Las Palmas Laguna Woods, CA

Be very careful if you consider this facility, get EVERYTHING in writing, and know your rights. Though the management appeared very friendly and helpful, by the time we left it was clear they hadn't been honest and were focused on money, not care. Just a few details: We asked for a studio, and the salesman told me that none were available, only one-bedrooms. I was shown the one-bedroom they would move my mother into and we accepted it, letting them know it was only for 30 days. I live out of town and wasn’t there the day she moved in. A few days later when I went to visit her, that apartment was locked, and she had been put in another apartment, not as nice, a studio. (I later learned from staff that several studios had been available.) When I asked the salesman why they switched her room without telling us, he gave no clear reply. At our initial meeting, the salesman explained the fee structure clearly, and said we would received 80% of the move-in fee refunded, minus $500 when she moved out within 30 days. When I later called to initiate the 80% refund, the salesman said he thought it was only 60% or maybe 40%; then he said he thought perhaps there was only a refund if the resident had died! Then he said he didn’t really understand the refunds and that I should talk to the executive director. Yet the salesman was the one who had clearly outlined the refund policy at the sales meeting. In addition, the care is very uneven. There are some wonderful caregivers there. But there's clearly a problem with response. My mother, who can't move by herself, waited between one to three hours at times for someone to respond to the call button. Finally we enabled her to call the front desk with a cell phone when she needed help (the room phone didn't reach to her chair or bed, and management had no solutions). No one explained or took responsibility for the long delays, and at one point a staff person blamed her for using the call button too early in the morning. It seems that there aren't enough staff members, and that some of the staff aren't aware that the residents are vulnerable, both physically and mentally. Repair requests are ignored; I asked several staff members, including the salesman, for the stove to be repaired (it never worked), and no one responded. So there was no way to heat or cook food during her entire stay. Fortunately, I found a nonprofit that advocates for families with long-term care facilities, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform: http://www.canhr.org. Thanks to them, I found that Las Palmas owed us the refund by law, and once I was able to cite the appropriate regulation, we received the refund. The executive director didn't return my calls or emails until I found this information, so go well-armed if you deal with Las Palmas!

My mom stayed at Las Palmas for about a month in spring 2017. Unless you are able to advocate for someone staying there, or the resident can vocally advocate for themselves, I highly recommend AGAINST Las Palmas as an assisted living community. Meghan in Sales was very helpful in getting our mom in and helping us with furniture via phone and email - Really wonderful in a terrible and stressful time. But once inside the facility the experience was quite poor. While the care givers we met were very kind, there were far too few. The promise was with the push of a button my mom would receive care in 10-15 mins. Sometimes my mom would wait for an hour. Also, when visiting her we could smell her and went to inquire about if her weekly shower had happened. They had to look it up and realized it had somehow been missed. But they couldn't explain why. In addition, while we were there their button service had been experiencing difficulties. For residents that can walk to the front desk this is not a big deal. However my mom was transitioning to a wheelchair and she HAD to push the button to do anything like go to the bathroom. My sister and i had to alert the desk her button wasn't working 3 times. That means even though they were aware the system was having difficulty they didn't put anything else in place (maybe a walkie talkie or having someone check on her more regularly) for a very vulnerable resident. Mind you we paid for the services she needed because your cost is based on need. But they didn't live up to the services we were paying for. Also no one in management knew our mom by name. The care givers did. In all the time we'd visit we never once saw a manager in the hallways - not the Exec Director, no Asst Directors, not Sales, no one. I was told I passed the Activities Director once, but she hadn't identified herself and had nothing showing she worked there. One day I needed to drop off a payment check. Front desk reception told me to knock on the door of the Finance person. When I did she was clearly bothered. She told me I should just leave checks in the box. I asked her why we never saw management. Why doors were always closed. She waved this complaint away saying she was doing pay roll. I asked her if she even knew who my mother was. And she looked at me blankly. One positive is that the food seemed to be celebrated by the residents. Apparently there was a new chef and they loved the food. So again if it is someone that can self-advocate and looking for more of a retirement community seems could be OK (hence two stars, not one). But if you need to trust the care of a loved one to a place, and you want them to be known and loved - this is not the place. We now have our mom in a facility in WA state. I am not sure if the regulations are different as we didn't try any place else in CA, but it is night and day. The staff all know our mom. They are invested in her happiness and health. They all know us. It feels like we are a team all working together. We know if we don't come in they have her best interests at heart. If you are reading this, good luck! It is a tough time.

Las Palmas is average. My husband's room is wonderful and very large. The food is good. The staff during the day is good, but the night staff is terrible because they only have two people who don't want to work and are not available when you call for help. They have a red cord in the bathroom that's supposed to be able to call for help, but it goes to a computer and the person sitting at the computer I guess never gets the message because it never works. The day staff is wonderful and make it work. They have a fabulous activities director who keeps everybody busy with music programs and concerts. The night staff is horrible and pulls everything else down.

Las Palmas (Vintage Senior Living at Las Palmas) was very nice. The people that we worked with were very nice too. I ate there and the food was good. We had actually decided to go there, however, when it came down to the true numbers, they had a lot of extra charges that they hadn't told us about. It irritated us enough that we said no.

We visited Las Palmas for my stepdad. My husband and I like it better because it is a bigger facility with more amenities that stood out to me, like the pool. The staff and cleanliness seemed good. The rooms were large and very nice. The common dining areas and entryway were nice. Everything seemed very nice.

We visited Las Palmas. It was a really nice place but didn’t have what my friend was looking for, and the rooms were too small for her. The staff was fine. I saw a pool and a lounging area for the residents.