I have a former colleague (my boss), he and his wife and their dog live at Lanier Village Estates, and they've lived there for five years now, and they are quite happy. So that was a good reference for me. I visited the place. We had a nice lunch. I had plenty of ice cream, which is important. They have cottages, unfortunately, they have nothing available. We did sign up to be on their priority list at whatever time something becomes available to be considered. Since we have a dog, we would prefer a cottage. They had a two-bedroom model that we would also find would be adequate for us, but it is just not available either. So we did put our name on their priority list, and that's the status. The fact that we put our name on the list, would speak that we were favorably impressed. The staff were very helpful. We had our lunch there and it was very cold. The only issue was my broccoli was cold. We were very impressed with the upkeep and cleanliness of it. Not only was the place very nice, but it is also close to the Northeast Georgia Medical Facility, which is very, very highly regarded. And as a matter of fact, we have used their facilities for accidents that we have had, so access to high-level medical care was important like hospital and all those things.

Lanier Village Estates is a comfortable place. There is a good variety of activities, a good combination of male and female residents, a caring staff, and beautiful exterior surroundings, as we are at the mountains of North Georgia. There's opportunities for volunteering, which we liked, and they were very careful during COVID. The place is immaculate all the time. Our apartment is big. It's got two bedrooms, a kitchen, laundry room, two bathrooms, a den, a living room, a dining room, and a screened-in porch. When you move here, you get to pick out your cabinets, your wallpaper, carpeting/flooring, and your fixtures. We have three restaurants. There's casual dining in a bistro. There is formal dining in a mountain view and an upscale one. You can have somebody clean your apartment every two weeks. This includes cleaning the kitchen sink, the counters, bathrooms, toilets, shower, vacuuming the carpets, and mopping the floor. Once a year, we get an annual deep cleaning where they clean the blinds, ceiling fans, wall moldings, and cabinet front. If anything goes wrong, you just call the maintenance and they come and fix it. You don't have to fix anything. We have two salons for both men and women, a woodworking shop, a chapel, a puzzle room, an atrium where they have aerobics and all kinds of workouts, a swimming pool that's enclosed where you can do pool aerobics, and a workout room that has all kinds of equipment (from stationary bikes to rowing machines). There is an auditorium where they show movies, have concerts, put on plays, have memorial services, and more. We also have walking trails outside to the lake, an outside tennis court, and a putt-putt golf. If you want to have a garden, we have multiple plots here. My husband and I have a little plot that we do some small gardening in. Overall, it's a nice community.

Lanier Village Estates was a very great place. You have nice apartments, you buy them though, instead of just paying dues and living in them. You have to get your meals instead of a sit-down meal. They have food bars and you have to go around and select what you want and I don't think I'd like that. I prefer just to go and have a meal served to me. The staff was wonderful. They had good people there. We had lunch there several times and it was excellent. They had their own chef. My husband and I went both and we liked the food. That's our favorite place, but you have to buy your unit. If you get just a one-bedroom and a den, it was pretty affordable. It's a beautiful place, and my son likes it. You can have a nice little apartment, but you can get whatever size you want, a one-bedroom and a den or one-bedroom or two-bedrooms, but of different prices, of course, and then you still have your dues. You have a view out your back of the hills, but when you open your front door, all you see is a long hall with more doors. It has retirement, assisted living, nursing home, and memory care. It has everything. If you got worse, you wouldn't have to move. It has a large ground area. The apartments were great and you could bring your own stuff to furnish. You got your own kitchen and your own laundry room.

We had an in-person tour at Lanier Village Estates. It is a very nice facility. Everything is first class there: classy people, first-class dining, and first-class accommodations. It is very nice. We will go into independent living for starters. The staff members are very confident, very good. It is an apartment, not furnished, but very nice though. They have hardwood floors in most of them; really nice touches. We were able to have one meal, the food was very good, and it was a good meal. The people are very friendly and open. It is kind of laid-back living. There is a group that does exercises regularly in the exercise room downstairs, there are big swimming pools, and there is a space for special events. It is very nice.