Serene Gardens

The rooms for the dementia patients were the size of a large walk in closet and like a dungeon, I would never put my Mom there in a million years. There is a bathroom with a toilet and sink shared by two rooms. A shower is down the hall for all patients to use.

My father was put into Prestige Pines by his legal guardian. The facility evidently has been honored for it's care. In the nearly two years that my father was a resident I failed in figuring out why. My father was there for two weeks before I realized that he had not been put on the bathing schedule. I had to ask for his bedding to be changed and his room to be cleaned constantly. The administration was severely lacking in knowledge and in compassion. I was never happy with actions, or lack thereof. The aides were not allowed to come on the premises if they weren't working. This meant while they were off work a resident would pass away and they weren't even notified or allowed to say good bye. Those people would sometimes come back to work and find an empty bed. This is just not right for the aides or the residents. Sometimes the residents don't have anyone but those aides loving them. The employees were not required to have any previous training. The med techs and aides were very caring to my dad and to me. But the thought of their only training being from someone else who was not formally trained was very disturbing. My dad had Parkinson's Disease, acute back pain, and type II diabetes. He fell numerous times and was allowed to eat anything his friend brought into the facility for him to snack on. There was very little encouragement for exercise or sunshine other than one monthly excursion. Even the games, church, and gatherings are only slightly mentioned to residents. I would have thought that encouragement to engage the residents would have been the norm rather than sitting them in front of a TV or letting them lay in bed not knowing if it is morning or night. I understand that residents passing away is a common occurrence but is a card too much to expect after two years of residency? I realize that this facility is not for the rich although many thousands of dollars were recently been spent to update the furniture and artwork in the common areas. I would have thought the emphasis and use of money would be elsewhere. Even the entrance was dangerous with constant dripping water and ice build up. I know that everyone cannot be watched at all times. This facility only had two aides for the assisted living building of almost 20 residents. The memory section had three or four aides. I suggest requiring more training, hiring more people, and paying better wages. Our parents are worth it!

I wasn't impressed with the community. They ignored my loved one and brought the meals to them due to the pandemic. They only tried half-hearted to engage my loved on with activities. The food looked like Gordon foods. It didn't seem that the community put little effort into the meals during the pandemic. The dining room food was better, prior to COVID. I was able to do window visits, this was the highlight of the stay here.

The staff at this community were nice, however they seemed to only be working for their paycheck. The last few days my loved one lived there they did not have sheets or blankets on their bed and they did not take care of their personal needs. The food was not good.

With an average monthly rate exceeding $3000 we cannot consider this facility

We toured this place when we were looking into care options for my loved one. I was not impressed by what I saw here and I didn't like the feel of the community. The inside just felt very dark and depressing, and I didn't think it would be a good atmosphere for a memory care patient.

Just walk in and look around for yourself. Look at the residents, look at their hair, and clothing, go during meal time. Please do your due diligence and inspect this place before you place your loved one here. It takes forever to get buzzed inside after 5 pm. The management ([name removed]) and staff do not care about the residents. Medicine is rarely given on time or prescriptions filled on time. They ran out of meds several times and informed us that we would have to go get more due to the pharmacy being closed on the weekend. They leave meds in the admins or nurse's office and are not locked up in the med rooms. They gaslight residents and family members. Call buttons go unanswered for hours. When staff is questioned, they always have the same answer: "Sorry, the call buttons are down again." This is unacceptable for anyone who needs assistance. Showers are not given by the staff as scheduled. The staff lies and says the residents "refused" the shower or did not give a shower

My loved one has dementia. They have no business taking on that level of need because no one was willing to take the time to know or care for her needs. She is not capable of asking for help. No one was concerned enough to find out what she needed. When I asked them to give her fluids all day NO ONE bothered. I left bone broth and water in the refrigerator in her room and asked them to have her drink them. When I would go in (2 times every day) nothing had been moved from the refrigerator. When I would ask why no one knew anything.

Don't go there! I was so disappointed with this place. Both my parents have passed and I have so much guilt about choosing Avalon. Absolutely horrible experience.

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. I would like to start with is the building is absolutely horrible, there’s mold growing in the building specifically in room #4 that was being used as a storage room, the carpet is disgusting, there’s one resident who’s flooded her room MULTIPLE times and it has leaked into the hallways and they have yet to replace it. There is 2 laundry rooms with 2 washers and dryers each but they both only have 1 washer and dryer in each there’s been countless times we’ve requested for them to be fixed and nothing happens. Management is too worried about making the building look decent but that’s like putting lipstick on a dumpster. The beginning of this year the heat went out and was out for almost a month, in the summer time the air doesn’t work so everyone’s miserable and it’s hard to work. When it rains too hard the dining room floods like the building is sinking in the back, the residents pay so much money to live there and the care is half [profanity removed]

