The Watermark at East Hill

Someone I know has been at The Watermark at East Hill for three months, and it’s been a positive and good experience. The staff is very helpful. The place is clean, organized, quiet, and generally topnotch. The grounds are well-manicured and well-landscaped. The apartments are very nice. She's in a very nice 1-bedroom apartment with a balcony.

The facilities were absolutely spotless and people were extremely pleasant. It has a full salon and spa, with a year-round heated pool (and a gas fireplace with cozy chairs at one end of the room), an auditorium for concerts and shows, a private movie theatre complete with comfy theatre seats (you can even ask them to screen a movie for you when they don't have one already scheduled), and multiple dining options. The Villa was my main focus - and when they say it's a brand new concept in memory care, they're not kidding. It's set up like a house, with an open-plan kitchen/dining/living area, so residents feel like they're in a home vs an institutional setting. They even cook and eat family style, right along with the CNAs ("Nayas"). The outdoor space is set up differently than others I've seen - nayas accompany residents on walks/outings, there are rocking chairs on the front porch, and a side porch with beautiful butterfly gardens and raised-beds for them to enjoy/plant - no feeling of being locked up like you sometimes have in secured memory care units. It's a spotless environment that feels modern/upscale but still extremely cozy. Apartment/room layout is easy to navigate for residents, with the bathrooms not far from the bed (helpful if there are incontinence issues). The bathrooms themselves are gorgeous - fully tiled (completely waterproof "wet room") so there's no step getting into the shower, just a shower curtain. If the grab bars weren't there, you wouldn't even know this was a bathroom in a memory care apartment. They encourage aging in place, so residents don't have to move to skilled nursing unless they require extensive nursing oversight. The level of personal interaction between the staff and the residents was what absolutely floored me compared to other facilities - these are highly engaged residents (regardless of the stage of their disease) who participate in extremely personalized activities constantly throughout the day. Nayas seem to know everything there is to know about these residents - where they grew up, their spouse's/kids'/friends' names, jobs, names of companies they worked for, interests...you name it. One even downloaded an app to translate German to English, because one of her residents slips into his native German periodically and she didn't want to lose the ability to communicate with him. The facility has the best resident-to-staff ratio of any I've heard of, and it really shows (plus, they just added even more CNA coverage to help during busy periods). The food is fresh food w/a really good variety (when I toured, they had a choice of ribs, chicken or quiche). There's an RN on-campus 24/7. Overall, the facility feels very well maintained, the staff seem happy at every level, and The Villa itself was unbelievably peaceful and welcoming - I could have sat there all day and just relaxed. This is at the top of my short list.

I have to say, I found the place to be one of the most cleanest places of it's type I have ever been to. The staff is friendly and they give me updates every time I come to see my grandmother. She is 89 years old and in not so good condition. I tried the food there and I have to say it was a lot better then I expected. But, there are some things that did bother me. They were not but they did happen. One nurse came in my grandmother's room and she was not the one I am used to seeing on that day at that time. She appeared as if her mind was hazy,somewhere else and was unsure of all my grandmother's problems. I expressed my concern to another staff member and I never saw that nurse there again. And the repeating of menu choices bothered me because all my grandmother did was cook when she was well. Food is what she knows, and when the menu is same for the most part as the week before and the week before that I can tell she wants something different. I would too. Lastly, my grandmother can be a hard person to deal with when her mind is not all there, and they tolerate all her outbursts like pros and in my heart I feel she is in a good place. For the price though it really should be. They are on the expensive side. But if it seems like she gets the best care there that is all that matters.

My experiences at the Watermark have been excellent. After my mother passed, my father was no longer able to care for himself and was told he should look into assisted living facilities. He was reluctant at first, but he soon found a home that he loved at The Watermark at East Hill. Whenever I visit my father at this facility, I see the pride that each and every employee, from the director to the janitors, takes in their work. My first impression is that the place looks like a hotel (and it practically is!). The rooms are beautiful and well-furnished. There are different sized apartments for singles and couples to accommodate different lifestyles. Many clients can be seen in the common rooms watching TV, playing billiards and enjoying snacks and drinks just like you would on a nice vacation. The dining is excellent and the chefs and wait staff are accommodating and friendly. And if for some reason you don't want to eat at the main restaurant, you can always visit the Caf̩ for a snack, a nice cup of coffee and some great conversation. All of the clients I've talked to also seem rather cheerful and all of them seem to love where they live, which is not always true for an assisted living home. I have never had a single bad experience with the Watermark and am happy knowing my father lives at such a wonderful place.