Independent Living Communities in Holyoke, MA

"Rooms are spacious and clean. Staff is friendly and helpful. Food is fabulous! I highly recommend Stonebrook at Windsor Locks for your loved one!"

"I toured four facilities, and Cedarbrook at Ware had the nicest rooms and the best food. There is a buoyant attitude among the staffers and guests."

"Hoffman SummerWood Community was a very nice community. It's a Jewish community pretty much. It was very friendly and I met the rabbi there. My friend is a pretty devout Catholic, and I thought this might not be the best place for her. I didn't see a lot of Christian things going on. It's not all Jewish, obviously, but it was a different environment than the other places that I saw. It's a very warm community and a very pleasant environment. They have book clubs, chess clubs, and writing clubs. They'd go on field trips to the shopping centers and whatnot."

"My mom moved to Connect55+ Manchester. Everybody's nice, however, on the second day the washing machine broke, but other than that everything has been great. Everybody's been super nice. The staff is nice. If you see anybody, they introduce themselves, tell you what they do, and offer to show you around. They're very kind and helpful, and a really nice group. The facility is nice and clean. Everything's brand new. They've just built it these past years. They've got a full-time activities director. She's got everything and we did charcuterie boards one night. There's some kind of exercise thing every day. They have movies and there are games. My mom has a two-bedroom apartment for $2,100 in a full community with activities and comes with a washer and dryer and trash service. It's pretty good."

"My father moved into Day Brook Village Senior Living. The place is incredible, has great food, a great atmosphere, and there are a lot of things to do. The people are wonderful. It feels like a community. It's a very nice, well-maintained area of living. It also has independent, assisted, and skilled nursing/nursing home on the same campus. The rooms are a good size. It has a bathroom and a half, a nice little kitchen area, a nice bedroom, and a living room area. It has a kitchen sitting table for breakfast. Lunch and dinner are available for them. There are a lot of activities. Something's going on every week. They have bingo, movies, and barbecues. It's an excellent facility. They have a courtyard and that's where the barbecue is. They have an exercise room. They have a library where they can take the books out, and it's like an open room where you can overlook the courtyard and you can do puzzles. They have a TV and a fireplace there. It is very nice. They just need a little upkeep on the exterior."

"Providence Place at Ingleside is beautiful. The building is gorgeous, and the grounds are beautiful. The rooms are large. The staff was well-informed and very helpful. They have a resident that lectures on history. They have a pool. They have various special dinners for the holidays and other occasions. They have different groups, and they have yoga."

"It looks like more of a place for living than a warehouse for dying. I just had a positive impression of it. The staff was engaging with the residents. The place smelled clean and the grounds were really nice. You have to furnish the room yourself, but they have a small kitchenette area with a sink and a fridge. There's also a twin bed. They have private and semi-private rooms. They have a restaurant for the assisted living community, but they cook the meals inside the dementia unit so they have a small kitchen in there. The menu looked good. I talked to one of the assisted living residents and I asked her if she liked it, and she said she loved her and would recommend it, so that's positive. It looked like the residents were fairly happy. It's in an old monastery, and they have a chapel since the place is religious."

"We're very pleased with Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing. I liked the whole community, the surroundings, and the care of the grounds and the facilities. Just very professional, very welcoming, updated. My mother is going into an independent apartment. It's being renovated, but from what I saw they looked wonderful, updated, clean, and bright. The dining area was welcoming, just lovely, and inviting. They have exercise, entertainment, a walking trail, and a recreation area. And I know they have yoga classes and fitness classes, special event parties, and holiday sort of celebrations. There was a lovely library that was well stocked and a beautiful cafe that's outside the dining area, so that visitors coming in could engage with the cafe."

"I know a couple of people that lived in Residences at Mill 10. It is beautiful. The apartments were very nice. The ceilings were about 20 feet high. The setup was good. It was nice and open. When you come into the front door, you walk right into the kitchen area where there's a big, huge island. Then the living room is beyond that with an open concept. There's wood in the ceilings and it's got very large windows. So, it's very airy, and very bright. My friend's bedroom seemed a little small, but it had a very large walk-in closet off of it, and a nice, large bathroom. The only drawback was she lived at the end of the building, so she was on a corner, and when you come off the elevator, you're going to walk a mile to her apartment. They have exercises and a walking path right near there. They got central air/heat and they have pretty good security. I think the money you pay is worth it, because it was kind of a sliding scale type thing, and she was able to apply some kind of way to get assistance to pay."

"My mom has moved into Heritage Woods. The staff is knowledgeable and caring. From the executive director to the nursing staff to the aides, they have all helped my mom and made her feel welcome there. They showed her around, and they've helped her get involved in activities. It has been a good experience so far. It's very nice, it's very clean and it has an open design. They have a wraparound front porch that's screened in with furniture out there. No one is using it this time of year, but it's there. They have a beautiful seating area out front where the lobby is with a working fireplace, and they have a library right there so you can sit and read books. They have an exercise room and exercise classes. They have large windows in all of the rooms so that they let a lot of light in. Maintenance and cleanliness are very good. There are all kinds of different activities for them to choose from. They keep their mind and their body busy."

"My mother is at The Arbors at Westfield. It's very good. The facility is clean and they offered many activities. They have bingo, they have therapy dogs, outings to different venues, games, and they have manicures and pedicures. That's all included. The staff is very caring and very attentive. If a resident needs something, they will take care of it right away. The rooms are very nice, very clean, and well laid out. She likes the food, so it's very good."

"I have friends who live in Rockridge Retirement Community. The facility is excellent. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. When I eat in the dining room, it's very pleasant. The food was good, better than average institutional food. My friend's apartment is beautiful. And, because it's in the five college areas, they have professors come in to give talks on current events. I attended a chair yoga session, which was fun, and they've had talented musicians come in to play music."

"The one that I saw and liked was Suffield Commons. It's very close to where I am now and my family is around in this area. It was very convenient for banking, shopping, a library, and doctor's offices. They have activity rooms. Each apartment has a type of new washing machine where you wash your clothes and then it dries them. That's in the unit. And at the end of the hallway on each floor, they have a bigger laundry area that you can go to. One of the tenants helped me during my visit because the manager was on vacation that week. He showed me the apartment. We walked all around, and he showed me all the different things that they had there. There is a restaurant that they have that serves breakfast and lunch."

"The Dr. Owen L. Murphy Apartments are garden-style apartments designed for unassisted, independent living for people age 62 and over. A lovely Community Building features a fireplace, laundry facility and a library. There are lovely one-bedroom cottages. The apartments are located among 13 beautifully wooded acres, "