Parkview in Frisco

Today I took my 2 grandchildren to have lunch with their 90 year old great grandmother at Parkview Independent Living Community in Frisco, Texas. Remodeling has just started in their kitchen and, we were told, it will last for the next 3 months. I recorded the construction noise in the center of the dining room and it registered 90 decibels ..... for the entire time we were trying to eat! Permanent hearing loss results from sustained noise in the 90 to 95 decibel range. It was intolerable. I pity the folks eating there with hearing aids amplifying the jack hammer noise to a brain blasting level! I saw numerous elderly residents trying to eat with one hand while the other hand was covering their ear. The only consideration from management when I complained was that they are waiving the $1.50 charge if they want to take their food back to their apartment and eat in isolation. We all know the value of socialization during meal times is important.....I guess management needs to be reminded of that. The food is being prepared in the new Assisted Living facility down the block and transported over. This means that the residents get fewer choices, paper plates, plastic cups and plastic utensils. No wonder residents are leaving in droves for the new competition down the street! I won't even start to share fully my concerns on the total lack of security during this remodel process. I observed on my last 2 visits, this week, the 2 side doors either propped totally open or left ajar, male workers(?) walking freely in the halls without a name tag or construction shirt/badge to identify them or verify that they have permission to be inside. As soon as my headache subsides I am going to start making plans to free my mother from this mess and find her a safe and quiet place to spend her remaining days. From my conversations with her friends, there is not a happy resident here. At this present state, in my opinion, there is little value for the hard earned savings spent here. Back to the kitchen remodel; Parkview's brochure states "Dining at The Embers Restaurant at Parkview isn't what you would expect from a retirement community. In fact, we think you will be amazed!" .... You got that right!!

We've moved into Parkview. The staff and the other residents are just super. They were a lot of help. We try to meet as many new people as possible everytime we go to eat in the dining room. The food is delicious. Our son and daughter-in-law like to come up and join us every chance that they get. The apartments are very nice. We have over 1100 square feet with two bedrooms and a very nice kitchen. We have our own washer and dryer in the unit and a small little porch outside. We've been here for three weeks. There are lots of things going on. It's like a cruise. They have all kinds of entertainment, happy hour on Friday, movies, bible study, water aerobics, exercise, card games, dominos, a very nice library, a beauty salon and barber shop in the place.

Parkview didn't have so many amenities, but it was nice. The rooms were beautiful, but small. They had very nice staff, but they didn't have many.

The people were nice at Parkview, but it was less formal, and it felt more clinical. They have long, long hallways; I was so confused and lost, I thought my mom is going to wander for days, and they had no way to monitor them. They had no backup generator if the power went out. They were much more expensive, too. They were friendly, but I just felt that the cost was exorbitant for such a less look. We were all quite surprised. We just felt that it was more sterile. The furniture that they had and all the sitting areas were older and kind of eclectic. We weren't impressed, even though it's beautiful outside.

We were very impressed with the Parkview in Frisco. It was clean, friendly and very well kept. The people there seemed to be very happy with the place. The accommodations were excellent. The food was also very excellent.