Charles E. Smith Life Communities

The staff is very helpful in making sure residents adjust to living at ring house. The residents were warm and welcoming making living in a new place much easier. Many activities organized by the staff as well as canasta and bridge organized by other people living there. Fantastic place to live.

The nursing staff team are terrific, they have an enormous amount of staff members there, and our experience so far has been wonderful. They are giving our loved one the best care that he could need. The memory care program has games, and we would recommend this community for memory care and everything else.

The Landow House was A+ from the minute I called. From a warm and knowledgeable sales agent to entire nursing team-everyone was welcoming and accommodating to my dads needs. My dad is never in his apartment and I would describe everyday as a "experience". I have heard nightmares about assisted living communities and was fearful to even consider but I would say that Landow is definitely an exception to this!

This is a really nice community and my mom is very happy here, she has got her room all set up with her own furniture and loves it. Mom is getting to know her way around she is taking part in the activities and they also offer field trips and special events for the residents. Mom's not too keen on the food but she does enjoy going to the dining room with the other residents. I definitely would suggest taking a tour of this community.

Very friendly and responsive staff.

Revitz House is no frills independent living. Imagine a college dorm but for seniors. For my sister it has been wonderful. She's gone from being a total hermit to someone who is involved in classes and surrounded by nosy, caring neighbors. The cooking may not be gourmet, but at least I know she's getting something to eat. I agree that the elevators are a problem, at mealtimes there is a long wait to use them. Revitz House is within easy walking distance of the wonderful facilities of the JCC, restaurants and shopping at Federal Plaza and Congressional Plaza. A Trader Joe Grocery is a five minute walk away. There is a busline on the edge of the property that connects with the Metro and Revitz offers a shuttlebus for shopping trips a couple times a week. Staff are very tolerant of my sister (she is an extreme obsessive compulsive which makes her a rather annoying person to deal with). This is a good option for an ambulatory person and it made a world of difference in my sister's life.

My 95 y.o. mother is in Ring House. I think it is as lovely and well-staffed a place as you could find anywhere. Everyone who lives and works there is very kind and helpful. The fact that the Hirsh Health Center is on site and that there is a marvelous physical and occupational service there, too, is a significant plus. It has activities to interest everyone and art, music, workout facilities and library as well. The waiters are very pleasant and so is the dining room. The food is kosher , but residents always have a choice of items and it is prepared with the health needs of the elderly in mind.At Ring, breakfasts and dinners are provided every day as part of the fee. There is an onsite cafe open everyday but Saturday which serves excellent coffee, sandwiches, soups and sells snacks and sundries. The newly redone kitchens and baths are very nice. One of the most remarkable touches is the on site home care program which allows people to contract for just the services they need ,delivered by warm and caring attendants.

My mom is settling in better than we expected at the Landow and Ring House. It is a very nice facility, a bit older, I think they have been talking about refreshing it up a bit. The staff is very friendly and it is easy to communicate with them. The front desk staff is warm and welcoming when we come to visit. The food is okay, my mom can be a bit particular about her food, they could add more variety, but it is hard to please so many people at one place. They offer a lot of activities and my mom is making friends there. There are nice sitting areas outside and a sun room that is very comfortable. It is conveniently located so we can take her out to nearby restaurants. We would definitely recommend Landow and Ring House, in fact, I already have.

My loved one has been very happy with the activities they have provided him at this community. They keep him busy throughout the week and he gets a lot of interaction with the other residents during that time. The housekeeping has done an amazing job at making sure that his room is well maintained and that he remains comfortable in his new living environment.

Landow is still in the running for Mom.

Riing House is clean but residents not that friendly. Social workers did not follow through even in the first 2 weeks. Many residents have aids . Apartments and meals offered are excellent. cleaning my mother's apartment is supposed to be done every other week and it still has not be done. i don't know if my mom will stay or if we will switch places,

We really liked how friendly the staff was, they were very caring. The effort to create a community within the community stood out as well. However, it is a little run down and the activities are limited.

Not very impressed by cost, lack of closet space and services. My mom wouldn't be eligible for subsidized costs for a while and she would go thru her money a lot faster. I liked all the activities. Kind of like a cruise ship. I'm Sure it's fine for some but not for my mom.

