Independent Living Communities in Glen Allen, VA

"I was able to tour Dogwood Terrace by Barclay, but I am independent, and I'm not ready to move into that. It was different. I want to be able to come and go, so I'm looking for an apartment. Dogwood Terrace is wonderful for people who can't get around, but I still want to work and help people. They accommodated the residents. I got a chance to talk with some of them. They were very nice and sociable there. It was also a beautiful area. I didn't meet the staff, but the one I talked to was nice. I think he was just there because the person didn't come in. He was very professional. The room was beautiful. It was clean and very nice. However, I have my belongings that I want to move down here, so I need more than just that. They have everything available for you. They have the meals and the accommodation. If they need nursing assistants, they connect them with an agency that they have, so I think that's very good for a person who needs that. The common area was beautiful."

"I really like the storage that was available in the apartments at Aspire at West End. They have some really nice ones. I went and saw a one-bedroom-and-a-den that a lady was living in, and I said, "If the den is right there at the entrance with no doors, that's not going to work for me," because I want to put my loom in the spare bedroom, and I want the door to close. So, that was just one situation. The facility itself was in very good shape, even if it was a tiny bit dated. The negative would be that it's not a continuing care facility, and the neighborhood is a mix of ethnic backgrounds, and the apartments around the facility are run-down. However, they said that they had never had any trouble as far as stealing or damage or anything like that. They have activities, and they have an allowance for meals, which is twice as much as the other community. One way or the other, you're going to pay for mills, so that was not a big deal. The activities available seem to be okay. I like that community. The staff members knew that I was on a tour, so they could have been putting on a front so that they seemed to be very happy and pleasant. They smiled at me and seemed to be caring and attentive to the residents and stuff like that. The residents seemed to be very happy, so that was nice. I think it's an older kind of community, but it appears to be well-maintained. It has a pool, but it's small."

"I am in the Carriage Hill. Everybody here is over 55. There aren't any children, just senior citizens. They have a plan where the rent includes utilities. It looks very nice and very well kept-up. All the apartments were built around 1979. They have a good maintenance staff and also have a landscaping service that takes care of all the flower beds, cutting the grass, and pruning the trees. The apartment I am in is very nice. It has a kitchen and dining area, a bedroom and one bath, and it is very large. I am very pleased with it. They have two courtesy vans and a calendar of where they are going, what day they are going, and what time. The staff is fantastic. "

"Cedarfield is a large facility. They have multiple eating venues. They have a lot of nice-sized apartments and a lot of facilities that appealed to me. There's a large park nearby with easy access, which appeals to me, too. They have multiple floor plans, but I am interested in the one-bedroom apartment, and that's what I looked at. I had a nice interaction with various staff people. They had a lot of nice common facilities like a swimming pool, a gymnasium, and a theater."

"I was a guest for their holiday party, and WOW what an amazing job they did! The food was spectacular! They had a carving station, fresh pasta bar, and a seafood tower which consisted of cold jumbo shrimp and fresh shucked oysters. There was music everywhere! A harpist in the dining room, pianist on the second floor, and this jazz band on the third floor! They truly catered to their residents in more ways than one. We will certainly be back!"

"I went to Everleigh Short Pump. It's a new facility. I believe it's about four years old. So everything is very, very modern, clean, and nice. I think the access is well-guarded. So, you can only go in on some entry cards and the options because there is a heated swimming pool, it's outdoor and a lovely, lovely gym. And then I was intrigued by the common area they have. I think it can have about 150 to 200 people and capable of asking for a room with up to 20 people if you want to entertain. So it's good and it's in a lovely location. It's dead on Broad Street. I can't remember the name of the thing, but Costco is about 5 minutes away, Sam's Club. There are lots of restaurants, and I think there's a very good Pickleball park close by and a tennis court. Everything is nice. The downside for us is that there are very few of what they call two-bedroom, two-bath units. There are probably about 16 of them in the whole thing. There are two different sections. The other downside is, that I found it very difficult to communicate with them. I think they're completely short-staffed. We do like the kitchen. The kitchen is much larger than the other places we looked at. So it's a full-sized refrigerator, good stove, and heaters like an island so that you can have breakfast equipped. The kitchen is separated by an island and the living room. So it's definitely a place that we probably are 95, 96% fixed on going, but obviously, and I understand it, they can't commit until a maximum of 60 days before, and they can't guarantee that there will be a unit available. So, we need to be there, but it means we don't want to put all our eggs into one basket and find that they say they don't have a place. The lady who took us on the tour was excellent. She took us around a lot of time. And then the bad thing was she said, "Okay, you can bring your family and come anytime you want to take a look." And she was gone. She had gone for the weekend or something like that. And the lady who talked to us must have been someone higher who said she didn't know anything. She's just on the front desk. So my concern is that if that is the level of service you get, what happens when you go in there and they assure you that there's 24/7 access? What type of access will we get? I don't know, say there is something broken down. What happens? Do we have to wait the whole weekend to get something? So those are the short answers we have to find. But it's top-notch."

