Senior Living in Skagit County, WA

"I visited the Regency on Whidbey. It's essentially like a fancy hotel. My first impression was that it is very nice. It's nicely appointed, it's clean and appeared to be fairly new and had that kind of an expensive aura. The staff was very friendly, very helpful, and showed me everything I needed to see. They were playing bingo in one room, and some people were watching a movie in the theater. The dining area was very nice and they had two chefs. And they had a menu posted that looked very nice."

"I went to Solstice Senior Living at Bellingham. It was lovely. They had a little sign out front that said welcome with my name on it. It was pretty cute. My girlfriend is like "Do you want me to take a picture?" The woman at the reception desk got us coffee and brought the coffee to the office. We were meeting with the person who gave us the tour. She was lovely. She gave us some pamphlets and went over it with us. And then she took us all over, showed us each kind of room. She introduced us to everybody we ran into, whether it was a resident, the director, or the housekeeping. She introduced us to everyone. Everyone was very pleasant and friendly. The facility was clean and pretty. Everyone we met raved about it. It was just lovely. They have a little preschool nearby just across, like neighbors, and the kids from the preschool come over once a week to have grandma and grandpa time. It was very, very nice. They had like a theater with a big screen TV. They had a dining room with three meals a day and a beautiful library with all these windows. And then, there was a whole list of activities. They have a bus that takes people shopping. And, just a whole list of activities from card games to concerts or whatever is going on in Bellingham."

"Assisted Living is a challenging choice, and my Mom has lived in two other facilities before living at Brookdale Fairhaven. I am so grateful for the excellent, caring and dedicated staff, the clarity about my Mom's particular needs, and could not more highly recommend this place. My Mom's room is small, but there are some more spacious apartments with better views than hers. The staff is consistently open, receptive and kind when I have questions. I have utmost respect for them. The activities director works hard to serve diverse needs, and is honoring of each person from what I have witnessed. The nursing team is attentive in just the right way, and the general staff is also very good. The place has a brightness, cleanliness and atmosphere of kindness I deeply appreciate."

"We are so thankful for The Willows for my Mother-in-law. You can rest assured of caring supportive staff and a community that comes around a person. Activities and outings galore for a wide range of interests. Feels like a family that is there for you when you need it."

"the staff is kind and caring. We have had many years of great care for our family member. "

"The thing I love the best about The Bellingham at Orchard is they have what's called the SPARK Program. What that looks like is they do all kinds of dance and music, and they use tons of all kinds of activities. It's a holistic approach like mind, body, and social activities. It's a smaller facility, so there's a lot more one-on-one contact with the people. They have two sides to the facility up there. They have more advanced care people on one wing and then the other wing is where people are less advanced in their care needs. They ongoingly reevaluate their clients. The people that I visited and talked with were family members that had been visiting their loved ones, and they were thrilled with them. They loved them. And I saw people were having a birthday party and they had these giant balloons and people were sitting in wheelchairs. The big balloons came by, and they reached and touched it, and they were laughing. People were moving to the music. They have been so great in working with me on this transition. Everybody in the place knows everybody, which is wonderful. They also gave me numbers to call because my dad is a veteran. They have a resident dog, a beautiful yellow lab for the people there, which is very nice. The woman that worked in the kitchen has been with this program for 15 years. And the fact that she will put her own dad and that he'll be eventually going there speaks volumes to me. Another thing that I like about The Bellingham at Orchard is that their residents have an area. It's really quiet, it's really safe, and it's not on a busy road. But in their back they have all these exits. Everyone has a room with a view and a window to an outdoor area, which is nurturing. And there's this path where you can go in a wheelchair, or you can walk and wander around. And you are all in a beautiful area with gazebos and beautiful trees, and you can't get lost because you're in an area that you can't go outside of. The person who took me around was exemplary. The food looked really, really good. The menu was up. They do something that the other places didn't do, which I found interesting. I talked to them during the interview, and I said my dad has very few teeth. And she said, "Your dad will always be able to have soup, and we always have mashed potatoes and gravy, and we can make all these soft foods for him. Don't worry. And of course, there are people that get to the stage where they can't swallow, and we take care of all of that, too, and it even goes into hospice care when that time comes up." What they did differently is, later in the night before people go to bed, they have snacks for everybody, because sometimes people want to get up and they need a little bit of snacks."

