Clarewood House

My friend is in the independent living at Clarewood House Senior Community. They have different levels, and that was helpful for us. In case he needs to move up to assisted, it's not going to be a drastic move. We can still stay there, but just move to the assisted floor. If he needs more than that, then we can still stay there and move up to the next level. It's a multi-leveled facility, which is good because his health is not great. The floor will change, but the dining hall is the same, the chapel is the same, and all the people he meets and he is meeting will be the same. It takes you up to hospice. The staff is extremely helpful. They know everybody by name. It's very welcoming. When he moved in, they had a big gathering to welcome him. They have so many daily activities, and if someone signs up and they don't show up, they go and check on them. If he misses a dinner, the ladies on his hallway will go and knock on his door and make sure he's OK, or if he's overslept. They're very accommodating, from the office staff to the residents. Everyone has been extremely welcoming, and he is enjoying it. He has a one-bedroom, and it has a bathroom and a bedroom that connect and then there's a little living room and a kitchen, and it has a closet in between the front door and the kitchen for more storage if you need it, and it's very spacious. They had painted it all. It has brand new carpet. It's an older building, but they've done a lot of renovations, and it's lovely. They've painted the whole outside of the building as well, so it's very eye-catching.

My uncle enjoyed Clarewood House Senior Community. My mom enjoyed it more because she kept their contact information. She considered getting a place for herself there. They had one unit that had two entryways into the unit. She liked that because it would allow her to set it up a little differently. When you come in, on the left is where they have all of the offices and stuff. My uncle had to go to the restroom, so we got to spend a lot more time in the lobby area and sit down to look and just kind of enjoy ourselves. The staff and different residents would speak to us while we were waiting. It's a very big and open area, and the elevator was near to where we were seated. It was gated coming in. You would have to put a code in to go in and out after a certain hour. That was something that mom liked as well, that people couldn't just come in any time. They had a long hallway, and each of their floors was set up the same. At the halfway point in the hallway was a sitting area, and my uncle took advantage of that. He loved the chairs that they had there because he is tall. The chairs they had would accommodate his legs.

I toured Clarewood House Senior Community. The location is terrible, but the place is awesome-looking, and the amenities are everything that I desire. The living spaces are very good, but very small. They showed us the dining room, the game room, the music room, the exercise room, and the pool area, plus the two apartments (the one-bedroom and two-bedroom) that I was looking at.

I was impressed with Clarewood House Senior Community. I like that my mother would have her independence, but if she doesn't want to cook, there's a restaurant there, and she can go in. There are meals there, there's a beauty shop there, and there's laundry that she can do there for a minimum. Even with independent living, there is housekeeping twice a month. The amenities are amazing, as well as the security. There are cameras in the hallway, it's a fenced-in area, and there is a security guard at the gate who you have to leave your name and all 24/7. There's someone always at the desk at the front, so it is very secure. Some of the residents who were sitting there said hi, and they were very friendly. I thought I was looking for assisted living, but when Patrick spoke to us and we started talking about the level of care, I'm glad they didn't push assisted living. He was like, 'We're here for what you think your mother needs,' and I'm so glad that I changed to independent living. Patrick was very nice and open about everything. The tour was very well informed. During the tour, we saw the restaurant; they gave us menus, and the choices were outstanding. The building is all contained. It is very, very clean and very well-kept. I cannot stress enough how nice it was. I know it's an older building and all. The staff even apologized, 'I'm sorry, we're going through renovations,' but even with the renovations, they kept it very pristine. The rooms were a very good size. We're getting my mother the smallest apartment. They didn't have a studio, but the one-bedroom was bigger than the bedroom she is living in now in my apartment.

Clarewood House Senior Community was nice, clean, and well-kept. The person during the tour was very good at her job. She's very helpful and told me all about the place. I looked at the dining area and I liked it. They had some activities but I didn't get involved in very much of that. At the time I was there, they were getting ready for lunch. They didn't have any activities going.