Truewood by Merrill, New Bern

My father was in Courtyards at Berne Village for many years in his own little apartment. He was very happy. He was assisted as needed, but he needed more care. He was falling and nobody would find him for a little bit because nobody knew that he was lying on the floor in his apartment. We had to put him somewhere where somebody would be closer to him. He had his little cat and seemed to be quite fine. They had piano playing and singing. They went out to restaurants once a week, went shopping, and had bingo.

What I liked most with the Courtyards was that they do try to keep them independent. They do try to let them have that sense of independence still. The staff was amazing. The best manners I have encountered in a place like that. She was very helpful -- the female that helped us out -- answered any questions we had, and was very direct on the price, and the staff was very polite, kind, and helpful. They look like nice quality apartments, and they were nice and clean. They had the dining room set up like a nice cafeteria restaurant. We didn't try their food, and they were having lunch at the time we went in, but we got to see the people who lived there, we got to see them interact, and everything seemed good. They had an entertainment area, a game room, a pool table, and a kitchen area. They had a weekly calendar spread out, and on the weekly calendar, they had different activities like movie night and game night, constantly keeping them active, which I liked. When I am an elderly woman, I do hope my sons will try to convince me to go to a place like this.

We found out about Holiday (Courtyards) when we visited other facilities in the area. The staff has quick turnovers, new owners, a new policy, and numerous changes. It has independent living, assisted living, and Alzheimer’s. They have 2-bedrooms with patios, but the majority have 1-bedroom with two windows. The food has improved, and they just started supposedly a walk-in group which has never met. It has been going on for several months. They have a small exercise group, and she has attended it, but as far as other activities goes, there is not normally enough to participate, or other times she just can’t or was uninformed. At one time, they would call the residents in the morning and check on them and sometimes and night, and they would come in and lock the doors, but they don’t check to make sure you’re in the room. Now, they are not calling the residents or checking on them at all. My mother found out that there were two residents that she had become friends with and not seeing them for a while so she checked on them with no response, so she reported to the front desk and when they went to check on them, the residents were on the floor, had to be rushed to the emergency room, and then passed away. I did call and speak to a gentleman once before and he told me to get a copy of my mother’s contract agreement to go through with step by step to see if anything had been not carried out the way the written statement had said as opposed to what their verbal statements were. She preferred not to go that route. She just become more attentive to the people that she had met and got to know a little bit, so she checks on other residents regularly, and she is 87. They seemed to touch and go out there. There are a lot of things that she liked. The room is nice, the buildings are nice, some of the people are real nice, and some were just there for the money.

I have my dad in Courtyards. I think every is fine. The staff is very accommodating. I know they are doing the best they can. They take him to all his appointments and bring him back. They keep track of all his doctor visits. They take care of all of his medications. They clean his room once a week. They wash his clothes. They have three meals a day with five choices per meal. So, I think he is pretty happy. They have all kinds of stuff they do and available like game rooms, they have get together, cards, pool tables, and computers. They have people that come and sing. They have services and outdoor facility where you can go out and enjoy a little park in the middle. I think it is pretty nice myself. I would not mind living there.

My mother-in-law is in Courtyards, and she's very happy there. She's treated very well, and her care seems to be full. Overall, she likes the food, and the dining room is very well set up. Her room is not huge, but it is adequate. We decided to put her with a roommate, and her roommate is just wonderful. She loves her and they take care of each other. My mother-in-law attends church services, music programs, and bingo, and there are three or four things she can do every day. They have nice walking trails, and I just feel like it is a really excellent place.

I heard about Courtyards at Berne Village through word of mouth around here where I live. They have independent all the way to memory care. It looked like a nice facility. I would feel comfortable putting my mother there. The independent living apartments were very, very nice. It seemed pretty modern. I don’t remember exactly what they offer for their activities, but I know they have a van that goes out to take the people to their appointments, and they try to do a lot of activities right within the facility. For the independent, they offer three meals a day. I saw their dining room, but I didn’t get the chance to see their food.

The whole place is very nice. If I hadn't bought a home that's where I would like to live. The rooms were fair and in a nice condition. Courtyards at Berne Village is a good place with a nice atmosphere. The whole visiting experience is excellent.

I chose The Courtyards because basically it was nearby and it seemed to be pretty popular, it was recommended by a few people. The rooms were spacious enough and most the staff were very good. The food was pretty good most of the time but they can improve on the food service and delivery. There are activities for the residents to make them busy.

We are happy that we found an Assisted living facility. We chose The Courtyard because location-wise it's near. The cost was more of a flat rate rather than a menu type thing that charge extra for every little thing. The facility itself is lovely. It's not a brand new facility but it's very very comfortable and very pretty. The staff in general are all helpful, knowledgeable and caring My relative will be moving in this Monday. He is getting an Assisted Living apartment with two rooms and a bath. . They have 3 separate dining rooms there. Their food is just not a set menu but you have a choice for the 3 meals a day. They have many many activities and they provide transportation if the residents need to go to their doctors, to Walmart or out eat lunch or dinner. They have a lot of activities inside and outside of the facility. They even have happy hours like when the doctor approves they can either have beer or wine before dinner.

