The Best Independent Living Communities in Warren County, NJ

"My mom will be moving into The Terrace at Phoebe Allentown. We chose it because of the cost structure and the way they do it. The monthly fees are affordable. They have a large upfront payment, but we could manage that. They have a charitable program also, so if you run out of money they take over. The other reason for choosing Phoebe is they offer independent living all the way through nursing home. They have a continuum of care available. As you need more help, they have that there, and you don't have to go looking again. I had very clear communication with the staff, and they're very helpful with all the questions that we have."

"My mother stayed at Heath Village. The people were nice and took care of her, but it was cost prohibitive for her to stay there longer. She went to physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. She watched TV and they had entertainment come in. They had three restaurants inside their complex. She was in a room with another patient when she was there. They had bus rides to go shopping and to different events."

"I find the staff makes the difference. They are conscientious and caring."

Beautiful home in a quiet, tree-lined, street, with all residential amenities: two large room suite, full bath, laundry, living/dining room, two porches, grill, basement storage... Personal assistance services include: Nutritious meals/ snacks/ drinks, verification of medical compliance, cleaning, laundry, driving to medical appointments, shopping, ice cream, library, Delaware River events, many local parks with fresh water activities, driving distance to beach, mountains, New York City entertainment/dining... Companion assistance: One dog and one cat to provide daytime companions, then house manager's grandchildren visit for quintessential 3-year-old entertainment, distant family are constant visitors, friends/neighbors pop in for tea... there will always be someone around... and if it gets too much the client can always squirrel away in her 2-room suite (entire 3rd floor of said house)!

"My mother-in-law is in Country Meadows Retirement Communities. They're very attentive, and it's a very clean facility. It's more like a country club environment. It's not like a nursing home. The staff are right on top of things. When you walk around, you don't even need to look like you don't know what you're looking for because they're just all about customer service. They're very customer friendly. They have activities for the residents and physical therapy. They have entertainment and beautiful grounds where you can sit outside. The grounds are lovely and the surrounding area is just beautiful. My mother-in-law said that one meal is better than the next. Her room is very spacious and definitely well-equipped for storage and closet space. The bathrooms are spacious, very safe for the residents, and equipped with grab bars."

"I toured Colonial Manor At Panther Valley. They have cottages. The one that I visited was undergoing renovation. I was told that whenever someone passes away or decides to move out, they redo the interior of the whole cottage. And this particular cottage was getting a new washer-dryer combination, a new sink, a new stove, and a new refrigerator. The bedroom is very large. It has decent two closets. The front living room is also large. It looks out to the pond behind the cottage. There's nothing old in that particular cottage. The carpeting looks to be brand new. The staff who gave the tour was very good. She was not the person that I had agreed to meet at 1:00, and so this other woman took me around. We had nice conversations. It was just very pleasant. The grounds were very nice. Everything seemed neat and clean. I talked with the woman that was sitting there in the lobby and she seemed very relaxed and very pleasant. It was an enjoyable visit. It was worthwhile that I got a chance to look at it."

"I called to schedule a tour and no one ever got back to me. However, I was in the area so I decided I would drop in for a tour. When I got there there was no one at all in the building. I could not find any staff. One of the residents came from upstairs and said she did not know where the staff was. The resident was very friendly however she was very disheveled looking clothes were stained her hair was all over the place. It looked like they really did not comb her hair or care for her that much. The furniture that I did see was old and faded and torn. I waited for about 10 minutes and not one time did I see a staff member. So I turned around and left."

"My mother-in-law is in Gluco Lodge Personal Care Home. There's somebody there all the time 24 hours. It's been good. It's a small place. They only have 40 residents, so she gets good care. Everything seems good. They specialize in diabetes, dementia, and Parkinson's. She's in a shared room. They do bingo and different things, they do shows, they bring in entertainment and stuff like that, a magician, and the Girl Scouts come in. They have a regular hairdresser and all that. The staff is very good. We haven't had a meal, but she does complain about the coffee not being hot, but I think they do that more so they don't burn themselves. She enjoys the activities."

