Independent Living Communities in Arden Hills, MN

"My mom will move into Oakdale Commons. When my mom and I were there, she just fell in love with the apartments because they had a nice little patio, a walk-in shower, and it had its own washer and dryer. They had a gym. They also had a conference room. They also had a kitchen area, where you could have guests come over and stay. Outside, they have a nice little area where you can sit and gather, and they have a gas fireplace out there. They also had little garden plots where you could plant tomatoes or flowers. Another thing that my mom liked was underground parking. The lady who gave us a tour went out of her way for us, and she was very friendly. I liked her a lot."

"I liked Havenwood of Richfield really well. I just didn't like it being on the other side of the river from me. The rooms were quite spacious, but the kitchens were probably a third of what the apartment was. For a one-bedroom apartment, it is kind of ridiculous to have the kitchen be so huge when they're providing two meals a day. I just felt that they could have had more living space. The living room/dining area was tiny. There was no living space. It's all kitchen. Everything was clean, neat, and well-organized. The staff was very friendly. Their social activities director's dad lived there. I think that's a pretty awesome statement that the staff would want or have their family members living there."

"I moved my mother to Ridgepointe Senior Housing. It is a great place. She loves it and she's very happy there. The staff is very friendly, they food is awesome, and the atmosphere is great. "

"I thought Chapel View Senior Living Apartments was very friendly and very homey. The tour was very pleasant and the facilities were nice. It was just that the apartments were a little spartan, is the way I'd describe them. If I'd lived over there, I probably would be better about it, but it would have been a long drive and I think I couldn't see my mom living there. I felt that the apartments were a little like brick walls inside the spaces, so they weren't very homey. The staff members were really friendly and the community seemed small and kind of homey, but the apartments just didn't seem very cozy."

"We went here. It's wonderful, the apartment was very nice, and the staff was very cordial, and very nice. They were wonderful people to work with. We checked the dining area, we were offered a meal to take home, but we declined. We were told about the amenities, but we did not observe any."

"My mom is in the memory care of Cornerstone Assisted Living and Memory Care. The biggest thing right now that I would say is they have a high level of staffing, and then their flexibility to work with an advocate on the care plan specific to that individual. The appearance of the place it's nice. It's accommodating. It's clean, and I think the facility is managed well. The upkeep of the place is very satisfactory to my standards. For the folks that are in memory care, I feel they need a little more one-on-one stimulation. It's a well-kept, large community. I specifically like the size of my mother's room. It is very close, comfortable, and accommodating."

"We visited Havenwood of Maple Grove. They had new buildings, so everything looked really clean. It was very bright. It looked like a really nice facility. The staff who gave me the tour was named Travis, and he did a really good job. I had no complaints. He accommodated our schedule by doing a tour on short notice. He did a really good job explaining the options. He was really responsive when we had questions and when we called him back. The food looked really nice. The menu looked better than other facilities. It looked like they had a nice food selection. I saw that there were some clubs that were meeting, and then I saw the health facility. There were some people doing classes in the health club."

"I toured the Villas at Pleasant Avenue II. They were smaller than the other facility, the apartment size, but they were brand new. They were nice. They were very clean. My friend did not like that the living room at the Villas was not carpeted. The staff who gave the tour was nice. However, she seemed to want to hurry us out of there."

"My mother lived at Oakridge Place. The price was good. You have a choice of doing a full meal plan, one meal a day, or two meals a day. They had wonderful staff there. We visited there. I thought that I was going to be able to have a meal there, but I didn't get to. I was a little late, and they were in the middle of their lunch. If you don't like what's on their menu for the day, you can do an ala carte menu. They could have said, 'Well, we can get you a sandwich quick' since people were still eating in the dining room. They could have done that. I think the staff either forgot or had to continue with the tour because I was late, and she had other things going on. The staff was wonderful. I visited this place two weeks ago, and the person who did the tour was Heather. She is new to that place, but she's very good and helpful. They had a couple of apartments that they were fixing up. After someone leaves a place like that, they thoroughly have to go through it and clean it. Heather did a great job. I was pleased with it. It didn't make a difference that I didn't get a lunch, but I think if they tell you you're going to get lunch, you should get a sandwich or something. They have a lot of activities for the residents. They had a lot of people coming in to sing. Sometimes, during the meal, they had light piano music going on and a lady was playing. It's not a place that I wanted, but it would be a great place for the right person. They were very efficient with everything. The dining room was very clean. The hallways were very clean and kept up well. They had a lot of activities. From experience with my mom being there, they have activities that are geared towards older people like bingo, putting puzzles together, and music. They have a van where they'll take you to the bank or they'll take you where you need to go. My mom was there during COVID the whole time and it doesn't bother her too much because she wasn't used to going out much anyway because she's blind and couldn't see. She had those books where they listened to the books. Those are provided by the Foundation for the Blind and that was her enjoyment for activity. There are good things for the people to do there. Overall (and I based it on what my mother was able to do), they were very efficient with that. They had therapies that would come in if your doctor agreed that you needed that. They had bingo, music, therapy, exercise, and some other types of games."

