Mankato Lodge Senior Living is a very strong community. I went there about lunchtime and they were all going out to eat there. The room was full. The vast majority of them go and have a meal there and it seemed that people wanted to be with each other. The apartments were nice and bigger. They have a little kitchenette with a refrigerator, sink, countertop, and a few cabinets. There's a living area and a coat closet. The bathrooms are very large and very nice. They have a walk-in closet and there's lots of room in it with six-foot lengths of hanging area on one side and then on the other side. They have sitting areas that looked inviting with very pleasant decor, a salon, and a library that is well-stocked and well-kept. The grounds outside are manicured and look pretty with lots of grassy areas, shaded areas, and nice outside seating. They're currently working to move their fitness room into a larger and more open area so more people could come in and they could move around more easily. They have a lot of activities. If you are interested in staying involved and busy all day, you get a calendar of events. It's very packed. The only thing was the doors are open during business hours, so if there was a person with memory issues who was known to wander, I'm not sure that place would be a good fit for them.

We went to tour Mankato Lodge Senior Living. They showed us several apartments that can be used either for independent living or assisted living. They don't have wings that are just for one service or the other. A person could start out independently and then if they needed more assistance, they would be able to stay in the same apartment. We saw 1-bedroom apartments there. The woman who showed us around, Naomi, was very helpful and very knowledgeable. It seemed like a nice community. I thought it was a little bit confusing the way it was set up. Maneuvering the building seemed a little bit confusing. There's usually a meal plan where they had a pay so much a month and get three meals a day, and my mom would not utilize that. So we like the fact that at the Mankato Senior Lodge, she could get a meal plan of like one meal a day, two meals a day, or three meals a day. And that made it more economical for her. They showed us the menu and it seemed like a lot of good variety. They have a lot of activities, we saw some exercise, and they offer church services. One really nice thing is that they would take them on a bus one day a month to the grocery store, which would be helpful because my mother doesn't drive. And that was the only facility that mentioned something of that nature, that she could participate in that if she wanted. There was a patio in the back. I met the marketing person, she was very knowledgeable. She wanted to make a sale but that's their job. She tried to present different ways that we could work it out, so she was very helpful that way. She was kinda pushy but I know she was eager to get us to agree to go there. Some of the apartments in the other community were more attractive, and the other layout was more appealing to me.

I went to see Mankato Lodge Senior Living. I believe I visited both assisted living and independent living. The staff toured the whole place with me and I was very impressed. They seemed very concerned about my mom, asking her lots of questions about what she would like for care, what kind of activities she would like, introduced her to the chef, and introduced her to some of the residents. I was all very well pleased with it. I thought they would be very good. The only room they had available was a studio-type apartment and my mom wanted something a little larger. They introduced me to the activity director. I was interested in some of the activities for exercise, and an exercise group for my mom to do a little bit of that. They also showed a very nice room on the second floor that had a little library and a place where you could do puzzles. I think there was a group of ladies that were there, and I believe they were playing cards or playing a game and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. One lady had a pet there, the pet was a very good little dog that kind of greeted everybody. All the residents there seemed pleased with all the things going on. I checked the menu and it looked very good. The residents were waiting in line for dinner and they said they were looking forward to that. They also said they serve them more than what they needed and they laughed about that.

Friendly place Its a great environment to walk into! Knowing that family is here makes me feel at ease and know that they are getting good care.

We will choose it. It was very good, very friendly, and very home-like. They had cards, bingo, a reading club, and took trips to go out to eat and see plays.