Summer Place

If you enjoy good food, do NOT move here. I am a relative of a current resident. The food is atrocious. It reminds me of what is served for lunch at Middle School, but much worst. Plus, the dining room smells like a dirty nursing home. The managers never stay around long and I am sure it is because of all the complaints that never get resolved. For what these people pay, "Holiday", should be ashamed of themselves. Better yet, they should be taken to court. Before you sign on the dotted line, have a few meals. Make sure it is what the residents eat and not what they set aside for inquiring visitors. Also, the activities for the residents are at an all time low. I could go on and on, but I'll stop here.

The people at Summer Place seem to be friendly. They have movie nights, book clubs, go out to different restaurants, and go shopping. They serve three meals a day and usually have snacks, flavored water infused with fruit, and coffee all day long. They have a cleaner once a week and a bus that takes them shopping, out to eat, or to watch movies. They offer arts and crafts, bingo, and Wine Wednesdays. They also do transportation services for doctors' appointments.

Summer Place was independent living. Everything was perfect, and the person who toured us was nice. The facility was great and what we are looking for. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law lived in New York and wouldn’t want to move closer to us. They rooms were fine, clean, and small, but that was OK.

We looked at Summer Place. It was just a few miles from our house. We were looking at a one-bedroom, and there was really not much space available. We saw the dining room, and it appeared pleasant enough. Everybody seemed pleasant. It seemed to be clean and well kept up. Our experience was positive, except we could not imagine ourselves moving into such small space.

For our income, you only get a one single room at Summer Place and that is not satisfactory. It's a very pleasant area and you have your meals and it's a very safe area. They have two bedrooms, one bedroom and studio and we could only afford the studio, which is not sufficient for two people. They have wonderful activities for the people that are there. I had a wonderful chat with the woman who's on-staff. It's a lovely place.

My mother has recently moved into Summer Place. She did not want to go there but after a couple of falls, she decided it would be better for her. As we toured Summer Place many things were told about the care she would be receiving and all the many activies that they had in place. I did stay for a few days with her and it seemed at the time it was a nice place to live. Since December, there has been a fire in the building and many people with walkers had to be carried or helped down to the dining room. The Managers were all fired and New people are taking over. My Mom says the food is awful now and noone seeems to care. No elevator and activies are hardly provided. The prices of having her hair done has gone way up. We were told that the bus would take her to medical appointments but she has not been able, for they told her it doesn't go to Pepperell. We were told that the bus will take them shopping two days a week. She has yet to go. I want my Mom to be happy but it seems that Summer Place is not moving forward in their promises that were told to us. Many are moving out to another facility and my Mom thinks Summer place is going to close. I hope that the new staff will take charge and make it a elderly home worth staying.

My loved one has been there long enough to find out that managers won't stay and neither will staff workers. The food is inconsistent; some days, other than a sandwich option, it's unable to be eaten. The place is clean and bright. Very, very expensive for what is returned. $3500 a month for slow food service, unappealing food and a two room apartment. Residents are unhappy and grumble all day. Looking to move.

My father lived at Summer Place from June to August, 2014. During that time there was a lot of management turnover. Also, the managers didn't communicate with each other when their shift was over. One manager promised my father he would arrange for special transportation to the Chelmsford Senior Center. The Summer Place van does not go there. At first I was encouraged that this manager was helping my dad, but when a week went by and I didn't hear back, I stopped by and was told by the manager onsite that he knew nothing about this. Well, my father kept waiting; no one told him the status and it never did happen. Dad asked about 4 times to have the handy man hang a heavy mirror on his wall. This never happened. When dad left he was told it would take about 2 weeks to get his deposit back. Today is FOUR MONTHS, 3 or 4 phone calls and 2 in-person inquiries later. I left a phone message for the main manager some months ago to call me. He never did. I called again and told him the problem. Again, he did not get back to me. I stopped by about 4 weeks ago, spoke to this same manager, who wrote down my problem and promised to look into it. Finally, today I went there again in-person. Believe me this was pretty aggravating especially since I was busily trying to get Christmas things done. A friendly female house manager asked what my problem was and I started venting about the situation. A male house supervisor came by and told me I needed to calm down; he talked to me like I was a child. I asked, who should I vent to if not you folks. Finally, this woman phoned and emailed the corporate office, who responded back to her that a check had been mailed to my father on 10/2, but sent it to the Summer Place address, even though he had moved out in August. Because he wasn't there the check got sent back. And no one at either end took any notice of this. I gave the manager the correct address and will wait to see what happens. It seems to me that the majority of managers are slackers who don't follow through and don't care.