"The staff at Heritage Village was very good. They're very helpful. I actually toured a townhouse and a cottage. They're very open and very bright. Even the smaller townhouses had more space in every single room than where I'm currently living now. I would definitely recommend this place to others. They have all kinds of activities. "

"When we went to Oliver C Border House, we were met by the manager and the assistant manager. They took us through the entire facility. They were very helpful and very kind. The apartment was nice. I would recommend it. There was parking close by, and the team that was working there was awesome. I liked that a senior center is attached to the building and that you can have small animals. The building was secure. Your guests call you and then you have to buzz them in. There was an elevator and a rec room. The only thing I didn't particularly care for was that they had a community washer and dryer."

"My mother was at Asbury Grace Park. I thought the care that she got there was excellent. We had a very nice relationship with the ladies there. I think they took very good care of her. My mother had a cute apartment with her own bathroom. Nothing special. It was a fairly small room, but it was adequate. They had music that my mother took advantage of. She did some bingo, too. However, she was in a lot of pain for a long time, and they gave her tramadol once every six hours, so she spent most of her time sleeping. However, they did their best to get her out and about. The food was good, too."

"We visited the Traditions of America at Green Pond and we had a similar experience with its sister community that we also toured. They had the same kinds of facilities. Its environment in the city is important to us. I think that we shouldn't be paying more than $6000 for a 3-bedroom house, and that includes all premiums and all upgrades. They had a swimming pool, yoga room, gym, meeting rooms, and so forth. They also had a clubhouse."

"My mom needed to transfer to a skilled nursing facility ("SNF") for wound care following a hospital stay, so my research began with a list provided by her case manager and continued on the internet. I made Country Meadows ("CM") my first choice for several reasons: (1) It offers the full spectrum of retirement living, from independent living to assisted living (with or without memory care) to short-term rehab to 24 hour skilled nursing (also long-term); (2) the reviews were uniformly positive; (3) CM provides a link to its Medicare inspections right on the section of the website devoted to its SNF; (4) it looked pretty; (5) the sample menu seemed tasty; and (6) it is amazingly pet-friendly. In fact, this last feature is what made me lobby hard for a bed for her at CM. My mom is a tremendous "dog person," but just generally an animal lover, and the fact that not only are residents allowed to bring their own pets, but also staff bring their well-behaved dogs to work to interact with the residents, and each "neighborhood" has resident feline "mascots." Despite her love for the canines, my mom became quite fond of one of the SNF cats. My mom, who has dementia and started requiring oxygen for the first time in her nearly 81 years during her hospital stay, was in the CM SNF for about a month and just moved into a memory care apartment in the connected building next door. Everything I can think to say about CM is absolutely positive. The staff is genuinely caring and knows each resident by name. Because it boasts being one of the top places to work in PA 12 times, there appears to be relatively little turnover. There is a whole range of activities geared to interest and "function" level, even in the long-term SNF; for example, my mom, who used to love to cook, was chopping veggies for the canning and salsa-making (these products are sold from the CM neighborhood to benefit a designated charity, often the Alzheimer's Association. One day, there was a "full campus" activity, a performance by a pianist from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The food is actually genuinely good ... and the dessert cart in the SNF is "diet-busting"! My mom's extremely recent (yesterday) move to the memory care neighborhood was pretty seamless, and an activities coordinator accompanied her all day to help her get acclimated. CM's attention to detail is evidenced by the fact that her roommate (until a private becomes available) has a family dog who will be visiting - terrific informal pet therapy for my mom. Finally, CM is very good about calling regarding any issues that arise with a loved one. I've discovered that I am definitely a "helicopter child," but the CM staff is helping me to "back off" a bit and still feel all right about it. Certainly my peace of mind has exponentially increased. Obviously, no "personal care"/"assisted living"/skilled nursing residence can ever be the ideal solution (wouldn't we all rather have our loved ones healthy, with memories intact?), but CM, as far as I can tell, is very near that unattainable goal. "

"I found Kirkland Village encouraging. They have a wonderful health program. They have a pool and a wonderful exercise facility. I think those were key things that I would look forward to. They have multiple dining areas from informal to formal, and I got a chance to experience two of them, and they were lovely. The staff was knowledgeable. Surprisingly, the first time I visited, we didn't have an appointment. My wife and I just walked in and bumped into a couple who were residents there and they were going to take us to the sales office. Then one of them said, "Let me take you on a tour." Then she took us on a lovely tour of the whole facility and invited us back to their apartment. So, that was the first tour, it was with a resident and it was great. When we went back a second time, we had the staff, and they did a really good job as well."