I wasn't that impressed with Arbor Oaks Senior Living in Andover. It didn't look or smell as clean as some of the other places. You kind of walk in and it has that nursing home smell, which I was not impressed with. I would say the rooms were nice and generously sized but they didn't have as many amenities as some of the other facilities. The staff was helpful and friendly though, the ones we dealt with. We toured the assisted living part and I think the cleanliness of it needs improvement. When we went up to their second floor during our tour, it smelled pretty strongly of urine. The facility was so close so I was really hoping we would like it and it would work out nicely. I did talk to one of the residents there and she was so happy with the staff. She was talking it up quite a bit so if it was cleaner, I think we maybe would have done it. More amenities on-site would have been helpful too because I don't think they had much. I think people had to go outside of the facility for things. I don't know if they need to replace carpeting or what the issue was, but some of the areas smelled like a nursing home. It just didn't smell clean and fresh.

My mother was living in Arbor Oaks of Andover. It was great before COVID. They did lots of activities. Part of the problem we had, and since that was the only one we had experience with, we didn't like the way they handled COVID, because for several months we weren't allowed to see her. It was bad for her physical health and mental health. It's a clean facility. I would say during COVID, we felt like they were a little short-staffed, and every place was. It was fine up until COVID. The staff was friendly and helpful. They did have a beauty salon that she could go to on-site, which was great for her. I think they had like a big bathtub that she could go in, arrange a time to have a bath, otherwise it was a stand-up shower, which was good for her because it's better for her. The living area was very spacious and had a nice view. It worked well for her as long as she was fairly mobile, it wasn't very good for her, or somebody that needed more structured looking after, but didn't require the full time like memory care stuff. They're great for independent living and they're great for memory care, but their in-between isn't the best. She started in independent living and transferred to assisted living.

I was impressed with Arbor Oaks, they had outdoor areas that were completely enclosed so that someone who was wondering around couldn’t leave the grounds. They had a library, and it was very clean. They do not use air fresheners, and that was so nice.

Arbor Oaks Senior Living was fine. They have a laundry room which is what we liked the most. The food is great sometimes and sometimes not.

Arbor Oaks of Andover was a nice place. They also have memory care. We were actually hoping to get my grandmother in, but we weren't able to due to her high fall risk. The people were really friendly and very helpful, and the residents seemed to be very nice. It was a really clean, nice place. It was a small community, and they didn't have tons of rooms. Their dining room was small, and there were round tables scattered around in one area. There were some things in the layout of the bedroom like an air conditioner that we thought might have been helpful in a certain spot instead of where it was.

We choose Arbor Oaks for my sister because it is very nice and new. It is also close by to where her daughter lives. It has a homey feeling. The staff is very nice and very caring. The food is very nice. She's in a one-bedroom apartment and it is very spacious. They have a lot of activities. They have exercise programs, bible study, bingo and special parties. They go out to lunch or dinner once a month at a restaurant. They took them shopping. They had some cooking stuff every now and then. I liked that she could stay in her apartment even if she ran out of money.

Arbor Oaks looks really nice, and it's really open and big. I like the openness that they had. There is a big area for them to sit in and lounge near to their eating area. The hallways were big for people to pass and get through. The rooms were decent. It's a newer facility. You could go upstairs in the elevators. They had eating areas that you could come in. They had lots of games that they did with them. The dining room was very nice. I like that the rooms had a built-in shower bench, and it's very personal. The staff was really good.

We put mom at Arbor Oaks Senior Living, but right now she is at home. The facility is brand new and she was the first person to be staying in that room. The rooms are very nice. We also choose this place because it was the nicest looking facility. She is in their memory care facility and it such good security that they couldn’t come and go outside. They have their own area; their own dining room, their own kitchen area, and TV room. It's very, very nicely decorated and rich looking. It's very nice. They do have activities including bingo. I sat in with the meals and it was kind of weird. They have smaller meals with supper and bigger meals for lunch.

Arbor Oaks had only been opened for two weeks when we went there. It was very fancy. They have nice chandeliers and marble floors in the entrance way. It was a brand new facility. It was a large facility. They even have a chef that prepares the meals for their residents. It looked like they were going to be a nice place for people to live in. They did an assessment on my mom and determined that they didn't have the staff hired yet to facilitate taking care of her, so more or less, they rejected her. They did have a memory care but it wasn't up and running at that time. They had 17 apartments filled already and they said in a week, they would have 30 more. In other words, they have people moving in there left and right, so I can't imagine they would not be hiring staff. Regarding their rooms, Arbor Oaks was another facility where my mom would have had her own little kitchen and I really didn't want that for her. It was because she was not good about cleaning her refrigerator and throwing old food away. Also the room that they were going to give her was down the hall from the lunch room and even though she has a scooter that she could use, but with her mind kind of deteriorating, we didn't know if she would remember how to get down the hallway to the lunch room. So that makes us worry.