Landings of Blaine seemed a little bit older than other places, a little bit not as professionally kept up, and a little bit more rundown. The person during the tour was very helpful and seemed very caring. They had a living room area and a dining room area.

My mother moved into The Landings of Blaine last October. She’s very happy there, and the experience has been good. It’s a small facility with 19 beds, which is what she likes about it. It doesn’t seem institutional, and because it’s very small, it operates like a family. She likes the people who work there and the facility. They’re taking good care of her and are very personable. The food is good. They’re open to recommendations about food and activities. She made friends there. They do light housekeeping, change the bedding in her room weekly, do her laundry, and clean her room weekly. They have meals in the community room, but if you can’t go there for some reason, they can save your meal and bring it to you, but they don’t endorse eating in your room because they don’t want you to be isolated. They have an activity room, and an activity director who does light exercises with the residents. They have singalongs, celebrate birthdays, have pastors from the local churches come by to do church services on Wednesday, have hair dressers available, play games, and put out a daily newsletter with local information from the community and brain teasers or word games. They’re very welcoming to staff and visitors. It has a really homey atmosphere there.

Landings of Blaine was convenient and close to home. It was pretty clean, and the staff was really friendly. I saw a single room that was clean and furnished. The dining area was nice. I saw the menu, and they serve three meals. It was a pretty nice place to live.

Brookdale Blaine is a very small place, and we wanted Mom in a larger place. The rooms were small. The people were very pleasant, but there weren't many, and I did not see much socializing. They have in-house activities, but there wasn't much activity going on around the place.

Brookdale Blaine is very small. The lady was nice there. I had lunch there, and the food was good. It was very clean.

Sterling House of Blaine was nice, but we decided we really don’t need assisted living yet so we just don’t do anything right now, but it was a good facility. We didn’t really see what activities they had -- just that the place looked nice. The individual we talked to answered everything. People seemed to be happy, seemed fine, and didn't have any issues.

I liked Sterling House because it was close to a hospital and it was on the bus line. I knew a lot people who lived there. The staff was nice and the rooms were okay.

The walls of the lobby area were decked in store front facades to look like an old town square. This signaled to me that we (the visitors, staff, and residents) weren't quite dealing in reality. I know that I wouldn't want to call something that looked like a tourist destination home. We were able to visit with my grandmother for a bit in a kitchen used for group cooking exercises, which sounded pleasant. The most annoying thing about this visit was that an alarm kept going off. These alarms were disruptive, unsettling to say the least, to our visit and seemed to be overkill considering the staff's responses to them. I am upset about the care that my grandmother was receiving and even more at myself for not doing anything about it.

The Sterling House of Blaine caught our eye as we were looking for an assisted living situation for my grandmother. Blaine is around 13 miles from the Minneapolis area and easy to get to by car. However, mass transit to the area is quite limited. The staff works hard to create a familial atmosphere as were were told that many of the folks who live there have limited contact with their families for one reason or another. We were impressed with the coordinator who told us that they would design a "personalized living plan" for our grandmother if we chose to place her there. The private apartments were a bit larger than the ones we saw in the city and all were equipped with easy to operate cable, a kitchenette and temperature controls. The communal social areas for dining and entertainment feature lovely gardens and courtyards. The walking paths are designed so that our grandmother could easily navigate them with her walker, which she really liked. The beauty shop gave her a complimentary trim to acquaint her with their services. The staff all seems to really enjoy their jobs, which is a definite plus. There is medical staff on call 24/7, so we were sure that our grandmother would be well attended to, should the need arise. The food we sampled was really delicious and prepared healthily, which is very important to our grandmother, who has always eaten well. Transportation and escort services are in place so take people wherever they need to go. Years ago, our grandmother used to work in a laundry and she was very impressed with the linens! While the facilities were some of the loveliest and most professionally run that we've seen, we decided against placing our grandmother there, since a few of our family members rely upon public transport and it would be too difficult for them to visit on their own. This is no reflection on the facility itself. We really enjoyed our visit and it would be on the top of our list if it weren't for the mass transit issues.