Bethesda Gardens

Bethesda Gardens is a four story, independent living facility with 125 rooms. They have lots of amenities, and they offer 30 meals a month. They have one and two-bedroom apartments available, and underground parking. It is a nice facility, and it's in downtown Kirkwood. They didn't seem like they got a lot of rules with regards to what you do in your room. They're very flexible and seemed relaxed on rules, and I kind of like that. One activity I saw when I was there was several women were in a seated group fitness call that was being led by one of the staff members.

Bethesda Gardens belong to a big group in Saint Louis. They have many outlying facilities and this was strictly independent living. It was the first one I saw and I liked it. I was ready to put a deposit down, but I thought that I should look at others because they promised that the available unit would be available in a week or so. They had lovely balconies in their apartments, which are important to me. There was a library and a living room area that was quite large, but there weren't any smaller areas around, which was something I was looking for. I wanted places where you could visit with just a few people. The room sizes were generous though, and it was an older building, but everything had been redone and modernized. So, the appliances and everything was modern, and they were getting ready to replace the decks and that was all going to be done from the outside, so it wouldn't interfere with your living space. They have a room where they do the chair exercises, and it's also used for other things. They had a few exercise machines in there that you could use and they provide a lot of activities. They have a lot of outside activities that they will take you to by bus that is free. You just pay for your meal or something or anything else you wanted while you're out. The people there were very pleasant, from the front desk to everyone we met. It was a homey kind of place and we felt comfortable.

The Staff is pleasant, but constant turnover. The food is well below average, often the same items for days in a row. They turned over the kitchen to separate entity a few years ago who is only driven by profit...lots of hamburger and chicken.

My mother was turned off by Bethesda Gardens. We were riding in the elevator with one of the residents, and the whole time we were in there, the resident was telling Mom how unhappy she was and how she wished she was living somewhere else. The rooms were very nice, but they were not quite as large as the ones at the other facility. They had standard activities. In the game room, they had Wii bowling. They had field trips, too. However, the halls were narrower, and it didn’t look as inviting. The setup wasn’t as nice. The rooms were very nice, but they didn’t have as much variety in the floor plans as they did at the other facility.