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

[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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a relative who works in these kind of facilities. They are all the same. They all use the same staff (literally--the pay is low so the women work at 2 or more facilities or work in a facility and then also do home care). The staff are from poor countries overseas (mostly Haiti and African countries) and do no share American values on work ethic, cleanliness, politeness, and they do not enjoy interaction with other staff who are not of their ethnic group (my relative, who is African-American, feels ostracized). The facilities try to feed the residents as cheaply as possible.

Not always true. My parents are in one (not DC area, further south) where the food is Farm to table. Half the produce is grown on site, residence can even assist if so desired. They have some turnover, but not a lot, as they pay well and treat employees well. Parents have been there 5 years and love it and the staff. Have not needed anything outside independent living yet, but they have interacted with staff in the other areas and they are great

Sounds great. Name please?

[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.

This is yet another Sunrise facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - any suggestions for good non-profits that are nice with well educated residents?

Ingleside is nonprofit (which doesn't mean inexpensive) and the Rock Creek campus is where all of Cleveland Park retires in old age. Very, very educated population. World Bank, lawyers, academics, the usual upper NW population. When I visited a friend there, the only thing I didn't like was that there's no walkable campus. Those who have good mobility can walk out into the surrounding neighborhood, but the campus itself, while nestled among trees, is very hilly and doesn't even have great sidewalks to walk in and out of the complex.

That said, if you want educated, upscale, nonprofit, and close-in, I assume this should be on your list.

I'm so glad you mentioned this! We almost did it for father but for a retirement community nestled in rock creek park it's accessibility is trash. Absolute garbage. Unless you are driving or being driven in and out it is the least pedestrian and wheelchair friendly place I've been.

Agree. I drove in to check it out and was put off by the location.

Plus it is a CRC and we wanted to pay month to month. Why would I give some random company $500,000-$1 million to move in?!

If you know so little about the organization that will be looking after your family members that you think of it as "some random company," you haven't done enough research.

CCRCs are a rip off.

[Anonymous]

My mom lives in a place like this in Western NY for a 1/10 of the price and loves it. They have great staff but are near a University so I think that helps. As someone mentioned above they celebrate everything! My
Mom’s place has a monthly birthday dinner where they celebrate all birthdays that month with a special professionally baked cake and music.


She misses her big house but has made so many friends. They eat together, play cards, other games, go on outings to the symphony, parks, restaurants, and have guest speakers. Sometimes the speakers are residents sometimes they are from outside. It is a really warm, caring, safe place. My mom still drives but she can get a ride to and from appointments too. Unfortunately places like this cost a lot of money. Many will not be able to afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom lives in a place like this in Western NY for a 1/10 of the price and loves it. They have great staff but are near a University so I think that helps. As someone mentioned above they celebrate everything! My
Mom’s place has a monthly birthday dinner where they celebrate all birthdays that month with a special professionally baked cake and music.


She misses her big house but has made so many friends. They eat together, play cards, other games, go on outings to the symphony, parks, restaurants, and have guest speakers. Sometimes the speakers are residents sometimes they are from outside. It is a really warm, caring, safe place. My mom still drives but she can get a ride to and from appointments too. Unfortunately places like this cost a lot of money. Many will not be able to afford it.

Just curious as to what the cost of this is in another part of the country?