Brighton Gardens of Friendship Heights

Dee23

My sister is in Brighton Gardens of Friendship Heights for a month now. The dining room is very elegant, and they have linen napkins, tablecloths, chandeliers, and crystals; and it isn't an institution at all. She also could order off the menu, which is very nice, and that's the main reason why I chose it. Eating is the one thing that she enjoys. She is a stroke victim and cannot talk, and she has to be fed. I have a caregiver there everyday with her that I have hired, and she's there with her five out of seven days. They get together and they sit around in a circle. She can't participate, but she likes the interaction with other people. The people I talked to prior to her going in there could do things for themselves. I got feedback that I didn't realize until later was not the kind of feedback I was looking for. You're never going to find a place that's going to take care of someone like she is unless they have somebody that's there with them. Your minimum wage people are not going to look out after those people. They're good. It's just my sister is a very unusual case. The downstairs people in the office don't know what the people are doing upstairs. It's close to her home and her church, and she likes the food. I had lunch there, and their food was delicious. It's not institutionalized food, which a lot of these places have.

Provider Response

Jacqueline15

Brighton Gardens was a little larger, the staff was very nice, and they seemed to keep the place very well.

Anonymous106143150

I thought the rooms were very small at Sunrise Brighton Garden of Friendship Heights. That was the closest one to where the rest of the family lives, but the rooms were so tiny that it did not seem that it would work for him. The people were very nice. During the time, there was a big snow storm here, and I could not go over there, but there were very nice keeping in touch with me. It was a very lovely facility. The common areas were very nice.

Caring100393550

My mother has been at Brighton Gardens since November. She is African-American, and she is not used to their type of food. She constantly complains that she does not like it, but it is probably better for her, and she has to eat because there is nothing else to eat. It has taken her a little time to adjust and to see how other people are going to react to her. Even though there are a few African-Americans up there, the Caucasians do override them. But that was not what I was concerned about. We were concerned about putting her somewhere decent and nice, and I love the people that helped me get her there -- the administrator and the other person and whatever. She seems to be OK with it now. Their activities are nice. She loves it when someone comes in and plays the piano. They always have movie nights, and she likes that. Sometimes her medication gets to her late, but we don't want them to get to her at noontime, and she sometimes complains about some of the staff members' attitude. Her apartment is a nice size. I would call it a junior efficiency; she has a refrigerator in there, and she has a nice bathroom. It is very nice, and she loves it. She likes the little view; even though she can't see much, at least she can see outside. Their surroundings and all that are beautiful. They only clean their rooms once a week, and we are not really used to that, but her room gets cleaned like every Thursday, and I think it should be maybe twice a week. But it is a very nice atmosphere -- it is a very nice place.

Caring81291950

We visited Brighton Gardens. I thought the rooms were minuscule. Its location would be in the area that we live, and we're very familiar with it. All of our doctors are in that area. I didn't realize that it did not have independent living, but it's only assisted, and I'm not ready for assisted living. It was very hard to get any financial feedback from them, and that's very important. When you go to buy a house, they have all the things you want, but if you don't know if you can afford the house, what good is it that it has all the features that you've always wanted. I think they have to revamp somehow and make it one price that everything is included in, maybe medication. I saw a calendar with all the activities: people coming to lecture and games. The staff was very helpful. They were very, very nice, very accommodating. People were smiling. The dining room looked very clean, and I thought the people that we talked to seemed very engaged and understanding.

CJlady

My mom lived here for 3 years 2009-2012 until she died last year. It is by far the best asst. living in this area. Mom lived in asst. living in another state before that, and for a short while at Emeritus on 7 Locks Rd (I had to move her out of there, it was so terrible). The caregivers here are extraordinary and the mgmt. very responsive. The food is even good and they have a salad bar and daily "happy hour" with snacks which many residents attend. Also frequent concerts, movies, outings and holiday parties. The medical staff is top-notch. They have nice apts. ranging from studios to 2-BR and are very accommodating to family members. I cannot say enough good things about this facility. It is very expensive but worth every penny if you can afford it.

Carole6

I met Sue, Erwin or Erom, and Christine at Brighton Gardens of Friendship Heights. They were fabulous and wonderful. I felt very comfortable with them and they really helped us out. The facility was very beautiful and I had every confidence in it. The location was perfect. It was only ten minutes from my house. When we visited there, they were having a movie. They were exactly what we were looking for and I would absolutely recommend them to others.

mattsimon

The facilities were clean and the decor was very nice. I thought that the staff was very professional and seemed to do a good job. The residents seemed cheery and were of many different ability levels, which the staff seemed to respond to. There were many options for activities such as a trip to the Eastern Shore and movie nights. I was impressed that there's also a social hour every day. The only criticism that I have is that there seemed to be a number of different instructions to help my grandma with her specific needs, some of which were in conflict with one another. I think that my grandma will be happy there as she no longer has to take care of an entire house al by herself. The food at the facility also appears to be of good quality and healthy, nothing fried or too high in fat.

Tom2

This assisted living proporty has a terrific location - right in the center of Chevy Chase with shopping and activites very close by. There is also a transportation service for those who are not up to walking the neighborhood which is very safe and welcoming. The apartments are small but fully serviceable. Brighton which is run by Sunrise after being originally operated by Marriott also has a very strong memory loss program and support for those with dementia. The minimum monthly charge is in the 5k range.

5h4ng4

I, initally took a tour of the facility with my mother and her sister. My mother was becoming increasingly senile and needed to be in an assisted living place. It seemed clean, the staff was friendly, there seemed to be a lot of activities for the residents. I moved my mother into a 2 bedroom apartment which is what she wanted. She is not a joiner but the activity director made a valiant effort to get her to join in. There did seem to be a lot of staff movement especially with the people who interacted directly with the residents. This caused some confusion for my mother and myself. Also, it was not stated plainly to me that there is limited skilled nursing available for the residents. If they get really sick, they get sent to the hospital. If the resident doesn't want to go, then they don't have to. This was a problem for me because she wouldn't go unless I was there in the middle of the night to make her. All in all, I think that she did as good as she could do in an assisted facility. She missed her home very much.