I did a tour of Vitality Court. It was the assisted living that they showed us, where the memory care unit was. It's more restrictive and everything else, so we didn't look at anything with that. They showed us where it was, but we did go through the rooms. We went through about four different ones, there were different classes and different needs, so you had a good idea of what you had to pay. They had the better of the cost assessments. They were more descriptive on how you had to add to this or not do this depending on the level. We saw some rooms that had full refrigerators, and they're just really big. They had microwaves in there also, and two big closets on each of them. They will have you bringing your furniture up, and you fill it with your own. They did have common areas that had furniture displayed. Everything was top notch on that, the lighting fixtures, furniture, and chairs. They had a good, clean smell. It was a really pleasant atmosphere. They were extremely attractive, better than what one would anticipate without going through that. They had a lot of areas where you meet together, and in different recreational activities there are a lot of private areas. They had a nice garden area or the patio-type area. Depending on where you got your apartment, you may or may not have a patio, and all of those or more amenities. The staff member was good, she was young and energetic. She was certainly knowledgeable. She knew the patients would be coming in and out, and going places. She was really nice. The food tastes like a chef had made it or something. It was really good, better than what I ever anticipated because it was a hamburger steak. Usually you would think that's kind of close to spaghetti; I mean, on the list of things that are really great. It was presented really nice. Then they had a twice baked potatoes, some cabbage, and bread. Much to our surprise, they came by and brought an apple cobbler type thing for dessert. It was nice, and also good. I was anxious to see what they do health-wise. It looked good because I looked at their list of things, and I am kind of familiar with proper eating, fruits and vegetables, and all that kind of stuff because I monitor that pretty closely on myself. It couldn't have been any better. They were preparing for us, and this was just a normal thing. The facility was really good. I saw no evidence of anything that would lead me to think they weren't just a top notch cleaning organization. They go through regularly, and I could see evidence when we were walking through. There were people that were going through and doing various stages of cleaning. I saw not only the results of it, but I saw activities going on. Those people were going toward activity areas to take care of it. That was really impressive.

Vitality Court in Victoria assisted living is very well kept. It's like walking into a nice hotel or resort. The staff was very knowledgeable and very accommodating. My mom got tired during the tour process, so they got a wheelchair and we stayed longer than we thought. We had lots of questions and they were able to answer everything. We have not tried the food but we've been invited back to select a day and just let them know to eat lunch with them, which we thought of doing. The residents love their bingo. They have a very nice fitness room and, daily almost, they have other activities or a workout in the activities room, which I hope my mom will participate in. The apartments that are available at this time are to the far end of the buildings, which is probably good. It means a long walk for my mom to go to the dining room. Other than that, every single one looked really good.

Brightwater Senior Living of Victoria is more of a home atmosphere. It’s very nice, very big, more like a resort-type area. They have a lot of activities that my mom couldn’t do. You have to go to the restaurant to eat most of their meals -- which is nice -- but they get tired doing that every day, 3 meals a day. Other than that, it was very nice.

Brightwater is our second choice. To me, it caters to more of the richer population. This community is physically the closest to where John, and I live. The neighborhood is marvelous. The staff members are good there. The only reason I’m rating it a little lower for us or for my mom is because I saw that the people staying there were dressed in formal clothing every day.