Watermark Retirement Communities

Visited with my mom. The first thing we noticed is the food. It was really terrible. They seem to serve "Millbrook Chicken" every night (chicken with some sort of white gravy on it). I agree with the other reviews about the cottages, they are in need of updating badly. Cracks in the sidewalks, paint chipping and yes, the laundry rooms were freezing cold. The one we saw had a big hole in the roof where a fan or something had fallen out. No remotes for the garages, you have to get out and use a key but doesn't seem like many people have cars here. There were no walking trails on the property, no pool, no gardening, no outside activities. The car that they use to pick up residents to take them to meals is old, rusted, and was missing hubcaps. The Assisted Living is more of a nursing home than Assisted Living. I guess what we noticed most was the residents that are here seem to be in very poor health. Rare to see someone not using a walker. This is better for someone that's looking for a nursing home type environment. They seem to keep the property in good shape but there just wasn't much to do here if you are in "independent" and in decent health and active. I would have grave concerns about the safety here as other reviewers here and on other sites have noted. The desk is not staffed 24/7 and no one seemed to know what happens after 11pm if you need help Security, somewhere, maybe on the property or not. We asked about 30 residents and they had never seen nor heard of a security guard. The hospital is 15 miles away down rural roads and the ambulance is volunteer (5 miles away) so if you needed help, it will be a long time until you get to a hospital. We spent the night on property and walked the grounds looking and found no one. If there's someone staffed at night, he is sleeping someplace well hidden. I wouldn't want mom to fall in the middle of the night here. On the plus side, the staff couldn't have been nicer.

I am considering removing my mother from this facility. A nurse told me their were 3 fractures on just a single shift only a week or so ago. They do not want to pay enough staff to work at Rockland. Many of the nursing staff are not even from the US and I find difficult to communicate with. As for the dining, mediocre at best. I worry for her well being. Look elsewhere.

My experience here was not a good one. Staff was not friendly or helpful. Had to ask a few times to first be let into the memory care unit then when I asked the aide to assist in transferring someone she did it with a lot of force and just not the way you are typically taught to handle someone. I would not recommend this place.

Everything from the management to the food... terrible

Things were stolen from my dad while he stayed there. The place seemed pretty clean but I was not impressed with the staff and how they treated the clients. It was one of the staff that stole from my dad.

In the last 13 month of my mother being a resident in memory care at the Sonrisa establishment in Roseville has been challenging. The leadership/management team is where the biggest opportunity and changes that need to take place. There is no communication regarding changes, policies and protocol from mgmt. There has been a significant amount of turnover with both staff and resident due to the lack of consistency and accountability. I do not recommend this establishment even though it is a beautiful facility. The soul purpose of this establishment is negated due to profit and numbers niot care.

If your parent isn’t social don’t bother with this place. Honestly they shouldn’t be in the business of elder care. They assigned someone to my mom who is more of an introvert to help her get used to the routine. I learned that older men and women are clicky and gossipy and hurtful to others. I guess if your an asshole in your youth you are as a senior.

Sooo everything is NOT included. They nickel and dime you to death at the signing. Extra services are expensive and most of what they say will happen for your loved one— doesn’t. The nurse lies and covers up for her aides. My father lay on the floor for six hours after falling from bed with 5 broken ribs before he was discovered. Then they said he was checked on throughout the night. Lies! There are lots of other places to choose from. Go find somewhere else!

My spouse left the facility after one and a half years, and is now living at home with a home caregiver 5 days/week. She is getting much better care than she ever did at the facility. We thought assisted living would provide better care, and we were wrong, at least as far as The Fountains is concerned. Overall experience: My spouse felt like she was in prison for 18 months. She became very unhappy and depressed. She is now smiling and happy again, now that she is home. Cleanliness: Sometimes there is a very bad smell in the lobby. Friendliness of staff: Some very nice staff; others quite mean and nasty. The RN in charge of the assisted living section is so domineering, unfriendly, and passive-aggressive that there is a huge turnover of staff. All the good ones leave, and the bad ones remain behind. The facility is often understaffed, resulting in inferior care for the residents. Quality of care: Inexperienced and unprofessional nurses who don't understand how to inject insulin properly, and unable to give insulin injections within 15 minutes of my spouse eating, as required by her endocrinologist, resulting often in hypoglycemia. (When we complained, The RN actually said they have no control over the kitchen. It begs the question: Why not? Pain relief was often withheld, even though the Rx said PRN. Patients often sent to ER for no reason (A doctor told me that The Vassar Medical Center in Poughkeepsie has stopped accepting many patients from The Fountains because of this.) Patients are often sent to The ER without their permission, and the facility is NEVER able to transfer the patients back to the facility, even though their brochures say that transportation is provided Every time we asked for help with transportation, we were told that they had no one to spare. Take a taxi (which would have cost over [fee removed]). Meals/Dining: (would give a 0 if I could). The food is inedible. ALWAYS. It is prepared in another location; by the time it reaches the assisted living facility it has degraded immensely. My spouse had groceries delivered every week so she could eat properly. Value for cost: (again zero, if I could). They raised our rent 5 times in the space of 18 months, almost doubling the initial amount we were paying. Totally unsustainable situation for us. Every time they raised the rent, the services decreased. The facility is owned by Watermark Retirement Communities, and their prime goal seems to be to enrich the shareholders at the expense of the residents. I asked the staff every time our rent was raised if they got a pay boost, and was told no by every one of them. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS FACILITY TO ANYONE.