"These caregivers TRULY care about my parents. When one of them needed to go to the hospital, the staff checked in on my mom every single day to make sure emotionally she was doing okay. The marketing person even went to the hospital to visit my dad and brought him flowers. We are extremely thankful for everything they have done."

"We toured Westminster Canterbury Richmond. It's a nice facility. The staff was fine, very knowledgeable, and did a good job. It's very clean, and the structure looks great. The room is a pretty good size. It had a good atmosphere."

"Legacy at Imperial Village was one of my parents' first picks. What they liked about that was the remodeled rooms. They had granite countertops in the kitchen, and it just looked really nice and very modern. They liked the fact that they had their own pharmacy downstairs in this little shopping strip, which also had a little convenience store (so they wouldn't have to go to a grocery store), a pharmacy, a hair salon, a nice bar (which my dad loved), a cafe/restaurant, and a pool that they were building. Most of the places we looked at didn't have the pool, so this was special for them. The building was old-looking from the outside, and it's pretty tall. It seems to be overwhelming when you first look at it; but when you go in and see the actual apartments, they're nicely remodeled. They had a huge workout/exercise/fitness area with physical therapy attached to it. The pricing on this place was more reasonable to my parents because it was less than $2000 a month, but the only thing was they would have to pay mostly for everything else out of their pocket. The cafe/restaurant was remodeled and really pretty when we walked in. The menu was actually sent to us, and it looked very good and reasonable. It was like a nice breakfast lay out, lunch, and a dinner menu. We liked the huge grounds and the trails that they had, so that you could walk around the property. It was all gated, and I liked that safety feature. You have to actually go through a gate to get in there and talk to a person; then they let you in."

"I went to Hermitage Richmond, but it was not for my brother. It was a very fine facility, but the people there were very frail, and he's very physically fit. It was extremely well-maintained and beautiful. The people seemed happy. They were old and frail, but they were walking. Half of them were walking with walkers and the ones who were in wheelchairs were well-dressed. They were looking forward to dinner and they looked like they were going out to a banquet. They were happy and they seemed to have everything the people needed. It looked as though everybody's needs were accommodated. In particular, one lady just loves ironing, and I saw her ironing her sheets and clothes and she was happy with it. They take care of everybody's linen and personal clothing because they have a laundry room, but they seem to accom,odate people, whatever their needs might be. It was an extraordinary place for a large number of people with a variety of needs. It was very expensive, but it has high-end clientele. It's definitely for people who have the means. It's expensive for the average person, but they do offer quality services. I didn't eat there, but I could smell the tasty food, and it smelled really good. Everybody was happy."

"I i’ve been a resident for almost 2 months now and cannot say enough about the management here. Miss Vicky is one of the kindest and knowledgeable people. I have talked with in a while. She’s always trying to help to make things easy, especially for us. new tenants. My brother loves it, especially because we came from a place that had steps and we really needed a place without steps so we’re really grateful that we were able to get in here and plan to stay for a very, very long time. Hopefully, the last move will ever make."

"Avery Point was really nice. It was brand new but absolutely huge and still growing. The pool was nice and very big. This community is still being built. They're adding up to five or six more buildings to their development, making it significantly larger. The pool was beautiful. The people seemed nice. They are for-profit, and their continuing care section is not really up and running because they're doing so many buildings. Because they are so huge, being able to get around if I'm all the way across campus (Like, am I going to have to get in my car to drive?) was a concern for me. It was a beautiful campus in between all of the constructions, but I was afraid it was going to be too big, that I would get lost in the shuffle. The people seemed friendly. The facility was well-maintained and kept up."

"I went to Lakewood. The pool was really nice. I have a friend living there, so that was nice also. It's pretty big, which makes me a little nervous. If it is too big, am I going to be able to get from A to B if I'm all the way across the campus? Most of them have walking paths that are covered, so you don't have to worry too much about the outside weather and stuff like that, but this one was nice. The waiting list wasn't astronomical; it was probably two years. The room sizes were good. I think there's an allotment for food, but I did not have any of it. My friend says that the people there are just wonderful. The staff was friendly, and the residents seemed happy. The facilities were nicely kept. There were lots of activities and things to do if you chose to, so that was another one that was very positive."

"My husband chose to move at Dominion Place Association because he liked that area of town. It was his first choice of places to move in. The apartments were small but it was well-insulated that you did not hear the neighbor's loud music. They had planned activities from time to time like dinner where everybody was invited. They also had social workers or people who helped the residents with different things like working on the computer. They also helped in choosing a cellphone or anything that they wanted to do. He had his own private place and he cooked his own food. "