Overall sentiment across the reviews is strongly positive: families repeatedly describe Bella Vita Assisted Living at Cholla as a caring, home-like community with attentive staff and management that provides high-quality, personalized care. Multiple reviewers singled out Executive Director Laura Cohen by name for leadership, responsiveness, and support — families reported relief and peace of mind from her involvement. The staff are described as professional yet warm, team-oriented, and respectful; aides are noted as attentive, supportive with health needs, and careful during the pandemic. Several reviewers reported that their loved ones thrived, were happier, and felt safe and loved while living at Bella Vita, and there are specific mentions of peaceful, well-supported final days for residents.
Facility and environment receive frequent praise: Bella Vita is repeatedly called a beautiful, well-kept, and clean home rather than an institutional setting. The property features pleasant outdoor spaces — a path around the pool, a gazebo, and outdoor dining areas — that reviewers appreciated. The small, home-like scale is highlighted as contributing to the welcoming atmosphere and individualized attention (for example, arranging beds so spouses could be near each other). Reviewers also emphasize proactive care planning and communication at the unit level, which reinforces feelings of trust and safety among families.
Dining and programming are other consistent strengths. Meals are described as high-quality and home-cooked; multiple reviewers specifically liked the food. Activity offerings are reported in positive terms in most summaries: some reviewers said Bella Vita offers more activities than average for a similar-sized facility and mentioned yoga programs by name. That said, there is a nuance in the activity theme — a few comments note that a smaller home will naturally offer fewer activities than a larger community, so expectations for breadth and variety should be tempered accordingly.
Management and communications are mostly commended, but there is a notable outlier around responsiveness. While Laura Cohen and many staff are praised as proactive and engaged, at least one reviewer reported significant communication problems: phone calls not being answered for weeks and reliance on an automatic answering system, which felt impersonal. This indicates that while day-to-day care and in-person interactions are strong, front-desk/phone responsiveness or administrative communication can be inconsistent and may warrant follow-up when families are evaluating the community.
In summary, the dominant pattern is of a small, well-run assisted living home with warm, attentive caregivers, strong and visible leadership, clean and attractive facilities, and high-quality meals. Families commonly report peace of mind, improved mood for residents, and satisfaction with individualized attention and end-of-life care. The main caveats are the community’s smaller size — which may limit the variety of activities compared with larger campuses — and at least one report of problematic phone responsiveness. These are practical considerations but do not appear to outweigh the consistently positive reports about care quality, staff compassion, and the home-like environment. Most reviewers recommend Bella Vita and express gratitude for the care their loved ones received.
