Brookdale Boulder Creek

Brookdale Boulder Creek seemed fine. They had nice-sized rooms; the facilities seemed nice and very clean but not as updated. It was a larger facility, and because my mom has dementia, I was concerned that it would be too big for her that she wouldn’t feel comfortable. I talked to one person, and he seemed nice. They had art classes, bingo, and bridge.

The staff was excellent at Wynwood at Ridge Point. The lady that showed myself and my friend around was wonderful and very nice. But the facility itself is like going to a motel, and the price was less, but not that much less. What turned me off is I am still able to drive and I have a car, but the folks sitting around and playing basketball with a balloon -- although it’s kind of exercise -- it is not something I want to deal with.

Brookdale was beautiful, and I thought that they were more for high functioning people. Since my mother had pretty involved memory issues, I didn’t think it was right for her. The rooms were pretty spacious. The food smells delicious. It was more expensive than the others.

I moved my mother to Wynwood at Ridge Point, and I'm not terribly happy with it. Her room is very clean, and the place is clean, but they are not very good with the laundry. They went to a play today, and they have some trips, bingo, exercise, and crosswords. I've eaten there, and the food is good, but it's frequently cold. There was a petition that went around signed by a lot of the residents about how poor the service of food was. It was served cold, it was late, or it would take forever, but they are improving on that. There is a lack of staff, and my mother came close to dying because there was not a caregiver there. Fortunately, I was there, and I knew how to do the Heimlich, and the director said, "Your mother wouldn't have known how to push that button anyway." I don't like the director; I think she is way in over her head, and I'm not the only one that feels that way. I would love to talk to the owner of this facility.

I'm in Wynwood. It is very professionally run. Everyone is happy doing their jobs, which makes the whole place happy. The food is quite good. They come around every meal and take your order. You get usually 3 choices of entrees and then a couple of alternatives for lunch and dinner. Our chef came from owning her own wine bar café and she's really excellent. She really understands meal preparation and just recently this past month, we did themed entrees. Last month was France and starting in August, it's going to be Greece so that's kind of fun. I started out in the respite apartment that was completely furnished and renovated. When I decided to sign the lease, they even renovated a little more. All the units are being renovated to meet the new toilet heights. My unit faces the inside courtyard which is landscaped with a fountain. When you open your windows at night, you can hear the water. Very relaxing. Several apartments had balconies. My apartment has a private bathroom. They have 2 buses and for today, their main activity was to go to a very popular street with stores for shopping. It was unique and it is reasonable -- prices that retirees can afford. Several people on the first floor have pets that can go out into the courtyard, which I find to be very nice. They do charge quite a bit for the animals. I think a cat is $200 a month and a dog is $400 but that includes walking the dog if necessary. If you can't get out for the day, the care people will come and walk your dog. For the cats, they'll clean the litter box and feed them if you're ill. That's part of their fee. The caregivers are happy and their activity director is just really dear. She leads several classes and rides the bus to various outings. She's in her 40s which is a real nice change for most people in their 80s. I'm in my 60s and we're all hanging out with a woman in her 40s. We have a lot of interaction, a lot of fun going on. The executive director here is in her early 40s as well and very enthusiastic about her job, which is nice.

Mom is in Wynwood right now. The food is really good. The room is not luxurious but it's good. It's average size and comfortable. She's unable to get up on her own but the few things that she has gone to, I think she has been happy about. The staff is Nepalese and they're really sweet. They are really kind to mom and just very, very nice. I would say that their response times would be great if it was faster but mom has not complained so I guess it's OK. It's always possible to have a faster response time if they had more staff.

We were at Wynwood Ridge Point for two weeks. The administration there was very helpful, kind, and supportive. Some of the caregivers were very good, some of them were not. The food was not very good, but the dining area was nice. They were remodeling at the time. I think they need to provide more engaging activities for people there.

I give Brookdale high marks for everything. Good architecture, nice staff. They gave me a pie but I didn't really taste food. Sanitation was excellent. What I like is the openness, good floor plans. They have day lighting, they had windows.

High functioning individuals live in this assisted living facility, which has a 76-room capacity. Inside, the dining room and common areas are very clean although not beautifully appointed. However, there is a nice outside gazebo area with picnic tables"”complete with lots of shrubbery and a pond. Wynwood serves great food"”good quality and lots of choices. There are lots of natural foods, foods and vegetables, without additives. There is attention to presentation and an interesting offering of ethnic foods. The staff, at a ratio of one for every two residents, is friendly. There is one med tech in addition to a nurse on staff from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and one caregiver on each of the three floors. No dedicated memory care is available. Lots of activities are offered, including a cooking club, arts and crafts and very popular card games; there is also a bus to shuttle residents on tours and to offsite outings. Pets are allowed, which is a unique offering in the area. The cost starts at $3,000 monthly for studio, ranging to $4,900 for a two-bedroom unit with a den. Additional housing options within this range are one-bedrooms, one-bedrooms with a den, and two-bedroom units. The price increases along with the with need for care. -This reviewer, Ruth Hillesheim, is a social worker with extensive nursing home experience, with an emphasis on Alzheimer's and dementia care.

My grandmother is a resident at Wynwood at Ridge Point. From my perspective, this facility is great; they have staff on call 24/7, including a nurse on staff. They have lots of activities for the residents to do (both in the building and field trips to various stores or special events). They have a church service in the building every Sunday, which is good. All of the staff are very friendly and helpful. They have a really nice court yard with a small pond/fountain and occasionally they do barbecues. The dining room is nice and spacious with good lighting. They allow pets, which is a wonderful thing for everyone there; I occasionally meet a dog in the hall going for a walk. They have a small beauty parlor in the building along with a physical therapy / workout room. There have been a few minor annoyances here and there, but otherwise this place has been wonderful for her!