- News Archive
While many communities have halted tours during COVID, incoming and prospective residents at Still Hopes retirement community in West Columbia, SC have been able to not only tour our facility, and all of its amenities, but they could even visit inside available apartments and cottages, and visualize a three-dimensional floor plan layout, all without ever leaving their own home.
It’s all made possible through a technology platform called YourTour that Still Hopes has recently implemented. Guided by a community marketing representative, YourTour is designed to allow the prospective resident to visually explore the Still Hopes campus, answering many of their questions before ever stepping foot on the property.
“Our prospective residents are now more savvy than ever, partly because of COVID forcing them to harness technology for everything from socializing on Zoom to ordering groceries,” said Stewart Rawson, Director of Sales and Marketing. “It only makes sense that they would want to take a virtual tour of Still Hopes and learn more about the residence options and amenities that will help them understand all that Still Hopes has to offer.”
YourTour by The Vectre allows prospective residents to receive their very own personalized tour through photos and videos of the Still Hopes lifestyle, 360-degree virtual tours of the campus amenities and select residences, and 3D floor plans of residential options. Based on their interests, they can see what amenities are offered that fit their desired lifestyle, whether it’s the dining venues, fitness center, walking trails, the coffee shop, the pub and club room, the chapel, etc. They can then find out what residences are in close proximity to those amenities, and receive floor plans and pictures for the available residences.
This feature has been especially useful at the Greenway at Still Hopes supportive living neighborhoods, where COVID restrictions have been most rigorously observed.
“During COVID, in-person tours have been suspended. Residents and their families wanted to be able to have a game plan of how they will see each other after moving in,” said Ellen Williams, Greenway Marketing Relations Specialist. “With YourTour, I can even zoom in on common space areas open to visitation in relation to their loved one’s room.
Williams continued, “Many loved ones have concerns about accessibility for the resident and feel comforted when they realized through YourTour how the neighborhoods are designed with ease of mobility in mind. The floor plan designs of these buildings were not made by mistake – the Memory Care area in Rose Gardens was designed for wandering; the centralized amenities in River Banks Assisted Living were designed for preserving mobility and stamina; and the Skilled Nursing neighborhoods in Jane Bruce’s small ‘household model’ layout promotes comfortable and natural living spaces with the added bonus of infection control.”
And even with some COVID restrictions beginning to lift, Still Hopes will continue to use YourTour as a first-step to orient anyone interested in learning more about the Still Hopes community. They can learn about the lifestyle, amenities and floor plans early in the process, and narrow down exactly what they are looking for. The whole tour can be done in less than an hour on a Zoom call or even during a home visit - saving the prospective resident time and a lot of hassle.
The next step for a prospective resident’s tour experience is to receive a YourTour personalized online brochure with the prospective resident’s favorite floor plans and amenities. Still Hopes will soon be able to offer this technology to their prospective residents so they can share it with their family and friends.
For more information or to take your own YourTour, you can submit a contact form to tour the Independent Living areas with Stewart Rawson or call 803-739-5040.
To take your own YourTour of the Greenway Supportive Living neighborhoods, submit this contact form or call Ellen Williams at 803-995-8075.