Brookdale Melbourne

The staff was tremendously helpful. We had an opportunity to walk to the entire facility and not that just the sales and marketing tips but also the chance to sample the food and to meet the chef. We talked to multiple of residents, which to me is a big selling point. They provided feedback and comments that we feel very comfortable with. Brookdale Melbourne seems like a very energetic elderly community, people were out of their rooms, interacting with each other, and they seemed to have a wide variety of activities offered throughout the day. It was enough to convince me that this is the place I think my mom would be comfortable, happy, and safe.

Our experience with Brookdale Melbourne (Formerly Emeritus at Melbourne) was OK, but they did not have enough staff at the time. It could've been better and more organized. There were small rooms. It was not a big place. The dining room was in good condition, very nice quality, good enough. I was impressed most with the price. They answered all our questions, but they should have better quality staff.

I pulled a family member out of this awful place. It used to be a nice place but lack of staff has made it ho down hill. The stench is terrible. Residents always complaining about the staff in not caring.

We picked Brookdale Melbourne because of cost. It is the least expensive and the one I can afford. The second reason would be its relative close proximity to where I live. I'm sure they mentioned some of the activities to me. One of the things they do offer is to take some of the residents on bus tours to Wal-Mart. They basically take them out to shopping. I'm not aware of all the different things they do, and there's more to that obviously. My mother does not participate a whole lot because she is just kind of miserable. I tried to get her to go, but she is not very sociable at her age. They offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but it is very limited on what they offer in terms of snacks. In fact, that is one of the complaints my mother has about it. They send her to the machine to get snacks, and they don't really do much beyond breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is OK; I still have her there, and I'm not pulling her out or anything. It is hospitable and reasonable. Being someone who works in the long term care industry, I've seen a lot of good and a lot of bad in these homes. Brookdale is not the most pristine, and it is not the cleanest, but it is OK. I would say it is in the middle of the road. What sold me on it was that the price was right, and it was close enough for me to be able to get there quickly if need be. They did give me a copy of the contract, and that was fine, but they ended up charging me for something I never agreed to. They also have a thing they call a community fee, which I'm not even sure what that pays for exactly. The representative told me that I can pay in installments, but then suddenly that wasn't available, so they will charge me more. I'm still working on that. Another thing they offered me when I brought my mother in was that there'll be someone to show her around. That didn't happen, and I ended up being the one to take her around and showing her the place. I'm OK, and it does the job, but I'm not ecstatic about it.

Brookdale Melbourne was very homey, and the people in it were very friendly and outgoing. It was very clean. They seemed very caring. My father was very happy with the food. They had a very nice garden area. It was very cheerful and upbeat. The residents there seemed very happy.

Brookdale Melbourne was nice, and the rooms were much bigger, but not as up-to-date. It was much older, but very well-cleaned and kept up nicely. My mom thought that the patients were happy there. When we got there, there was a happy hour going on, they had this little band there, they were all singing, and everybody just looked so happy. Even when we walked around, all the patients looked nice, and they all looked happy. We liked this one too. And the rooms were huge; they were bigger and more like a little hotel. They had enough room where you could put a bed, a dresser, a little couch, and a little entail, so you had a little sitting area. But the bathrooms were not as nice as the other place because you had to step up to them. It wasn't as nice as the first place, but it was pleasant. The rooms were huge, and you could get different sizes. This was another thing that was pretty cool. If they had it available, you could get two rooms. They'd take the wall down, and you could have two rooms, so you could have a really big space if you wanted, and they had people that did that. I know they do baking, and they have a lot of different stuff. They have movies, they take them to the movies and to the mall, and they have their own little bus that they transport people, so they had some nice stuff to offer too. They could update the facility. The biggest thing to me was the bathroom. Someone getting under the shower that needs help wouldn't be good there. The other thing that kind of scared me a little bit about this place was they were right on the highway whereas the other place had at least an acre of land before you got there. But what was cool about this place too was they allow you to bring your animal. They can't be huge, and there is a requirement, but there were people there with a cat and people with a dog. So as long as you can walk the dog or take care of your animal, they are allowed to stay.

Emeritus at Melbourne just had a very foul odor, and my mother didn't like it. The people were nice to me, but I noticed one thing right off. The people who were walking down the hall -- the residents -- none of them turned to me and said "Hello." None of them were smiling. The assisted living is not an apartment; it is a very small room. One of the things I noticed was they were all very dark. Everything was dark. I said, "No way. This is an example of what she doesn't like." I took her there just to show her, and she said, "Oh, I don't want this place." I looked at the dining area, and it seemed cramped. They need to redo their lighting to make it more brightly lit because the hallways were just dim. My mom noticed the stench, and I noticed the look. Even the room that they showed me -- even though it had furniture and a lamp in it -- just wasn't well-lit.

I liked Emeritus at Melbourne because it was small. They didn't have a large amount of people. I liked that it was only on one floor or one level. Everything was good. The dining area was very nice.