They did not clean my loved ones room, laundry was just sitting for days, and they did not take the trash out. It was a very terrible experience. I paid a lot of money, and things were not getting done.

Very rude and unprofessional staff. Stay away from this facility!!

When Watermark bought the Quail Park of Oro Valley Assisted Living facility, the administration and nurses were fired (or left on their own accord), which should have been a red flag for us. Watermark overdosed my mother-in-law with insulin two days in a row which cause her blood glucose to bottom out. When they realized their mistake, they evicted my in-laws and handed the letter directly to my mother-in-law and ignored my wife's wishes to have her handle the situation. As a result of the stress, my mother-in-law developed congestive heart failure and was hospitalized for a week.. This could have been prevented if Watermark had let my wife handle the situation. My wife has Power of Attorney (POA) for her parents for all financial and medical decisions. We verified that the POA is indeed valid for all financial and medical decisions with our lawyers and state agencies and should not have been ignored. I would give zero stars if possible. Beware and stay clear!

Very disappointed my husband was in his room most of the time meals were not as advertised. Very expensive for services provided. He was there for 2 weeks respite found someplace that met his needs

Let me start by saying that [name removed] and [name removed] who are the marketing employees at Elan Santa Monica are great and awesome to work with, and they will definitely answer all your questions and win you over. (Since I can't give zero stars to this facility, my one star is given entirely to [name removed] and [name removed].) The facility itself looks good from the outside, however when we viewed rooms there were dead cockroaches in two of the three rooms we viewed. Granted, they were dead, but still scattered all over. The shower never got warm and was cold whenever we tried to test it. The food was terrible. Extremely bland and even my elderly loved one said they disliked it. Now, to the important aspects of my post. I DO NOT recommend Elan in any way shape or form and I DO NOT recommend you put your loved one at this facility. We went to Elan because my family member needed memory care. We met with [name removed] and [name removed] who were wonderful and completely won us over in choosing their facility. As this was a very stressful situation for me and my family, they answered our millions of questions and addressed any concerns we had. However, we quickly came to learn that things on the front side of Elan, are perfect, and way too good to be true. Once my family member was actually at Elan, that's when things drastically changed. The care my family member received by the head "nurse" [name removed], was terrible, in that she did not provide care at all. We were told our family member would be checked on every 30 minutes around the clock and any instance that happened would be reported to us immediately, such as any falls, behavior issues. Anything. And we were adamant that we wanted to know what was happening as this was our loved one and this was a very difficult decision for us. Not only did we have family visiting the center daily, we called to check on our loved one at least 3 times a day to see how things were going. Every time we called or asked in person, we got the same answer, "Oh they're doing great! We love them! Nothing bad to report." Come to find out a week later that they were kicking my family member out of their facility for "bad behavior" such as walking around too much and going into other people rooms, and incontinence issues. This was absolutely ridiculous! For around $6000 a month, they were NOT doing their job of keeping an eye on my loved one or providing the care they promised. We later came to find out that they only checked on our family member about every two hours, if that, and they had fallen multiple times and we were never told. Unfortunately, my loved ones ankle started to swell up and we later found out they had almost broken a bone at Elan and no one there knew what had happened. The "nurse" [name removed] had horrible things to say about our family member's behavior, but when we asked why we weren't told about things as they were happening she couldn't give us a straight answer and eventually stopped answering or returning calls. I don't believe she ever actually worked directly with my loved one. She manages the techs and aids at the facility but never interacts with the residents herself. The director of the facility is just as bad. She stated Elan would give us $500 back and another $1000 since they kicked him out and couldn't provide adequate care on their part. We received the $500 however we NEVER received the other portion. She stopped returning our calls after we tried multiple times to reach her. They ended up pocketing thousands of our dollars after having our family member for barely over a week. Obviously they care more about money then their residents. Overall, Elan seems great in the beginning, but the care your loved one will receive once there is terrible. They don't keep to their word, the head nurse really only manages people, and the overall director has horrible customer service skills. And if that's how the director is, then to me that's a reflection of how the place is as a whole. Again, I DO NOT recommend this facility and instead they exceedingly disappointing us. (I do however recommend [name removed] located in [location removed] if you're looking for a facility that truly cares about your loved one and keeps their word. Look them up as they truly deserve your business.)

