I liked The Oaks of Pasadena very much. I liked the people that I came in contact with as far as the staff in the dining room, the head chef that came out and talked to us, that was all very nice. There's nothing that I can necessarily call bad. I liked all the units that I saw, and it was very nice. The tour guide was able to get me into two, two-bedroom, two-bathroom units, which is my preference. That was nice because they happened to be empty and they are what I would want and they could be possibilities for me. The grounds were lovely there. The other two that are on my list are more high rises and they don't have much outdoor space. This one had nice gardens and trees. I would have liked them to have been better maintained. They need tidying up. It's a lovely outdoor, but it should be better-taken care of. The buildings and the yards are not as well maintained and they are older. We had lunch there, my daughter-in-law was with me, and it was very good. They had a place where they had books available. They had activities. The activity calendar looked to be things that I would choose from if I were there. It can become assisted living as well, but you move out of the building from the independent living and it's onsite, but it's much smaller. I wouldn't have to move off the grounds if I suddenly needed assisted living.

My mother likes The Oaks of Pasadena very much. They have a very warm and welcoming staff and they seem to be very in tune with their residents and that made the transition easy, allowing us to come in a few days early in order to have deliveries made and move things in before February 1st. She has a nice, large one-bedroom with 740 square feet, so it's larger than most of the other facilities or other rooms that we saw, and that was a big selling point because it had more storage and space for her. It's not a brand-new facility at all. The facilities are a little bit older, but the other factors make up for it. It has a full kitchen without granite counters, but it's very spacious and completely functional. The unit that was available was very desirable because it had a nice view with trees outside, was very quiet, and very pleasant. It was available because it is a long distance away from the other building. The facility has two apartment buildings and because it's the end unit, she has to walk down a long hall, go down an elevator, and walk across the bridge to get into the other building for all her dining and recreational activities. She is able to do that right now, so it was a good fit, but maybe not a good fit for somebody who has greater needs. They had underground parking and she still has a car and drives, so that was another plus.

One of the things I was impressed about The Oaks of Pasadena was all your meals were not provided. They gave you a certain amount, and then you could eat or you could not eat. If you went over, then you pay the difference. They also gave me a full kitchen in case I wanted to cook. Lisa was just very bubbly, answered any questions that we had, and gave us a lot of information. I was very happy with that. We would have a two-bedroom -- which was a little over 1200 square feet -- so it's pretty large. They had aquacise, water aerobics, tai-chi, and other exercise programs. I like it being close to Rose Bowl and seeing football games. Pasadena is probably the best of the world, and it's a good compromise for us.