3 Independent Living Communities in Citrus County, Florida

Mark

The area that comprises The Villages of Citrus Hills is a quiet, peaceful area with about 19 different villages. Three of which are gated. The country club has many nice facilities for use by its members. Having lived here for 2 decades, the biggest drawbacks in my opinion are: 1) It is a For Profit country club where members have no say in what their dues are used for. You will never get to see how your dues are used as the owner will not open their financial books to anyone. 2)The owners have told control of what the rates should be. In 2022 they raised their dues by about 17% while closing facilities for members because of Covid. In 2023 they again raised their rates by another 8%. 3)The club is mismanaged. The owner, who is the developer, is focused building houses for new clients and does not care about the needs or wants of the members. Requests/complaints/concerns fall on deaf ears when presented to the club management. 4)Of the three golf courses, only one is properly maintained. The one that they show to potential buyers. 5)The restaurants are overpriced with questionable food quality. It's usually hit or miss as to how your meal will arrive. 6)Depending on which area you live in will determine your HOA fees. If you live within Terra Vista you can be subject to an HOA fee from Terra Vista, plus an HOA from the individual community you live in. These fees are on top of your country club dues. 7) The developer sells you Shangri-la but the reality is that you commit yourself to a lifetime of dues. That may be fine when you are first retired and still able to use the facilities, but as you age you use less but are still obligated to pay the club dues. 8)Several of the amenities (e.g. dog park, activity center, Skyview restaurant, pickle ball courts and Bella Vita gym) are located behind the gates in Terra Vista. There are three access points into the community. If you live outside the gates of Terra Vista, you can come in through the main gate with no additional fee to access this area. But if you want to use the gates on Essex or Ottawa the club makes you pay an annual fee for an RFD tag. In effect they charge you extra to get to your facilities even though you have a membership. As they say. “BUYER BEWARE!”

Sherry

We like Sunflower Springs. The rooms are very spacious, and it has a lot of unique amenities that a lot of the other assisted living facilities don't have. The staff is very attentive. My mother-in-law seems to really like the food. The building is amazing, and I know it's been there several years. It looks brand new, the facility is very well maintained, all of the staff members have been extremely helpful, very easy to get along with, very easy to get a hold of, and my mother-in-law is happy. She's very thrilled to be there, even though during this pandemic she's had to be in quarantine. They made her feel very comfortable, and they had things in her room for her to do during that two week period, so I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Sandra

Sunflower Springs was an excellent place. They have fair rates, the rooms were all clean, and the people were all engaged in activities. That would be an ideal place for my mother because she's very social, but they can't take care of her trach or feeding tube. We talked to one of the residents, which happens to be my neighbor's mom, and she likes it there. She showed us her room; she's very happy and content there.

JB

They were very helpful and volunteered all kinds of information. The place is very clean, and the people were extremely nice. I'd recommend it to anybody. I thought it's a very nice place. They had studios, but they were big enough. Somebody who has a big home moving into this would probably feel very cramped though. They had a library, exercise room, and places to walk. They're very secure about letting people out and know exactly who's coming in, so that was also notable and good.

Norma

Some of the rooms were a bit small, especially the shared ones with two people. It was bright, airy, and clean. They have bingo, card games, and outings. The first person we met was OK, but she was a bit of a hard sell, and she was really pushing it, but when we went back a second time, we met someone who was much nicer and more patient, and that was when my friend made the decision.