Independent Living Community in Lake Charles, Louisiana

Mylynda

My mother-in-law moved into Brookdale Lake Charles, and the staff was very helpful. The facility was very nice and very clean. There was a backdoor closest to her apartment, and if we would call, they would open the back door so we could get into her apartment instead of having to walk through the front door where there are big signs of it being assisted living. We wanted to let her see that it's her own apartment, not necessarily an elderly community (not right away anyway). In some ways, she's OK with it now because everybody's her age or close to it. They encouraged us to move in during the week, but then they allowed us to go in over the weekend to stock her groceries, toiletries, and things. They gave us a cart that made it easy to come and go. Her room is a studio, and it's very small, but she's one person and has been alone for a while, so she's been accustomed to a smaller area. We were never worried about the size of the room. It's good for her. Their amenities include some music, happy hour, bingo, and crafts days, and she's already been participating in some of those things. Because she's new, the visitation was set up for the first few weeks such that we had our masks on, they took our temperature, and we used hand sanitizer, and then they let us go into the room. Right now, since she's acclimated, they prefer that we schedule the visits in a central area so that we're not milling through all the halls and stuff. However, we've been haggling a lot back and forth with the personal-care items because they keep changing the assessment and wanting to add other fees, but I don't want other fees. We had a free estimate, and I thought it was pretty accurate for her care, but then they had to change it. We got that straightened out, and they were accommodating with getting it straight, but there's been just a little haggling about that. I felt like it should have been a little more straightforward, but the staff was very nice, very friendly, and accommodating.

Philip

Brookdale Lake Charles is a great place. They take care of my mom and always have activities going on, like bingo and arts and crafts, and trips out to eat or to go gamble. The staff would do anything for you and try to help you out. She's got a one-bedroom apartment with a microwave, a sink, a TV, and a nice, big walk-in bathroom.

Marcus

Brookdale Lake Charles is nice and always clean. The people are very nice and welcoming. My mother loves it. The staff is pretty good. We also have a CNA that takes care of my mother personally. Her room is nice and clean. It's a semi-studio and she likes it. She has a window in the front and she likes looking out. They have cooking nights, a beauty shop, a library, a park outside, and they had a concert the other day that she enjoyed.

Norma

Brookdale Lake Charles was very nice. The dining area was very good. They have different activities for holidays and they were singing when I was there. They have cooking, they take them out to different places, and they have crafts. My mother, however, wasn't too pleased with how they kept their rooms sometimes. The food was excellent, but the price kept going up.

M.P.

The Verandah had nice apartments and services. You need a non-refundable $5,000 just to get in the door plus your rent. Paying an additional $15,000 would reduce your payment down to $500 a month, and this seemed OK. However, after one year the rent will go up from 1 to %, and you do not know exactly what you're walking into. They have everything there, they have a place for painting, exercising, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and they have a place for fishing. It was all very well kept and very clean. My only complaint was not knowing where the money was going to be in a year, and most senior citizens live on a budget.