by Nick Keith
4. April 2012 16:20
We sipped champagne, enjoyed the canapes, wandered round the rooms and visited some of the 97 apartments at the grand opening of Moorlands Lodge, a brand new, purpose-built care home in Hindhead.
Other guests included Baroness Virginia Bottomley, who said: "Signature Moorlands Lodge provides a magnificent standard of care and support alongside independence and dignity. This is a welcome addition to Surrey and Hampshire, where an increasingly ageing population rightly requires a higher standard of service. I am sure Signature Moorlands Lodge will be a tremendous success and wish them all well."
We, too, wish Moorlands well. From a design perspective, Moorlands is very nice. Like a smart hotel.
The rooms in the apartments are not square boxes, so there is a sense of originality, a quirkiness even. The common areas (sitting rooms etc) are full of artefacts from the 50s and 60s to make residents feel at home.
The dining room looks luxurious and we noted a separate dining space for entertaining family and friends to celebrate an anniversary.
Thoughts led inevitably to retirement (some way off): What type of accommodation? Where to live?
Aesthetically, my personal preference is for a modernized Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian building to retire to. While there was lots of space at Moorlands, the really high ceilings, big rooms and tall windows of traditional buildings appeal from a design point of view.
A medium-sized town with a university, a theatre and a cinema also appeals. The home needs to be within easy driving distance of children and grandchildren. Oxford, Bath, and Chichester are on the list.
Anyway, who retires these days if they keep their health and their marbles? A care home is not where the heart is, however hard it tries and you won't find better carers or facilities than Moorlands.
For more information about Moorlands, visit: www.signature-care-homes.co.uk.
