Aspira Royale Place Retirement Living - Kingston, Ontario

Anita S.

My mother has lived at Royale for 7 years now. It was the finest retirement residence in Kingston back then. The food was excellent. Since Aspira took over, there has been a very sharp decline, especially in the dining experience. I hear from my mother nearly every day that the food is terrible. The saving grace is that the salads and soup are usually good. Very often, she only has a couple of bites of the entrée and can't eat it. Often, she has to have something else to eat back in her apartment. She used to look forward to going to the dining room for meals but no more. And its taking a toll on her state of mind. My mother is in her late nineties, and a move to some place else is impossible at this point
I don't understand why the food service is that way with the amount of rent my mother is paying each month and is about to increase again.
I have to say though that the wellness staff are very kind and attentive and have taken good care of her.
From a very frustrated daughter.

Ray F.

We went to the Royale Place Family Christmas Dinner last Saturday night (December 14/24). It was excellent. The menu offered two mains, turkey or ham, and all the trimmings. The salad bar was fresh and the flame roasted red pepper soup delicious. The dessert table offered a large assortment of pies, cakes and pastries. The meal was served buffet style and was still hot when you got back to your table. We noticed dining room staff going up to bring meals back to those who would have had difficulty lining up due to mobility issues.

Royale Place staff were very visible and certainly in the Christmas spirit, all dressed up for the occasion. Todd's Christmas print suit was a treat for the eye as were his red glitter shoes! Darren served food with a smile and frequently spoke with residents like they were his own family. Very solicitous and caring.

The effort that Royale Place staff put into the dinner was much appreciated. It gave many families the opportunity to gather and enjoy a Christmas Dinner together without the worry of getting elders to and from somewhere safely. Our thanks to the entire staff. Ray and Alison Filteau

Alison F.

Update to the review below: Last week I had a meeting with Royale Place Managers. We spoke about the issues I raised in my review and they assured me that they are doing their best to address them and will continue to do so over the coming weeks.

I am very sad to have to write this review as Royale Place has many wonderful, hard working staff members. My parents have been living at the Royale for 5 years and in that time the facility has slowly slid down hill. I had lunch there the other day, mostly to see if my mother's complaints were valid about the quality of the food. Sadly, they were. She has told me that "roast beef dinner" turned out to be a deli slice of roast beef that you would make a sandwich out of, same with "baked ham." The day I had lunch the menu was grilled cheese on rye or chili and a bun. (They are serving buffet style now due to a shortage of staff.) The salad bar was small bowls of wilted romaine lettuce and croutons or iceberg lettuce with cucumbers and grated carrots, yoghurt and canned peaches. I saw one lady go up and come back to her table telling her table companions "it's all gone, there's no more salad." Their chef is quite gifted, but I'm sure he's working with a very slim budget. There used to be a juice bar in the lobby, but that has been replaced with "low calorie lemonade" or water. The lemonade is chemically tasting and in no way resembles lemonade. Despite paying for weekly housekeeping, sometimes my parent's apartment isn't cleaned for two weeks. Keeping a driver on staff appears to be a problem, so sometimes there are no trips our outings, despite paying for transportation in your monthly rent. The entire property is looking run down: dirty carpets, dirty windows, cracked cooktop in the Club Royale, wilted plants, dusty curtains and it took 2 weeks to removed the dead fall mums from the main entrance. There is also a problem with the responsiveness of the wellness staff. Despite calling and texting re. a referral for my mother, Todd Bradley (Director of Wellness) did not reply. Going down to the health center to ask the staff to help was met with "we'll look into it." I'm still waiting. As for the rotating door that seems to be the General Manager's position, we now have another one who has just been appointed, I think around the fifth General Manager in two years. They never seem to stay long enough to make any changes or improve the place. If you are considering moving to the Royale I suggest you think twice.

Chris J.

Although the property is beautiful, many of the promises made have not been kept. My parents have only been there for less than a month and in that time they were told that the nurse would be available any time for them. Dad called and was told to wait for the doctor next week then the second time he was told the service was not available but she would come check (she never came) and the third time no one answered. They changed management and the communication is extremely lacking.
For example their doctor appointment was booked half an hour before the doctor was scheduled to arrive. (Early appointments are hard for Mom so this was a big endeavour to get her there) When we arrived one was in the wellness centre. After 10 min I went to the front desk and told her that I was bringing my parents back to their room and to please notify me when the dr arrived. 20’min later we got a call (only after I text Todd the wellness director). The doctor couldn’t understand why this would happen because she said they know she’s not available then. There’s just sooo much miscommunication. This would be fine if acknowledged and apologies made with effort to improve (we are all human) but this is NOT the case.
The absolute worst part is that my email voicing concern was COMPLETELY ignored and when I sent a second email asking if they received the first it was ignored also.
I could not imagine treating my clients this way and still being in business.
And now it seems the food choices are being eliminated. Dad said yesterday he had one choice and it wasn’t great.
Royale you can do better!

John M.

Both my parents have lived here for 2.5 years. They thoroughly enjoy their lifestyle here, no cooking, no cleaning and having a RPN in the building 24hrs a day for my piece of mind. Being also retired myself, I frequently enjoy visiting and joining them in the dining room. More recently the food quality has really been impressive and comparable or better then restaurant quality. Great work Royale, save me a room in 15 years!

Crista L.

Honestly Royale is one of the best retirement homes in Kingston.. I say that because of are hard working employees.. the dedication towards are residents is something that makes me feel so proud of!! No matter if it’s the chefs housekeepers PSWs.. Nurses .. Servers ..or recreation department .. I can say that these residents are looked after just like they are are own family members!!!! If your looking for a good retirement home for your family come check and see for yourself 🙂

Dreya P.

I am the New Retirement Counsellor here at The Royale Place Retirement and I just want to say that the staff here has been so welcoming especially in this strange and difficult time we are all living in (COVID-19). They are all about doing the best for the residents here in the community and making sure they are Happy, Healthy, and Safe!

Kenneth S.

Staff are very friendly to my grandmother. I stayed for dinner the first week she was there and enjoyed a perfectly cooked steak. Would recommend for anyone looking for a retirement home for their loved one.