Avamere at Rio Rancho

Please do not move in there! They are very understaffed! They don't care if you are diabetic or not, everyone gets the same food. Service is very slow in the dining room and the people that take care of the residence also serve you your food - they suppose to wear aprons but hardly ever do. Yes you have a alert around your neck, but if you push the button you might hear "we kind of busy right now, please call back later" You are lucky if you get the receptionist at the front desk, she is hardly ever there. But hey you have a happy hour where they serve alcohol to everyone that requests it - diabetic or not. Rooms are very small, staff leaves you waiting. For the money you have to pay to live there the service you are getting in return is terrible1

We moved my mother into a 1-bedroom apartment at Brookdale Rio Rancho. But it was too far away from the elevator and she couldn't handle it. So they helped us move her into a studio right across from the elevator. The staff has been very caring and very helpful. They helped us move things in and out. So far everything's been great.

The person who took us on the tour at Brookdale Rio Rancho was very nice. We spent probably an hour in the assisted living and watched how people interacted with the clients, so that was kind of nice. They did a lot of different activities with the residents. They attempt to learn about their residents, like how long their attention spans are, their physical activity levels, and things like that. They also gauge who wants to participate and who really doesn't, which was really neat. They had some people who were working with clay, other people were coloring, and one man who just didn't want to get involved in anything, and that was OK. They didn't try to force him to do anything. He wasn’t really having a good day, so they weren't forcing him or verbally abusive or anything like that even though he was being difficult.

We visited Brookdale Rio Rancho (formerly Emeritus at Sandia Springs). The facilities were fine, but they did not have a private room available at that time. It was a little large and would be overwhelming for my mother to not know where or who she because of her condition right now. It seemed nice otherwise. The rooms seemed very fine, clean, and spacious. We liked the fact that they had rails along the hallways. The people seemed to be informative. What stood out that day was they were having music for the people there and gathering the people around.

I receive full service provided.

I did visit Emeritus at Sandia Springs, and I was happy with it. I liked the activities and its neatness. It looked very nice, and it was well kept. The people were very courteous. I was very impressed.

Emeritus had some nice features. Everybody has lockets around their necks so that if they fall down, everybody is alerted. It was very small in regards to the residents’ quarters. I like the security systems they had. The surroundings were very nice, and they were being remodeled. Everybody was at the table in the dining room when I went there. I had met the activity director, and they were welcoming and friendly.

My mother has lived here for over a year. It is an excellent place. The social director Christina is great. The real quality is the folks that care for mom at night and on the weekends. Folks like Sue and Louis make it easy for me to relax and know my mom is being taken care of in a caring and professional manner. Craig

Emeritus had little cottages which were like little duplexes, and it looked very ample and very nice. The staff was friendly and helpful. I had lunch there, and it was very good. They had a number of activities. They had a cooking program for microwaves, they had a library, and they had a game room.

Emeritus was more caring and involved with the people there, and the rooms are better. They have cooking classes and a lot of different activities going on to keep my dad busy. I would recommend this place for a higher level of care.

Emeritus at Sandia Springs is very clean, very pretty, and very nice. I just kind of like the surroundings and how clean it was. The staff is also very nice. They gave us a really good tour. The food was good. I would give it a five only because of what I have experienced in that one day, but I don't stay there and I don't know everything that is going on right now with my in-laws who are living in one of their little cottages.

Emeritus at Sandia Springs was OK. The dining room looked nice, but I didn't eat there. However, I didn't like that it was kind of dark. The rooms were VERY small, too. The people didn't seem much involved; the residents were just sitting around in wheelchairs, and they seemed not happy.

this place felt right for my mother in law and brother in law from the time I visited the first time. It is a bit smaller, and close to many things my brother in law will want to drive to. He does not drive freeways and this place is accessible by driving on state highways to get to our house which is outside of the city. The progression from assisted living to memory care option was important to me, and I felt good about their level of monitoring over their residents, and ended up placing my mother in law in assisted living for now.