I arrived early in the morning for a tour. Parking spaces were very limited. When I entered the main building, I was greeted by a friendly receptionist and she told me to wait in the hospitality room. I waited for 20 minutes before being approached by the woman from Human Resources. She said that she would be taking me on the tour and apologized about the wait. She showed me the fitness center, which only had a couple of pieces of equipment, the activity center, which was empty at the time, the beauty salon that is open on Wednesdays, and a floor plan of a one bedroom, assisted living apartment. They offer assisted living, independent living, and a special unit for those who need to be in a locked facility. The room shown to me was small and outdated, but it did appear clean. She showed me around the community and introduced me to several of the people who live there. They were all very friendly.

I liked Courtyards at Berne Village, but I could not afford it. The rooms and the dining area were nice. The residents looked like they were comfortable. The staff seemed to be fine.

Courtyards at Berne Village is at the bottom of my list. My general impression was that they wanted to show me certain parts and make sure I didn't see the others. It was a long tour that was more than I was able to physically handle. Some parts of it looked outdated, and there were other parts that had been updated that they wanted me to look at. It had a big dining room. The only activity seemed to be bingo. I quit looking for a community because this one was so undesirable.

The grounds at the Courtyards are very nice, but the apartment is small, and there’s nothing special about it. The price is reasonable compared to others. I met two people, and they seemed very nice.

Courtyards at Berne Village was very good. The staff members were excellent and went out of the way to treat us nicely. She gave us a lot of options and showed us all the way around the facility. The price was better, and the food was great. I had lunch, and it was good. They had an art director who showed us all of the opportunities to get involved.

Courtyards at Berne Village was nice and very convenient to everything, like grocery stores, doctors, hospitals, and whatever you might want. The apartments were a little small but less expensive than other places I. The staff was wonderful, knowledgeable, very patient, and answered all kinds of questions. They had a game room and a little place to meet in the afternoon. The one thing I liked a lot about it was that it was all on one floor, therefore you had a lot of green area. I could see them walking around outside. I liked that a lot. The disadvantage to that is that it didn't have much security. We visited the independent living area.

The Courtyards was well kept and was really nice. The staff was friendly. My father-in-law is in a private room with a kitchen area, a living room, a big bedroom and a spacious bathroom. I’ve eaten with him before; it was family dining and was really good. There are several tables in there and the clients can eat the food they want and as much as they want and the servers come out bringing the food. They were very polite to me when I went. They have shuffleboard and horseshoes. They have a recreation room where they can go hang out, have a drink and play pool and dartboard. They get to have a happy hour one day a week and they go on field trips during the weekend.

I didn’t mind where we were, but my husband didn’t like the food and he didn’t like the old people walking around with walkers and wheelchairs. That’s the main reason why we left Courtyards at Berne Village. He’s eighty-five years old, but he just didn’t want to look at old people, and there's nothing I can do about that. We were there for seven months, I believe. The people there were very nice. The staff was very friendly. What I liked about it, actually, which I told my husband, was, as much as the food wasn’t the greatest in the world, you could always find something you can eat. I also liked the fact that you had a lot of sociability around there. They did not have a good recreation program. They didn’t have a good director for it. I could’ve told them how to do it, but I kept my mouth shut. There were things wrong with it, but since we left there it has changed hands, so I have no idea what it’s like now. But those kinds of places, they always really have problems with food no matter how you look at it, I know that. You’re not going to satisfy all the people all the time. Food needed work, but another thing I realized was that older people have diet restrictions, and so they can’t season things like you did at home. The food wasn’t as tasteful as you would make it, but they can’t do that in an institution and I understand that, so that’s the way it’s likely to be in some of those places. There are probably a lot of them unless you’re paying a bundle of bucks. Their grounds were lovely, and it was nice walking around. We had a dog (we still have a dog) that we walk. People were always outside, and the housekeeping seemed to be OK to me. I think it was clean; they took care of it. They took you places, to concerts or different things around town. They had outdoor picnics. We had a dance one night we were there, but I think they could have more activities. It was not as well organized, maybe, and not as informed about things that could’ve been going on.

I only live two blocks from the Courtyards at Berne Village, so I know what it looks like on the outside. I did go in and the lady was very cordial. I liked the layout and everything in it. Everything was pretty convenient for the independent living residents because everything was on one floor. She showed me one room that was already furnished and she said you could get them either way, but the price was the same. I thought it was really delicately furnished. It looked really nice, but it was fine with me. Tt was kind of like what I have in my own house and I was really impressed with the way the furniture looked and the layout. It would be something that I could use when I am ready to downsize.