A real break for the person who does the caring
A respite stay is a short, furnished stay of one to eight weeks for an older adult who usually lives at home with help from family. It gives the family caregiver time to rest, travel, recover from their own surgery or simply catch up, knowing their loved one is eating well, staying busy and getting the daily support they need.
Short stays are also how many residents first get to know Willowmere. A week of meals, classes and conversation answers questions that no brochure can, and some guests decide to stay on.
Families book short stays for many reasons: a caregiver's own knee surgery, a wedding three states away, a long-planned trip, or simply a month when the routine at home has become too much. Whatever the reason, the stay is planned in advance with the care team, priced at a daily rate in writing and staffed by the same caregivers who look after long-term residents on the assisted living wing. Guests are welcome at every meal, club and outing, and most leave with a few new friends and a standing invitation to the Thursday tasting table.
Many families book the same week each year, so a parent knows the suite, the staff and the routine before they arrive. Others use a short stay to bridge a gap: the weeks after a hospital visit, the time it takes to finish a home renovation, or the days before a longer move to Willowmere.
Whatever the reason, the person at home gets real rest. Caregivers who have spent months or years helping a parent every day tell us that a week of uninterrupted sleep, a trip they had postponed or simply an afternoon with their own children makes the rest of the year more manageable.
A typical respite day looks much like any resident's day. Breakfast in the Hearth, a morning class or a walk in the garden, lunch with a regular table, a rest, an afternoon activity and dinner, with caregivers helping wherever the short-stay care plan says they should. Guests who prefer quiet are never pushed to join in; guests who love company usually find it by the second day.
Families can call the wing at any time, and many arrange a short video call with their loved one every few days. At checkout, the care team shares a written summary of the stay, covering meals, sleep, activities and anything worth mentioning to the guest's doctor, so the return home is as smooth as the arrival.
Booking is simple. Call the front desk or use the form on this page with the dates you have in mind, and our Resident Care Manager will call back to talk through needs, availability and the daily rate. Once the short-stay care plan is agreed, the suite is held for your dates, and all that is left is packing a suitcase.
Short stays are also a good way to try the community before a longer move. Several of our current residents first came for a week while a son or daughter travelled, and decided they liked the company, the cooking and the garden enough to stay.
What every short stay includes
Guests are treated as residents from the moment they arrive. The daily rate covers the following.
- A furnished suite with linens and toiletries
- Three meals a day and snacks
- Help with bathing, dressing and medications
- Every class, club and outing on the calendar
- Housekeeping and personal laundry
- A written summary of the stay at checkout
Booking a stay
Summer and holiday weeks fill early, so call a month out then. Other times, a few days of notice often works.
Tell us the dates and a little about your loved one's routine.
A nurse reviews needs, medications and mobility by phone or in person.
You approve a short-stay care plan before arrival.
Arrive mid-morning so lunch is the first meal; we take it from there.
Short-stay questions
Planning a first stay? Read our respite checklist for family caregivers.
