Colonial Gardens - Austin

Christina

We have found a place called Colonial Gardens - Austin that's providing memory care. It's like assisted living but for dementia patients. We've never seen anything like it and it's wonderful. The only thing I don't like is the drive because it's almost a 2-hour drive for me. My dad is in it and it's very homey. It doesn't feel like a medical place or a nursing home at all. It's wonderful and just like a house with people in it, you just have housemates. There's a big, beautiful dining room, a big, beautiful living room, a TV, and then there are rooms that are scattered about. Daddy has his own room and it's a perfect place. I just hate that it's so far from me. The staff is great and they have great caregivers. Sometimes if he overslept breakfast, lunch, or dinner, there's always a caregiver there 24/7, so they can always fix them up with a sandwich or a fruit. They could provide food for them, 3 meals a day and even snacks. The activities are great. They walk the residents or they have a backyard and they're allowed to go out in it. They just have to let their caretakers know that they want to go. That way, they can keep an eye on them. It's a beautiful backyard and my dad has even been able to plant. He planted some tomatoes in the garden.

sarahjohnson

Colonial Gardens is the perfect place for my mom. She is a social butterfly. I was worried about moving her into memory care. I was afraid she wouldn't get enough interaction. At Colonial Gardens she has plenty to do! She is always engaged in an activity or conversation when I visit. They even have events for the families. It's always a great time and so upbeat here. I can tell the staff love her just as much as I do.

Carolyn

Colonial Gardens - Austin was confusing. I did not like the setup. It's a smaller place, but it's in a very well-established neighborhood, and they have very large shade trees. There were some residents that were just sitting front of a TV and there were pee pads on the furniture. Although they had activities listed, I didn't see the staff interacting with any of them or any of the activities being done. They have a nice outside area and they have some gardening activities. The staff was very nice. I didn't like that the two buildings are separated, although I liked the separation of the higher functioning residents versus the lower functioning. They have a small kitchen there and they were creating a dish, which was nice, but a lot of the things were coming from canned food. It wasn't fresh food.

Provider Response

midnighteyes12

The Executive Director and staff at Colonial Gardens were a true blessing for us. We desperately needed help with our father. They offered us a quick and painless immediate move into their beautiful respite room until all of my siblings and I could figure out what we were going to do with our dad. The staff were so attentive to my dads needs. They developed a care plan that was designed specifically from his life, with all his likes, and dislikes. The Activity Director did a great job keeping him engaged and having fun. There were activities happening all day and into the evening. My dad loves to be outside and their grounds are stunning. He was able to be apart of the Gardening Club and Mens Club while he was there. The food was fantastic and homemade. Our father only stayed with them for a few weeks, which was just what we needed to arrange things for him. I know when the time comes and we can no longer take care of dad at home with us where we are going! Colonial Gardens feels like a home not a facility and that is what we needed. They really are a blessing, and the Director Angel really is an angel. I recommend this Community to any and everyone. No place is perfect but they are as close as you can get.

WinterIsComing

We tried having my mother in Colonial Gardens Austin, but it didn't work out. One of their selling points is the garden itself in the big backyard that they have. It's enclosed and secure. However, nobody can actually go out there without going out there with the staff. I think what's something that they should implement to let people go out there without putting a code in to go out. I also think that communication is kind of lacking. They didn't really tell me what was going on at the beginning of the process. Actually, the director went around me, and basically chose some home healthcare options without consulting me, which I found to be really terrible. For example, an incident happened on the first week that she was there. It was really traumatic. One of the other residents I guess had an infection and she was going kind of crazy and hitting everyone, including me when I was just there to witness that. Nobody was really able to handle the situation or knew how to handle it correctly. So I thought that was interesting. It obviously shows lack of training. They furnished the room for us, they found something they had, and they made it work. I wouldn't say the food was all that wonderful. The place was kept clean for the most part and it was OK. I just didn't find it as upscale as what I'm looking for overall. I guess the main thing was the communication from the director was very bad. It's probably not her fault entirely because she's brand new in her role. They were not really being able to handle it, there was poor communication in general, and some unprofessionalism too. She started crying to me one day because she felt like I was always attacking her with all the negative stuff, and that I didn't have anything positive to say, although that was just more concern for my mother. In terms of activities, I never really saw anything happening. When I saw the place it was very active and they kept the residents busy with all the stuff happening. Ever since then I would go in there and everyone would be passed out and sleeping, or sitting in chairs with nothing happening. I didn't feel what they were trying to tell me was accurate. I would rate the staff a three because there are people that obviously stand out to me, but overall there's some issues with staffing for sure.

Provider Response

FrankFZOBQ

Colonial Gardens was nice. Everybody was very nice, very understanding, and answered all of my questions. Everything was good including the dining area, the open areas, and the rooms.