Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces

I visited the Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces. It's an independent living. It was nice, and I liked it. The lady there was very nice. We looked at the place, and I have no problems with it. The staff was very helpful. The living facility, the recreational facilities, the dining room facilities, the parking, and everything looks very nice. It looks like they have a gym, a library, and gathering facilities.

I went to Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces. For a studio, they want almost $2500 to $2600 a month. It had a sink and a refrigerator, but there's no kitchen. It was very small. Plus, they also want a $3000 upfront, so I can't afford it. If you can afford it, it's probably alright, but it's really out of my price range. The general appearance was OK. It's very austere and kind of a sterile environment, but it was clean. There was nothing wrong about it except I thought it was not a very welcoming or homey type place. The apartments that I looked at were small. I looked at the studio and it was only like 400 square feet. The one-bedroom was very nice, but the studios were very small. The person who assisted me was terrific and very nice. The dining area was big and a lot of people eat at the same time. They have a lot of activities. They have a library, a swimming pool, and an exercise area in the facility. The place was OK, but it's not for me. I don't have any negative feelings about it. The facility was very nice. I was told they were supposed to offer me lunch, but they didn't. They had a very nice menu though and that's broken down into different categories (main meal, soup, and dessert).

The feeling that I got at Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces was that it was a senior living facility, but it was more of a glorified apartment building, and I think it's probably the newest of the three facilities I visited. The apartments were very nice and modern. The young lady that I spoke to was extremely nice and extremely helpful. When I asked about extended care for Mother there, they said I could arrange for that care, but they didn't provide it. Most of the people there, they seem to have their own cars, and are very independent. They didn't seem to need a lot of attention. However, it was really upbeat, and it was clean. The dining room was beautifully decorated. The staff was nice. The young lady that I dealt with was very helpful, and very energetic, and she's a pleasure to be around.

My mother is currently at Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces and some things were misrepresented. First of all, they have trouble with their elevator constantly and there's only one elevator, so we were very unhappy about that. Then their advertisement says they provide three elevated meals a day, but I've been taking pictures of the meals and it's paltry. It's ridiculous. It's like an egg salad sandwich in a little container. They need to more clearly represent what they have to offer and what they do not have to offer. They are not really honest about what they have to offer when they're selling you the place. However, the staff is exemplary. They're amazing but they are very short-staffed. So, it's hard to get things done, like repairs, but it's not their fault. They tried very hard. It's because of the management as always.

My mom really liked Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces. It was great, she really liked it. It was very homey and had a lot of good activities. They gave us a lot of time to look around during the tour. The place was great. It was very nice. It was almost like apartments. It didn't feel like a nursing home. She likes that because it has more of a homey, apartment-like feeling. You could bring your own furniture and decorate, even do gardening outside if you wanted to. They had calendars of activities posted. They even showed us some of them that were going on, and my mom liked it. They have a walking track that goes through the property. You can walk around the property on the tracks without having to go out on the street. They also have a pool for water aerobics. They had a room for playing cards, and they had activities where they take you on a bus trip up into the mountains. It's pretty good. It was more expensive than some of the other places, but then it wasn't a problem. We could have afforded it. The staff took a lot of time with us. They're very nice. I forgot the name of the tour guide, but she was very, very nice. The place was clean and updated. They were still doing some remodeling on the elevators when we were there. They have a cafeteria but because of the COVID, you couldn't sit in the cafeteria. You had to have your meals brought to you.

My dad lived in Solstice Senior Living before he got to the point where he told me, "I think I need a safer place." I actually moved his furniture in, set up his apartment, and met most of the people that worked there, then COVID hit, so dad was there before it was shut down. When COVID hit, the food was served cold, which was not a fault of their own. They're serving a hundred people on three different floors and how can you get everybody's food to them hot? That's hard. I was so pleased when Dad moved there because they have the van, they have day trips that they go on, and they have activities that are brought to the facility. They have game days, a pool table, a library, and exercise machines that you can use. Dad really seemed like to do his own laundry and there's a laundry facility on every floor that you didn't have to pay to use, you just took your laundry detergent and I really liked that. I thought that the outside part of it was very well kept and really pretty. In the back they have a swimming pool, which of course they're not using now, because you can't get that close. They had a rose garden back there too. When I was moving dad's furniture in I saw a family of quail and two rabbits. Dad is an outdoor person, so I was thinking, "Oh, he'll love seeing the rabbits around here." I loved his room. We moved right in, we decorated, and they were very kind to help us. I would have liked to have the toilet replaced, it was too low to the floor. I would have liked a handicap toilet in there, but I purchased an arm rest for him that you can attach to the toilet, and that took care of that. There were like five things that I wanted done to the apartment before we moved in, and I just made a list of it, and bam, it was done very quickly. There was a blind missing from the window and an outlet with a missing cover. The only thing I didn't get off of that list was the new toilet fixture because the one that he had, for the time he lived there, was rested and it was too low. I really didn't have any complaints. They were the sweetest. I was so sorry to leave there. I had been in and out before we moved dad to another community and I knew everybody. They were so kind, caring, and genuinely interested in their community. They call their people who lived there "their community." I was well pleased and thankful my dad started off there. I really wished he could still be there because it was less restrictive. For his safety, he has to be locked in. I guess at Solstice, before he left, he was out walking on the sidewalk at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, so that's not safe.

My mother will move into Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces. It's a beautiful place, and I want to go there when I get old. The apartment is quite functional, it's not very fancy, and it looks very safe. It's a one-bedroom apartment, it has handholds in the bathroom, and a nice, big, patio. Everybody has been extremely helpful, very nice, they invited us to stay for lunch, took their time touring us around, and answered all of our questions. The food was excellent and we enjoyed it. They were having a Hawaain luau the first time I went and visited, the second time I visited they were playing a game, and the last time they were getting ready to play another game.

My mother really liked Solstice Senior Living at Las Cruces. It was very clean and she liked the rooms. The grounds and everything were excellent. It was a super nice facility, well kept, well run, and they've got friendly people. The price was affordable for her. They go on day trips, to museums, and to different places, there's a hairdresser there, exercise equipment, and different activities. People came up to the table and introduced themselves at lunchtime. She has a nice room and a nice balcony. They even have housekeeping. Everything we've tasted was very good and she likes it. Even the housekeeper introduced herself. The staff was excellent.