Nicest Assisted Living/Memory care in the DC metro area?

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard good things about green springs in Springfield. Not sure if people can get in though

[Anonymous]

Nicest and well-run are two different beasts. HarborChase is Olney is nice to look at but has changed ownership multiple times it brief existence, fires the Exec Director each year, can’t retain an activities director or care staff, the food is very blah (dining is on a point system that is confusing to residents), they nickel and dime you, the head nurse finds reasons not to provide care, etc.

[Anonymous]

My mom lives in Brightview in Crofton - they have many locations all over the DMV. She’s in Independent Living and they have both Assisted Living and Memory Care on site. We’ve been very happy overall especially with the kind staff and variety and breadth of activities. It’s also wonderful to have a gym, exercise classes (for all levels of mobility) and access to PT on site (from Bayada).

[Anonymous]

the nicest is the Fitzgerald in Palisades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Mather in Tysons is supposed to be good.

They just opened right? It looks like you buy in like it's a condo and it's CCRC/ Is that correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brighton Gardens Friendship Heights is very good and I think fairly high end. My mom is there are we have no complaints.

My dad just did a short-term stay there to recover post hospital stay. I thought it was nice and the food was very good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Kensington in Falls Church

We had a terrible experience there. Couldn’t get my loved one out fast enough.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised you had that experience at the Kensington. My loved one was there for a year. We lived very near, and dropped by several times a week at random times, and never had any complaints, or saw anyone being treated with anything but care and kindness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in memory care or even the more needy side of assisted living, high end is meaningless. It’s the quality of care that matters.

They want a large campus where they don't feel confined. They want good food. They want interesting activities. They are not near needing MC yet.

All the food arrives pre-prepared on trucks.

One main company services the majority of assisted living places. The marketing talks about chefs but it is just a person who can heat up pre-made food.

I have visited six places. Activities are all the same:

Chair yoga
Movies
Maybe something w weights
“Walking club”
Happy hours
Events w music
Monthly brunch
Lunches out 1x a month

Sorry. Most or all of these places are not that special but some have nicer fake art on the walls or newer furniture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in memory care or even the more needy side of assisted living, high end is meaningless. It’s the quality of care that matters.

They want a large campus where they don't feel confined. They want good food. They want interesting activities. They are not near needing MC yet.

All the food arrives pre-prepared on trucks.

One main company services the majority of assisted living places. The marketing talks about chefs but it is just a person who can heat up pre-made food.

I have visited six places. Activities are all the same:

Chair yoga
Movies
Maybe something w weights
“Walking club”
Happy hours
Events w music
Monthly brunch
Lunches out 1x a month

Sorry. Most or all of these places are not that special but some have nicer fake art on the walls or newer furniture.

Don’t forget:

Bingo
“Resident led activities”
Flower arranging
Art
Chorus
Current events
Ice cream social

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in memory care or even the more needy side of assisted living, high end is meaningless. It’s the quality of care that matters.

They want a large campus where they don't feel confined. They want good food. They want interesting activities. They are not near needing MC yet.

All the food arrives pre-prepared on trucks.

One main company services the majority of assisted living places. The marketing talks about chefs but it is just a person who can heat up pre-made food.

I have visited six places. Activities are all the same:

Chair yoga
Movies
Maybe something w weights
“Walking club”
Happy hours
Events w music
Monthly brunch
Lunches out 1x a month

Sorry. Most or all of these places are not that special but some have nicer fake art on the walls or newer furniture.

My parents lives at Ingleside Rock Creek. The food is mostly fine (not fabulous) but I do not think it is just brought in and heated because they can customize to an extent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in memory care or even the more needy side of assisted living, high end is meaningless. It’s the quality of care that matters.

They want a large campus where they don't feel confined. They want good food. They want interesting activities. They are not near needing MC yet.

All the food arrives pre-prepared on trucks.

One main company services the majority of assisted living places. The marketing talks about chefs but it is just a person who can heat up pre-made food.

I have visited six places. Activities are all the same:

Chair yoga
Movies
Maybe something w weights
“Walking club”
Happy hours
Events w music
Monthly brunch
Lunches out 1x a month

Sorry. Most or all of these places are not that special but some have nicer fake art on the walls or newer furniture.

My parents lives at Ingleside Rock Creek. The food is mostly fine (not fabulous) but I do not think it is just brought in and heated because they can customize to an extent

[Anonymous]

We visited some recently and I liked Knollwood the best.

[Anonymous]

My mom lives at Brightview in Severna Park - they have many locations all over the area. She's been there for almost 4 yrs in independent living and has been happy there. They have a large variety of activities and entertainment. She usually goes to one of the daily exercise classes and at least one other activity - the ones she goes to include movies, local history lectures, live music performances and special dinners. There are also a lot of field trips they can sign up for in advance and shuttles to take you to shopping centers and doctor appointments.

Since there have been a lot of comments about food - my mom has been mostly happy but there have been ups and downs. They have a chef on staff but there's been a relatively high turnover of chefs, kitchen staff and wait staff. My mom's biggest complaint has been a tendency to overcook vegetables but they have monthly meetings to give feedback and she says there has been noticeable improvement. The best part in terms of food is that each month they have at least one special dinner you can sign up for where the chef can be more creative and the food has been really excellent. Usually it's some theme like Italian food or a cookout/barbecue. The most recent one was Nigerian food which my mom had never tried and had no idea what to expect, but she said it was delicious - one of the most memorable meals she's had in years. The current chef has also been responsive to feedback (less overcooking of vegetables - my mom's eternal feedback) and she says there have been noticeable positive changes. My last feedback on the meals is that they have special meals to celebrate holidays...and they celebrate the heck out of every single holiday. This includes summer cookouts, an occasional crab feast, Christmas/holiday parties, Easter Brunch, etc etc etc. So this helps to keep the food from getting too routine or boring - they really mix it up a lot.

In terms of the regular daily meals the food is usually quite good though there are a few items she doesn't like - they tend to occasionally have days they serve "stir fry" which seems aimed at using up leftovers. Their biggest challenge is with wait staff and service. Since there's no tipping they tend to get very inexperienced wait staff - often local teenagers - who occasionally get very behind and flustered. Overall though the dining room staff are very kind and trying hard...which really helps in tolerating occasional issues.

Last...I think it's been really great for my mom to live where there's restaurant-style dining where she's able to have daily meals with her usual group of 4-5 other women friends. I think the daily social interaction has been incredibly helpful for her and is the best part of living at Brightview.

[Anonymous]

Inspir Embassy Row. It; new and seriously swanky.