The Best Independent Living Communities in Washington County, PA

"A friend from church lives at The Residence at Whitehall. Her room is beautiful. She is given three meals a day. She has her puppy there. They clean every so often. I'm not sure how often, but she says they come in and clean. She doesn't complain about the staff. The people I met all said hello; they're friendly. They have some activities. They have bingo and a few trips. She is very satisfied. My friend does not complain about the food. She said it was okay. The cost of living there was very expensive. She had to move from a two-bedroom to a one-bedroom because she couldn't afford it anymore. They raised the rates quite a bit."

"We saw Brookdale Mt. Lebanon. There are a lot of residents there, and a nice environment. They were a little higher in price. There are a lot of residents out when we went to visit. The manager there was very nice talking to us, a Lady who showed us around, they had different sized rooms available. When we did take a tour, someone was smoking, and it was one of the things we didn't like. We smell cigarettes in the hallway. My mom wouldn't have been happy in an environment like that because she's not a smoker. It was bright. They didn't seem to offer as much to the residents. They did give us a piece of cake as a gesture, which was nice, and water and some cookies from the dining room. The dining room was clean, and had some selection, but the food variety wasn't as big as the other place, which is why we chose not to go there. The staff was very nice, and the lady was informative. They wanted to be competitive. They tried. They called me and wanted to make a comparison rate. I just didn't care for the environment. They also have the ability for independent living to switch over to assisted living. So the levels of care could have changed over time. That's a nice feature for someone. Independent living was in a very large building and my mom would have been on a seventh floor or something. She wouldn't have been able to get around if the elevator shut down, she wouldn't be able to get down to the first floor."

"My wife’s mother was at Mount Vernon for a short while. The facilities weren’t bad. The dining area was good and clean. "

"My mother-in-law moved into Harmony at Diamond Ridge. Nicole, the one who gave us the tour several times, had the biggest impact on my mother. She was very thorough, showing us the entire facility several times, answering all of the questions, providing and explaining the care my mother would be receiving, which met all of the criteria I needed for her. And so far, so good. They're wonderful, very helpful, get her down to her meals, bring her back, take her to activities, introduce her to other residents, and make her feel comfortable and at home. She loves the food. We can also eat with her if we'd like, and we have several times. The food is wonderful. They have a special every day, but there is also a completely different menu, so if it's something she doesn't like, she can order it from there. It's the cleanest facility I have been in. They have a ton of activities. They have art class, cards, and bingo. They have a coffee chat every morning, where residents can get together. They go down to the bistro and have coffee, get to know the other residents, have a snack or something, and talk, which she did, and she likes that really well. They have a lot of different activities. You get a schedule, and it's the whole day. If you want to be doing something every minute of the day, you can be. They go on outings and take them to restaurants and stores. I chose this facility because it seemed the best fit for her. The size of the facility, the staff, the director, and everyone that we have met. It just seemed like a perfect fit for her. All the facilities that I took her to, her exact words were that they felt like home to her."

"My mom is there the last couple months and this place is amazing they have a ha dedicated team of personal Aides , the food is amazing and the management keeps the place clean and nice now it with the new management in place things got even batter thanks Toni (she is the administrator) I would recommend this place for anyone that is looking for a place for a close one a place that they could feel at home and bean taking care of Thanks Peter"

"My mom will move into Point Pleasant Retirement. When she walked in, the first thing that caught her eye was the fireplace in the lobby. It seemed to be a gathering place. And then she also went a little farther, there was a four-season room, and then you could go outside from there, which looks over a fairly big valley. I don't know if that's the Turtle Creek Valley or what it is, but it does look out over a fairly big valley and there's nothing behind it. So all she can see is trees. And that's good for her. She went into the dining area and she liked that. The second time we were there, we were at the start of dinner. So we didn't eat there, but she did see how the service was running, and she was okay with that. They do supply a refrigerator and a microwave. There is no cooking place in the apartment unless you bring, say, your own air fryer or slow cooker or something like that. The staff was very good. It appeared to be clean everywhere we went."

"The rooms that they showed us at Graceful Care Living just had a bed in them, and that's it. We knew immediately when we got there that that wasn't what we were looking for. The staff mentioned that they have another section for people who are more independent. However, it was still somewhat the same concept. Instead of being in a room, like a small, single room, there were two beds. There was no television in those independent rooms. You have to go out of the room to watch television. It was that type of atmosphere, and my mother doesn't want that. She wants something that's like a small apartment, where she can live in that small space and be able to care for herself. I liked the atmosphere. I liked the staff. They're very nice and very accommodating as we went through the tour. My mom asked questions, although she didn't ask very many because she knew, and I could tell just from how she was withdrawn that she was like, "No, this is not going to work for me." I said it to the guy. I said, she's a lot more independent. She can get around fairly well, but this is not for her. She still needs to be in her own place where she can take care of herself. The only thing that she needed was somebody to help her, like to come in and help her to make sure that she's taking her meds. I didn't smell anything. It was very clean."

"I visited one place, and that was Apple Blossom Senior Living. It was very clean. No smell. It was very quiet and very spacious, too. The staff was very informative. She took her time. She gave me a complete review. We visited the whole building and the benefits that they have available. I was provided with a daily itinerary of activities, what was scheduled for that day, and what was offered to the residents. It wasn't active at that time, but they have a daily schedule of activities, so that was very nice."

"We toured Harmony at Harts Run. The woman took us around and she showed us the different apartments for independent living like one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms, and they were very nice. They're all brand new. They showed us the dining area and what they had for recreation in the community, but we didn't do any meals. There's a recreation area, and if you have pets, there's a place to have your pet. There's a community gathering area. It was all fresh, clean, new, and very nice. The overall condition of the place was very good."

"We toured Ashton Commons Senior Living. It was very nice. However, they didn't have independent living available, and they didn't have shuttles, which was a must. The staff who gave the tour was very nice. The common areas and apartments were some of the nicest I saw. They were much more modern than the other places I looked at."

"My mother moved into Woodcrest Senior Living Community. They take care of her pretty well. I like how clean it all was. Everybody seems so caring and their living quarters are clean and updated. Some of their activities is bingo, exercises, they have singing, there's a choir, and religious stuff like masses and religious services. My mom says the food there is good and she loves the food. As of right now I have no complaints. Their facilities are pretty modern and well-kept. In terms of value for the money, it's a little higher than some but also lower than others."

"At Strabane Trails, they have independent living, assisted living, and full care. Everything was good, though very costly. Many people were a little bit older than my dad, so I wasn’t into it as much. Nevertheless, the staff was good and very helpful. The apartments were nice. Everything was nice. They had full-service restaurant, which I like because my dad could go down there and be served or go to the buffet or have food brought up to his room. The facility was very nice; it just had an older atmosphere. "

"Encore on the Lake is very close to where I live. I like the outside of it and the facilities. The rooms were very nice and very adequate for what I needed. It's more like a hotel. It is very nice, bright, and shiny. It would be very, very good for anybody."

"It is too expensive for me. The building outside was not very attractive, but the inside was beautiful. The rooms were something that fit me and what I was looking for. They have three meals a day and heated underground parking. It should be fine for anybody if you can afford it."