Valley View Village

    2571 Guthrie Ave, Des Moines, IA 50317
    • Independent Living
    • Assisted Living
    • Memory Care
    • Skilled Nursing

    Caring comfortable homey community experience

    I'm very pleased with this community - beautiful, homey campus; consistently kind, compassionate and attentive staff; clean, comfortable rooms; tasty meals; plenty of activities and strong therapy/rehab options - my loved one truly feels cared for and at home.

    Loved one of resident
    Jul 2026

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    Amenities

    Healthcare services

    • Activities of daily living assistance
    • Assistance with bathing
    • Assistance with dressing
    • Assistance with transfers
    • Medication management

    Healthcare staffing

    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

    • Diabetes diet
    • Meal preparation and service
    • Special dietary restrictions

    Room

    • Air-conditioning
    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Private bathrooms
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Transportation

    • Community operated transportation
    • Transportation arrangement
    • Transportation arrangement (non-medical)

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Computer center
    • Fitness room
    • Gaming room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space
    • Small library
    • Wellness center

    Community services

    • Concierge services
    • Fitness programs
    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Planned day trips
    • Resident-run activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    Reviews

    4.29·(41)

    Overall rating

    1. 5
    2. 4
    3. 3
    4. 2
    5. 1
    • Care

      3.9
    • Staff

      4.2
    • Meals

      4.0
    • Amenities

      4.1
    • Value

      2.3

    Pros

    • Friendly, compassionate staff
    • Clean, well-maintained interior and grounds
    • Modern, well-appointed dining rooms
    • Varied, nutritious meal options
    • Private and spacious apartment options with in-unit laundry
    • Secure memory-care unit with private rooms
    • Active amenity set (game rooms, patio, workout area, garage)
    • Robust activity calendar including religious programs
    • Strong physical therapy services
    • Convenient location near restaurants and shopping
    • Contemporary building design and tasteful decor
    • Independent and assisted living options with a non-institutional atmosphere

    Cons

    • Inconsistent staffing levels, particularly nights and weekends
    • Long call-bell response times
    • Inconsistent cuisine quality and logistical meal delays
    • Limited transportation for off-site medical appointments
    • High base price and additional fees for some services
    • Small or outdated resident rooms in some units
    • Variable resident engagement despite many scheduled activities
    • Weak administrative communication and corporate-style decision making
    • Gaps in personal-property management and incident follow-up
    • Mixed rehabilitation availability and outcomes

    Summary of reviews

    Overall impression: Valley View Village presents as a well-maintained, contemporary senior community with a wide set of amenities and a generally warm, faith-friendly atmosphere. Reviewers consistently praised the facility’s cleanliness, tasteful decor, attractive exterior landscaping, and modern communal spaces such as the dining room, game rooms, and fitness area. The location is convenient to restaurants and shopping, and unit features such as garages and in-unit laundry were highlighted as practical strengths.

    Care and staff: Staff-level interactions are a clear strength in many accounts. Descriptors such as friendly, caring, sincere, and helpful appear frequently, and families and residents often note attentive daytime personnel and a compassionate approach in long-term and memory-care settings. Memory-care received positive mention for private rooms and attentive teams. At the same time, a consistent pattern emerges around staffing consistency: night and weekend coverage is described as thinner, with longer waits for call-bell responses. This creates an operational risk for timeliness of assistance that prospective residents and families should evaluate.

    Dining and nutrition: The facility’s dining infrastructure is well regarded — modern dining rooms, varied menus, and some reviewers describing meals as nutritious and tasty. Physical layout issues have contributed to meal-service delays in certain situations (for example, logistical separation of kitchen and dining service), and quality appears to be inconsistent across meals and shifts: some residents praise the cuisine highly while others describe food as dull. Families should plan a meal visit to judge quality and timing for themselves and inquire about contingency plans for meal continuity.

    Activities and therapy: Valley View Village offers a broad activity calendar (bingo, card games, karaoke, religious programming, chronic-pain programming) and is described as having a non-institutional, active-feel environment. However, several accounts indicate that programming can be generic or not fully engaging for all residents, and COVID-era reductions affected participation. Physical therapy and rehabilitation receive strong praise from some reviewers, though other comments suggest inconsistent rehab experiences — prospective families should confirm current therapy staffing and outcomes if short-term rehab is a priority.

    Facilities and living units: The property’s aesthetic and amenity set are clear selling points: modern finishes, neat common areas, patios, and secure units. Unit quality varies; some apartments are described as spacious and well-equipped, while others are characterized as small, outdated, or arranged with twin beds that feel crowded. Tour units carefully to assess unit size and finishes, and verify whether you would be placed in a renovated or older floor plan.

    Management, operations, and costs: Several reviewers raised concerns about administrative responsiveness and a corporate decision-making tone. Families described delays in management communication, meetings that felt perfunctory, and unsatisfactory follow-up on personal-property issues. There is also a consistent theme of high cost and additional fees — for example, extra charges associated with off-site medical visits and limited transportation services. Those factors make it important to review the fee schedule and transportation policy in detail.

