Ciel Senior Living

Facility is understaffed, rooms are dirty, food is greasy & sub-standard, patient care is inadequate, even tho there are few residents., maybe 1/3 full at best. Needed repairs to apartments are overlooked, still waiting for a broken wheelchair to be replaced (it's been weeks), large staff turnover, including recent termination of the Executive Director. Harbor Chase offers many "amenities" on paper & gives a flashy first impression. It is also one of the most expensive facilities in the area. However, the care of its residents should be its top priority, & that is lacking. The existing staff are friendly & are as helpful as they can be, given that like most organizations today they are severely under-staffed.As a new fancy high-end facility, Harbor Chase may be a victim of the times, but thus far it has been a huge disappointment. My loved one deserves better & needs 24/7 care, & should probably be in Memory Care, but is in Assisted Living, partly due to difficult family dynamics.

They were way understaffed and they need to improve their system(s) management.

I toured with Huntington Place and was not impressed. It did not seem like a high quality facility like the others I saw. The room sizes here were much smaller as well. I just did not get a good vibe form them.

Not a good fit for my loved one.

We didn’t schedule appointment so no one was expecting us. We waited since all workers were in dining room. The receptionist allowed us to walk around. Pro- lobby is beautiful. People gathered for coffee and snacks Con- Residents in lobby were upset. Lots of complaints at desk about staff leaving and no housekeeping Pro- Residents seem nice Con- A resident said they had 4 Executive Directors since 2020 and lots of staff turnover. Man with her moved in fall ‘21. There’s been 3 Executive Directors since then Pro- Nice library Con- halls, elevator, and hand rails were noticeably dirty. Strong urine odors and pet smells in 2 of 3 halls we walked Pro- Offer rent specials Con- Pricey compared to other places. Apts are old. No washer/dryer. No storage except for closets in apts. No complimentary carpet cleaning or window washing. No meal plan. No internet/cable. No security cameras. No garage Pro- Age in place Con- Bathrooms are tiny. Not sure I’d be able maneuver with walker/wheelchair

Double-check the details before you move in. I do not feel they gave us all the info we needed to make a real decision. I would not recommend this community to others based on my experience.

Five Star presented as an Independent Living facility that has minimal cross over with their Asssted Living and Memory Care units. It seems to us that because IL is so much cheaper than AL and MC that new residents with full time aids and mobility devices as well as memory issues are being admitted to the IL section when they don’t seem to match well with the truly IL residents. Next, we have had many negative interactions with the head of maintenance who has actually been quite verbally rude and unlike many of the other staff, doesn’t acknowledge me or my loved one when passing in the hall, and doesn’t make sure a full elevator of residents can enter without the door closing. After a conversation with the director, it was made clear that their working relationship is more important than resident satisfaction. Finally, we did not find or choose Five Star with any help from a Place for Mom. Their system is free because they won’t meet with you, they rarely call back, and won’t accompany you on site visits. I would not recommend APFM.

Although I was initially impressed with the facility, our experience at lunch was disturbing in that one resident had her hand raised for over 15 minutes and not one employee approached her to ask what she needed.

Often demand that families hire outside help because staff can't handle problems. In competent accounting procedures. Bills often incorrect.

Often demand that families hire outside help because staff can't handle problems.

Insufficient staffing of care givers, cleanliness needs improving. Physical therapy really good. Needs more creative and innovative activities.

This place is more like a hotel. Not set up for medical needs.

Old building, long institutional style corridors. Not a good feel for us, although nice outdoor space.

location not good

I am appalled at the lack of responsiveness on the part of the staff. We ask for information and rarely get any reply. The place is an apartment that provides food, distributes meds and has opportunities for some residents. If there is a need for medical attention or information on what is available for our loved one, there is no interest in helping us with that basic information, let alone help us understand and figure out how to solve problems within the context of assisted living. I wonder how they keep their accreditation as safety of residents is being compromised.

The Assisted Living program was fairly good for my father when he was a high-functioning adult requiring minimal assistance. He enjoyed the meals, the apartments were clean and comfortable. [Name removed] and [name removed] who ran the activities were so good with Dad that they could get him to participate in many of the activities when no one else could. The front desk staff was kind and patient. But when his dementia progressed and Dad needed more care and assistance, he was moved to the memory care program, Clare Bridge, and it was a totally different world. The attending staff level was frequently below required staffing levels both during the day and night. You frequently could not easily reach any Clare Bridge staff by phone even during regular business hours and calls were not returned until many hours later, if they were returned at all. After-hours and on weekends, there were many times when communication with Dad or his caregivers was impossible. The calls would go unanswered and the phone system would disconnect without ever making voicemail accessible. During one attempt to reach the Assistant Executive Director (the Executive Director had recently left Brookdale Lowry), the phone rang without ever being answered or redirected to voicemail. Several days later it was explained that the Assistant Executive Director's voicemail box was full and couldn't take any more calls so it just continued to ring! One major reason we had chosen Brookdale was that we had been assured that when Dad' dementia progressed to a stage where increased care was needed, it would be a smooth transition because Dad would not have to leave the facility, he would just need to move to another area of the facility. Although we were told that Clare Bridge was for dementia and Alzheimers patients, when Dad's behavior got challenging, the staff response on more than one occasion was to call an ambulance and have Dad taken to a local hospital. The hospital returned Dad to Brookdale stating that the only thing wrong with him was the regular progression of dementia. Staff called family members in the middle of the night more than once to request that someone come sit with Dad because there wasn't enough staff to focus on Dad's needs outside of regular business hours!

My mother is still a resident there but am in the process of looking elsewhere. I went there because it was close to where she had lived and it would be familiar since she is in the memory care area. Everytime I think I have one problem dealt with they hire someone new. The staff turns over like a revolving door and no one communicates with the other so you cannot expect your concerns to be shared with anyone else. I have had experiences like my mother leaving with someone and not even knowing she was gone. One of her old neighbors contacted me she was wondering around her old yard. I was livid and when I called the nurse said she didn't even know mother was gone. She was returned unharmed and the nurse was truly sorry so felt everyone is due a mistake. I live out of town and of course they know it but I leave message after message and do not get return calls. I email and they say they don't get them when I know they did. So poorly run that I don't have words to express. There are too many well run facilities so think and look really hard before letting the surroundings fool you.

While this facility was run by Brookdale, it was a lovely place with caring staff. Unfortunately, it was taken over by a different management company, Ciel, and it has been an absolute nightmare since the transition. Staff are uninterested, uninvolved, and unhelpful. We decided to move my father to a place closer to where I live, and staff have actively impaired the transition by stonewalling and refusing to complete the necessary paperwork. They only care about the money residents provide, not their happiness. Avoid at all costs.

I would avoid Brookdale Olney. I think they got rid of the salesman that misled us. The administrator was no better, still wanted UN-legitimate $$ from us which kept accruing over 3 months-> $[removed]k, even tho we declined the apartment by the deadline. They said signing anything committed us to Brook Dale and paying rent. Salesman had said it didn't. Required us getting a lawyer to get them off our backs and drop the matter I don't know if these people are still in their jobs.... [name removed] in sales, and [name removed] Director. But corporate did not resolve the situation for us as spoils have been reasonable. Therefore, they cost us a couple thousand in lawyer fees. They are garbage.

We had a long drawn out disagreement with them about whether or not we had committed to them contractually. We said no thank you by the deadline, But they charged us for months, decreased but would not zero out "our account". We had to have our lawyer assist my mother getting B.O. to cease and desist. Stressful, expensive, ridiculous. If you want more details, I will speak with someone. I advise people to avoid B.O.