Luxury assisted living offers more than the typical amenities you’ll find in assisted living. Some communities feel more like a five-star hotel or a resort than a senior living community. Prime locations, excellent service, deluxe amenities, unique activities, fine dining, and excellent care are all hallmarks of this luxury lifestyle. Of course, as the term implies, luxury assisted living will cost more than other assisted living options. Here we’ll show you what makes luxury assisted living unique, with listings from some of our partner communities.
Image Credit: MediaFeed / Coterie Cathedral Hill / Atria West 86.
Key Takeaways
- Luxury assisted living can be found in prime locations, like the center of a city or near an attractive view.
- These communities offer deluxe, stylish amenities, like rooftop pools, to make assisted living feel upscale.
- Luxury assisted living is expensive, sometimes more than $25,000 per month.
- Activities are never boring, with options like ballroom dancing and courses from Ivy League schools.
Image Credit: Watermark Retirement Communities.
What is luxury senior living?
Luxury senior living offers an upscale living experience for older adults. Features typically include deluxe amenities and living spaces, convenient locations near attractions, distinctive services, fine dining, and a proactive approach to health care.
Luxury assisted living redefines the way we think about senior care by offering premier amenities and exceptional services. With a heightened focus on convenience and comfort — and a higher price tag to match — these communities often resemble deluxe-condo developments or five-star resorts.
Image Credit: Atria Senior Living.
The top features of upscale assisted living communities
Each assisted living community is unique, and luxury assisted living communities are even more likely to find ways to stand out. Even so, you’re likely to notice some common features.
Image Credit: Watermark Retirement Communities.
Sought-after location
Highly desirable locations are natural places for luxury options, whether in the heart of a vibrant city or in less-densely populated locations with gorgeous views. You can also find luxury senior living options in places that offer the most convenience.
In urban locations, luxury assisted living will be close to shopping, dining, and entertainment. Coterie Hudson Yards, an assisted living community in New York City, offers residents a prime location. It’s just a few blocks from the scenic views of Pier 76, Rockefeller Center, and Madison Square Garden. With plenty of shopping and dining options nearby, it puts residents in the heart of the city.
For seniors who enjoy a more peaceful atmosphere, some luxury communities focus on creating a beautiful environment. Manicured green spaces are an important part of some luxury senior living communities. A spacious courtyard with elegant water features and shady trees is an oasis for residents of Oakmont of the Lakes, a luxury assisted living community in Las Vegas. Plus, the community has scenic mountain views.
Image Credit: Coterie Hudson Yards.
First-class services
Luxury assisted living communities really set themselves apart with exceptional services. Many offer a concierge, errands service, on-site pet care, or other unique offerings.
For instance, Sunrise of University Park, an option for luxury assisted living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, offers technology services to connect relatives with their loved ones. With a family engagement app, users can view photos of their parents enjoying the community, like painting in an art class or snuggling the community dog.
The app also helps residents with reminiscence therapy. Seniors can share life stories with caregivers, who enter them into the app. Families can also share their memories to craft a recorded life story.
Just down the road in Colorado Springs, MacKenzie Place offers its own private travel agency. Whether residents want to take a group trip, travel to see family, or plan a staycation, they can have a personal travel coordinator handle the details.
Image Credit: MacKenzie Place.
Deluxe amenities
Luxury senior living communities also offer resort-style amenities. These might include a high-end lounge bar with happy hours, sleek indoor lap swimming pools, golf courses, boutique-style movie theaters, or beauty salons with an array of spa services.
Residents of Vi at The Glen, a luxury continuing care retirement community in the Chicago suburb of Glenview, Illinois, have several amenities to choose from. The community features a salt-filtered pool and a therapeutic whirlpool where residents can join aqua fitness classes. Not a fan of the water? Take a stroll through the community’s beautifully maintained English garden, or play golf on their 5,000-square-foot putting green.
Meanwhile, Coterie Cathedral Hill, a high-rise assisted living community in San Francisco, sets itself apart with sleek, contemporary amenities, including a rooftop pool and classy piano bar.
Image Credit: Coterie Cathedral Hill.
Robust activities
Activities in luxury senior living communities are never boring. You’ll find not only a wide variety, but often unique offerings.
Take The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights, for example. Some of their activities include:
- Beginner ballroom dance
- Happy hour with pets
- Open courses from Yale University
- Meditation and breath work
- Rock voices choir
- Jewelry making
- Resident writing group
- Judaism learning sessions
- Catholic Communion services
- Men’s group
There’s many more activities on their calendar, including outings in Brooklyn Heights.
Image Credit: Watermark Retirement Communities.
Fine dining
Luxury senior living serves cuisine from top chefs and gives residents several dining options. Often, residents savor daily specials or order from an expansive menu of prepared-to-order dishes.
At Atria West 86 in New York City, residents can choose from three dining venues, including rooftop seating with a skyline view. Alternatively, they can relax in the comfort of their home with room service. Chefs prepare locally inspired dishes with fresh, seasonal ingredients, while always considering dietary needs and preferences of residents.
On the West coast, Coterie Cathedral Hill partners with artisans local to the San Francisco area for unique goods, including a specialty coffee roasted on-site. Dining options include a fine dining restaurant, a casual grill, and a lounge with hors d’oeuvre and wine pairings.
Image Credit: Coterie Cathedral Hill.
Health care
While caregiver assistance is available at every assisted living community, some luxury assisted living communities take things a step further. Most assisted living communities typically have a nurse on call, but luxury communities may have several nurses on staff. At communities that offer multiple senior living options, such as independent living or memory care, you’ll likely find classes that take a proactive approach to health needs.
Across luxury communities, you may notice:
- An on-site doctor or a visiting doctor
- Registered nurses on-site
- Alert necklaces or other health monitoring devices
- Holistic programming
- A wellness coordinator on staff
- A high caregiver-to-resident ratio
Image Credit: PeopleImages/istockphoto.
The cost of luxury assisted living
Luxury assisted living can cost upwards of $10,000 per month. Costs can vary greatly depending on the community’s location and on-site amenities. For instance, the monthly rates at the ultra-luxurious Coterie Hudson Yards in New York are as follows:
- Studios start at $10,800 per month.
- One-bedrooms begin at $19,900 per month.
- Two-bedrooms exceed $28,000 per month.
The cost of luxury senior living can vary widely even within similar geographic areas. Many one-bedroom luxury assisted living apartments in New York range between $10,000 and $12,000 per month. In comparison, the median monthly cost of general assisted living in the U.S. is $4,995, according to A Place for Mom’s report on the cost of long-term care and senior living.
For many of these communities, the monthly rate doesn’t include the cost of caregiver assistance. Keep in mind that these rates are starting points. Your loved one will likely pay more for advanced care, so luxury assisted living should be considered only by those who can comfortably afford it.
Image Credit: Coterie Cathedral Hill.
How to find luxury assisted living
A luxury senior home means something different to everyone. For some, the deluxe amenities or activities are top priorities. Others may find luxury in personal touches or above-and-beyond services. For many, the dining experience is a key factor — and who can blame them?
For help finding luxury assisted living to fit your expectations, A Place for Mom provides a consultation service with a Senior Living Advisor. Our experts can assist with finding luxury assisted living communities in your area and can offer advice and recommendations throughout the process. Best of all, this service comes at no cost to you and your family.
This article originally appeared on A Place for Mom and was syndicated by MediaFeed.
Image Credit: Zeke A./Yelp.