"My mother is in Elim Shores. The staff is very warm and inviting. It is a smaller community, and we feel very comfortable with them. They have a number of outings where they take the residents out to a theater or shopping. They have a bridge club that my mother joined and take her to weekly religious services. It really works out nicely. They are a great group of people. However, they do not have quite the variety of food that my mother normally had. She likes more ethnic food, and this is more of your basic meat and potatoes. They can improve on having an on-site physical therapy. They do have an organization that you can schedule to come in, but it is not really equipped as compared to the other communities that we looked at, but that is a very minor issue. The director is phenomenal, and the registered nurse is really wonderful. I met with almost the entire staff. The residents have a strong community feel. Everybody introduces themselves and comes over for coffee. "

"We chose The Wellstead of Rogers & Diamondcrest because they break down the residents according to the different levels of dementia. They didn't have everybody all together. All the rooms are of the same size, so when they have to transfer to another location, it's not going to be a big deal. Mom seems to be doing well there. The staff seems to be good and very accommodating. The dining area has a table with eight people and another table with three people and a nice environment. They have choices for food, and if you just want hamburger every day, they'll let you have it. They have walks, bingo every day, ice cream every day, music, crafts, manicures, and more. "

"We found a very lovely facility and mom's moving to Havenwood of Burnsville. The rooms are very spacious. The community areas are centrally located and very clean and neat. I had cookies and they were good, crispy, and fresh. The staff was very friendly. I've talked to Kristen several times. She was very helpful and knowledgeable and very responsive at getting back to any questions that I had. I showed my mom the apartment and she fell in love with it immediately. They have an arts and crafts room. They have a library that visits and brings you books if you need them brought from the library for you. You just have to check them out and they'll bring them when they come in. I loved it. They have live entertainment that comes in and sings. They have movie nights and popcorn. They have a lot of activities for her to join in the community. Every time I visited, they always had residents out and about using the community areas. I like that they're engaging the senior citizens."

"I was not overly impressed with Ecumen Seasons at Apple Valley. They all look the same. It was three or four stories with windows on three sides. It was clean, but just not eye-popping like the other place. The person that showed me around was amenable. It just didn't grab my attention as the other place did. The tour person was extremely nice and answered questions and everything else. When we went down the halls, people were milling around and sitting on couches. They might have been doing a puzzle or playing some card game or something. There was one table with some people at it. We saw a garden and an outdoor patio with tables and chairs. They had underground parking. I went to two units, and we talked about everything. We went back to the office and then we went through pricing and the different levels. There were five buildings there. I only went to one building for independent living. They had two assisted living buildings and the last one was more like a nursing facility where they have full care. It's one big campus. It felt more homey than institutional."

"Benedictine Windermere Way was wonderful. The person that toured us, Randy, was super accommodating and was just a great person. The place was beautiful. Absolutely stunning. It's new so the rooms were beautiful. They were quite a bit smaller, but they're still gorgeous. They have a wonderful entrance in that lobby area. It was gorgeous, too. We waited for the meals, but they had a shortage of staff so we did not try the food, but the food looks fabulous. People raved about it. It's prepared by a chef and everybody we talked to loved it. Their dining area was beautiful. There's a fireplace. It's quite large with lots of windows and it's kept up very clean. They have physical therapy and different classes, like exercise classes. They have an outdoor patio. They were grilling out there and the activities looked great. They had an activity down in the theater room that had a big screen on it. They had different get-togethers, happy hours, and special occasions. They have a chapel that's much larger, and they have music playing. They have singalongs and the chapel looked beautiful."