The Best Memory Care Communities in Sarasota County, FL

"I thought that Aravilla Sarasota Assisted Living was really nice. The rooms were larger, the outside grounds were not as spacious as the other one I toured, but it still was very nice. The only reason why I would choose one over the other is the price. The other place was more affordable than Arabella. Everybody's very nice, the place was gorgeous, and it's clean. I like how the memory care facility is almost like a racetrack. It's kind of oval shaped, so when you're walking, it's almost like you're on a track so you know where you're going. They have a little porch in each one of the front doors, so it almost looks like you're going into their little house. It's really cute."

"We ended up selecting Brookdale Sarasota Midtown. It was unique in offering a transitional unit for higher-functioning memory care patients. We thought, given my mother-in-law's state of dementia, that that was the best fit for her. The staff was knowledgeable, empathetic, and helpful in answering our questions. We observed the food, but we did not eat it. We talked to several residents who spoke well of it. It's a little older, but it was clean and well-maintained."

"My primary problem with Heron House was location. There wasn't anything really wrong with it, but it just was nowhere near as convenient to me. The rooms that they have where my husband would be was a shared room. There were two people in those. It was nice, very clean, and very pleasant. Heron House was nice but for me, it was not as wonderful as other places."

"The Goldton at Venice was brand new. It's in the middle of what's going to be a construction site for a lot of years, but it looked like a cruise ship. It's very nice. There's a shopping center going in across the street that at this point is a vacant field, all ploughed up and ready to go. The facility itself owns a huge field next door where there's an expanding sign on it. It too will be under construction and that's annoying. It's also too far away. They were lovely people and it's a lovely place, but if it were in Englewood, it would be great. It was elegant and very nice. It had probably everything anybody would need and it's huge. Everything was huge in it. The hallways were probably 50 feet wide. Everybody there looked very happy. It's out in the country. The staff during the tour was lovely. Everything about it was lovely. It's fairly expensive, but they all are. I just don't want to live that far away and I don't want a construction site for the rest of my life. We saw an empty apartment, and it was luxurious. It was two little rooms put together and it was more than adequate. Everything about it was very nice. It didn't seem like an assisted living place at all. We saw the art room, which was a big room, all very sunny, all very nice, but it didn't have a whole lot of equipment yet. There was a table of four ladies who were chattering and seemed to be having a nice time. They're all old, but they were pretty healthy looking. Their food arrangement was very livable. There were several plans. You could either get three meals or two meals. It's an open kitchen from noon to 11:00 or something like that, where you could get anything you want at any time. It was very flexible. The whole thing was very livable, especially if you're healthy. The kitchen looked all very new and was full of visible chefs and they were all young and seemed busy. They were going great guns for lunch. There were several very nice dining facilities in varying degrees, from very casual to pretty fancy. They were all very nice and gave a lot of options. It was like living in a hotel or a cruise ship. The furniture was very nice. The place was kind of spread out. The ceilings were enormous. Everything was really big. They had a very nice pool and it's very nice outside. I was very impressed, especially with the one person that we met. Somebody greeted us and called her, and they were perfectly nice and what you'd expect."

"Our second choice was Fountains of Hope. It was excellent. It was very clean and very nice. You can tell there were lot of workers doing what they should be doing. You see the huge dining room and there is a large number of staff there, so everybody seemed to be getting help. They were about to have a Veterans Day celebration. There was a big auditorium-esque room for movies and parties. They showed me a studio and a 1-bedroom."

"I cannot say enough about Grand Villa. My mother has been in the memory care unit for over 7 months. The attention given to her has been wonderful. The GV care managers and administration have gone beyond the norm to care for my mother and make her comfortable. We had to move my mother from a bleak home situation to GV during the peak of Covid while I was out-of-state. It was a desperate time for me and my mother. GV helped with the transition in many ways. Her immediate needs were serious, but her GV care team coordinated multiple medical services to get her the help she needed right away. Within a few months my mom had actually improved, something my family did not think possible. I know it was due to the attention she received at GV. The staff answers questions promptly, sends updates often, and is open and approachable. The rooms are small, but there are plenty of common areas to relax in. Grand Villa has made a difficult phase of life much easier to deal with for my mother and my family. "

"My mother has moved into AdviniaCare Venice. I think it's great. I like the place a lot. The people are helpful and very caring, friendly, and attentive. The food is excellent. I've eaten there three times, and all three were good, so I was happy about that. There's an outdoor courtyard, which is nice. There's a little gazebo out there. In the front, when you enter, there's a pond with koi fish and a waterfall, which is beautiful and the seniors like to sit out there, so it's a nice gathering spot. What's nice when you enter is there's the main desk, so you're greeted by people and they always ask if they can help you, so they're very helpful. Then you're in the main living room, and I call it the great room, and that's where they do a lot of activities with the people. Right off of that is an arts and crafts room and a dining room. Everything is located well for the seniors, so they don't have to travel far. They always have activities going on during the day and a lot of participation from the seniors that are there. They play bingo, they do arts and crafts, they made Mardi Gras masks, and they do things for the holidays. They do games for their brains, like asking trivial questions. I like it. The rooms are nice, too. Cleanliness and maintenance are excellent. It's spotless and always clean. I did ask the maintenance people to do two things, and they were on it right away. They're great."