I can't compare to other places because I have not seen other places. It seems reasonably clean and well-kept. The elderly people drop trash - tissues, small pieces of paper - on the floor and no one picks them up promptly. The decor in the public areas is OK but they recently spent money on an extremely garish and uncomfortable make-over of the lobby, wasting the money of the residents while raising the rents. The units are comfortable and housekeeping services seem OK. The prices are fairly high - $4,080/month for a deluxe one-bedroom, including breakfast and dinner. However, the food is very bland and really not good at all, especially on weekends. The breakfast service is so bad that many people eat breakfast in their apartments. They won't even provide a toaster in the dining room. Lots of activities and the staff seem wonderful. They do have rental assistance for those below a certain income level but it is a high threshold - about $39,000 - and if you make even one dollar more per year, you pay the full price. In other words, it is not a sliding scale. The utility bills are quite high for small apartments. What bothered me the most was how long it took to get someone from security to open my mother's door when she wasn't responding - about 15 minutes. That's ridiculous. They should have the ability to open the apartment doors immediately, 24/7.

The people here were very pleasant. I am impressed with the quality of the food, and happy to see utilities are included. The apartment is small but nice. I didn't like having to go downstairs to do laundry. The place didn't look especially cared for and clean as it should be. While I was there, a resident complained that the hall hadn't be cleaned in over two weeks, the building services man just laughed. A general rule of thumb for me is to ask the question, " would I be happy to live here ?"

Cold Social Worker [name removed]. Uncaring and unknowledgeable about the residents.

The Ring House is infested with bugs. Apartments have roaches and other types of bugs in the apartments. The food is not edible, with the exception of Friday night dinners, when many guests come to eat with residents. The quality of the food and preparation is horrible. The chicken is grey in color. The vegetables are overcooked, the meats are fatty. The food is served cold.

The facility is nice enough but as others have said, it's a cold and unfriendly place. The staff does not follow through on requests. It is rare to have follow-up on an issue or have phone calls returned. For example, in 15 months I could not get a second mail box key issued to us, despite *many* repeated requests. When my father was partially moved out, but still had many items left in his apartment (and was still paying rent), his apartment was entered, his possessions were gone through, the window left open and the door left unlocked. At least one item was missing and at least one other item was broken. Management was notified and I was promised a follow-up but there was none. No explanation, no apology. When my father moved out noone offered their well wishes or even a 'glad to have had you' or a 'sorry to see you go.' The excuse given for the attitude is "well this is independent living, not assisted living," but that does not excuse the coldness and lack of follow-through. One thing is not really management's fault, that is the unfriendliness of the residents. My father is now at Landow, which is assisted living. On top of the additional services that one pays for, Landow is a 1000-times nicer atmosphere. Every single staff member we have dealt with so far is more friendly, responsive and professional.

Unfortunately, my mother has been stuck in this place for almost 10 years. The problems in this place include: Elevators that break down regularly The staff uses the emergency public broadcast/ intercom system daily to tell residents about activities and the unregulated cafe they operate- an intrusion of privacy- you cannot escape these unwanted 'announcements' which are available on their TV access channel and other places. My mother has to suffer thru these loud announcements in her apartment daily. Dirty hall ways and laundry room The "cafe" where food is prepared and served (Mondays and Wednesdays lunch)- by untrained, unsupervised senior volunteers. Food is left on counter, volunteers don't wash their hands and the place has operated without the Health Departments knowledge until recently. So there is no oversight or food safety program in place. The dinning plan is mandatory and the food is sub-standard, boring, repetitive and downright insulting. Although they claim to be kosher and cost of the food plan has gone up, the quality has gone down. Cold-cuts and hot dogs are a regular dinner. Vegetables appear to the the rejects- like giant zucchini which is boiled to mush. Dinners often are served cold. It was reported that the oven wasn't working which delayed their dinners. There are possible fire safety issues with the building exit doors. The elevators get backed up so seniors who are mobile enough might take the stairs- except that the stairway door to the lobby is locked. One floor down- the door is an emergency exit which was found to be bolted shut somehow, at the top. Reports have been made to the fire department and health department. If you can avoid this place- do! It is supposed to be 'independent living' However, more and more disabled folks are accepted for residency, even tho they do not have the staff to oversee them. Mom found a woman in the elevator who had fallen out of her wheelchair. What was she to do? No security cameras in the elevator or in the stairwells. Revitz receives public funds. Where's the oversight?