"I loved Olympic Place by Bonaventure, except for the price. It's probably one of the more expensive places and they do not take Medicaid. The amenities were outstanding. It's a newer building and it's very nice outside. It's got good grounds as far as landscaping. It's very attractive. Everything was open, inviting, and clean. They had a nice dining area and meeting areas for the residents. Their menu looked good. The rooms had a small stove and a refrigerator (bigger than what you would see in a hotel room, but not full size). So, they had everything that the residents would need in the room to be able to do whatever they want if they chose to, in addition to the two meals a day, which was part of the price. The person that gave the tour was very friendly and very eager (a little too eager though). She kept saying he has to put her sales hat on and try to get me to put in a $500 deposit to hold the room. She called me up a couple of times to just check in with me, which was fine, but I'm not putting any money down until my mom comes through."

"Spring Creek by Bonaventure was a topnotch place. I didn't know anything about the staff except they're nice. The food was OK. You had your choice of whatever you wanted. We went up and looked at the room and it was clean, but I didn't know about the common area."

"Arlington is a great town and Cascade Valley Senior Living is a great clean facility. Their quality was very comparable to others. The floor plan was very adequate. It was clean. We didn't see a lot of clutter. The room layout was fine. I was looking for access to maneuverability. The staff was helpful, pleasant, and caring."

"I toured Fields Senior Living at Smokey Point. It was elegant, beautiful, and it was just a nice place. The staff was nice. The dining areas were like restaurant quality. Everyone was so nice and professional. Jackie was so friendly and lovely to deal with."

"My mom will move into Fieldstone Memory Care of Marysville. It was very nice. It is beautiful. I was very impressed with the furnishings. It's very clean, homely, and comfortable. The staff was nice and very professional, answered all my questions, was very friendly and knowledgeable, and seemed to be very caring. The dining area looked nice. They were all involved. They were exercising, and they were sitting in a chair doing some dancing. It was fun. They seemed to be having a good time."

"Windsor is a very up-to-date, very comfortable, and well-kept place. Everything is beautiful. It is very homey. There is something going on for the people around. They showed me a room. It wasn't occupied but it was totally furnished. It had a bedroom, a kitchen and a restroom. It was just perfect. Dining was all family-style but at the same time everything was served to you. The waiters were like in a very prestigious restaurant. They were all very courteous and very fast. Food was great."

"My husband is staying at Avista Ferndale. I visited several ones, and I thought Avista Ferndale was the best for him. I was originally just going to put him in for respite care for one month, but he is declining, and so he is under the care of hospice there also. He is going to be staying there until the end. Avista Ferndale is a good place. They're very good. The personnel are nice. My husband just stays in bed all the time, so he doesn't participate in all the programs they have for them there, but they're taking good care of him. There is one person he is not crazy about, but he loves all the other people. My husband can't eat solid food, so he has soups, and they give him water and juices, and things like that, and they're good. The facility looks nice, too. There are a few things I don't like. They promised to take a big chair out for a long time now, and they haven't. It's kind of crowded in there, but I would say it's good."

"I've visited Victoria Place and I liked it a lot. It's staffed by very friendly people. They're very much engaged with the residents. They have access to a nice outdoor seating area and a garden. The rooms were adequate. The place was extremely clean. It appeared to me that people were quite happy there just from my observations. The staff is very, very nice. I like them a lot. The facilities were very nicely done. For what it is, it's very, very well done. I wasn't there long enough to research activities, but it is open and there is a lovely garden area. I think that it would be a place where there would be more sociability than what my brother is experiencing, which is virtually none."