Merrill Gardens

I am exploring Senior Living Options for my 94 year old mother who is currently in Independent living at another Senior Living in Fresno. I want to investigate what will be required if she should need to go to assisted Living arrangements. Truewood offers great dining experience for all 3 meals. Has 2 kitchen areas that can be used for cooking meals if a resident desires. Has a library, game area, movie room, plus worship area. Limited elevators. I only saw 1 but there may be more. Not all apartments have a balcony. The apartments do not have a full size refrigerator. (Drawback in my opinion). But you can purchase one and bring it in. No stove either. I don't remember if a microwave is included. Kitchen is very tiny. If you need assistance with care and daily activities they do have a few people you can contact for various levels of care. This would be separate from fees paid to Truewood monthly fee. Your rent includes apartment, cable, utilities, but does not include internet.

Overall I would give The Pines a 4. However if you were rating it on value for the money it is easily a 5. The staff is great. The facility is smaller but neat and clean. The food seems to be good. My mother has settled in faster than we thought she would. We are pleased with our decision.

The staff is absolutely amazing. They are attentive, knowledgeable and supportive. That includes ALL staff; administration, housekeeping, dining room and support staff. We have not met one cross or unfriendly person! Also, the apartments and related accommodation are so very comfortable and clean!

The staff here at the Merrill Gardens retirement/residential community, in Santa Cruz, Ca., where I reside, can be described as tremendously essential, responsible and wonderfully attending supportive, not to mention simply helpful as well as being brightly accommodating, fully skilled, tremendously responsive and 'sure footed', with staff being at your service 24 hours a day (fully considering ?? the not unexpected and occasional - or 'whoops' type of error - occurring within the responsibility charge of considerable breadth and range of resident assistance, care, aid, house-keeping, maintenance and other and all responsibility efforts!

Staff is very friendly and helpful. The grounds are very nice and well kept. I would recommend this community to others who are currently searching for a place.

It took at least 6 months for my uncle to get accumulated with the change. We had many challenges in the beginning... most staff were helpful. It seems very clean there. They do a lot of activities. The cafe has pretty good food. It has been a good fit. My uncle now calls it home after almost a year.

This is a very clean facility. Smells clean. My loved one has adjusted very well . A lot of activities going on the weekdays. Food could be a lot better it is not suitable for seniors that have a hard time cutting up and there is not a lot of variety. I have to stay on top of them for assisting my loved one with baths every week. The assistants are very sweet and compassionate with my mom. Especially [names removed].... I would recommend this place. Every place has a downfall.

I can't give it a 5 because of some of the complaints my mom had, but to be fair I could not trust what she was saying was accurate either. The facilities were great and the food looked great to me and my mom really liked most of it but complained a couple times. The staff really seemed to care and we're very helpful. My only complaint is that they were not straight with me about charging for care when she spent time in the hospital. Two of the executives lead me to believe care charging was suspended if she was in the hospital. Not true, there are stipulations (these were in the document she signed but she did not understand this and I was told differently when I picked this place for her). Overall, very good experience.

Everything is fine except the food service is not very organized. The staff is very nice and helpful and apt size is fine.

The staff is great. The monthly rate is affordable for my cousin. That was the main reason for her leaving the other facility. She has made friends and is happy at Truewood. She likes doing craft projects and is looking forward to making a fall wreath. The fact that there is only 1 elevator and it's slow is not so great. The residents seem to handle the issue. I usually take the stairs.

The paperwork was challenging. Once paperwork was in it's been good. Need to stay on top of them to get anything finished. Older will have a challenge with this.

They have been really great they communicate really good if something happens and they really seem to care about moms well-being. I would recommend to others.

The things i like best are all the amenities that they have. So much to do if you want to do it. They can improve a 100% on food. It is approximately 95% bad. For the amount of rent that we pay, the food does not even compare or come close to what we should be getting. If we talk to the chef during meetings, nothing ever gets changed. Never an improvement.

I reviewed 10 different communities in the San Jose area to help find the best place for my mom. Once I narrowed down the search, my mom visited two of the facilities, Merrill Gardens was the second, and she immediately chose this to be her new home. The residents were very welcoming and friendly, as were the staff members. She’s been there for approximately eight weeks and has a new lease on life! This assisted living has actually given her more independence. She’s made new friends, enjoys the activities. So far, this has been a positive experience.

Lack of leadership. Staff allowed on their phones all day. Showers not being given as they should. I went almost everyday to make sure my husband was taken care of. At the beginning of my husband stay I would recommend, even though staff are on their phone a lot. I have never seen a work place that allows staff to use their phone all day long. Interaction with residents would be better or picking up cups, sweeping crumbs, etc. At the present leadership I would not recommend Truewood to my friends.

Food and dining and activity experiences are great. The cleanliness is good about 90% of the time. The level of service for the assisted living portion of the monthly fee is where I feel we don't always get our value.

Positively, my mother is happy she has not seen any bugs in her apartment and no flies in the dining room. Also she is happy with her caregivers who are friendly, attentive and responsive if anything is needed. Also, the many activities available for residents has been a good experience. Negatively, the dining experience is a bit underwhelming and does not meet her standards. Let's just say the meals aren't the highlight of the day.

Make sure to visit first and see if the place is right for your family members. It will get expensive very fast.

Care is better, but only one caregiver from 10 PM to 6 AM. I would. It is much cleaner, less hospital like. Care during day better and less expensive. Food is just ok.

My mother was a resident at the Pines for about two years. When she arrived, she was at a moderate level of dementia and so had some challenges. The staff at the Pines made her feel welcome and she integrated well into the community. As Mom's condition gradually grew worse, the staff continued to do a great job meeting her needs. Staff wheeled her from her room to common areas (including dining) when she lost her ability to walk. They also took care of her needs as she became incontinent. In the latter stages of Mom's stay at the Pines, the staff even pureed her food for her so she could eat. They also assisted her in feeding. I am very grateful for all the care that Mom received while she was at the Pines. I would also like to mention that the care Mom received from the Nursing staff was excellent; very attentive to her needs. I finally had to move my mother to a nursing facility recently, as her condition continues to worsen. I would highly recommend The Pines.