Changing Seasons

I had three places to tour on my list that morning. However, the minute I walked in, I just knew this was THE place I was looking for for my beloved. All my expectations were met and then some . . . from the helpful guidance of the administration to the friendliness of the staff. Needless to say, I didn't tour the other two that day. I am very pleased with my decision.

Friendly and engaging staff, facility was clean and bright. Open kitchen next to the gathering area made a great impression and gave it a warm feeling. Although they had no openings I was able to place my Mom in their sister facility (The Cottages on Danny Kaye). Private rooms were nice size, layout of the facility very simple and efficient for movement of residents and staff.

They are taking good care of my mother here at this facility. I know she is safe and good hands. It is a very nice home, they do a very good job with keeping everything nice and clean. They have a wonderful staff here. They offer activities, my mother has tired a few. The food is excellent, but they are working on trying to accommodate diabetic diets better. This is a home I would recommend.

I really liked Honey's House of Helotes, but it was a bit too pricey. The tour guide was friendly and helpful she was able to answer any questions. It was a good experience to tour but it was proved out of our budget.

Staff is excellent, plenty of people, low turnover, and just very nice. Facilities are nice and clean, well kept. The activities are good but not a lot of variety and no off campus activities. Biggest negative for my mom has been the dining experience, not much variety offered daily and not as healthy as she prefers (example no fried food, more fruits n veggies etc). A bigger facility would likely offer more variety and options for dining.

Staff was friendly and helpful. Grounds and rooms were clean.

Location was the first factor in our decision. Considering convenience for family members to visit our loved one. Of course we ensured proper care, cleanliness and respectful care from staff. The facility was exactly what we needed at the time. They made a difficult time a little easier. The care was generally good. Staff was good and caring. Our loved one kept getting out of bed and falling. Then was unable to get help. Was frustrating to the family. We understand about respecting patient rights of course, But he was not in a mental state to understand his limitations.

We were happy with The Cottages. It suited what we needed it to be. There were a few problems, probably caused my our family member. But I think they could have been handled better. But overall the staff was good and very caring.

I would tell others that my ratings are based on my short experience. We are very happy with the community. I think this is a learning process as we go through the next few months. I'm happy with the choice for my loved one.

The care staff was very caring and the food was excellent. But they assured me that they could care for dementia patients and it turned out that they were not a locked facility. However, it was due to their very competent care that they checked on him during the night, didn’t think he looked right, and called an ambulance. He turned out to be septics and needed an emergency bowel resection. He never had any pain. So they saved his life.

Wasn't the setup we needed for my loved one.

I was not a fan of The Cottages. The rooms were the size of dorm rooms and they only had community bathrooms. The residents are not allowed to go to the bathroom by themselves either. It was clean and staff were nice, but it was not the right fit and also the most expensive.

I thought this would be a great place for my dad since it is smaller than some other options but I discovered that smaller is not necessarily better. Smaller means there is less money coming in so spending has to be reduced. Because of COVID, I wasn't able to actually go inside until he had been there for about 2 months but when I did, I was horrified. His room was not much bigger than a storage closet & no effort had been made to make it feel homelike. There never seemed to be enough staff available to take care of the residents & as far as I could tell, there was not any effort made towards "memory care" & the only activity available appeared to be watching TV. The staff was always friendly but stretched very thin. The meals looked OK but I could tell that it was not food that my dad liked so he ate very little. Thankfully, they did give him desserts that he enjoyed so he was getting some food that way. If I could turn back time, I would have placed him somewhere bigger.