The Retreat at Carolina Bay

Holly

I visited The Retreat at Carolina Bay. That place is for rich people. It's really upscale, fancy, and expensive. That little girl over there, she must have her date or something, or she was ready to get out there because of the time. I walked in at 11:00 AM, I walked out at ten after 11. She gave me a folder and stuff and said, you can look it over and give me a call and walked on down the hall. It made me aggravated because I had to drive over there, and then she didn't take any more time or seemed no more interested than that. The place was very expensive. She took us into a room there really quick, opened the door, looked at it, and shut the door. That was it, in and out. The room was nice. There was nothing wrong with anything over there except for the staff. She wasn't interested, it was like get in, get out, leave me alone, I got stuff to do. I rate the facilities a two because they need to get their air conditioning fixed up. They had a big loud buzzing, and you couldn't hear anything over that buzzing. The staff said they had to wait until after the first of the year to fix it. The place was clean, nice, and pretty. They should have a more experienced, caring person to take people on a tour. A person like that, I won't trust them with my mama or somebody because they don't give a hoot. I didn't like that at all.

Provider Response

Rene

We have chosen The Retreat at Carolina Bay because there is a small number of people there. It's not crowded at all. It's very clean and modern. It's also close to my home. They had several activities. We didn't stay long enough to get a review on that, but the staff went through them with me, and she showed me the locations where they do their activities like painting and crafts. The activity area was very clean and organized. I talked to the director, and I met a couple of staff members, and they were very friendly and cordial.

Sherilyn

My mom is staying in The Retreat at Carolina Bay. It's a wonderful place. They have a very loving and caring staff. She is very well taken care of. They have great food. She is getting the medical treatment she needs if she needs. It's a wonderful experience for us. Her room is very nice. She's in a studio, which is just what she needs it. It's a little small, but it's fine for her. They keep it clean, and they keep her clean. Their facility is beautiful, and it reminds them of a five-star hotel. They have a chef, and they get to pick their food and stuff like that. Of course, they look after their diets just like they need to look at certain things, but you couldn't ask for a better place. She has been there since May, and we are very pleased with it. I haven't had a chance to go and eat with her, but we went to a Mother's Day brunch where she went there, and their chef fixed that food and it was fantastic. It's just really top of the line. The dining area is very nice. They have things like bingo, they do seasonal-type things like crafts. My mother is very musical, and she plays the piano a lot. They sing and she plays. She has a great time. Occasionally they take them out to different places. They keep something for them all the time and they don't let them sit in their rooms and vegetate. It's very beautiful and very well maintained. They have a beauty salon. They have a movie room where they can go watch movies and they have popcorn and things like that. They have a room and there's a jigsaw puzzle on the table. There are some quiet areas like a library. I wouldn't call it a true library, but it just got that feel about it. Everything is provided as far as she needs. One good thing about where she is, it's right across the road from a nice hospital. It doesn't look like a nursing home, and it doesn't seem to feel like a nursing home. It's like a nice hotel, and the residents seem very happy and they get along great. My mom has a group of ladies that she sits and eats with every day. It's just neat. They're wonderful.

Brian

They have a nice operation down at The Retreat at Carolina Bay. It's a nice place. We got a tour of all the available styles of rooms that they have, as well as their recreational areas, dining set up, and the little lobbies that they have. They have different stuff like crafts and bingo. All the rooms were nice. They were well-maintained and clean, and everything was pretty much new. They have regular outings that they go to sometimes. They also have bingo, a music room, and a library. They have other games and crafts set up for them to participate in.

Provider Response

Shereen

The Retreat at Carolina Bay was very nice. Marian, the staff who took us around, was just super, she's awesome. I like the entire setup of the place. They've got everything immaculately clean, I love the cleanliness and the fact that they have outdoor amenities that are secured. They can go outdoors and enjoy nature. The whole thing was just even better than I expected. I'm a nature freak and I love the fact that they have a very secure outdoor area for them to get sunshine and fresh air. Marian invited us to bring our dad back to the place, they're going to have a nachos night or something, so he could go around and tour himself and that was awesome. We were happy and impressed with it.

Provider Response

Florence SC

Midway through the Covid-19 lockdown, mom had to go into a memory care unit. The Retreat in Hartsville had a great reputation so she was placed in their memory care unit. The issue I have is that they didn’t communicate to dad the numerous narcotics they were giving mom on a daily basis, and they didn’t monitor her movements while she was ON those narcotics. During the brief visits dad was permitted, mom was clearly drugged up, totally confused, and had very poor balance. During her time there, she fell 6 times. The last time was when she tried to get out of a chair in one of the common areas but, even though an attendant was in the vicinity, mom didn’t get any help or guidance, and ended up falling and breaking her hip. We feel the attendant should have provided direct assistance, especially given the volume of narcotics mom was taking. During the hospital stay, nurses found a bed sore that had clearly gone untreated at The Retreat. Mom passed away less than 30 days after breaking her hip. We question the care she received at the The Retreat, specifically because they medicated her with numerous narcotics and then didn’t help her appropriately. Another occurrence with which I take issue was the staff lost a $3,000 hearing aid. They took it off mom a few weeks after she went to stay there and they said they “put it in her room”. When we cleared out her room, however, that hearing aid was nowhere to be found. I do NOT recommend The Retreat. If we had it to do over again, we would NOT choose this facility.