Overall sentiment in the reviews for New Perspective Senior Living | Prior Lake is strongly mixed, with a sizable number of highly positive experiences coexisting alongside numerous serious complaints. Many families and residents describe warm, compassionate caregivers, an active social program, and comfortable apartments with useful amenities. At the same time, multiple reviewers reported lapses in clinical care, frustrating management interactions, inconsistent dining quality, and troubling billing or fee practices. The net impression is of a community with strong micro-level strengths (individual staff members, events, and select units) but uneven macro-level execution (leadership, staffing stability, food service, and billing transparency).
Care quality and staff: A frequent theme is that direct care staff — aides, nurses, and some administrators — are often described as attentive, kind, and very personal. Numerous reports cite employees who remembered resident preferences, treated residents like family, supported hospital-avoidance during acute events, and were particularly effective during COVID-19. However, that positive picture is offset by many reports of inconsistent care tied to high staff turnover and vacancies. Specific, serious care failures are reported in multiple summaries: delayed responses to call buttons, residents left in the dining room or bathroom for long periods, incidents of a resident being soiled and left waiting for help, an aide allegedly confiscating a toothbrush or insisting on pills before brushing, a head injury that was not documented, falls or other incidents not reported to families, and one report of an RN not checking on a hospice patient until after death. These contrasting accounts suggest that while excellent individualized care exists in many cases, there are systemic failures in staffing levels, training, incident documentation, and supervision that put residents at risk.
Management, communication and billing: Several reviewers explicitly criticize leadership and corporate practices. Common complaints include difficult or abrupt communication with the executive director, dismissive responses when incidents are raised (including being called "bitter" in one account), and a perception that management prioritizes revenue over resident well-being. There are repeated allegations of unexpected charges and poor billing transparency — being charged for carpet replacement, a freezer door, nonrefundable fees, and services never received — with refunds only occurring after complaint. Reported rent increases range from typical small raises to a claimed 18.75% annual increase in an extreme complaint. These issues have eroded trust for some families and led others to recommend looking elsewhere.
Dining and dietary services: Dining emerges as one of the most polarized areas. Many reviewers describe the food in very negative terms — "disgraceful," unappetizing, often inedible, overly starchy, with overcooked vegetables, insufficient protein, high sugar/corn syrup content, and small portions. Several reviewers specifically note the absence of diabetic or low-salt menu options and an $8 extra charge for larger servings. Conversely, other reviewers praise the food as excellent, cooked-to-order, generous, and a highlight of the community. This stark variability suggests inconsistency in the culinary program (perhaps linked to chef turnover) and indicates that expectations for dietary accommodations may not be consistently met across residents or shifts.
Facilities, amenities and activities: The community offers many attractive features for prospective residents: spacious apartments (including one-bedrooms with full kitchens and in-unit laundry in some units), multiple common areas (library, beauty salon, movie theater, bistro/cafe, chapel), fitness areas, and organized activities and outings. Several reviewers note recent remodeling of common areas and attentive maintenance in certain instances. That said, other reviewers describe worn carpeting, delayed or partial remodels, library computers not working, and mixed cleanliness in specific units. Memory care received praise in some accounts (successful transitions and dignified treatment) and criticism in others (institutional or prison-like feel), reinforcing the pattern of variability across neighborhoods in the community.
Activities and community life: A recurring positive theme is robust programming: daily activity charts, bingo, crafts, live music, book club, weekly events, and offsite trips. Many residents report feeling socially engaged, with lots of opportunities for connection. These offerings, coupled with friendly neighbors and communal dining, contribute to a strong sense of community for many residents. Where community life falters, it is typically tied to staffing shortages, communication breakdowns, or facility-wide stressors that reduce program consistency.
Safety, clinical oversight, and independent living concerns: Several summaries highlight restrictions or gaps in support for independent living residents — for example, limited staff ability to enter IL apartments for illness monitoring and reported zero support in some cases. Multiple reviewers expressed concern about evening and overnight coverage, inconsistent documentation of incidents and falls, and delayed family notifications. These are significant safety concerns and contrast with other reports that describe reliable monitoring and a safe environment.
Patterns, variability, and recommendations for prospective families: The reviews show strong internal variability. Many families had long positive experiences: trusted staff, personalized care, effective clinical oversight during COVID, and a happy, social life for residents. Conversely, an important subset of reviews document serious care and management breakdowns, billing problems, and inconsistent food and housekeeping. Key patterns prospective families should consider: ask specific, recent questions about current chef/catering staff and dietary accommodations; verify staffing levels for evenings/nights and training in dementia care; request written policies on incident reporting and family notification; review billing practices and ask for sample statements/receipts; and tour multiple neighborhoods (independent living, assisted living, memory care) to see differences in atmosphere and care.
In summary, New Perspective Senior Living | Prior Lake appears to offer many of the amenities, activities, and compassionate individual caregivers that families want, but there are recurrent, tangible complaints about management communication, billing transparency, staffing stability, dining consistency, and some serious safety/documentation incidents. Prospective residents and families would benefit from targeted, thorough conversations with leadership about these specific concerns and from obtaining recent, concrete evidence of staffing, dietary accommodations, incident reporting practices, and fee structures before making a decision.
