Truewood by Merrill, Port Charlotte

Denise

We liked Royal Palm Retirement Centre. Everybody was very helpful. Everything was very nice and it was in a good location. It's conveniently situated near everything.

Reviewer RC#0104a

I had my husband at Royal Palm. The people were very nice and very helpful. It was a beautiful place. I gave them a list of what he could not eat 'cause he's diabetic, and he's not on a typical diabetic diet, and they didn't stick to it. They just gave him diabetic diet things like orange juice. He can't eat white potatoes but he got those and coconut cream pie. He eats whatever he can get hold of, so any sweets I have at home I hide them. They did not follow all of his diet. Then his recliner chair didn't work. I sat in it when they first got there and I couldn't get it to go back down. I told them they never did replace it or fix it, and he's got horrible back pains. When I got him home he was in a lot worse pain than when I sent him. When I talked to people they all said that "All assisted living is the same way, that you're not gonna find anything different." They'd take them and they have their rules or they have their things. And another thing, he can't have milk. It gives him a horrible diarrhea, and I wrote on there, "No milk. He can have it if it's cooked into something." But they gave him milk. I wrote, "No milk. If milk is needed I have almond milk you can give him." They said, "Oh, we have almond milk." But they gave him milk. I am his 24 hour a day caregiver. I'm very, very uptight about anything that isn't done right for him. I fire doctors if they don't do what's right. I'm very picky about what happens to him. He's eighty seven, a purple heart grand war veteran, and he is in a lot of pain all the time. He was in the assisted living. Parts of my experience were really great. The people were very helpful, very nice, but they didn't follow up. I sat down and wrote out everything that he needed. I didn't just drop him off and say goodbye. They had activities too, but he was in isolation for a week. That's why he wanted to stay for a little bit. They have games there too. The facility was beautiful, clean, and his room was great. They brought a TV in, 'cause he was in isolation. It had a microwave and a little refrigerator. It was great. When I told him he was gonna have to go to an assisted living for a few days, 'cause I had to have a heart test, he was very unhappy. Then after we saw that place, he said "I wanna stay there for longer." It was great. They had all kinds of activities for him, the people were all nice. They would have just stuck with his diet and gave him more assistance in his room. He wouldn't ask for assistance. He's an old tough marine, you don't ask a nurse to help change his diapers. When I pulled him out I wanted to tell them what I thought of them, and he said, "Don't get involved in that." I said, "It's not for me, it's for other people." They were all great. They just didn't follow his diet. I had to pay for a full month even though he wasn't there a month.

Lynn

Royal Palm Retirement Centre had independent, memory/Alzheimer's, and secondary care. They have separate dining and recreational areas and they're dog friendly. It's a high rise with four floors. The kitchen smelled really good. The staff was great. The residents were pretty much all using walkers. They have volunteers that guide you around and they take turns taking care of newcomers, so that you don't get lost (because it's a big facility). There's a game room, a big front lobby, and multiple entrances. The alcove was small and the one-bedroom was good. Each one had a screened-in balcony. They have housekeeping, three meals a day, and if you don't want to have outside help, they have someone on-staff that can help you. Kim took me around, she was well connected with the community, her dad lives there, and she's still following up with me. There's a lease that can go up two to four percent, and there's a one-year deposit, which may be negotiable. There's construction surrounding the entire place. The facility has just been renovated. It's across from two hospitals within walking distance from every doctor in the world. It's right in the middle of town.

Charles

Royal Palm Retirement Centre is clean and neat, but the pool could be better. The staff is great. I haven't gotten into much yet since I haven’t been here long, but they have a long list of activities like bingo, cards, and a room with puzzles. I like the place because it's pretty centrally located, so I can get anywhere I want to go by walking if I need to. I'm making new friends and I'm happy.

Roberta

I was very impressed with the longevity of the employees at Royal Palm Retirement Centre. I thought the place was very nice and in a really good location. It is close to things, so residents can just walk to if they wanted to. The rooms however were extremely tiny and not good for sharing.

Dendow

Royal Palm Retirement Centre was much more vibrant and more active than the other place. It wasn't brand new, but it wasn't ancient. It had all kinds of activities. They had a game room, a card room, a pool, things to keep people active, and buses to take people places.

FB

Royal Palm was a nice place, and the people were nice and friendly. My sister just felt more comfortable with the other community. I thought the rooms were kind of small, and I wasn't impressed with the elevators. They have activities like chair exercises, arts and crafts, cards, Bingo, and so on.

Susan S.

Royal Palm was very nice but had an institutional feel to it, probably because it's multi-story. We didn't have much interaction with the residents when we toured, nor saw how the staff interacted with everybody. It looked very nice and would have been a good choice, but our current community is better.

LG

I liked Royal Palm Retirement Centre, but the first thing I noticed was the lighting. It was not bright in there and there weren't enough windows. The room itself was suitable and clean, but a little older. They had the activities up on the wall, and they were varied. The person who took me on the tour was very good and informative. One of the reasons I did not select it was the point system where they would evaluate the resident, and if the resident needed more assistance, the rate would go up. I also didn't like that there was only one elevator. When it's time for them to go dinner, they're all jammed up in this tiny little hallway waiting to get the elevator to go down to dinner.

Kim

Royal Palm looked fine. The place was clean and there were a lot of people around. I saw the dining room and the couple of the rooms, and they reminded me of hotel rooms. The person that assisted me is very nice and helpful, she did a great job. I visited on a Saturday and I didn't see any activities in the community that day. The people were really nice.

Mike

We didn't really like Royal Palm Retirement Centre. A lot of the residents were sitting around in wheelchairs. We didn't care for the way it was set up on the inside. The person during the tour was very nice, very helpful, and took us all around. We didn't like the first impression when we walked in. It seemed very institutional, but everything was fairly clean. There was a game room where we saw a couple older gentlemen playing Wii and enjoying themselves.

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