Lambeth House

The tour I had of Lambeth House was lovely. They have very nice grounds and very nice units. They have an excellent dining facility. They are in an uptown area of New Orleans, so the grounds are not very large, but they have lots of parking, and they're close to shopping centers. They have a very caring staff. They provide a lifetime of security in that the initial fee would cover both me and my wife if I had to move into nursing care or memory care. My wife would be able to continue in our initial unit, and there would be no additional expense, so that's a big help on financial security. However, it requires a fairly large frontend membership fee that varies with the size of the unit. The food that I had at lunch was excellent. When it comes to the type of people in the membership, there are several retired Tulane faculties, and also fairly well-to-do membership. They've got excellent medical care. It's an excellent choice for anyone who would enjoy being in a large city with easy access to the symphony, and the opera, and the ballet, and various other tours that Lambeth House provides. It has excellent access to shopping. The one thing I respect Lambeth House for is, for some people who joined and were there for years and then ran short of funds, they had some scholarship help available, which I think is very reassuring. It is a nonprofit, but they charge a fee if you want to move up from one unit to another, so the person should be careful to select a unit of the right size. Some of the units have beautiful views of the river, all the boats, shipping, and tugboats. It's only about two blocks from Audubon Park and Audubon Zoo. It's wonderful to go for walks in the park. The zoo does have motorized carts that people can rent very reasonably to tour one of the best zoos in the country. They have a wonderful new elephant area. Lambeth House has beautiful plantings and some gardening areas available. All the staff I've interacted with have been excellent.

I visited Lambeth House after encouraged by some friends. I have may friends in Independent and some in Assisted. From the front desk receptionist being rude and too busy flirting with the guys behind the desk, I should have realized how awful it was. I had lunch with friends, and they told me how the CEO moves you to Assisted Living right after he feats that check for $800.000 for an entrance fee. Unless you are one of his VIPS, do not bother to ask for a thing. A marketer named "T", was walking around in a daze watering plants the entire time, and "C" rushed us straight through. There are major structural issues with leaks in all of the apartments and mice on the first floor. If you want to kill your loved one put them in Nursing.

I would highly rate Lambeth House because it's beautiful. Their rooms were very nice and spacious.

Lambeth House was one I really couldn't afford it but I thought it was fantastic. It’s a beautiful facility. You have the river or downtown Audubon Park or the Mississippi River and depending upon where you're located, there's an excellent view of downtown New Orleans. It was just from the standpoint of economics. Mom wasn't ready to extend that much money because you have your monthly rental but you buy-in to the facility. The entry fee was probably about $350,000 and then the rent for the apartment was probably in the neighborhood of about $2,000 to $3,000 a month. What's also nice about it is the financial arrangements that they made. They set up your trust and everything else and upon someone's exploration, that goes back to the family. It had to be the most well thought-out retirement home I had ever seen. They take you from where mom is today from the standpoint of independent living to assisted living to the point of even hospice care. It really wasn't bad for all the facilities they offered and how they transitioned you to the different services that they offered based on your needs. It has to be one of the most fabulous places I've seen. I could live there and I wasn't even retired but it gave me food for thought. They have separate dining rooms for each group of citizens that live there. If you live there and you just have a regular apartment, you can eat downstairs in the dining area. Individuals who aren't at the point where they really aren't sick or they need help, have to co-mingle. I saw a swimming pool with several lanes. There's a library there, they have a media room. They have obviously all the social events you'd possibly want. They're separated by floors. The independent living was on certain floors. I think it was like 10 or 11 stories, maybe 12. It was broken out where the lower floors has a main lobby where everyone congregates and then as you progress out, there was assisted living then individuals who needed a lot of help.