Independent Living Communities in Wickliffe, OH

"We visited The Winfield at Richmond Heights. I liked everything about it. That's one of my sister's choices. They showed me two types of apartments. The staff gave me the calendar for the activities. I met the chef, which was not planned, but he was near where I was. He said the food was good and we started laughing. It's a very clean facility. The structure of the building was very good. I like the layout of the rooms. I like the space. The closets were good with enough space for everything. The bathroom was big, too. The dining area was like a restaurant. They have a bar area and you can have two drinks per person. They will offer that to all the independent living people."

"Vitalia Highland Heights is a brand-new facility. They just opened. I was very impressed with the independent living quarters that they offered. There were two spaces available. There are two bedrooms with a nice large living area and a kitchen that has everything. I know that if I wanted to, I could cook and bake there. There's a seating area in the kitchen. You don't have to have a dining room table, but it's big enough that you could have people sit down there on both sides. You could probably get maybe 4 or 5 people sitting in this area. They have beautiful two bathrooms that are bigger than what I'm living in right now. They have a washer and dryer, which is very important to me. The price is OK. I think they want $4005 or somewhere around there, maybe close to $5000 a month. They offer a lot of bus trips and typical things. They have a pool. They have everything. They have invited me twice now to come for lunch and their food is excellent. If you have a car, they have a covered parking area and that's $75 a month. That's high, and all it does is that there's a parking area where everybody parked right next to each other. You just have a roof over the outdoors. It's not an enclosed garage."

"My aunt will be moving into Richmond Heights Place. I went there twice. They're very helpful, very pleasant, and very informative. They showed me the dining room, the places people went to get together and talk, and three different apartments. It was very good. They had a lot of different rooms where they can be outside but in a screened-in area, so there were no bugs. It was very nice and everything looked great. She's going to be tested on Tuesday to see what level of healthcare they feel that she would need. They gave wonderful cookies -- the biggest cookies you ever saw -- and they were delicious. I met the chef, and the reception lady was always very cheerful and helpful too. It was just a pleasant situation. It looked very clean. I saw the menu and there was a variety, so I think whatever they're doing, they're doing things in a good way. It was very cheerful, clean, and very cozy looking."

"It was beautiful. At the moment, I would love to go there. It was an enjoyable tour. The apartments were very beautiful. They were big, they had a whole kitchen, and they had big windows, which was nice. You would not feel closed in. They showed me a list of activities, and it looked very nice. Sometimes, they had music at night for entertainment. They even had a happy hour. They would serve you 2 drinks, and then they cut you off. So, you're only allowed 2 drinks. The people I met walking around were very friendly. They all said hello. It was a very nice place. The staff who assisted me was very nice, very pleasant, very helpful, and very knowledgeable."

"I looked an empty apartment here, and the lady who assisted me said she had already rented it to someone but said she would put me on the waiting list. They had an assisted living and a nursing home. The attendants were nice to me, and the workers seemed to be alright. The apartment she showed me was an older apartment, but it was clean and freshly painted. They have a beautiful dining room downstairs. She said if I had a government apartment that I would have to buy my own food and when the bus went to the grocery store, I would be able to get on it. They have technicians to help you in the training room for your exercises. They go on field trips 2 or 3 times a month. They had a community room, and they were playing cards; some people were reading. It was nice and clean. Everybody was required to have one meal a day in the dining room."

"We went to Vitalia Mentor for a tour. It is beautiful. However, we are the first generation of not being blue collar. We are kind of in the middle of the middle class, and the Vitalia Mentor was a little bit snooty. It just felt like you didn't want to touch anything. It was set up beautifully. They emphasized that they had food available all the time. But, it didn't feel like my mom, who grew up on a farm, was going to fit in there. Nevertheless, I could see friends of mine bringing their parents to live there in a heartbeat. It's very nice. It is just not suitable for Mom. The building is only three years old, but it is not homey. The lady who did the tour was very friendly and very nice. She listened to Mom really well. We only saw one apartment because I don't think there were any empty units. There is also no place to sit outside there for the residents. The amenities were the same. They had a big theater set up to watch movies, which was nice. A laundry room is available, like the other place. They have a small gym. The staff didn't really say too much about the activities, which is one of the main reasons we want to move my mom where she is around other people. However, there were more people in the hallways and residents to say hello to or that kind of thing at Vitalia Mentor than there were at the other place. They have a whole kitchen thing available with all kinds of food, and it's like being at home. The room was considerably smaller than the other place, and maybe that was because somebody was living there; it wasn't just staged, and so therefore he had more stuff in there, so that could be. It turns out that they were also out of our price range. The staff member who gave the tour was pretty tuned in; she did a good job."