Merrill Gardens

Our family had an in person tour with The Pines Of Newmarket and we did not care for it, even though it was the least expensive. It was too far from where I liked and the roads were winding and hilly. It would have been difficult to make the hours drive especially in the winter. There were too many things that he told me they would be updating/remodeling next year or later this year, or soon. It was kind of rustic and I kind of felt like I was at summer sleep away camp!

The facility does not let you know when there's an issue with the resident/your family member. When the ambulance is called, no one lets you know about it. The staff gets mad at the resident and excludes them or ignores them until they get over it. Communication would be nice. The facility is beautiful and they have a lot to offer. The Memory Care unit is amazing and the Activities Director, [name removed] is amazing and the residents in the area love her. She seriously cares about everyone on that side!

After my good friend left Sunshine Villa all the cards I had sent her were for the past six months were returned to me unopened. Others had the same experience. Simply alerting her that she had mail was too much of a 'burden' for the staff, I suspect.

They are having a lot of staff turnover. That makes my loved one uneasy with new faces popping up. They are very quick to respond to issues that arise, which is terrific. Still waiting for the staffing issues to be resolved. The manager and chef was helping in the restaurant the other day.

I would tell others that the memory care section is very small. If your loved one is on the second floor, they cannot get to the outside garden area without having to get through a locked door, through the elevator and downstairs. Someone also has to be able to accompany you. They keep including that on the website and pamphlets and it is misleading. Due to our experience, I would not recommend this facility.

Our family had an in person tour and Merrill Gardens was too big and I was not impressed by the gentleman that toured me. He was not at all interested in me, it was like pulling teeth to get questions answered. They also appeared to nickel and dime you for everything. I did not feel welcome and felt I was wasting his time. They were at almost 90% occupancy and therefore it appeared there was no motivation to try and get my business.

This facility is brand new and it's beautiful, but the workers are lacking in skill. The administration is running the place poorly.

My parents came here before the pandemic and were satisfied with the apartment, the dining experience, and the staff. All that has changed. My mom passed on just before the pandemic. My Dad’s kitchen cabinets are falling apart with missing and broken ancient pulls and handles - they literally cut his hands so he has wounds that need treatment. The work they did for interior sprinklers left a huge ceiling mess that went on for months. The extra pay cleaning “help” stole my parents medications. The food has been disgusting and now the residents are not served at table- they have to go up to get a tray and carry it themselves. These people have walkers and canes and electric wheelchairs and have to walk up like it’s McDonalds. It’s tragic. So much money for so little.

I was not super crazy about Pine Rock Manor. The facility was older and outdated, definitely needed some updates done to it. The overall atmosphere just felt dark and depressing.

This felt kind of sad, and old. They had lovely staff. The community could use some updates.

Merrill Gardens would have been a good location for us, but I was just not impressed by our tour experience with them. The staff who showed us around were really nice, I just did not get a good gut feeling about the facility. I would have been leery to leave my loved one here. It was just not a good fit for us.

This was a dark and older community and not what we wanted.

We have not had a good experience with Merrill Gardens, my loved one is in the Garden House which is the memory care side of facility. Sometimes I think his bathroom and room should be cleaned better than it is since he is unable to do that himself. I never get a list of activities that they are doing. A lot of his belongings have gone missing. I have not been pleased with the care and I will be moving him out soon.

Sheldon Park, is now on it's 3rd owner in the last 5 yrs. the memory care area is often under staffed. especially on the weekend. many more seem medicated. clumped together in the activity room to veg on tv. the floors are sticky, rooms are dusty

I felt like we were an afterthought. They seem to not even know we were coming. The lady we had the appointment setup with was not available. The tour was very short and the rooms to small. Not all our needs meet at this site.

The staff members here were for the most part helpful and friendly and tried their very best. The conditions prevailed because of covid and the fact that it is an older and dated facility.

There were some medical issues with our loved one, and the staff ignored this information. The food smelled bad and they served it to the residents even it smelled bad.

Totally disappointed with this community, when we toured saw several staff members at the nursing station all looking at their cell phones and not paying attention to the elderly people next to the station. The apartments are the smallest that I have seen in the area, the prices are high and expect for the few elderly around the nursing station, there was no other elderly walking or doing anything within the community. It was like a ghost town. Looked like a lot of stuff on the activities calendar, but no one attending anything that we saw during our visit.

Great location. Cute town. Unfortunately it was dark, narrow halls & doorways. Windows were small for natural lighting. Some bedrooms had no windows. Woodwork gouged from wheelchairs scrubbing doorways to bedrooms. 4 - 6 inch thresholds into bedrooms. The smell of urine was through assisted living and memory care areas.

It would have been beneficial knowing Sheldon Park is only private pay before the point of signing on the dotted line. I will be moving Mom soon.