I would highly recommend Summer Place to anyone, but the price had gone up completely out of my father-in-law's reach. The best features were they are warm and friendly. The staff was outstanding, accommodating, and just caring people. The living environment was very comfortable. I would rate the food as excellent, and the accommodations were great. They do a lot of activities for the people living there.

I went to Summer Place. Most of the people were on walkers, and I’m not. I’m independent, and I don’t like being around people that are all on walkers. I didn’t see anybody in activities because they were all sitting around. The friendliness of the people and the staff was nice. The rooms didn’t really serve what I wanted. I want a walk-in shower, and they had the tub. It was just not the place for me.

A relative of mine has been a resident of Summer Place for about a year. In that time there have been numerous managers that stay as little as a few months and then leave. As new managers come and go the quality of services and food declines and they become less responsive to addressing resident concerns. The residents have been treated like children when they complain about decreases in services. The management is unresponsive to resident’s complaints and tells them to come see them individually so they can quell the complaints - divide and conquer. They have meetings to air their concerns and the present managers apparently have decided to run things their own way regardless of the fact the residents are paying increased rents. The amount and choices of food is less than it was a year ago. A recent meal I shared with my relative had a pork chop 3/8ths of an inch thick, 2" by 3" and dry as a bone. There was a scoop of mashed potatoes the size of a melon ball scoop - NO exaggeration! I seriously doubt the meals satisfy the daily nutrition requirements as the portions are extremely small. Their website boasts “3 meals a day” but it would take 2 days to get 3 FULL meals. The quality of food has seriously declined in the last year. I can't believe that the corporate offices allow this treatment and mismanagement to continue or maybe corporate IS the problem forcing the managers to squeeze more profit out of the facility and that is why they can’t keep managers in the place. I also notice how responsive they are to counter some negative reviews I found online but they refuse to acknowledge the residents and try to make them happy as their website boasts.

We are happpy here now at Summer Place. The staff is very helpful. The rooms are very nice. My wife and I have two rooms. We have a bed room and a living room. We exercise every morning. In the afternoon, we have someone to come in to sing and entertain us. The food is always something to be improved on. The food is tasty but we are a big crowd here, and they can't please everybody.

Summer Place Retirement Residence just seemed like a glorified nursing home. I didn't care for the food too much, but the staff was very nice. The gentleman that I spoke with, who was the manager of the facility, was extremely helpful. It was clean and well cared for. The only thing was that they didn't have much to offer in terms of activities. I don't know why, but I just didn't care for that place. I don't want to say anything bad about it. There was just something that probably didn't appeal to me.

Summer Place is located on Summer Street in Chelmsford, MA. It is very close to Chelmsford Center, across the street from various shops, and conveniently located next to Stop and Shop. My great aunt lived at Summer Place for over 10 years. The staff was wonderful. Each time I visited, which was often, she would speak lovingly about those who helped her. In fact some of the live in managers actually were present at my great aunt's funeral about a year ago. The Summer Place really is more than a place where seniors receive additional care; it is a community. My aunt quickly established friends and a core group of people who she associated with, went on trips with, and relied on for her entire time living there. The facilities were beautiful. My aunt was the first person to live in her suite, which was great. She had everything she needed in terms of service, 3 square meals, and so many different programs to choose from. I really think Summer Place helped her extend her life, be more active, and created a sense of comfort. Thanks,