Independent Living Communities in University Park, IL

"It has apartments where the residents could bring in a caretaker, and they can actually live in there. Then they have a nurse and staff, but it's totally different than the other facilities that are memory care. They had a lot of activities, and it was a very clean place. They had a professional gourmet chef on staff. So, the food looks a little more than just generic meals. The whole facility is brand new. The staff member who gave me the tour, she was very knowledgeable. They have a little theater in there, and the activities were just basic activities. I didn't see anything extraordinary for memory care there that she explained. It just looked like there were more gourmet meals versus family style meals, I would say; there was nothing cooking at that time. The facility is very clean."

"I found a memory care facility that is going to work really well for my mother, and she is moving into Residences at Deer Creek. It has a homey atmosphere, and it was not as expensive as the other one, and I thought she'd get taken care of better at this place. It's $2,000 cheaper a month. The staff was amazing, and they still are going above and beyond to make sure that this is as easy as possible to transition her into this home. I've seen the menu, and I've talked to the residents. I would move in there and eat there every day. Their menu is fantastic. It has a variety of all kinds of different things that they can eat. They have a chef who has won awards for her culinary expertise at this home. The common areas are clean and well-kept. The place does not smell like a nursing home because it's not a nursing home. They have independent care, assisted living, and memory care all in this building. It looks like a giant hotel from the outside. They have a concierge and a bistro. The common areas have couches and chairs and big screen TVs. If you don't want all the noise and all the activity, there are smaller sitting rooms where there's no TV and it's just nice and quiet. There are exercise rooms and activity rooms. For the memory care, there is secure outdoor access. It's a nice place. I'd move there."

"Our father was a resident in assisted living at StoryPoint for a year. The staff was kind, friendly, caring, and patient, and they tried to gently encourage him to socialize and take part in the activities but always respected his right to choose what he did and didn't want to do. We were in regular contact with the administrators and nursing staff, who would keep us updated on how things were going. When he was hospitalized, they called periodically to check in. They were also very accommodating when we came to clean out his apartment. StoryPoint is one of the good ones. A caring team, clean facilities, and a lot of residents looking to connect with each other."

"It is like a family there! A kind, Christian community. My uncle and aunt were cared for so very well and they were happy there to the very end of their lives. Our family highly recommend them!"

"I toured Marian Village. They were a little less expensive, but the place itself just seemed so vibrant, alive, energetic, and bright. The place seemed very new and very updated. When you walked in, you were welcomed by the person at the front desk. The price, I think we could handle. The tough part is they require an entrance fee of $90,000. I have noticed reviews that are not too high, but when I did the tour, they had like a little bistro, and some residents were having omelets and things like that, and the food smelled amazing. They have a lot of events. They had a nice exercise room. They had laundry on each floor and seemed to have more dining areas. They give 400 points per month, and each point is equal to a dollar. You can use those points in the cafeteria or the dining area, and they don't carry over to the next month. They kind of give you an allotment, and then if you go over that, you start to pay. Mary Beth gave me the tour. She knew all the residents. She's very good and very thorough. Everything was so clean. There wasn't a spot on the carpeting. There wasn't a whole lot of carpeting. There was more of the vinyl plank flooring type of things. The dining room was set for dinner, and they had cloth napkins, glasses, and silverware. Everything seemed to be clean. Throughout the whole tour inside the rooms, in the laundry rooms, or the dining area, there was no stale odor or anything like that as you toured it. It was very clean, not like bleach clean or anything like that. It was just a fresh, clean environment."

"I was a resident of Victory Centre of South Chicago for 10 years. The staff were all nice. All the managers from the other building were nice to us. They had a lunch thing downstairs, you can go in and buy your food if you want. They could serve a meal, but we cooked our own food, too. If we didn't feel like cooking, then we could go downstairs and eat in the cafeteria. The facility was nice and clean. They cleaned up every day. They kept everything cleaned up for us. The janitors were nice. They helped us with everything we asked for. Anything we need to be moved out, they moved for us. They did everything for us. We played bingo and solitaire. We played everything up in that building. I loved it. That's why I said if I have to, I will go back. That's why I had to keep my name on the list and she said she'll keep me in touch when a vacancy becomes available. I told her my daughter was going to have surgery, and then I would go back to that building. That building was so nice. Everybody was friendly with no problem. I enjoyed that building."

"The tour I had at Franciscan Village was very good. It was organized, and caring and had an overarching feeling of a faith community, which was very attractive to both my mom and myself. It just so happens that we're practicing Catholics so that was a connection. They have a chapel and they have mass every day and things like that that my mom liked. We saw an assisted living room and we thought it was very spacious and well thought out, especially the roll-in shower setup. The shower was very spacious and safe so there were no safety concerns for the individual going from a walker right into a standing or seated shower position. It was all flat. The room was very nice. Christine was my tour guide and she was very good. She deserves a good review. She knows her product. She knows the facility. She's been there for at least seven years and she did a great job. The product kind of speaks for itself. It's a very nice facility and it has a faith-based add-on that not all other assisted living and nursing care facilities have. So, the extra thing speaks for itself. She deserves a good review. She earned it and the place earned it, too. She's not selling anything. She's just showing you what it is."

"We got a bed at Bickford of Bourbonnais for respite care for my stepdad. The tour was very good. The apartments were very nice and large. The community area was very nice and big. The dining area was very nice, and it seemed like they could have plenty of help. I know you have several options for each meal, and there's like a menu that they can pick from. They have several activities every day. The staff was very accommodating and very nice. The place was very clean and there were no smells."

"I moved into Autumn Green at Midway Village. The people are nice and friendly and I feel safe. The staff was nice. They come to my apartment every Tuesday. The facility is clean. They have a gym. They had a barbecue this week. And they have a movie theater. It's a friendly atmosphere in here."

"Spacious rooms, walk in closets and big windows that lets lots of light in. Mother in law enjoys the different options for food and enjoys the activities that happen daily."

"I visited Solstice Senior Living at Joliet. I like everything I saw. I like the room sizes, the dining facility, and the people I dealt with on the tour. They were very nice and informative. The building was beautiful and very clean. The sizes of the rooms were adequate. It's a friendly atmosphere."

"I toured Cantata Adult Life Services. What I liked best was that it was very nice and modern. There's nothing I didn't like. Everyone was helpful, and I spoke with several people who were very nice. The facility was very clean and nice. It was a good place. The layout was nice, and the size of the rooms was good. They were big rooms."

"I toured Timbers of Shorewood. I was impressed. It was very nice. They had a very nice kitchen with a regular-size refrigerator, stove, microwave, sink, and cabinets. I checked their dining area yesterday. I didn't write any food, but they gave me a Halloween treat bag to take. The dining area was large. The place had a homey feel to it. The staff was very nice and very informative. She worked there for 15 years. They had a large game room. They had a one-bedroom. They have on-staff 24 hours, two nurses, and they showed me where their offices were."

"I toured American House Cedarlake. The units are the same. They're different sizes, but they're the same. It's the level of care that you get that makes a difference. My kids think I should go to assisted living, and that sounds reasonable. I like the unit they showed me. It's very clean and pleasant. The assisted and independent living people mix, and they have two dining rooms, but they often eat together. It's a very pleasant place. The staff during the tour was very nice. The woman who showed us around had been in touch with my daughter until they could schedule an appointment. And then any others we met going around the building were very pleasant, and the people who lived there were too. It was confusing the first time I went through it, but it's reasonable."