    Notable patterns and decision points: In summary, Valley View Village combines many tangible strengths — cleanliness, pleasant aesthetics, active amenities, and frequently compassionate staff — with operational weaknesses that center on staffing consistency, administrative communication, and variable service quality (dining and rehab). Prospective residents and families should prioritize an in-person visit during a meal and an activities period, ask specific questions about night and weekend staffing levels, review the fee schedule for off-campus services, and clarify unit assignment to ensure the selected apartment matches expectations.

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    Medicare Ratings

    3·/ 5
    • Overall

    • Health Inspection

    • Staffing

    • Quality Measures

    Ratings from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Care Compare). View on Medicare.gov

    Location

    Map showing location of Valley View Village

    Valley View Village is located at 2571 Guthrie Ave, Des Moines, IA, 50317.

    About Valley View Village

    Valley View Village sits on 16 acres in the Fairmont Park neighborhood of Des Moines, on Guthrie Avenue, and has served seniors for over 60 years with a range of health and living services that fit many needs as folks age, and you see this right away since it offers so many living options from independent living in cottages or apartments to assisted living and memory care, plus a skilled nursing facility for those who need more daily support, and short-term rehab or hospice care for others dealing with health challenges, and there's no need for a buy-in or endowment when moving in. Residents get to choose among studio, one-bedroom, one-bedroom plus den, and two-bedroom apartments, or detached homes, and all have private bathrooms, walk-in showers, full kitchens, and climate control, and they get the basics like weekly housekeeping, linen service, towel service, landline phone, Wi-Fi, and satellite TV built into rent, along with resident parking, guest suites for visitors, and even pet-friendly options for cats or dogs, which is good since everyone wants to keep their buddy with them, and visitors feel welcome with all the common spaces, lounges, sunrooms, and patios that look out over landscaped lawns with flower beds and bird feeders.

    Valley View Village runs a full continuum of care model, so someone can move in and find the help they need as care needs change, and assisted living services help with activities of daily living--things like bathing, dressing, transfers, or medication management, plus meal prep and diabetic diets, and there's strong memory care support, including activities and safe spaces for those living with Alzheimer's or dementia, and the health center next door handles rehab, outpatient therapy, and long-term care for folks recovering or in need of more skilled nursing. People can enjoy a steady daily and weekly calendar with activities on and off-site, including fitness classes, gardening clubs, Wii bowling, BBQs, movie nights, Bible study, live performances, seminars, outings, and shopping trips, and there's plenty of social life with club gatherings, game nights, and community events, all put together by professional activity directors, so nobody's left out for long if they want company, and for quiet times there's a library with computers and books, a wellness center, and a spa room with a whirlpool tub.

    Meals get served restaurant-style in the dining room three times a day, kitchen staff accommodate special dietary needs, and anyone who needs help can get escorted to meals for the first few days until familiar with the place, and if anyone wants a snack or coffee, the café is always nearby. On-site beauty salon and barber help everyone look their best, and various outdoor spaces--gardens, patios, sunrooms, and walking paths--give people a place to relax together or enjoy the sun. Security is around-the-clock with 24-hour staff, emergency call systems, and residents get monthly health checks and can build a care plan with help from nursing staff who keep an eye on things. Scheduled transport takes residents out for events and errands or to run to the doctor, and the building's connected design keeps living areas close to the shared spaces-no long treks in bad weather.

    Valley View Village doesn't require a buy-in and tries to be an affordable option for seniors who want an active, welcoming life without giving up care as they need more support, and there's a long history of compassionate staff and a neighborhood feel, shown in the way residents keep pets, decorate for holidays, and lead some activities themselves. The whole place is designed for comfort and convenience, with craftsman-style apartments, cozy corners, fireplaces, and outdoor sunrooms, so people can settle in for a while, see friends, and know that help's always right there as they age. The community's friendly, organized, and offers seniors a chance to enjoy life with as much or as little help as they want, right there in Des Moines.

    People often ask...

    Valley View Village offers independent living, assisted living, memory care, continuing care retirement community, and skilled nursing.

    There are 9 photos of Valley View Village on Mirador.

    Yes, Valley View Village allows residents to age in place and adjust their level of care as needed.

    The full address for this community is 2571 Guthrie Ave, Des Moines, IA 50317.

    No, Valley View Village does not offer respite care. Respite care in assisted living communities provides temporary, short-term relief for primary caregivers by offering professional care for their loved ones. It allows individuals to stay in an assisted living community for a limited time, giving caregivers a break while ensuring residents receive necessary support and assistance with daily activities.

    Disclaimer

    Mirador Living is not affiliated with the owner or operator(s) of Valley View Village. The information above has not been verified or approved by the owner or operator. For exact information, please contact Valley View Village directly. There is no cost for this service. We are compensated by the community you select.

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