant experience. They were very, very courteous, very welcoming, and very informative. Everything was very clean and out in the open. I had no complaints about it. From what I could also see was the staff was there for the residents."

"I'm at Unisen Senior Living. I think it's going to be working out. This is the best food I've ever had in my life. There's an unbelievable amount of activities and beautiful grounds. This is the first time in years I didn't want to leave. I'm in a place that I like with people who are intelligent and dynamic and don't exhibit constant behavioral problems (I'm including staff at these places, not necessarily the residents). We have probably the best cook of any facility that you could find. The food here is just phenomenal, although I think I'm trying to slip back to my recipe for pork marinade because the pork chops are a little on the tough side. I wanted a smaller one-bedroom, but they didn't have any available, so I got the larger one-bedroom, one-bath. They have a one-bedroom, two-bath, but they didn't have it available. Then they have villas where you even get a garage, and they're considerably more expensive. They have an arts and crafts room. They have an enormous library and it's been recently renovated. They have a lot of presentations and entertainment. They even have a putting green and a fishing pier. The staff here really bends over backwards. It's a gated community. They have yoga and Tai chi. Every day, they have like ten or 12 activities, including Sunday. There are painting classes. I'm taking diamond painting, pottery, regular painting, and jewelry. They're starting a series on the Andes. They just got finished with a series on Night at Earth. It's like National Geographic Quality presentation. They have a lot of people come in and give public lectures, incredible presentations, great graphics, and great speakers. You can take up to three classes for no charge at USF. Just stunning amenities. They have postal service boxes so nobody tampers with your mail. They have a concierge service, four dining rooms, a pool, and a Jacuzzi. They have people doing water therapy and chair yoga. I can't imagine anybody coming close to any of the food, the infrastructure, and the activities. They have an EMT on staff 24/7. The ice cream was really great. They're serving strawberry shortcake bars, Oreo cookies and cream sandwiches, and drumsticks. They really have good choices, like fine dining meals. You only get one meal a day, but you can take home what you don't eat. Every Sunday they have a brunch. They have cheese polentas, a choice of four omelettes, and roast tenderloin. They had shrimp cocktail, a choice of two different salads with homemade dressings, a variety of breads, a variety of butter, a choice of fish, roast beef, and chicken. They serve a lot of specialty food like quinoa or barley. You can get a baked potato or a sweet potato. All of their fruit and vegetables are fresh. Everything's made fresh every day. There is nothing that is canned. If you don't want to be in apartment buildings, there are like duplexes, but they have garages. They have outings, they go out to dinner a couple of times a week, to Trader Joe's, Publix, and University Plaza. This place is enormous. They have two elevators for every wing. Each of the towers has four wings. You are not going to be stuck waiting for an elevator. It's a shelter in place facility. If they have a big hurricane coming, you're not leaving. I've got a side-by-side refrigerator, a microwave, stove and oven, dishwasher, walk-in shower with glass doors, a washer and dryer, and three closets."