Summerfield Senior Living of Slidell is a newer facility, and it's very nice. When you walk in the door, it has that nursing home environment. We looked at the independent and assisted living. Everybody was in wheelchairs; that's your first image when you walk in.
They have a lot of additional charges. They have an admin non-refundable thousand-dollar fee. We were told they charge for the electricity too, so you have to pay your own electric bill. Just the presentation of the tour by the staff (I'm not sure who she was, maybe a marketing person), it just lacked a little to be desired. She was nice enough. I just think her presentation wasn't that great.
The facility itself was nice, but I found it not as appealing because they only have one window in each apartment. They have a small area outside that's like a dog park. I think they also have a walking trail in the back.
Summerfield of Slidell was very pleasant, and the people who work there are very pleasant too. My uncle is in a studio apartment. It's very well laid out compared to other facilities' studio apartments. They have a lot of activities, but he hasn't been able to adjust to doing their activities yet. I feel like they have quite a number of activities, both on location and remote. He said all three meals that he gets are excellent. They have a courtyard and little reading library areas. They have various places in the facility where they can sit, and books are available to them. There's a beautiful walking path and a courtyard for dogs and animals.
My mother is a resident of Summerfield Retirement Community for about 8 years. Our experience has been very good, the staff has always been very competent and efficient. The place is always very nice, clean, and updated. It's a nice place. The staff is nice, and are always available to answer questions and what-not, so it's been good. They have a variety of activities that they make available. But for obvious reasons that there are people who are not able, they're moderate as far as activities are concerned. They have social events, events that are tailored for them but with the COVID, there's been a bit of a limitation to the events that they can have. But for mother's days, it was nice because they arranged for guests or relatives. We were outside, and did that kind of thing where we decorated our cars, and the residents came out in their chairs, spaced their chairs appropriately, and we did a parade. It was nice and fun. She has a 1-bedroom that's like an apartment. It has its own bathroom, it has a kitchen, the only thing the kitchen does not have is a stove. They can have microwaves but they can't have stoves in their rooms, and they also have refrigerators. It's a mini kitchen, living room, and bathroom. It's nice and adequate for her. They offer a 1-bedroom and a 2-bedroom.
Summerfield Senior Living was a little bit confining, but they kind of had too many rooms. The 2-bedroom we saw was nice and big. It just seemed like they had to tell the residents everything they did, I didn't feel like I'd have that much independence and I'd feel more regimented there. So we didn't like it that much. The property was beautiful including the outside. They have all kinds of activities during the day. Someone would play the piano and sing or they go to casino once a month. I wanted a place that is more independent. The rooms were very nice. A couple of times, the person showing me around was kind of rude to someone he was talking to. They have staff working, but the people didn't look happy there. Other times, if she needed to talk to or get a hold of somebody, she's ruder than what she should have been to the staff there. As far as the staff goes, they weren't very friendly at all. They have a restaurant where they give you a menu and you order what you want. They did laundry weekly, and if you want to do your own laundry you have to pay them to do it. Thats just more money on top of what it costs. We weren't happy with that place at all, we wanted something more expensive. The building itself is fairly new and has only been there for 3 or 4 years. It's beautiful, and you go inside its also beautiful. The rooms were nice and big. They also take pets, and we have pets. The biggest thing was that it didn't seem like its independent living.
