Brookdale La Crosse (AL)

So far, I've been pretty happy with Brookdale LaCrosse. They're a little understaffed, but I think everyone's understaffed nowadays. They've been friendly and helpful, even the housekeeping staff (which is huge). My dad likes the food, too.

We did a tour Brookdale La Crosse, and we determined that he wasn't in need of assisted living just yet. So, we said no to them, but they were really accommodating. She answered questions too; it's just I was asking different questions at that time. This one was clean, and it was well designed. Everything was one level. There were no elevators; there was no second floor. Not that elevators are bad or anything, but it's just that my dad can't climb steps very well, and there were no steps anywhere. From the moment you walk in the door, to the moment you walk in your room, there were no steps. It's designed well. The staff was accommodating and answered questions; she gave me an hour tour. I wasn't expecting that between my questions and her answers, and just showing me different rooms. She showed me one, it was independent living, and then one room was memory care, and one room was something else, so they had a lot to offer. Their prices were a little high, but that's not worth giving them a bad review. I just think it was a little high. I have no recollection of smell, which probably is a good thing, and cleanliness I give it a five. I could tell they cared when we went through the tour. The gal who was giving me the tour knew people's first name and said hi to them. We saw a lot of the residents were out and about, doing therapy type things, but she knew the names, and she was saying hi, and everyone was happy.

Brookdale La Crosse was very lovely. I liked it a lot. The staff was friendly, open, and busy. It's a nice location with nice grounds, green with a few trees, and very inviting. I asked some of the residents about the food, and they thought it was good. The menu looked inviting and varied with a lot of different items on it.

Brookdale La Crosse (formerly Sterling House of LaCrosse) was able to fit my father's needs. He wanted to bring his dog, so that was a big reason we chose this place, plus it's in the area he is familiar with. So far, so good. It's like a campus with different buildings connected. It's very pretty. Everything's on one level. His particular apartment is an efficiency with a bedroom, little office area, and bathroom. The staff is positive and knowledgeable. He loves the food. They have the ability to do portion control. They do bingo, different themed classes, teaching on certain different topics, movie nights, visiting entertainment like local people who come in with a guitar or play the piano, or kids in the area that come and sing or play different games with them. They go on outings, like to a store, restaurant, or a movie, and you can choose to go on those outings or not. We were really pleased about them accepting the dog. That was a really big deal. The location is good, too. It's such a huge change to go to a place like that; to be able to keep the familiarity of a pet was a really big deal.

Our visit with Sterling House was great. It just wasn't the right location. The staff was absolutely wonderful and very helpful. It was set-up very nicely. I really liked the idea that they had the nursing home next to it. It really was a nice place.

I did visit The Villas La Crosse, and it was clean and orderly. It was open and not crowded. It was landscaped well, and I was favorably impressed with the outdoor appearance of it. It was not laid out like a nursing home. It was very homey, and I appreciated that part of it. There were areas like open spaces where the family could visit with some privacy. The residents and the staff seemed happy and friendly.

The staff of Sterling House of LaCrosse was helpful. It was clean and visually appealing, they seemed friendly, and the residents seemed happy. The rooms were nice. None of them were overly large, but they were big enough. We just saw the menu, and it seemed very good.

We did visit The Villas La Crosse. They were very nice and friendly. It was clean. We looked at the rooms, and they were nice. They didn't seem to have one thing the other places do have: a kitchen area where the residents could do a little cooking while there's somebody assisting. The young lady that we talked to on the phone and met in person was very nice. I was comfortable with her, and I got a feeling that she would take care of my father and watch out for him.