The Best Independent Living Communities in Gwinnett County, GA

"I was not impressed. The place was I think fairly new, but the colors were so depressing as they used some dark brown. The apartments were really nice and spacious. I don’t remember how much freedom somebody has to alter it, but I think they’re more than satisfactory for somebody’s need. They are very accommodating, very polite, and helpful. "

"Brookdale South Lee Buford is the first one I visited. I remember feeling very positive. As far as I remember, the rooms were fine. They were smaller than the other facility. The staffs were very confident and very friendly. They seem to be very attentive and seem to know their residents very well. My impressions were positive. As for activities, they are comparable to everywhere else I visited. They do social outings as well as go to the grocery store and the drug store. There was nothing that stood out either positive or negative on that part. "

"I love Celebration Village Forsyth. We have eaten there twice and the food is stunning. Their service and employees are stunning. It is mostly young people. Our visit was good. We like the size of their apartment. The amenities and the meals are the biggest things to us. Right now, we couldn't afford to move into the independent, but I loved them when we walked in the door. We just felt at home. They have the chef cook our meals."

"I would give Towne Club Windermere a five all the way around. That was my favorite place, but it is set up more like an apartment building. It's a tower and you had to get on an elevator, and Mom wasn't comfortable with that, but the rooms were fantastic. They were like regular-size apartments. They have a beautiful pool, a garden area, a movie room, a hair salon, and tour buses that would take you to the grocery stores and stuff. Any amenity that you could think of they had there. They did social hour; you come down in the main room and have appetizers and things like that. They go from independent living all the way to memory care. The staff during the tour was very, very attentive. She showed us several different sized rooms and she gave us the pricing. She made sure that we had all the meals. She let us taste the meals, which were very, very good. She took us around. She was very patient with Mom and Dad. We actually sat down around the pool with some of the people there, and we were able to talk to the residents there, ones that were in wheelchair and ones that were a little bit more independent. My concern then at that point in time was finding a place for both my Mom and Pop and Pop to be more active. The staff introduced Pop to some of the guys there that still play golf and things like that, so he really felt comfortable there. It was Mom that was not at the time, that's why we didn't do so. We actually were there three times and we signed a contract with them twice. Mom just didn't think she could do that elevator. She didn't feel comfortable with it."

"I went to look at Village Park Alpharetta. The thing I liked best is the way they set up the meal. They had basically three different places where you could go and get your meal. You can order off of a restaurant-type menu rather than going into a buffet, and I like that idea. It was a multi-story building, and it was right in an area with a lot of traffic, which would be the worst thing. The staff was very good. They offer exercise rooms and a theater room. But I didn't see much equipment in the exercise room. It looked like it wasn't used very much. It looked like the facility was very clean."

"My parents love Sanford Estates and have been there for about a month and a half. The people that work there have been really gracious, and the managers and staff are very friendly. The food is outstanding. The place is brand new and really clean. They do housekeeping and laundry service. It’s been a really good transition. They have a movie theater and kitchen studio where they do demonstrations. They have a gym, a little chapel, a library, a computer room, and an office. They have an outdoor living space that looks like a fireplace with little gardens that they can plant in. They have really large balconies on the units. The apartments are a nice size with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. That’s the one thing that we had a hard time finding, so that was a big plus."

"My mom is in Cottonwood Estates now. It's a brand new facility. I found them through an online senior directory. I chose this place because the price includes everything, e.g. meals, transportation, laundry, housekeeping, etc. The apartment that she has there is great! She is really enjoying it. It doesn't have a kitchen so she has to eat in the dining room with everyone else and that's okay with us because my mom doesn't really want to cook. Also they provide three chef-cooked meals a day. Regarding activities, she has been doing a couple of things here and there. "

"I visited Villas at Canterfield. They have music that comes in on Fridays. When I went there, somebody with a guitar came and they had everybody set up in the main area. They were listening and they had little hors d'oeuvres for them, and they were watching this person sing. Some of the little old ladies and men were up dancing, but all the staff was there with them enjoying it. The rooms were a good size. This is a bigger place. They have an elevator, but it's only three floors, so it's not really that bad. They do everything from independent to memory care. At the time, I was looking at assisted. They had several different type of rooms that you could choose from. They had a little movie room, a little game room, a library, a spa to get your hair done, and a pool for the independent living. The cottages are in one place, the assisted is in another, and memory care is on another wing. It was nice and clean. The staff was very attentive. I also have a neighbor that sent her mother up there. She started out in independent care and now she's in memory care. They help evaluate the residents. They recommended it to us."

"Brookdale Roswell seemed like a nice facility with nice landscaping. It seemed like there were a lot of people in the main area and dining room gathering for what seemed like different activities available. The staff was helpful in answering questions. She gave us the tour, and it was very helpful. We visited a couple of different sized rooms. We saw a one-bedroom and the two-bedroom, and they seemed nice with adequate kitchen and living room areas. The challenge for my mom is that she is in a bigger place now, so downsizing is always a challenge. There were people playing cards, and there was a beauty salon. There were people in the workout area too. There was a list seen on the screen of available activities to do like bus trips. It seems to have an abundant amount of activities. "

"We chose The Holbrook Decatur for my father, but because of the current situation it's still closed. The staff is very professional and it's a nice place to live. The people who work there interacts, even when my sister and I just went there to walk around, the people we met were very nice and very happy to be there. I watched the staff talk to the residents and they know them well; it's a good feeling. They have aerobics class and people who work there would join in too, which is nice. We saw a beautiful pool for water aerobics which was easy to get into. There's also a pool where you get lowered into a pool and you walk into a treadmill, and we saw people there with one helper assisting each person there. My father's room is about 600 square feet with a nice size living room, nice size bathroom, and the kitchen is a little small but he's not going to be cooking there. His little kitchen has everything but a stove, and you can bring a microwave to cook on if you want to. But three meals are included, there's also a bistro, and you can get a snack any time you want to. You can just walk into the shower, you don't have to step up into anything, there's plenty of storage in the shower and there's also a bench. It met the chef, the food sounds very good because the people were complimentary."

"It is a very positive environment. Both the staff and the residents are pleasant and the food is good. As for activities, there are not as many of them as I think there might be, but I don't have time to do more than I do now anyway. Nevertheless, I enjoy Bingo and we have Friday morning coffee socials. They recently had a retirement party for somebody and it was fun."

"I visited Parc at Piedmont and liked it very much, but it's too expensive for me. The food was very good and healthy. All of the people were very easy to work with, easy to talk to, and not pushy. They had a couple of floor plans that I liked. Everybody there seemed to love it, and I've never heard a criticism from a person that lived there. They have something big every month and daily activities from 1:30 to 3:00. They had an open house and party this Christmas where they served refreshments as you see the different floor plans, and some of the people opened their rooms to visitors. They had exercise programs and a heated pool outside. "

"I liked it. It was relatively brand new, neat, and nice, and it made a good impression when you saw it. They had a pond in front of some of the buildings with a sidewalk around it. They were one-story and you had a window that looked right out on the pond. The rooms were very nice, and there was a garage behind the building so that you could get a one-car garage if you wanted. It was a little further out from the city of Cumming. "

"My mom was a resident of Holly House for 8 years until she passed away a year and a half ago. There are just 6 people in the care home. The facility was like a ranch style home with a home-like environment. The caretaker is 24/7, meals are always prepared, medicines always dispensed and the washing, cleaning and caretaking of the individuals were always good. The home was clean as well. I have eaten there on special occasions too. They had some activities coordinator come by and do different games and arts and crafts. They also had a minister come by. I had no complaints during the eight years my mom was there. "