Ballard Landmark

Not long ago I located to the Seattle and immediately fell in love with the culture and weather. Soon after my events beyond our control our father needed additional care and a new start on life. Not having any experience in finding a senior care community I was nervous and unsure where to turn. By chance I was having coffee in Ballard and overheard two distinguished women talking at the table besides mine. One thing led to the other and I felt comfortable asking where they lived, in which one replied “Ballard Landmark”. During our conversation they spoke very highly of this place. When I called the receptionist she directed me to Mindy. She was friendly and with great patience listened to my concerns and we agreed to schedule a date and time for me and my father to visit. On the day of the visit we entering the Ballard Community and were impressed with the décor and open layout. The reception area and the adjoining rooms were inviting and well used by the residents. Mindy greeted us and we quickly moved into a private room for us to discuss our needs. Afterwards she gave us a tour and it was at this time we met friendly staff and residents. One thing to note is that we were invited to a complimentary lunch and it was delicious. This was a pleasant surprise! Needless to say my father and I were impressed and he is now a resident. The support staff at Ballard Landmark was very helpful to me in the process and even if this home was not the right fit for my father, Mindy’s caring approach and non biased information on assisted living was very valuable. I can now relax and enjoy my visits with my father. Thank you.

The facility is nice and the location is wonderful. Food is of a pretty good quality (although I have seen the quality decline over the past year). Staff is friendly and seems to try hard, but there just aren't enough staff there. The answer to any complaint is "we're doing the best we can!" The seem to over-promise and under-deliver. Things take forever to get fixed when they break--the theatre was out of commission for months when the projector broke, the pool was closed for months, the internet was down for weeks and weeks...the housekeeping didn't happen for weeks on end when they were shorthanded. My mom needed help in the middle of the night and no one was at the front desk to answer the call. I remain constantly worried that she won't actually get the support she is paying for...

The staff at Ballard was friendly. The facility was in a very interesting neighborhood, so there would be a lot for seniors to do. The pool and gym area were really nice. The apartments were fine, and the main community areas all looked very well cared for, but the hallways and the apartment looked like they needed a little more attention. Their menu looked a little more red-meat-heavy, but they talked about how all of the vegetables they cook were really fresh.

I used to live at the Ballard Landmark. The food was good. They have switched directors; the prior director was very good, and the current director was running it like a military unit, so I was not impressed. They had a pool there that we used to exercise -- water walking. The pool hasn't been in operation for people to walk for over a month, and the prices were very high. I had a 400 sq. ft. studio at the Ballard Landmark, and it was like a hotel room. They had sliding glass doors facing west, so it got extremely hot in there, and there was no air-conditioning or anything.

At the others I have gone to, they sent me information about different events that they are having after I visited, and GenCare hasn't done that. They didn't offer to let me eat there, which is important because you want to know what the food is like. I didn't get a good feeling of the place just walking through it. They need improvement there. Their marketing staff I didn't think was good because they didn't give me a chance to get a real feeling of what it is like there. They just walked me through it. We walked by the dining room, but I didn't get a chance to see what the food was like. They haven't sent me any information after about events there, so I could go back and get a feeling of the people. When someone comes to look over, they should give them a better chance to see what the food is like and go to some of the events so that they can get a feeling of the people and the environment, or a friendlier staff or people when you first go there.

I’d give The Ballard Landmark a top choice. It’s beautiful and well-located, and it is a very-close-to-new facility, so it has a lot of the attributes that having a brand new place has. It’s very light, and being in a place that has a lot of natural light appeals to me.

We chose Ballard Landmark because my aunt knew about it. It was new. It had high ceilings, and the location appealed to her. It is very modern. I would like to live there. It was so comfortable and updated, it smells great, and there were a lot of happy people sitting around the lounging front desk. Everybody that we met was very helpful. My aunt hadn't moved in yet, but there was no pressure. She was able to put her name on the list and place money down into it, and when a two-bedroom on the perfect side of the building came up, she would then begin to pay money and moved in gently. It was totally refundable if she decided not to or something horrible happened between now and when they had a place. It was so perfect. The apartment was beautiful. You would walk in to a nice kitchen -- which was very complete with small table -- and a living room with beautiful windows and sliding glass doors. To the right and to the left were two bedrooms with two bathrooms with very handicapped access, but it didn't look institutional at all. It was so pleasant, and it looked like a home. She could take her cat there, which was also really important. When we visited one day, there was a wonderful band playing wonderful music and singing in their big lounge. They had a couple of grand pianos and a great swimming pool that had equipment that would allow a person who needed little exercise. There was a nice gym, a beautiful cafeteria that served breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and a big lounge area. If you walked into the main door to the right, there were lots of tables, couches, and lots of light. It was wonderful. We interviewed a number of people who lived there for quite some time, and everybody said the food was great. They were very happy. Another wonderful thing was, they would take people here, there, and everywhere. They had activities on the property. My aunt loves to play bridge, and they had a regular bridge game going on. There were a lot of activities; plus they would drive her to beauty shop or a doctor's appointment or just to go shopping. I would recommend them to others.

We had a tour at Ballard Landmark. It's a high rise. The rooms were neat, clean, and very nicely appointed. The staff was very friendly. We even ate there; we had salmon. It was very good. They have exercise classes, book clubs, game nights. They have all those standard things that most assisted livings have. They take their people out to museums and plays and things like that. I really liked the rooms. I did not like the price.

The Ballard Landmark has nice rooms. They try to have organic or at least whole foods. They also have exercises.