Independent Living Communities in Bedford, NH

"I love the fact that Merrimack Meadows have townhouse apartments. I love the quietness here and that it is walkable. You can walk through this whole complex or even outside of it. If somebody is looking for a place where they can stay inside the complex and still have exercise, you've got it here. They have an exercise room, so you can always use that, a nice heated pool in the winter, and just being comfortable in the summer. The people are friendly, too."

"Regency Heights had very nice rooms. They were very nicely laid out. They have a heated garage that you can drive into and they have elevators getting up on the floors. It was very, very clean with very professional people in there. It was very festive. They were having a Halloween party, and it was a very nice setting. They had activities that were offered and their activity rooms were very well used. They also have an outside barbecue. The staff was very nice and very friendly."

"I went to Riverwoods Manchester. The independent living is beautiful, it's brand new, they have a beautiful hall, it is top of the line, and it's nice. They didn't have as many outdoor areas, but it's still pretty nice. I mean, I thought it was beautiful. It's a little bit in a remote area, it's kind of out of the way in Manchester. That's probably what I would say that's negative about it. The apartments were big and nice. Their dining area was very nice too."

"I toured The Baldwin. They don't have much available at this point, but I got the last unit in the level I wanted. Even though I already put in my deposit, I went for a tour to see more of the community and get more feedback. The Baldwin was amazing. I could not believe just how wonderful everything was. It was beyond my wildest dreams. I have never seen better staff anywhere. I dealt with several staff members there, and they all were just beyond what I expected. We were in their coffee shop-type section of the place. I had a lobster roll there and it's one of the best lobster rolls I've ever had. It's good-sized and loaded with lobsters. The building was spotless and beautiful. It's brand new. They opened just a few months ago. It's clean. I never expected to find a place like this."

"The Grand Estate at Londonderry 55+ Community is apartment style living. They have a lot more activities. I don't remember all the activities, but on their calendar for the day, they probably had in any given day about five, or six, activities. The layout was very nice. It was very, very nice. We liked the size of them and everything, but they were farther away and they were on a busier highway, so they were like 20 plus minutes from my daughter's house and on the highway to get to my daughter's house. The Grand Estates were more residential homes, I mean, it was beautiful because it was quiet, it was a very quiet place for walking and stuff would have been very, very nice, but it seemed like someone was away from shopping and stuff. They have a common area, they have exercise, and a library. They had a pool table, pool darts, that kind of thing, and they had an area that they considered a bar, but they don't serve liquor. They had a movie theater. They don't have a lot of staff, we met the maintenance men in the facilities because they were actually repainting, and getting ready for tenants to move in."

"I'm staying at Ledgewood Bay in Milford right now. The staff is great. I'm in a studio apartment, which I enjoy, and the food has been very good; most meals are good. The surroundings are very nice, there are lovely views here, and it's up on a hill, so we have views of the Monadnock Range. Activities have been great. We don't have much right now, but we've had movies, crafts, painting, a book group, there was a riding group, exercise, and a walking group. I love my room, it's very adequate. Also, the facility itself is a very secure building. My main concern is it's too expensive, that's the biggest reason why I'm moving."

"My father lived at this continuing care facility for 2 years. In the beginning he was independent in his own apartment. The facility was extremely well maintained, beautifully appointed and convenient to shopping. It provided in house transportation on a weekly schedule to larger markets further from the facility for those that didn't want to drive. Transortation arrangements could be made easily by a front desk receptionist for those that did not drive and needed transportation to medical care. A nurse from a local hospital was available once a week to do routine blood and lab work to save residents the trip over to the hospital. Parking for those that did drive,was close to the building as well. There were daily social events and the size of the facility allowed for many different interest groups. My father especially enjoyed the "happy hour" with appetizers every Tuesday and Thursday which allowed guest to attend. Families were always welcome and allowed to share apartments for short periods of time. Separate rooms for families could be rented if need arose. and banquet facilities for a fami ly gathering could be arranged as well. Housekeeping was part of the fee and was extensive. The curtains and windows were cleaned on regular basis. I never found my dad's apartment unattended to as far as cleaning. The maintenance staff was also excellent and since my dad got a reputation as a "fix it" kind of guy, he became very close to a number of the staff. He and a few other men lobbied for a hobby room and were given space in the building's basement to set up shop. The maintenance people were all very kind to my dad. Where the Hunt Community really shone was in the final months of my dad's life. He was moved into the nursing care wing, skipping the assisted wing, they were full and truthfully my dad went down pretty fast. The nurses and nurse's staff there were the most wonderful caring individuals I'd ever met. To be able to do the job day after day with the optimism and professionalism they put forth was amazing. My dad was not a nice person toward the end of his life and on several occasions he was very mean to some of the staff, but I never saw anyone give up on him. I visited 5-6 days a week for the last 5 months after he entered the nursing portion of the home and the care was consistent and through. Although my dad did not participate in activities offered in this section of the facility there were regularly scheduled activities appropiate to the residents. Bingo, exercise programs, lectures, etc. His favorite thing was an individual that brought in his dog several times a week. It was not a therapy dog but had been coming in long before such ideas had become common. A local shelter also came in regularly to bring cats for the residents to visit. The Nashua High School had a nursing program as well and the students were often in residence.On occasion, we still wandered up to the "Happy Hours" . The nurse management staff was close to this wing and visited my father and i weekly in his room for short meetings on his care. There offices however were always open and I was welcome there anytime if I had any concerns SInce I was there daily, I was allowed entrance into dining facilities and kitchen at any hour. The administrative staff of the nursing facility was outstanding. They knew the needs and wants of the patients and their families and worked with them. They were so professional in their caring. After my father died, there were memorial services at the facility for everyone that had passed in a certain period of time. It was for the benefit of the friends he had there who would not of been able to come to a service elsewhere. The service was done I believe every season or 4 times a year. It was really beautiful and moving. Overall, this was the finest place my dad could of spent his final years and he regretted not having moved there sooner. "

