I liked MorningStar Senior Living at Golden Ridge. That was honestly the one that I would have preferred to have my dad at, but my stepmother lives in Gilbert, and she wanted my dad closer to her. They did independent all the way through memory care, but I was looking at memory care. They did exercise and arts and crafts, they said they had music come in once a week, and they had "no cooking" cooking class. They had a very big foyer, a big dining area, and an outdoor area that was enclosed for memory care, so they could still go out, but it was still secured. The staff members were all really friendly. What I liked about that place was its philosophy was mingling the different levels of care. In a lot of places I went to, the memory care people just stay in that one unit and they couldn't go anywhere else. Whereas at MorningStar, they mix them, so all of the activities there were for independent living all the way through memory care. There was a lot more interaction happening. They were telling how the independent people living there would help the people in memory care do whatever the activity is. This is all that they told me. My dad did not end up going there, so I don't know how it played out in real life, but I liked that idea, especially with my dad. He's just barely at the start of memory care need. I liked the idea of him getting to be more socially interactive with others because that would help him with his cognition, just having that socialization happening. I like that the activities they plan were for everybody and they would take the people from memory care out, so they weren't just always locked away. I also like that if my stepmom had chosen to, she could stay with him in the memory care area, but still be independent. She could come and go as she wanted because in most of the places if they were in memory care, they couldn't have someone living with them. I liked that they could have stayed together at that place. They were the only place that I went to that had those options.

MorningStar Senior Living at Golden Ridge was a nice facility. It's very open and very clean. The dining room was closer to the front door and they had a couple of outdoor patio areas. The lady was very informative. She gave us plenty of information. We had a chance to see all the rooms, the different activity areas, how the rooms looked like, and also different places where the memory care residents can just relax and recline. They have movie nights, scrabble nights, play cards, and pool tables. The building was clean and well-lit.

So disappointed in the disconnect between the marketing staff, management, and intake as to what services they provide. We clearly laid out my mom's situation, were strung along, plied with wine, fresh baked bread, and a song and dance. When it came down to intake, the intake nurse knew nothing about dialysis (we would take her out for that and told them we didn't expect a facility to provide that service). She spent literally 30 seconds reviewing my mom's file and said they could not accommodate her. End of discussion. Never talked to or met my mom. Which in hindsight is probably a good thing we didn't put her through that ridiculous trial. Don't waste your time.