The Best Independent Living Communities in Lapeer County, MI

"My mom moved into Vista Springs Washington Place. It's beautiful, the ratio is five citizens to one caretaker. It's very clean. They go out of their way to individualize the care for each of the members that are there. It's very well taken care of. Her room is very roomy. We got to bring in her furniture to make it individualized to what her needs are. It's gorgeous. It's very well taken care of. Her room is very roomy. They have a family dining room. They have a barbershop. They also have two four seasons rooms. They have an outdoor pavilion so families can meet outdoors."

"My dad is a resident of Flourish Collection at Rochester. What I like most about it is that the location is two miles from our house. It is set in a beautiful Rolling Hills Community and it has an active lifestyle for an aging population and there are quite a few activities. An overarching experience that we have had is that anything that needs addressed is done in a very expeditious way. The staff is fantastic and personal. They know my dad, and they know me by name. They are always available and ready to help. He lives in an independent ranch home, two-bedroom, two full bath, garage, laundry room, kitchen, family room, and lanai. It has new carpet, fresh paint, and luxury vinyl flooring. It does have safety pull cords and a daily check-in system that if he has not personally checked in, they will follow up and go to his unit and check in on him. There might have been slight variations as having a corner end unit versus a middle unit. They offer valet and chauffeur service. There's music, which my dad really enjoys. They have a pool, a clubhouse, bocce, pickleball, and hot tub that is available to any of the residents to reserve individually or enjoy as a community. They also have onsite healthcare. There are in-home visits by a nurse practitioner on a weekly basis every Monday, which is fantastic. They have in-home podiatry care, which is every other month and they do feet and hands. They offer vision care and they have hearing aid appointments. They have in-home dental care as well. My dad doesn't have a dog, but I see that they have a little van that pulls up to groom and wash and care for your dog. There are quite a few residents that have dogs that I've seen. He has had in-home physical therapy as well, which is fantastic. You're not running around town trying to coordinate that and as a family member/caregiver/helper, it allows me to still raise my family while knowing that he's cared for there. The community director gave me access to communicate with him and he is always available. If there is a problem, it's addressed immediately. It does feel more personal than it does a machine or a corporation. My son and the community director's son were playing against each other at a local high school baseball game and the community director came down to my car and got my dad out of the car and helped him walk up to the game. It's personal. It's not just a business. They care and they want to help make their golden years comfortable and enjoyable and special for them. My dad does go to the dining room on occasion."

"Baldwin House Senior Living Oakland was clean. It was bright and cheery. The office person went over things well and answered questions well. We were impressed with them. They had ceramic stuff in one room that people were working on. They also have bingo, cards, and dinners out where they take the bus. It all sounded wonderful. The staff was very nice and informative."

"I'm seriously considering Holiday Genesee Gardens. I was impressed with them. The staff even said, "We could give you toilet paper." The apartment she showed me is ready now, and she is doing everything she can to help me. She also sat me with three ladies in the dining room and had lunch with them. They were very pleasant. Of course, they had their complaints about this, that, or the other, but that happens everywhere you go. The place was clean. She showed me four different apartments and where everything was. She also showed me the activity room and different things. I enjoyed the tour very much. I was there for three hours. The room I saw was very small, but I think there's a bigger studio coming up, and I'm going to talk to her about that one. They're the same price, so. The upkeep of the place was pretty good. Another good thing for them is that the washers and dryers are free to use, and there are many of them. There's air conditioning and heat in the apartment that you don't have to pay for. The only thing you're obligated to pay for is cable if you want more than what you get there. You also have to pay for your cell phone, which is logical. Those are the only things that I would have out of pocket. The staff introduced me to some of the workers. The activity director wasn't there yesterday, but I had seen some of her work that she got out for the residents, and they looked pretty good. The cook cooked very well, too. She made biscuits and passed them out. Another thing that is drawing me there is three meals a day. The food was very good, too."

"Lockwood of Genesee is a very nice, comfortable environment. I was greeted by a staff right away. My tour was on time, and I received a lot of information from the person who gave me the tour, and it was very pleasant. The rooms had adequate space. It was nice and clean. They got adequate parking."

"I toured Elmhaven Manor. It's very clean, neat, and organized. I didn't spend a lot of time there. I didn't get the comfort feeling with that one as much. The hallways and stuff are nice. I didn't get to see the rooms and stuff, but just one apartment. So, it was a small one. It was just a small one-bedroom, and the kitchen was pretty small. It was not homie. A few people I met on the elevator weren't friendly, but that's the people though, you can't control that."