"The only one we visited was the White Rock Senior Living Community. I like the pricing. We were a little bit disappointed, at least for the time being. They no longer have in-house meal capability because they lost their cook and they haven't replaced him yet. But each of the units has a small kitchen. At our age, they had what we needed. They provide a moderate amount of services that are included in the monthly fee. The monthly fee is not too horrendous; it's comfortable for us. The staff that took us around was a little bit abrupt, but we saw what we needed to see. Outside, there's a large lawn out there, and there's a long screened-in porch with rocking chairs. "

"Pleasant View is wonderful and has done a wonderful job with my dad. I am really very pleased with them and the staff is very accommodating, caring, and very sensitive to what I need and to my father. "

"I liked Connect55+ Concord. It had a lot of options and a lot of activities to do. It was very clean and the staff was very nice and very helpful. Cost-wise and where it's located were the reasons why I was most interested in it. I liked it."

"My mother has been in The Independent Living Facility. It's basically a boarding house with independent living. It's not senior assisted living or anything like that, and it really works for her. They're licensed to have up to six people and they currently have three. It's a wonderful place. They cook her meals every day and do her laundry and cleaning. They each have their own bedroom and bath, and they share the rest of the house together. My mother loves it there. She's thriving, and she's doing better there than she has in the assisted living because she has a little bit more independence. They have homemade food, and they care for her that way. They take her diabetes into consideration when they're cooking, but they're not designed to have specific food for different people. Because it's such a smaller community, it works for her. It's very affordable, too. It takes away that hardship that we were having with some of these places being just out of control expensive. It's run by an individual who has a couple of people that come in and cover for her. It's like an old farmhouse that was renovated into this facility. It's very cozy and homey, and the people are wonderful. They're very good cooks, and they're a good company for her. It's an older place, but it's very homey. It's not something somebody who's used to lavish lifestyle would like. It reminds me of the house my mother used to live in. It's got wallpaper on the walls, and the bathrooms are a little small, but it's very doable. Because it's independent living they don't necessarily have a staff that does activities, but certainly they try and accommodate the people that like certain things. There's a woman that really likes to make puzzles, so they have puzzles, but they don't have structured activities. Because of COVID, they don't have a lot going on. The owner has a relationship with the people in Pepperell at the Senior Center, and they would normally come and pick up people and bring them to the Senior Center. They could go walking, and they're not tied to the same schedules. It's not as institutionalized as a lot of these other places are. We're paying half of what we would've been paying at the other place, and we're certainly getting better service. There are a lot of activities in the area. It's walking distance to some shopping, but Mom is not capable of that. She would need someone to transport her and they would do that at the Senior Center. For somebody who didn't really need a whole lot of care, but needed to be in a situation like that, I would definitely give that information to people, because it's a wonderful value."

"Crossroad Farm is a small place. I wasn't very impressed with them. They wanted $350,000 just to get in the door. That was for 3 rooms. They had good social programs. Everything had a charge on it because you got to pay for every thing that you want. The staff had to be nice when they want that kind of money. "

"My husband is on a waiting list at D'Youville. It's lovely, the memory unit is fabulous, and it's clean. There's a bustle of activities, and the staff has 15-20 years of working there. You walked in, they immediately say hello to you, and the receptionist was wonderful. It's alive, caring, and just like home. "

"John H Whitaker Place was a very nice facility. I liked that it was organized, it had things for my mom to do, there are 3 meals every day, and it was nice and clean. I did not have anything that I didn't like about it. The staff who assisted me during the visit was very helpful. I thought they had a lot to offer their residents."