The grounds are gorgeous. It's WAY out in the country so best for someone who likes living that lifestyle. If only the rest of the property was as nice as what mother nature provided. We did the complete tour of the facilities and one thing I will note is this place is very old and run down. The cottages they showed us had chipped and peeling paint on the outside brick. Not just a little bit, the entire sides of buildings were peeled off. Just pressure wash the brick and be done with it. Stop painting it. The interior layouts all differ but the kitchens are so outdated (like from the 1960s), have a salmon colored or odd mustard colored formica countertops, linoleum floors, outdated appliances. This could be a beautiful community if Watermark would invest in updating the places when they are no longer occupied. Instead they offer "specials" to try to fill the out of date places without having to renovate. Upgrade your kitchens with granite, put in engineered hardwood floors instead of pergo or linoleum. It is ridiculous to have carpeting in a retirement home where seniors are prone to using canes and walkers or have drink or food spills. Carpet is not maintenance free. Some of the cottages had an air conditioner in one room and no where else. The gym is more of a personal gym setup. Just one of each type of equipment. There is no sauna, pool or any type of water aerobics available. The photos on the website make the dining room and the cafe look a lot better than they do in real life. The dining room has zero ambiance, it truly looks like a nursing home dining room. The little cafe isn't the quaint little country market it appears in the photo, it looks more like a truck stop cafe/7-Eleven. It is also a good 20 miles to the nearest hospital in Poughkeepsie. The sales/marketing staff from what I could tell consists of one person - Ruthie. Once you do the initial visit, she is incredibly difficult to get in touch with by phone or email and even though she says, "send me any questions", she doesn't respond. She doesn't see the rundown places as an issue because, as she will proudly tell you, she lives in a large trailer with formica countertops and linoleum floors.

Unfortunately we had a fairly negative experience at Rockland Place. My mom broke her femur and nothing was done about it for a good while. They can definitely improve. It is scary quiet. What I fear is that there was no good real help up where mom was, and there was no way for us to know that until what happened to mom. Had we known beforehand, we would have gone somewhere else. They need to do a lot more understanding of how important it is to keep these people socialized. Their help on the weekends especially was very weak.

gave low rating for not able to meet demands. did not meet moms needs, only needed a 7 day stay, facility only accepts 3 weeks or more for repite. dont understand, why facilities think that caregivers need 3 or more weeks break. huge mistake on thier part. Mr. Rasmussen was upfront about it, appreciated that, did not waste my time or his on this matter.

The staff were very nice. We were half way through our tour and they had to get the wheelchair from my wife and put her in a transporter. We were touring the facility and all of the residents were just sitting around and there were not staff. Based on our tour I would not recommend them.

This community presents very well when you first walk into the community. My sister and I were looking for a community for our Mom. We wanted to see both the assisted living and memory living. We set an appointment ahead of time and when we got there on a weekday in the middle of the afternoon, no body was available to tour us. Waited for 45 minutes until the Executive Director who didn't seem happy that she had to tour us, toured us. She was in a rush during our tour, we asked about seeing the memory living and the Executive Director said that we need an advance appointment before they let us see that part of the community. (Which we had, and express that to the Executive Director). Which didn't make any sense, we also notice that a lot of nursing staff around the station on their cell phones and cursing during our tour. Executive Director addressed this with the nursing staff, but when we left the nursing station and looked back at the station, 2 of the nurses were giving the Executive Director the middle finger. If that is how they act towards their boss, I can't image what they would do with my Mom in this community. Also, their prices were really high, the Executive Director asked if we had a long term care policy and that policy would cover the cost. That didn't make sense of why the prices were so high, plus the attitude of the nursing staff, we are going to be looking for another community.

Best to run, not walk, from Elan Santa Monica.