I've already decided where I'm going. I'm not moving right at this moment. I can't handle it right now but I've already put a deposit and I'm ready to move to Emeritus. I have a cottage there. The food is fine and they have all kinds of activities.

Emeritus was too expensive for me. The place was pretty large and I really didn't like that. The management was pretty nice. However, you have to bring your own furniture and you have to take your clothes out to be washed, and you do this and do that, and so well, I might as well stay at home.

My dad was able to stay at Emeritus at Sandia Springs for a month. The staff was very nice. We loved all the medtechs. The food was good and my dad ate it. One thing we didn't like was when he got there, everything that they had promised that they were going to do to help us, they didn't do without us having to really stay on them. We got him a studio and the size was perfect for him. When he first moved in, we really had to get on them to clean it like they promised us that it would be cleaned.

We made appointments at Sandia Springs and the staff were very courteous, good, nice and always there for us. They had a three choices on the food menu and it was delicious. The rooms were clean and there were a lot of activities also. It would be better if they had some discounts on the first couple of months.

I could write an entire book but I won't. All I will say is don't even consider this place for your family member or loved one. WAY under staffed, never returns phone calls, no longer does face to face assessments, just wants you to stop by and sign a piece of paper, food is not food, just a bad bad place. I am finding my Mother a new home - can't take this place any longer! They are detrimental to her health.... I didn't even want to click on a star to rate but I had to, I wouldn't even give them 1 star

Mother is a cottage resident of Sandia Springs since about 2009 or 2010. The food service is very poor, too much salt, poor diet choices, meals delivery to cottage is spotty to extremely slow. We now have the much better daily food delivery service from the nearby Meadow Lark senior center. The food is very good. It's also on a suggested donation basis. Check maintenance requests and resolution records. Thermostats are too difficult for operation by even middle aged family members. The maintenance staff has been drastically reduced and the overall infrastructure is old and is running to failure. Mother has had numerous requests for maintenance that have gone months without addressing the worst being a door lock that was too difficult to lock properly. There are no screen doors as a second level of safety. The peep holes are too high. There was an electrical blow-out problem with the heater over Christmas and we had to vacate the property on Christmas eve due to fumes. I'm glad I was there to help. As of today mother has been without air conditioning for 36 hours. Seems like a health concern. Mother raked her own leaves last fall since they were long overdue. Check the dining hall during lunch time. There are considerable waits for food due to the inefficient methods of serving. Also those with minimum care to extreme care eat in the same dining hall. Seems like separating more capable from the assisted would keep spirits up. It isn't fun to see someone loosing control of their food, or other bodily functions at meal time. Also the pull cord for emergencies would chirp randomly and would have to be manually turned off by mother. As of now I'm not sure they're even functional. Talk to residents in the cottages if you want more information. This is meant to inform you of our experiences. The positives: Mom enjoys her meal companions and the socialization. Holiday meals are better than the usual fare. Mom's still there because she's too aged to handle big routine changes. If you're looking for a place that offers personal services be sure it's not institutional. I would only move mother into the assisted living center if she lost total memory or was in hospice. The costs are extremely high for the value delivered.

I think the contract process could use some TLC. It's overwhelming for all. There could be more assistant to financial aide, especially for a vet. Our room was not ready when scheduled, and paid for. Not even living there yet and every uneasy about everything.

We took a walk through of this place about a week ago. We are trying to find a place for my father in law because he has gotten to the point where we cant take care of him alone any more. his health is failing slowly but he can still do alot for himself. so we toured this place and from my point of view it was really nice. it looked very clean and well kept. It seemed like the people there were happy and enjoyed living there. That is somthing that is important to my husband and i. we had a tour of another place and the people just looked so unhappy like they wornt being treated well. we dont want to put our father in a place like that. we want to make shure he will get the help he needs and sandia springs seems like it would be a nice place. I wish i would have talked to some of the people living there and got there point of view.