Billings Highgate Senior Living in Billings, MT

Pros

• Highgate is a clean, well-run senior living community with a warm, home-like environment.
• The staff are kind, caring, and genuinely dedicated to residents' wellbeing.
• The food is consistently excellent and highly valued by residents.
• Suites are comfortable and well appointed.
• Transportation to medical appointments is reliable and convenient.
• Noel is praised for a personable, non-pushy approach and helpful tours.
• The courtyard is beautiful with flowers, plants, and pumpkins.
• New residents are warmly welcomed and quickly feel part of the community.
• The Billings team provides exceptional care and thoughtful support for families.
• The Life Enhancement Team creates engaging activities that residents love.
• The memory care and cottage teams deliver compassionate, personalized care.
• Highgate is notably pet-friendly, allowing residents to keep pets and even help with them when needed.

Cons

• The room was not clean, there was too little staff, and breakfast often arrived cold.
• The initial screening process was horrible, and staff could not provide adequate care, forcing the family to hire outside help.
• Leadership and management were described as horrible, caring more about money than residents.
• Staffing was poor and untrained, with HR described as jerks.
• Medication scheduling and other basic services were not consistently handled, leading to lapses.
• One reviewer described the facility as a "nice prison" for their parents, implying a restrictive environment.

Review

Billings Highgate Senior Living is best suited for couples and individuals who want a vibrant, connected campus where memory care, assisted living, and independent living share a common home. The community excels for residents who prize personal attention, strong staff relationships, and a robust calendar of activities. It is especially well-suited for families seeking dependable transportation to appointments, on-site medical access, pet-friendly living, and a welcoming environment where residents are known by name and welcomed with warmth. The setting supports meaningful engagement from day one, with a Life Enhancement team driving outings, events, and social opportunities that keep residents active and connected.

Those who may want to consider alternatives are likely cost-conscious families or those who require near-perfect day-to-day operational consistency across every shift. Some reviews highlight moments of staffing gaps, inconsistent care in the cottage, and occasional administrative friction that affects responsiveness or attention to details like medication timing or routine communications. For families prioritizing a smaller, quieter atmosphere, or seeking a facility with a more prescriptive governance style and fewer variance in daily execution, other local options may feel steadier. Also, a few families note experiences that suggest a need for more deliberate introductions to neighbors and clearer dining-room seating policies.

The strongest pros here - compassionate staff, excellent dining, reliable transportation, and a true continuum of care - often offset the most commonly cited drawbacks. Care partners and nurses are repeatedly praised for patience, attentiveness, and the ability to tailor care to individual personalities and needs. The food consistently turns up as a centerpiece of satisfaction, with residents and families highlighting menu variety and quality, and dining staff who deliver service with professional warmth. On the practical side, on-site transportation for medical appointments and errands reduces the burden on families, while the cottage environment provides a coherent path for memory care without forcing a move to a different campus. The sense of safety, home-like comfort, and opportunities for social participation drive lasting peace of mind for many families.

Yet the main cons cannot be dismissed. A number of reviews flag concerns about cost relative to perceived value, and several accounts describe inconsistent care quality and some staffing gaps - especially in the cottage or during busy periods. Chiefly, questions linger about leadership consistency and the degree to which operations align with stated goals, with some families feeling the system could be more transparent or more uniformly responsive. There are also occasional criticisms of dining hall logistics, room cleanliness, and the precision of medication and routine care handoffs. Taken together, these factors remind potential residents that even a highly rated community carries pockets of variation.

For families evaluating Highgate, the recommended approach is hands-on: tour multiple times, observe the cottage and assisted living spaces during a typical day, and talk to current residents and their families about what "typical" looks like across shifts. Inspect the dining room atmosphere and seating practices, sample the menu, and ask specifically about dietary accommodations, meal timing, and ability to join in dining with others. Probe the activity calendar with a keen eye for inclusivity and accessibility, and verify transportation reliability with the bus driver and coordinators. Require a candid discussion about pricing, what is included, and what might incur additional costs over time.

In the end, Highgate Senior Living stands out for its genuine care culture and its strong integration of social life with care services. It is especially compelling for families who value a warm, busy, people-centered atmosphere, where staff know residents well, and where a memory care path can remain on the same campus. For those prioritizing cost containment, or who need consistently flawless operations across all departments every day, alternatives may present more predictable daily experiences. When a family needs reassurance that a loved one will be treated like family, Highgate delivers - and the long-term care continuum on one site often proves the decisive factor in choosing this community.

This area of Billings, Montana offers a variety of amenities and services that may be appealing to seniors looking for a convenient and accessible location. With several physicians' offices, pharmacies, and hospitals located within a few miles, residents can easily access medical care when needed. There are also a range of dining options nearby, including local restaurants and fast food chains. Additionally, there are places of worship for spiritual support and cafes for socializing with friends or enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee. The close proximity to parks provides opportunities for outdoor recreation and relaxation. For entertainment, there is a movie theater in the area as well. Transportation options such as rental services and an airport nearby make travel convenient for seniors who may want to explore beyond the immediate area. Overall, this part of Billings offers a mix of practical amenities and recreational opportunities that could make it a comfortable and enjoyable place for senior living.

Physicians

• Beltone Audiology & Hearing Center (0.2 miles)
• Fuller Family Medicine (0.3 miles)
• Flex Family Health Direct Primary Care (0.9 miles)
• Frontier Cancer Center (1.1 miles)
• Montana Foot Clinic P.C. (1.5 miles)
• St Vincent Healthcare Primary Care Network (1.6 miles)
• SCL Health Medical Group - West Grand (1.6 miles)

Restaurants

• Local Kitchen & Bar (0.3 miles)
• Samurai Garden (0.4 miles)
• Wendy's (0.4 miles)
• Sunshine Express (0.9 miles)
• Friedchicken (1 miles)
• MacKenzie River Pizza Co. (1.3 miles)
• McDonald's (1.3 miles)

Pharmacies

• Pharm406 (0.4 miles)
• Walgreens (0.9 miles)
• Albertsons Pharmacy (1.2 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (2 miles)
• Morgan Creek Compounding Pharmacy (2 miles)
• Morgan Creek Compounding Pharmacy (2.2 miles)
• Juro's Pharmacy Health & Wellness (2.4 miles)

Hospitals

• SCL Health Research Institute (1.1 miles)
• Dialysis Clinic (2.4 miles)

Places of Worship

• Freedom Youth & Young Adults (1.4 miles)
• Emmanuel Baptist Church (1.8 miles)
• Christian & Missionary Alliance Rocky Mountain Dist (2.1 miles)
• St Pius X Church (2.9 miles)

Cafes

• Black Dog Coffee House (1.9 miles)
• Expresso Brake (2.1 miles)
• City Brew Coffee (2.4 miles)
• Panera Bread (2.5 miles)
• Starbucks (3.4 miles)
• Moav Coffee House West End (3.5 miles)
• Bull Mountain Brew (4.5 miles)

Parks

• Rose park pool (2.3 miles)
• Terry Park (4.4 miles)

Theaters

• AMC CLASSIC Shiloh 14 (2.6 miles)

Transportation

• U-Haul Moving & Storage (3.4 miles)
• Billings Logan International Airport (BIL) (3.8 miles)
• United Airlines (4 miles)
• Billings Airport (4 miles)