We moved in January.. So we have been here for almost 4 months. It is bright and beautifully maintained. Housekeeping comes once a week. They vacuum, mop, wipe down cabinets, and will change your sheets if you want.
You get 3 meals a day and the menu is varied. The dining room is bright with a beautiful view of the mountains. Dining is an opportunity to socialize and make new friends. The Deer Park van will transport you anywhere in Novato and bring you back. All the staff has been cheerful and helpful. So far , I feel this was the right choice for us. CA & TS
This actually is my 2nd review of Deer Park! (The first one was written after we’d toured it, but before my dad moved in.)
Deer Park is a great place and also reasonably priced!
The people (both the staff and the residents) are genuinely friendly and have gone above and beyond to help my dad, who has very significant vision loss from glaucoma, feel welcome and at home.
He is very happy at Deer Park and that is saying something, as he is a bit of a curmudgeon (and pretty socially awkward).
Again and again, I have seen staff members go above and beyond to assist him and to do so with a kind attitude!
I 100% recommend Deer Park, which also has activities, outings, a van for errands, a library and a nice garden right off of the dining room!
Also, they have live entertainment, which when we were there, consisted of a singer who was really excellent.
One last thing, a very nice breakfast, lunch and dinner menu (and snacks) are available in a restaurant-like setting (this is included in the monthly fee), but if a person is not feeling well, the kitchen will bring meals to a person’s apartment.
I have been at Deer Park Retirement Community for almost 4 months now. I am very happy that I moved here after doing my research. Staff are very friendly. Dining room offerings are good and often very good. Staff is committed to residents being heard and resident needs being met as much as possible. The staff does listen very well to questions and ideas and does a very good job even in complicated.situations. Anyway, the amenities are extensive, and much appreciated. It's also pet friendly, which is a plus. Residence are never made to feel like an interruption or in intrusion, because staff realize we are the reason that they are here. Staff and management share information they are given by Bend Corporate office when they are given it.
I was looking for a new home for me so I did a lot of looking ans discovered Deer Park Retirement Community in Novato and said this for me best decision I made. I have a two bedroom apartment 1st floor wonderful view . Having my own furniture and things makes me feel right at home. Nice dinning room, open seating. food is good You can eat in the dinning or take it to your own apartment. Nice staff, so helpful makes you feel happy that you made the correction decision .
My husband and I accompanied my dad on a tour of Deer Park.
This review is about Deer Park, but it's also about Lance, our guide, who is such a warm, honest and genuine person and I hope that Deer Park knows what a gem they have in him.
Deer Park is located in a lovely setting (which my "city person" father found too "remote" even though they have a van to take you to any public transit and he takes public transit ALL THE TIME), bucolic and yet near to downtown Novato.
The studio apartments we saw, while small, were of an adequate size (unless a person is going to be spending most of their time in their apartment).
There is a restaurant with plenty of options and one can even get snacks from the restaurant 24/7. Like all independent senior living facilities, "rent" includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, which, if I recall correctly are ordered from a waiter (after you make your selection from the menu) who then brings your meal to your table.
(We weren't there at mealtime, but were invited to come back when it was mealtime, so that my dad could see if he liked the chef's cooking).
There's a small movie theater, a library, a genuinely sweet and caring activities director and I believe there are cultural outings (you will generally find all these features at comparable residences, but, again, they will cost a lot more).
The other amenities are comparable to other independent senior housing complexes that are priced significantly higher.
In our particular case, I liked that the apartments have a cord on the wall in the main room and the bathroom (and, I would assume, the bedrooms, but we didn't see any 1 or 2 bedroom apartments) to pull in case help is needed.
Since my fiercely independent 90 year old father (who was an academic and is completely intellectually sound) refuses to wear a pendant for summoning help around his neck, this would have been a particularly good fit for us.
Lance, my husband and I did our best to show my father that Deer Park would be a good fit for him, but he was stuck on the idea that he could not get into San Francisco entirely on his own at any time that struck him as opportune and for him that was a deal-breaker.
I also want to mention that all the employees (to a person) that we met at Deer Park seemed genuinely happy to work there.
I have learned from experience that you can tell a lot about a place (be it a retirement community or a doctor's office) from how happy the people who work there seem to be.
If staff are disgruntled and act like you are bothering them, that is a definite red flag and not only were the people (and again, I want to be sure to single Lance and the activity director out for special praise) not like that, they stood out for seeming authentically enthusiastic about Deer Park and their work.
