Independent Living Communities in South Saint Paul, MN

"Brookdale Edina was excellent. It's just that they had way more amenities than my father needs. He's 90, and he really doesn't need the extra amenities that they have to offer. They even have a bar, which I thought was pretty cool. The restaurant looked fabulous. They had a pool table and an indoor walking park. The amenities were just wonderful, but he would have never been able to enjoy any of that. I met quite a few of their staff and all of them provided just excellent customer service."

"I toured Villas at Pleasant Avenue II. Just for my convenience and everything, I would have rearranged it just a little bit differently. The staff who assisted with the tour was fine. She was very informative. It all seemed clean, well put together, and taken care of. They had a library and a gym."

"We chose Covenant Living of Golden Valley. We liked how happy everyone was, the involvement of people in the community, and the interactions that people had with each other. The residents were just interactive, happy, and welcoming. It just depends which room you get. Some have laundry, some don't, and it depends on the size of the room. But one thing about them, there's a buy-in option, but you can redecorate your room how you want it before you move in."

"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."

"I'm going to move into Chapel View Senior Health & Living Senior Living Community. It's independent and assisted living, and it also has a long-term care component attached. It's comfortable looking, and it's welcoming. There's a person at the desk that can help you. It looks clean. I will be in a one-bedroom unit. This is an older building, but the bathroom is equipped for a walker or wheelchair use. The doorways are wide. There's adequate storage. It's upgraded. The staff during the tour was wonderful and very accommodating. The staff at the front desk was very accommodating, too. I looked at a couple of different units. I can purchase meals if I want. They have a garden group and a Bible group. They have church services here. They have different card games. They have movie time, crafting, and outings. They have a vehicle that can take people to activities outside of the building. The bus also takes you to the grocery store."

"The rooms are older and small. The care is moderately good. The biggest complaint is that we purchased new comfortable clothing for him and within a week all but one item we purchased “disappeared” never to be seen again. They also “lost” a sweatshirt that was very dear to him. It is obvious that they randomly distribute clothing to other patients as we often arrived and he was wearing items that were not his own. I would be very wary of this place."

"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."

"Havenwood of Burnsville is a newer place. They've only been open a couple of years. It's very clean. I liked the structure of the place. The woman I met was very nice. We spent quite a bit of time talking and touring the place. Unfortunately, they didn't have an opening. So, I didn't pursue more than just doing the initial tour and the initial conversation. I think the newer memory care rooms are more open. I liked that they have a big living room and dining room in the middle with the rooms around it. I think the apartments that people were living in were very large, which is kind of a nice factor in terms of moving things in. I had a very positive feeling about it."

"We're leaning towards RidgePointe of Minnetonka. It was wonderful, they spent over two hours with us, and we were extremely pleased with Paula, who helped us, showed us all the different apartments and the configuration, and then told us all of the wonderful prices that the place had. We saw a two bedroom, two bath, then we saw a one bedroom and a den, and then just a plain one bedroom with one bath. They have three dinners per year that are given to you. You have continental breakfast every day. They have excursions, they have lectures, and in the springtime they have gardening if you wish to do gardening because you can have a raised plot and raise flowers or raise tomatoes, whatever you choose. But you still have a chance to do something outdoors. They have a game room and exercise rooms, and they have a heated garage. And we found it extremely welcoming and it had everything that we could ask for."

"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. "

"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."

"It was quite nice. It would've been my choice, but my uncle didn't like it. The staff was very nice, very helpful, and friendly. They have the senior center there, so people who weren't staying there can also come and participate. The rooms seemed very nice."

"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."

"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."