"My wife is in Liana Venice. I'm happy with it. It is strictly a memory care unit. They have the right level of medical care and 24-hour nurses plus the nurse practitioner, so they can handle adjusting the meds as time goes on for the memory care person. That's the reason why I picked them among other things, that they're only a few years old and the place is very nice. They've got a great chef and the people that I've met, the administration and the nurses and everything is just fantastic. They have entertainment coming in, they have several large TVs around the place that people can watch during the day, and they play cards. I don't know about the other activities because my wife hasn't been there long enough. I can't believe how great the staff is. It's a good value when I compare it to other places that also charge the same amount or more and have less qualified medical care. It's new, well kept, clean, and doesn't smell. I haven't sampled the food, but they have a chef there and the menus that I've seen seemed to be pretty good. She hasn't complained and that's something in itself, but that's just particular to her, I don't know for anybody else."

"My husband will move into Maris Pointe. I went there and I really liked it. It's very close to home. The tour was wonderful. It's nice and airy. The hallways are really nice and big. This one is more like a home setting, like the front and stuff like that when you go in, with a higher ceiling. When I look at their courtyard, the way the place is set in different buildings, and each building has its own courtyard with plants. They'll let the people go, take them out there, and they can try to maintain the plants. I said, "What about if they pull the plant?" So we put another plant in. That's so they can distract themselves, they keep themselves occupied, and I like that for my husband because he's an outdoor person. He can see that he can go there and play with whatever he wants to do. We got him in a studio apartment there and the rooms are pretty nice, they're all wood floors. He can look through the window and see all the plants and shrubberies. A nice walk in closet, nice shower, and I can decorate the room the way I would at home. They want you to bring your own stuff to decorate. I want to bring his own bed in, and fix the room the way I would like to have it, according to his taste. The person who took us on the tour last night was wonderful. He explained every question we asked him. As we were going out, we saw some of the staff, and they were all pleasant, and said hello. Everybody was pleasant to us, and every question we asked was answered. The tour guide was fantastic. When he met us, he had coffee ready for us on the table. It's open dining, really open, set up with small tables, maybe two people to a table. The place was very clean. They have a TV room, they even have a salon for women."

"Our family agonized and researched for months over the decision about placing my wife Mary of 50 years in Memory Care. Eventually her unsafe and sometimes life-threatening behavior left us with no choice but to move forward. I can only thank God for somehow directing us to A Banyan Residence. The long dreaded transition turned out to be a simple and painless process. They (Banyan) knew EXACTLY how to handle their challenging mission. It was "all hands on deck" and their amazing staff focused and handled my wife's transition masterfully. The changes in Mary, in less than 2 short weeks, have been nothing short of miraculous. She is smiling, engaging with others, attending the many well thought out activities and SHE IS SAFE! My whole family is now beginning to heal and we can finally breathe again. Please keep in mind we did extensive, in-depth research and I encourage any family going the immeasurable pain inflicted by Alzheimer/Dementia to strongly consider this beautiful and very family oriented care center."

"Rooms are large and clean. Staff is friendly. Food is good. All inclusive cost is a huge benefit."

"My mom is in Elan Manatee Assisted Living. Her apartment is very nice, and she loves everything about it. They do anything she asks, so she's very happy where she is. Everything is in an app where I can see what she does during the day, so no complaints. They've got a walking area that they walk around the building like a circle, and they've got a pretty good-sized TV room. They've got activities. They've got everything. The food is better than most restaurants I've tasted. It's a brand-new place, everything is topnotch, and it almost looks like a 5-star hotel. She moved in right after Thanksgiving."

"I've gone to Inspired Living at Lakewood Ranch at a time when a lot of people were in the lobby waiting for a bus to take them to an event. You could see that they didn't look as engaged with the world. The staff told me that they like to stay in the lobby together because they like to see people coming in and out. So, I was wondering whether or not that's because there weren't enough activities during the day. The rooms were nice, but they weren't as new and as upscale as the other place I toured, but it was perfectly adequate. They had a lot of places where people could do different things. Some people were outside and they were all smiling and happy. I loved the pool because it was set up in a way that I could understand how my 99-year-old mother could get in it without having to sit in a chair. They had it set up so that they could walk sideways into the pool. It was clever the way they've done that. The staff who assisted me with the tour was good. She knew everything that she needed to say. She answered all my questions. It was a perfectly fine presentation. They gave me some sweet treats and a little box of goodies, which was delicious. They certainly had a great pastry chef. They had different kinds of games and movies. They had a walking group that walked around the outside."

"My brother has moved into Inspired Living at Hidden Lakes. it was very nice. It was clean and everybody was friendly. My interaction with the staff was very good. My brother loves it. He likes to entertain. Everybody says it's hard to keep up with him. He likes to dance. He likes to be in the spotlight, so it was easy for him to fit in. He was someplace else and then when I left, he would ask me, "When are you coming back?" This time, he said, "OK. Talk to you later." He's very happy where he's at. He's sharing a room with someone, but it's good. They have private ones, but they cost more. They have a chef and three meals a day. They have dinner, lunch, breakfast, and snacks. They have a big yard because he likes to walk. Everything is fenced in, so that was good. They have a lot of activities for him to do. The staff is very friendly. It's laid out well."