Award-winning Allegro Hyde Park provides a standard of luxury in its on-site amenities and exciting off-site amenities, geared toward both independent and assisted living. For older adults accustomed to resort-style living, the community checks all the boxes.

We like the way Allegro Hyde Park works to connect the community via its free Connected Living Community mobile app. It provides real-time access to information about scheduled events, event recaps and photos, community updates, and more.

Located in South Tampa’s historic, upscale Hyde Park neighborhood — noted for its dining, shopping, and cultural events, including Hyde Park Arts Council programs — Allegro Hyde Park’s proximity to everything makes it an excellent choice for staying busy and enjoying all that Tampa has to offer.

» Related Reading: Luxury Retirement and Senior Living

Allegro Hyde Park features independent and assisted living apartments, including one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, as well as one-bedroom with a den. Helmed by an RN-BSN, along with visiting physicians, the community provides 24/7 licensed practical nurses and caregivers. The continuum of care allows residents to transition from independent to assisted living without having to leave the community. We appreciate that Allegro offers two types of senior living, but it doesn’t have quite the continuum of care of other communities on our list, including Legacy at Highwoods Preserve and Discovery Village at Tampa Palms. Other Allegro properties in different parts of the country offer memory care, but the Tampa location does not. Still, it’s an excellent option for people who don’t anticipate needing memory care.

The litmus test for a senior community comes from reviews spanning several years, and Allegro Hyde Park passes with flying colors. Common themes include dedicated staff prioritizing the challenging transition from leaving one’s own home to assisted living, as well as consistent, outstanding, comprehensive care from management to home health aides.

Employees cite Allegro Hyde Park as “the best place to work,” a “close-knit community,” and a “small family atmosphere,” and they report feeling fully supported and rewarded by management. Positive employee reviews are just as important as positive resident reviews. If the staff enjoys their jobs and they’re being treated well in a healthy work environment, that typically translates to better care for residents. The only negative feedback appears to be occasionally not enough parking for visitors.

Open to all faiths and widely known for its vibrant Jewish culture and traditions, Weinberg Village offers older adults the opportunity to actively practice their faith and celebrate traditions with others of the same background and values. Advantages include a kosher meal plan, observation of holidays, and more. Regular visits by rabbis, cantors, Jewish speakers, and other faith representatives make life at Weinberg Village as close to home as possible. We appreciate these religious activities and amenities, since they connect Jewish seniors to their community and faith.

We give the highest marks to the community as the only intergenerational assisted living campus in Tampa. Intergenerational connection studies reveal innumerable mental and emotional health benefits for individuals of all ages, especially seniors. Featuring preschool, after-school, and summer camp programs and a community center with free membership for Weinberg residents, there are abundant opportunities to interact with younger and older children, teens, and college students.

We also like that Weinberg Village is located near lots of shopping and dining, including the Citrus Park Town Center Mall with over 100 stores and restaurants. Just 34 miles from Busch Gardens, fun day trips with children and grandchildren are within reach.

» Related Reading: Jewish Assisted Living and Senior Care

Unlike Allegro at Hyde Park (No. 1 on our list), Weinberg Village features memory care among its assisted living options. Assisted living includes small, medium, large, and deluxe studios, plus one-bedroom apartments. Memory care residents are housed in a separate, secure unit. Rehabilitation services for people recovering from an injury or surgery are also offered.

The community even has extended congregate care (ECC), a specialty license that allows residents to age in place while receiving a higher level of care. ECC is designed for people with increasing mental or physical challenges that may disqualify them from residency in many communities with only a standard or limited nursing services license, so this is unique for the area. We like that seniors do not have to be uprooted and moved to a new facility during the aging process, which can cause stress and disorientation.

Weinberg is an older facility, but reviews are generally positive, citing warm, caring staff and efforts to refurbish individual apartments and common spaces. Well-kept grounds spread over 33 acres make the assisted living experience feel open and airy. One reviewer, while crediting conscientious staff, said she wished there were more employees to improve the caregiver-to-resident ratio. A high caregiver-to-resident ratio is essential for providing quality, individualized care, so that is something to note.

A small, quiet, affordable, homelike setting featuring fine interior design, Great American Assisted Living is one of six communities helmed by a third-generation senior housing operator. Raised alongside a grandmother and mother in the retirement industry, founder and president Ricki Kaneti learned her chosen profession from the ground up, something that translates to high-quality care and attention to detail.

