Merrill Gardens at Monterey

Carolee

My brother is currently in Merrill Gardens at Monterey. I have found them to be very responsive. It's a very uplifting atmosphere. They have lots of activities. The facility has amazingly 12-hour restaurant-style dining. So, they can go downstairs anywhere between 7 in the morning and 7 at night and eat. I've never had a bad meal, it's very good. They have happy hour on Thursdays where they have live music and entertainment, and they have a large activity room and a big screen TV where they watch movies twice a day. They have an exercise room with guided exercises for seniors. They go on excursions. They got a bus where they can take 15 or 20 people and they go to plays and they go to the grocery stores and out to eat lunch. It's just a very involved, beautiful complex. They've got five levels of care, which takes them from totally independent living right up to memory care - dementia and Alzheimer's. And so, you don't have to move. I was there for Thanksgiving dinner and that seriously was the best turkey I've ever had in my life. They do a wonderful, wonderful job. It's a new facility, it's like four or five years old.

Fran

Merrill Gardens are having problems with being short staffed, but that's probably everywhere. The people here are very nice. The rooms are not very big, but they're adequate. They have cleaning service, and that's very good. It's very friendly. The food is adequate it, but it has more salt than I like. The activities are very good. They are working very hard at keeping all the activities. We have a new person, so she's finding out what everybody likes and trying to work with them. They have a salon. I don't use it, but they have one. It's a good-looking facility. They have three meals.

Roger

I'm in Merrill Gardens at Monterey, it's very nice. They maintain it and it's new, for about four years. The staff is fine, it's just that they're having difficulty filling positions because they don't pay a lot. But all the nursing homes are having problems filling staff. I find the service to be ok. The staff works hard, it's a difficult job, but they do a good job. The food is good, it's not the best but it's good. They provide good chair exercise, and they have activities like volleyball. There is a small pool where they have water exercise. My apartment is very nice, it's large. I have a 2-bedroom, 2-bath.

Susan

I have been living in Merrill Gardens at Monterey and I’m quite pleased with this place. I have two small dogs and I have an apartment on the ground floor, I have a door that leads outside so I can just take the dogs on walks. I have had no complaints about the food whatsoever, we have great food. They have various yoga classes, and they have various events in the main living room area a couple times a week. And there’s also a big mall up on a hill that you can walk to within 10 minutes, and it’s also close to other shopping places. I like it here very much, I can’t imagine being in any other place at this point. They offer transportation to the doctors’ three times a week. The only complaint I have is that I wish they would have more transportation for the residents to other places and events, since I have no car. The staff is very cordial and has always been responsive, pleasant to deal with and helpful. I have no problems with them, and they don’t seem to object to my dogs. There are some little dogs around here that are aggressive, and I wish they would help protect my dogs from there. I think they should have more definite guidelines on the dogs’ behavior and what sort of things they expect from people with animals.

Tony

We chose Merrill Gardens at Monterey because they gave us a really good rate on the care. My grandfather is in the assisted living and my grandmother is in the memory care, and so far it's fantastic. Everybody's very polite, and very professional. They have very good food. They're always doing activities with them, and they took them out on a field trip today.

Lisa

Merrill Gardens at Monterey was very nice, but they didn't have a garden. They're sort of in a valley. They had hardly any parking. It's fairly new. The parking space was supposed to be in the garages, but there were never any garages built because the city didn't give them a water permit, so they had to use their own facility there and they store the water under their building. It's open, spacious, and wonderful. They have a first class chef who waited on my daughter and me and I can only say the best things about her. The place was very nice, but I didn't like the layout of their apartments. It's wasted space because it's a large kitchen, but it had a very small dining area. Even though they say they have a swimming pool, it's as big as an oversized Jacuzzi and that can fit maybe eight people, but only standing up if they do exercises. They said you can take nice walks around the garden. It's au naturel. The staff was very nice and the food was excellent.