# What to look for when touring assisted living
You've parked in the visitor lot. You're holding a folder of brochures. Someone at the front desk is waiting with a smile and a clipboard. Under the small talk, you're trying to figure out what to look for when touring assisted living. A pretty dining room won't tell you if Mom will be okay here.
This part is hard. You're not supposed to know how to do it the first time.
Bring questions. Keep them for our questions to ask on a senior living tour guide. This letter is about what to notice when nobody is pitching you.
Watch the staff when they think you're looking at the lobby
Look for warm, respectful interaction between staff and residents.[1] Staff who use residents' names are a good sign.[2] Notice whether the tone is respectful, or only efficient.
Sit for a few minutes in a common area and watch.[3] Notice whether call lights get a quick response, and whether staff respond kindly when someone calls out.[3][4] Slow responses, or residents calling out with no help coming, are worth noting.[4]
AARP advises watching how staff interact with residents, and asking staff whether they feel supported by management. Happy staff tend to show up in how residents are treated.[5]
Ask how long the director and department heads have been there, and how often key staff turn over.[1] Low turnover matters. Longer-tenured staff know residents' preferences and spot changes in condition more readily.[4] Consistent caregivers are ideal.[6]
None of that shows up on a brochure. It shows up in the hallway.
Look at the residents, not just the furniture
Look for residents who are appropriately dressed and well cared for.[1] Check that they look clean, well-groomed, and dressed for the season or time of day.[2]
Watch whether many seem alert, cheerful, or engaged in something, alone or with others.[3] Look at whether rooms reflect the personality of the people living in them.[3] If many residents spend most of their time in bed or in a chair, that can point to too few staff to get people up and dressed, or to a lack of organized activities.[3]
If memory care is part of what you're touring, notice whether residents look comfortable, relaxed, and involved. Check whether the activity listed on the calendar for that hour is actually happening.[7] Watch whether personal care is done with respect and dignity.[7]
Talk to residents you meet, and to families who are visiting.[1][5][6][7] Staff will tell you what they want you to hear. A daughter in the elevator often won't.
Use your nose and your ears
Look for a building that smells clean and feels well maintained.[1] Check that it is free of overwhelming, unpleasant odors.[2][4] Rooms, hallways, and meal tables should be clean.[3] Notice whether the noise in the dining room and common areas feels comfortable, or sharp and constant.[2][3]
Cleanliness leads AARP's list of things to watch for on a tour, along with handrails and call buttons in rooms and bathrooms, well-lit halls and stairs, and clearly marked exits.[5]
If you're touring memory care, look for a setting that is free of unpleasant odors, easy to navigate, and safe and secure indoors and out.[7]
You don't need a checklist for this part. Walk slowly and pay attention.
Stay for a meal if you can
Stop by at mealtime. Check whether the dining room is clean and the food looks appetizing. Taste it if you can.[1] Eat a meal there if they'll let you.[6]
Watch whether residents are eating most of their food, and whether staff patiently help those who need it.[3] Notice whether there is a choice of food at each meal.[2]
AARP recommends visiting more than once, including at mealtimes.[5] For memory care, ask whether family can join for meals, and notice whether mealtime is noisy or distracting.[7]
A tour timed for mid-morning is a sales appointment. Lunch is closer to real life.
Go back when they don't expect you
Make a second visit without calling ahead, on a different day or at a different time, so you meet other staff and see different activities.[1] Take the formal tour, then go back unannounced. Include mealtimes, evenings, and weekends.[6] Go back a second and third time on a weekend or in the evening, when many homes cut staff and services.[3] If possible, bring your parent along.[3][5]
Most places will welcome you without an appointment.[8] The first visit is the performance. The return visits are the truth.
A note on sources: some of the observation cues above come from Medicare and Consumer Voice guides written for nursing homes.[2][3][4] Those cues carry over well to assisted living, but assisted living is regulated by states, not by federal nursing-home rules.[7][8]
Then check what Georgia already knows about the place
A tour is one half of the picture. Inspection records are the other.[6][7]
In Georgia, you can look up a personal care home or assisted living community on the state's GaMap2Care facility finder, run by the Department of Community Health's Healthcare Facility Regulation Division.[9] You can filter by facility type, city, county, or zip, and see license details and links into inspection reports.[9] Assisted living communities are required to post their most recent inspection report and plan of correction where residents and visitors can see them, and to link recent reports on their website.[10]
If you want a second opinion on complaints, call the Georgia Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 1-866-552-4464 (option 5).[11] Consumer Voice suggests asking the state or local ombudsman whether it has had complaints about a facility you're considering.[6]
You are not being difficult. You are doing the homework.
Your one next step
Before you book another tour, decide what kind of place you're actually looking for. Personal care, assisted living, and memory care are different licenses in Georgia, and they fit different needs.
If you're still sorting that out, take Care Check. Seven questions. Two minutes. No sales call. You'll get a starting point, and then you can walk into the next tour knowing what you're trying to see.
And when you're ready for the questions to ask out loud, keep our tour questions guide open on your phone. Notice first. Ask second.