Ivy Park at Palo Alto

Carmenia

I went to Ivy Park at Palo Alto for my husband. I know that place. I visited that place a while ago when I considered putting my husband in one of these places. And, the thing is they tried to do the same for their residents, but it's not as good a program as the one that the other facility is offering. The place is not clean. They're repairing a lot of stuff. They changed ownership, and they are cleaning. That might be the problem. Also, they wanted us to bring everything into the room, which I didn't quite like. In the other place, they put all the different things that we need or whatever we request in the room. So, that's something that we don't have to worry about.

Provider Response

Rose

We are considering Ivy Park at Palo Alto for respite care and their representative was very nice. They only showed us a demo apartment and then showed us kind of the basic amenities. My mom is top-tier care. What I liked the best was the person who showed me around. She was very nice and very helpful. When we went through, there weren't very many residents around. We saw only maybe two people. It was oddly quiet, even though they were having a party, so we didn't get to talk to the residents. We didn't get to talk to any caregivers. The worst thing is the parking. If you happen to be an elder person there who drives, I just think you would not enjoy it. It's very limited parking. It was awkward for a person in a wheelchair. They only had a few things that were disabled spots. They have a demo room and it was kind of an awkward time to come. They were doing a transition where I think they were going to be transitioning to a new demo room. As far as accessibility goes, it was nice that the shower had a small lip so that if you had a shower chair, it would be easy to get someone who had no mobility or very limited mobility in. The room itself was nice, but kind of basic. It was a little small and awkward, especially for $6000 a month. That's several times the cost of my apartment, which is more than twice the size of that place. The cost was not ideal. They have a pull rope for the residents right on the bed. If something goes wrong, they can get help. The place was nice, but it was very quiet. It might have been the day. There was not a lot of natural sunlight. It's near restaurants and some shopping. It's near California Avenue and El Camino Real. California Avenue has restaurants and some shopping, but it's all pretty expensive. It's moderately accessible. The dining area looked nice enough. They had an activity schedule. They had a little theater setup for them, so they do movies occasionally. They had some little comfy seating and a screen. They also had some puzzles available. They do other organized events. The foyer was very nice, and inviting, and had comfy seating. There were books, a fireplace, and outdoor seating. They had two-person transfers for people with very limited mobility, like my mother, which is a big deal. If you're an individual who doesn't want to go to the dining area, they have the service where they can bring the meals to you but it's extra. There was nothing wrong with them. The salesperson was very nice and the people we met were nice, but the fact that there weren't deeper interactions, it's hard to say if they weren't hiding something. It's a little suspicious that it was so quiet and so few people out in the middle of the day. Other than the parking, everything seemed well maintained.

Provider Response

Diana

I went here. It's really beautiful. I liked the fact that they have a dedicated staff so that the residents would know who their caregivers were. Where my husband was before, there would be like a pool of caregivers, and he would never know which caregiver he would have on a given day and that used to bother him because there were certain ones that he liked, certain other ones he did not like. It was difficult to establish a routine that way, whereas here they would assign particular caregivers and this would be the caregiver team, and you would always know that. That's what they said they were going to do, so I thought that would be much better, especially for someone who is beginning to have some memory problems. It's much better to have a smaller number of people and known people. They're very nice looking rooms, they're nicely carpeted, nicely painted. The little kitchenette areas are nicely organized.

Doug

It is new, has a very nice floor plan, and is open. They have a very nice staff. The rooms are average-sized, and they have lots of activities. It was very pleasant. The food looked like it was good.

Paul

My visit here was very nice, the environment was very welcoming, it was easy to park, and the staff accommodated me very well. It was very light, very clean, and very spacious. There were a lot of little nooks and crannies where, if I visited, I could sit with my wife, and that's a big plus. I saw everything in action, and the places where residents went, including the memory care unit.

Stanley555545

The staff who toured us was very helpful. They have the normal type of activities for assisted living. They have discussions, talks, and entertainment. The room was very nice, and they have some exercise facilities.