The Stafford Retirement Community

My grandma has lived their for 2 years. The other people who live there are wonderful, the rooms are lovely, the grounds and public places are exceptionally well kept. The primary issue is that one of the primary social activities at the Stafford is eating in the restaurant. All residents are required to spend a certain (not insubstantial) amount of $ at the restaurant each month, and if you don’t spend it, you lose it. That is routine at many retirement communities and ensures that everyone gets out and socializes, whether they want to or not, and this would be overall a positive if the restaurant was decent. It is not unusual to sit down and wait 20 minutes for someone to even bring you a menu. Food can take 1 hour. It seems random, sometimes you get served quickly, but far too often, you can hear staff talking in the kitchen while no one is looking out over the dining room. The food is okay, not great, but not terrible, but it is just the excruting wait that it takes to get any food to you that really ruins the experience. Family members don’t want to visit and eat. Kids go crazy. Residents are retired, not asleep, so they get frustrated. This is something that they have to deal with every day and it really should be improved.

I have eaten at the Stafford Restaurant numerous times as a guest of one of the residents. The meals are always delicious and presented well. My issue is with the wait staff. The delay in getting a menu and water is beyond the scope of my patience. Just because the residents are retired does’t mean they have nothing but time to waste for meal service. It is also infuriating to view residents getting impatient for the same reason. This problem needs to be resolved and customer service needs improvement.

My mom recently moved to The Stafford and is loving living there. The staff greets residents, their family members, and guests with open friendliness and great respect. The services provided are numerous and professionally staffed. It’s clear that the development of The Stafford included asking how residents who’ve decided to live in community actually WANT to live: a high level of staff and resident interaction, town meetings to discuss important topics, feedback systems to ensure that residents are heard, excellent food and lovely surroundings. For my mom, being in this safe environment where people care for one another is ideal. When I toured the property, my first thought was «when can I move in?»