» Learn About: Affordable Senior Care and Housing

Prospective residents undergo a comprehensive screening process, including an interview by the founder to help ensure a pleasant, upbeat community where all feel welcome. That isn’t always part of the protocol in other communities, so we appreciate the attention to detail. As a basic facility, it does not have the amenities of other communities on our list, such as Allegro Hyde Park or Weinberg Village, but it makes up for that with its focus on a nurturing family atmosphere. What also impressed us about Great American Assisted Living is that the community does not add to its move-in cost with higher pricing for added services the way many assisted living facilities do.

Options for assisted living include single and shared rooms. Most assisted living communities do not feature shared rooms except for married couples. Residents may be concerned about living with a stranger, but roommates are screened for compatibility. We believe the protocol is emblematic of the community’s values and the kind of attention to detail that makes for a comfortable environment.

Some Great American Assisted Living communities provide memory care, but the Tampa location does not. Respite care — which allows temporary residence to give a break to family members or professional caregivers of an older adult living at home — is available. During our conversation with a community representative, we got a genuine feeling of the high level of investment the property has in the emotional well-being of its residents and their families.

» Learn About: Respite Care

Reviews cite the attractiveness of the rooms and community in general, but one resident mentioned a desire for a larger room. Others said the rooms are amply sized; the common areas are extremely clean and appealing; and the staff is warm, friendly, and attentive. The director of nursing was highly praised, as was the entire staff, which the review stated had to pivot safely, reliably, and diplomatically throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic posed many challenges for assisted living communities across the country, so positive reviews about Great American’s response to the health crisis show how dedicated the community is.

Ranking highly among its competitors, the Legacy at Highwoods Preserve features top-notch  amenities and services for assisted living, memory care, and respite care. Located in a pristine nature preserve, Legacy offers easy access to Florida’s lush flora and fauna, which is highly beneficial to mental and emotional health in older adults.5 Unlike many assisted living facilities, the Legacy at Highwoods Preserve is removed from busy highways and thoroughfares and boasts a serene environment conducive to a stress-free, peaceful lifestyle.

Culinary options, spiritual pursuits, and lifestyle programs are designed to meet and exceed residents’ wants and needs. High ceilings, large closets, oversized bathrooms, and hypoallergenic flooring in its 60 studio and one-bedroom apartments — another health benefit we really appreciate — make daily living pleasurable, easy, and healthy. Shopping, restaurants, movie theaters, and county parks are close by.

Assisted living, memory care, and respite care programs are staffed by highly credentialed medical and 24/7 support staff, including health and wellness directors, RNs, LPNs, resident assistants, and more.

Legacy’s combination of three types of care differs from the other properties on our list, providing residents and their families with various options. Discovery Village at Tampa Palms also offers three types of care. It shares the assisted living and memory care components with Legacy but offers independent living instead of respite care. We applaud communities that feature multiple types of care, allowing older adults with evolving needs to age in place longer.

Under new ownership and staffing since September 2021, the consensus of reviews is that the upgraded Legacy at Highwoods Preserve checks all the boxes. Residents and family members report spacious apartments, warm and inviting common areas, no shortage of social activities, high staff-to-resident ratio, excellent food, and more.

Staff reviews include comments that Legacy is the best assisted living community of the many they’ve worked at and that Legacy promotes resort-style living and lives up to it. Reviews are overwhelmingly positive — so much so that it was difficult to find any negative feedback on the community! One family member mentioned that the facility was short-staffed occasionally, but that doesn’t seem to be a common theme.

Featuring 40 well-appointed one- and two-bedroom apartments, Discovery Village at Tampa Palms is a resort-style community, similar to Allegro Hyde Park. It may be an excellent choice for older adults accustomed to top-notch amenities and services. A dedicated 24-hour professional health and wellness team meets the evolving needs of its residents. Located in New Tampa, Discovery Village is within shouting distance of a wide variety of dining and shopping experiences, as well as exciting area amenities, including the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Amalie Arena, ZooTampa at Lowry Park, The Shoppes at New Tampa, and Busch Gardens.

Unlike Great American Assisted Living (No. 3 on our list), Discovery Village at Tampa Palms offers supervised independent living, assisted living, and memory care. We like that it is a continuum care facility. Access to different types of care means people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia do not need to move to another facility as their needs progress, which can cause added stress. In short, Discovery Village provides for different steps in the aging process.

Years of positive reviews mention the abundance of activity options, such as animal-related activities that bolster spirits, a clean facility at all times, and residents feeling appreciated and having fun with a well-invested, caring staff every day.

One traveling certified nursing assistant who works throughout the state claims she would “drive 100 miles a day to work for this community,” calling the staff “heroes.” That review really struck us and speaks to how inspired the community is! It was difficult to find any negative feedback about the community, similar to the Legacy at Highwoods Preserve.