Merrill Gardens

The food was okay. The place was not a good fit for my loved one. They did not live up to my expectations, and what they promised. The place is beautiful, and I loved it. They are very pricey, and a bit on the high scale. It's better for Independent Living.

Our tour at Truewood Georgetown was fine. I thought it was a little pricey for what you get. And we didn’t notice many residents out and about in the common areas.

The value is great at the community. Some of the things that could use improving includes communication with the family and staff. Also, the housekeeping of my loved one's room could use some work. They the community is providing laundry service and picking the trash up as well. There are three meals a day served to the residents, and there are choices for them to choose from.

I toured this facility. It's a much older facility, apartments are small and dated. The dining area is split into small groups. The staff was friendly and place was clean. Just dated. Not what my loved one was looking for.

My experience with Truewood by Merrill, Charlotte Center

Merrill Gardens at Barkley Place was not going to work for my mother. The building was aged and they definitely were in need of some updates. My loved one is also vegetarian and their idea of a vegetarian meal was a cold salad and any vegetables that they had in the kitchen. It was not going to be suitable.

My mother lived at MGR for nearly 2.5 years, [dates removed] She thrived there. The social aspect alone really made her blossom: she never missed a meal, because sitting with her friends was so appealing to her. The food was always good. The restaurant staff were friendly, personable, and accommodating. There were issues with delays answering calls for aides. Each resident wears a lanyard with a call button, and there are call buttons installed in the rooms and bathrooms, but there can be a delay up to a few hours sometimes. That was discouraging. The monthly cost was not small: started out about [price removed] for the 1-br (a perfect size for her), and rose to [price removed]. On reading other reviews, it reminded me of the horror that was the move-out process after my mother passed. The manager at the time was incredibly unhelpful (e.g. didn't point out that I could use the trash bin on the first floor) and at no time did she offer condolences, either in person nor with a simple card. Shocking.

The manager, [name removed] is not involved with the facility residents and staff reported that she was inaccessible. In my case, Merrill Gardens hired contract workers who were not properly trained. When my mom fell, the worker did not call and tell me about it until the next morning when she was already in the hospital. The general manager was shocked when I called and woke her up with that news and they never made it right with me. Merrill Gardens uses a point system to grade the resident for how much cost their is for their assistance. This weighs heavily against the residents. I would prefer the al a carte menu used by other facilities.

With being out of town the staff could improve on their communication and one thing we think they would benefit from is having some sort of video chat booth or something similar so families who are not able to visit are able to facetime and engages one way or another with their loved one.

The day to day caregivers is really good, but the head of nursing is not good with communication, and it takes days to get a response. They are missing, the higher level of additioanl care services. It's not what I expected.

Good community. It wasn't was clean as I would have liked or anticipated.

We toured with Merrill Gardens at Burien and found the facility to feel very institutional. When we walked in we got the strong odor or disinfectant and alcohol. The people were all very nice but it was not going to be a good fit.

The facility is very clean and everyone is super friendly. They all seem to love my mom. Mom really likes the activities director and she enjoys the outings that they go on. She said the food is ok, but she wishes that they had normal table wear instead of plastic forks and spoons. Nurses are also giving medications in the dining room during meals. They are looking for a new director of nursing so we hope that happens soon and things get figured out. For the amount of money that we pay, I do think that internet should be included. Overall I would definitely recommend Truewood by Merrill to others looking compared to the others that we saw.

This was a good community. It wasn't the right location for my loved one.

I was not impressed and it didn't feel like the right fit.

It's an older place. Was not worth what I was paying. It wasn't what I thought it was gonna be. The people where nice but the food stunk. I wasn't eating there 2/3 time. I had to move out. I found a much better place for much less money than what I was paying. I am on a limited budget. The facility is older. If you can live in there in the independent living area, then an apartment would be much cheaper elsewhere.

Huge staff turnover. The place is beautiful and brand new. They need an Ambassador program. They don't seem to welcome new people like they should. My loved one loves her apartment.

There is no communication between the staff and the employees at this community. It feels like there is no chain of command and they are doing what they want to do with the patients. They don't call me when I need to know things about my love one and more. There are people there that I truly like but things are not going well. It feels like a lot of things are being swept under the rug and I do not like it, I am just not happy period.

On my tour at Merrill Gardens, I was not satisfied with their answer to some of my questions regarding their dementia care.

Our family had an in person tour and it was just not going to be a good fir for our loved one