The food was not good here at Emeritus at Melbourne. The supervision was not good as well. My mom was lying in the bathroom for a good portion of the night. She has Alzheimer's, and she ended up walking around naked one day in the dining room. When dad was there, he just came out of the hospital. Because he kept trying to go home one night, they just put him in a hallway and wouldn't let him out. Nobody ever told me; dad just told me later. The rooms were fine. He had a nice bedroom with a sitting room. My mom went to all the exercise classes. If you couldn't find her, she would be in the exercise room. The diet, the supervision, and the communication needed to be improved. That's why we never went back.

My relative moved into Emeritus several months ago and we are still trying to determine if it is right for her. Have experienced many delays in staff getting back to me and always with the excuse that they are short-staffed. Not good. The wait-time for meal service in the dining room is anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes where they are in no hurry whatsoever to put food in front of the residents. The staff seems pleasant enough but no sense of urgency whatsoever.

My parents have been at Emeritus at Melbourne for about a year now. It’s a beautiful community, but I am not happy with the care and the food compared to the price that they are paying. My parents already made friends with some of the residents, and they also have the same complaints with regards to the care. My mom has stage 2 Alzheimer's, and she's been acting out once in a while, and nobody interacts with her. They let her sleep all day, and that is why I think the staff needs to interact with the residents.

I like Emeritus at Melbourne very much. I would give this facility a high rating. It had a really good layout. The staff seemed very friendly, and the residents looked like they were interested and involved, and they appeared to have a lot of activities. It's a little more expensive than the other facilities, but not terrible. The rooms were sufficient. It's laid out so that they have big bathrooms and walk-in showers.

I was very impressed with Emeritus. They staff was very helpful and answered all my questions. The rooms were rather small. They had individual dining rooms for the different wings of the place. They had games, and they took the residents out to different places.

Emeritus at Melbourne seemed to fit my brother's needs better. It wasn't too big, nor was it too small. It didn't seem too much like a nursing home, and their fee schedule is more in line with what he could afford. This place had memory care, which he will probably need down the line, and that would mean we would not have to move him. They had enough staff that seemed to be doing their job. Food looked good and they had a dining area that looked nice and clean. I saw their menu, and it looked pretty nice, so I thought maybe I should go down there and eat. The facility looked pretty nice and well-maintained. It wasn't brand-new, so you could tell that it had some furnishings that were a little older, but that didn't bother me. It wasn't shabby looking. It just wasn't the newest or most updated, but that means very little to me as long as things are neat and well taken care of.

I went with my husband at Emeritus at Melbourne for a visit and the facility is very, very nice. The rooms are a little bit smaller, but overall the facility is nice and the residents are pretty friendly. The staff are also nice. I like the large dining room and it's a restaurant-style looking and I know that would make my mom-in-law happier. The staff who toured me around discussed with me the different activities they have and it sounds like they had a lot of things going on. I feel like they have activities that would make her happy too.

The first facility I visited was Emeritus at Melbourne and they were very good. It's a very nice facility. I like the staff, I like the environment. I saw the dining area. I saw people eating and it's very, very nice. The grounds were beautiful. They also have a memory care program. With regards to the activities, I know they have outings.

Emeritus at Melbourne had a little more staff in their memory unit. They were working with the seniors very well. It was on one floor which is a little better. All the memory care units had beyond the first level security and the residents all seem safe. They have special readers and special lockdown doors.

We did a walkthrough at Emeritus at Melbourne and the facility is nice. It's exactly what he needed and the facility is just close by. My dad loves it. They take care of him medically and they can take him to the doctor's office. They also take the residents out to go Walmart and go shopping. The one thing they could improve is the interior decor of the facility.

We liked everything about Emeritus at Melbourne. We've been happy with what we've seen. So, far we liked everything about the three places we've visited. but we still want to shop around.

Emeritus was nice and setup nice but at that time it was smelly. It appears that they need some more workers there. The communication was not good, I have waited a few times for the person to call me back and she didn't so I called her. She said she'll call me again and she didn't so I just left it alone. It could be in a transition of hiring more people.

I was a little disappointed with Emeritus at Melbourne. It smelled and it hit me before I got to the front door. The one room we looked at was a little dusty but it was clean. What turned my cousin off was everyone was slumped over in wheelchairs and she's not ready for that. She's a nurse and she knows what happens when in nursing homes, the staff sometimes keeps them quiet and so she recognized some signs there and she wasn't pleased. I will say that the staff was friendly to us and to the residents but there's just a lot of people slumped over in their rooms.

I am looking at ALFs for a family member. I have been trying to get a response from the office for over a month. Yes, they had a change in staff position but I sent questions to them before the change and even called after the change. They promised to send the info and I STILL have not heard from them.

My mom has been in this facility for 2 years now. S he is in the memory care unit and is treated very well. The staff is very nice and they are constantly doing activities with the residents. I would definately recommend Emiritus to anyone who is looking for a facility for their loved one.

I am still researching facilities for my father. I contacted this one. They seemed nice. But, not exactly the level of care that we think he needs at this time