My mom was in Serene Gardens for several months after she left rehab due to a broken hip. During her stay there she had 2 incidents resulting from improper transfers. The first resulted in a broken ankle and after that they refused to get her out of bed. She was essentially bed ridden for 5 months even though doctors gave her clearance to put weight on the leg. I can only speculate that they were concerned about their ability to provide proper care. The other incident resulted in a disclocated knee which required full knee replacement surgery. After 5 months laying in bed she is weak and the staff did not properly transfer her to a wheelchair when we requested to have her get out of bed. Unfortunately the care is subpar and the staff's ability to own up to their mistakes is very unsettling. The staff are friendly but may not be equipped to handle someone that needs extensive assistance. The place is new and looks great.

They were not equipped to care for someone who was partially paralyzed. Nor aware of the need to give him the timely setup for his breathing treatment and then turning off the machine when it was finished. I was so disappointed. !! Quality was horrible. Not enough staff. Call light would not be answered. On his first night, he told me people don't answer the light. We waited 45 minutes. I then found people on the other side of the building. They said that they thought the light was just left on from earlier. So they ignored it. Meals were ok. Activities does not apply. He couldn't participate. Care was totally insufficient.

I am not impressed by the 'pretty exterior' of this assisted living facility. The exterior facade does not mask the 'ugliness' of the inner dynamics controlled by the owner/operator. It is sad that vulnerable adults are controlled by this place. I hope the state of Michigan does a thorough investigation of this facility and how it operates.

We do know it was during covid and it was before the employment situation with any care givers got to critical shortages. There were some decent employees, 3 out of the 4 receptionist were very helpful, but once was cold and not helpful. Some of the care staff were top notch people, but the director of nursing was not. We could visit them inside a complete glass box only, we did not have access to our loved ones apartment. House keeping did not change our loved ones beds for 2 months. Not confident in their care at all.

Don't go here if you want good care for your loved one or if you want them to eat anything decent or healthy. The relationship between management and the staff was very poor. The manager just couldn't get along with his staff, so the staff wouldn't come in to work. Basically it was like a strike. The food was terrible. It was all from a food service, with nothing homemade, and no fruits or vegetables. They would run out of food sometimes. It was just a terrible value and experience. The one positive is the activities director seemed like a wonderful person. Activities were just starting to pick back up after Covid restrictions. And she seemed like she was trying to keep it together for the whole building.

I had a bad experience with them. I paid seven months in advance for a deal and she died one week later and they did not refund any of my money which was $[fee removed] so I do not like that facility.

It was my plan when moving my mother into this beautifully bedecked home for the infirm (Pineview Cottage) that one day I would write a glowing review about the care she received. However today, that thought couldn’t be further from the truth. I won’t pretend for a moment that my mother was the easiest patient, but she did suffer from Alzheimer’s coupled with complications from a stroke. The owner, Hilde Bonesteel, claims to have expertise in Alzheimer care but she and her under trained staff were baffled as to how to care for my mother. It wasn’t until mother was actively dying and was under the care of Hospice of Northern Michigan in Pineview Cottage that she received competent, caring and companionate care. Because Pineview Cottage touts itself as assisted living, the licensing isn’t as stringent as it is in “nursing homes”. Believe me when I say that there are plenty of hours in a day when the only care being given is by a CENA or comparable. Take the time to look up the infractions Pineview Cottage has been cited for by the State of Michigan. Unless your loved one is a fully functioning elder with the ability to express him or herself Pineview Cottage should not be a consideration. They are too ill equipped to care for those who can not participate in the caring of themselves.

Very high turnover, poor care, lack of respect to family members. Lack of accountable when concerns or issues arise. Many caretekers have "attitude" problems and really run the place. Residents do not like it but afraid to tell the Management. I would not recommend at all even with the New Management.

Do not be fooled by the "atmosphere" and looks of this Assistant Living. Many 'attitudes' by the staff, lack of good care, chronic issues do not get resolved ie., like feces left on toilet seat and no one takes responsibility of cleaning, it up., caretakers "not my job" .. so in the meantime your loved one cannot go to bathroom...gross yes but that has been our experience. Any complaint is not taken seriously and becomes a "he said- she said" scenario. Many residents are not happy but afraid to tell the management. The new management does communicate changes and all of sudden you are charged on your invoice. It lacks team work among caretakers and the rest of the staff. At times, some staff , caretakers very rude and to the family member. Once you complain you are "labeled" by the caretaking staff and your love one will be treated unfairly. Please do not have the owners response to this review to contact the executive director, [name removed] for help since that doesnt resolve anything. Will never forget the first time meeting with new director, explaining not happy, wanting to take my mom away. His comments back "would you like a referral" . #frustrated caretaker of mom

Short staff results in lack of care. Would not recommend at all.