NZ’s Best Retirement Villages And Care Facilities For 2020 Revealed

This years People’s Choice Awards for Best Retirement Villages and Care Facilities in NZ have just been announced by AgedAdvisor New Zealand. Thirty six finalists and winners scattered between Invercargill, Southland and North Shore, Auckland have been awarded from 1100 facilities throughout New Zealand. Almost 6000 in-depth reviews (2000 of them within the past 15 months) with ratings on seven key categories ranging from ‘Knowledgeable, Caring Staff’, ‘Indoor Entertainment’ through to ‘Enjoyable Food’.

Covid lockdowns added an extra 3 months to the collection of reviews. Aged Advisor’s Founder, Nigel Matthews said safety of residents was paramount. “Retirement village and care staff had the huge task of protecting some of our most vulnerable - and we were happy to wait until we were back at level one again before completing the voting.”

“The result was that reviews included a lot of feedback about staff and management going above and beyond during this difficult time. There were many very appreciative residents.”

AgedAdvisor uses an algorithm developed in conjunction with the University of Canterbury Statistics Dept. Additional formulas are then used to balance out scores so that a care facility with 45 beds has the same opportunities as one with 140 beds.

With the awards now in their fifth year, village and care providers are welcoming the recognition this platform gives to their frontline staff for the work they do with some companies giving staff a copy of the certificate for their CV’s.

Several companies took out multiple awards this year...

• Ryman Healthcare received 8 Awards, including Best Group Provider (Nationwide) - 3 years running.

• Summerset collected 3 Awards, including Best Large Retirement or Lifestyle Village (South Island) by Summerset in Wigram Village, Christchurch.

• CHT Healthcare facilities picked up 3 Finalist Awards for Care in the North Island.

Others had shown consistently high reviewer scores over multiple years...

• Cheviot Rest Home is the only facility to have won a category five years running - Best Small Care Facility (South Island).

• Archer Home in Christchurch and Maygrove Village, Orewa have also picked up winner or finalist awards 5 years running within their respective category.

Some villages celebrated their award in style. Remuera Rise Retirement Village was one that had a glass of bubbles at the ready for each resident with their 11am presentation for winning Best Small Retirement or Lifestyle Village (North Island). Julie Pelling, Village Manager commented "We are delighted to have won the Best small retirement or lifestyle award for the North Island and celebrated in style on Monday along with Nigel and the residents."

Aged Advisor, a New Zealand based independent review site for retirement & lifestyle villages, rest homes and aged care has become the NZ review site for helping retirees and families make better informed decisions on village and care options.

“Finding the right retirement village or care facility is an important decision - one that you do not want to have to change after you’ve moved in. Reading people’s personal experiences can really help.” says Mr Matthews. 96% of the 6000+ reviews and ratings posted on Aged Advisor are either ‘good’, ‘very good’ or ‘excellent'.

There are nine categories for the 2020 Awards;

• Best Aged Care under 40 beds (North & South Islands)
• Best Aged Care over 40 beds (North & South Island)

• Best Small Retirement / Lifestyle Village (North & South Island)

• Best Large Retirement / Lifestyle Village (North & South Island)

and Best Multi-facility / Group Provider (Nationwide)

To view all winners and finalists, visit https://www.agedadvisor.nz/awards

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