"We toured Canterbury on the Lake. It was very nice. The person that gave the tour was very helpful and very knowledgeable about the facility. We got to walk through from the front door all the way through the dining room and the common areas. We got to see a couple of different apartments with different floor plans. So that was nice to be able to do that. We got a sample of their menu, activity, and calendars, and then we got a packet of floor plans and applications. We got to sit down and have our questions answered. The building itself is beautiful. They're small apartments basically, but they have all the necessities. They have a kitchenette and they have their closet space. It looked clean."

"I toured Lockwood of Waterford. It was very nice, very well maintained, and the apartment was very comfortable. I've had the meals there. They were not included. They have to be paid for. The food was very good. The staff was very friendly and competent."

"I'm in Independence Village of Waterford. I like the staff here. They're all kind and helpful. They're nice with each other and they are nice with us. I've gotten sick here, and they took care of me and I got my meals. My apartment has a living room, a small kitchen, a sink, a refrigerator, and I have my own microwave in there, but there's no stove. There are cupboards, so I can have some of my stuff with me. There's a bedroom, big enough that I can have a king-sized bed in it and the furniture that goes with it, and a walk-in shower. They have all kinds of activities. They have bingo, Pokeno, they show movies, we play games, like one's called Left Right Center and you play with pennies, and we play cards. They have a library and a courtyard. There's a space out in front, and there's a porch across the front of the building, and there are rocking chairs on it. You can sit out there and visit and enjoy the weather. For those who are interested in participating in the activities they have, they are very good about seeing to it that it happens every week. They have an exercise program, and that's open to everybody. They do things where you don't have to stand. We have an excellent activities director and she's always thinking of something new. She takes us on little excursions out of the building, like we go to restaurants, we go to another place and have ice cream there, and takes us shopping. They have a bus here. It's expensive to live here, but I've been told by other residents that this is the best price for what we get."

"My sister has made a deposit and will be moving into American House Elmwood. The whole place was very clean. We chose it because it offered a very good-sized villa, which is independent living. She would prepare her own meals, so she did not get a meal plan. The staff who assisted us was excellent. They had a hair salon and a meeting room."

"I love living at Lockwood of Fenton. Except for this problem that I'm having right now with the manager, the staff here is really good. They have different types of residents. I get along with everybody here except for about five people, but this is a big apartment building. I love everybody here. I help wherever I can, and they appreciate that. There is an activity director here; she is young, but the things she comes up with to do are amazing, and I tell her that. They will take the bus on a lunch trip once a month, they go for ice cream, and they go shopping. Today, they're going to Walmart on the bus. There are a lot of good things about this place. Good food, too. I'm in one of the smallest apartments here because it needed to be rented. The kitchen and bathroom are upgraded. I have a very nice apartment. The biggest apartments they have are two-bedroom-two-bath, and they go down from there: Two-bedroom-one bath, and one-bedroom-one bath. I'm in a corner and my apartment is small, but it's tolerable."

"We toured American House The Village. It was a great tour. We get to see a lot of the facilities and the added activities. We liked the people there and the independent units. They were bright, cheerful, spacious, and bigger than what I had expected. The staff did a great job answering our questions and presenting things to us. We went through the dining room and watched people eat, but we didn't eat there. They have a top chef, so I assume the meals are good, and they allow us to have a pet."

"I liked that American House Stone is just one floor so my mother would not have to deal with any stairs or elevators and the price point was important to us. We were fortunate to be able to eat a meal there and my mother, who is very particular, enjoyed the food. There were a lot of options for her. If she didn't want somebody doing her laundry for her, they said that that was no problem and that she could do her own laundry. So, there were things like that, which made her feel more that she was living independently and not reliant on somebody else for everything, which was important to her. She didn't want to feel like she was giving up total control, and they were very willing to work with her on that. Everybody was very kind to us. This was the second time that some of us had visited there, and they remembered us from a previous visit, which was surprising even to remember the names. So, we're very pleased with how we were treated. They were friendly, helpful, and very kind. They even gave my mother a to-go container of more food, because she liked it so much. The facility was clean, but there were a few things that were dated or wear and tear, but nothing bad. The room that my mother is going to be moving into has a new carpet, new paint, and things like that. There were four of us that they served lunch to, and everyone was very pleased with the food."

"I've moved into Vicinia Gardens Independent Living. It's beautiful. The staff is happy and helpful. Everything's great. Maintenance and cleanliness are perfect."