Brookdale New Braunfels

Cheryl

Brookdale New Braunfels was not what we were looking for. It felt to me like it was one step above a nursing home. It was an old facility, not nearly as up-kept as the other facilities, but there were a lot of residents out. It was a much smaller facility. It only had around 30 rooms or something like that. The rooms were a lot smaller, and a very, very minimal area for the kitchen. The staff who assisted me with the tour was wonderful. All the residents loved her. She knew them all by name. She was nice. There was a space out front where people could sit and there were rocking chairs out front.

Carolyn

My uncle stayed at Brookdale New Braunfels for about a month. They did some therapy music and physical therapy with him. He was in a pretty high level of care there. He was happy with the food, he said it was very good. He liked the staff and he thought everybody was nice. He only had nice things to say about the staff. The place was always clean, neat, and brightly lit. They had a beautiful courtyard in the center where residents could go out and enjoy the sunshine or the fresh air. I thought it was a very pleasant place. Every time I would visit, they were doing exercise classes or bingo. They had a pretty active social calendar. The rooms were a little bit smaller and tighter. They were doing the laundry services for him but he's not always getting his own clothes back in his room.

Sherry

I absolutely love Brookdale New Braunfels. My mom has a lot of losses in her life in the last several years. She has been so unhappy no matter where she's been or what's been going on, but when we went to view the facility, she immediately fell in love with it. The day I showed up with her and they opened the door, she says, "I'm home." She calls me and there is joy in her voice for the first time since before my sister died. She has said nothing but wonderful things. When I come to visit, the staff is amazing. They are keeping her engaged, so that she's not isolating herself. They're doing activities with them. The layout of the room was perfect. My mother wanted to be in an apartment, but she couldn't because she needs round-the-clock care more or less. The room she's in has a sitting room with a small kitchenette, which is just the microwave, the sink, and a small fridge. It has a bedroom with a nice-sized closet and its own personal bathroom with a shower. The layout is perfect. It gave my mom the feeling of being in her own apartment, and still gave us the peace of mind that people are going to take care of her, make sure she's fine, and that she gets her medicine when she's supposed to. I couldn't ask for a better place. It's great. In their dining area, nobody stays in their wheelchairs. They help them all get into a regular chair. They have a large area that has a TV and everyone can sit there. They have separate rooms that we can get if we want to have a family get-together, almost like a party room. They have another room that is set up like a study almost, but it has a TV in there, nice chairs for sitting and reading, a poker table set up, and another table set up for crafts. They allow pets as long as it's a pet you can take care of. It's pretty much a locked-in facility. None of the doors will just open. They have to have the codes to open them except the emergency exits, but it's not free access. If anything gets opened without putting in the code, alarms go off. There's no chance of anybody wandering out. It's very secure in that sense. In the center of the building is an outside area. They have a garden and a place where people can plant and an area for the pets and just for people to go and sit outside, and it's all very well maintained. The assistance that they give is specialized to the needs of the residents. It's a beautiful setup. They take care of the facility very well. The food is amazingly well. They have two menus for every meal that people can choose from. My mother can't handle most meats, so she eats a lot of fish. They will give her an additional menu with fish options for her. They always go above and beyond. She doesn't even want any snacks in her room. She said the food is so good. I really like the activities, too. They publish a calendar every month and we're able to highlight things for my mom. If we tell them we want her to be involved in something, they'll go get her if she doesn't come out. The value for the money is good. It's just a bit more than what I would want to pay. It's more on the upscale side of it, so it makes sense. I just wish it was less. I hope that other people find this place and can make it a home for their families because this has been an amazing place for us. It's given such a weight off of my shoulders.

Roxi V.

The rooms are small very very clean and nice. Great activities and lots of excellent attention and care. Caregivers and staff actually know you! The food is very good. Made to order breakfast and many options. This has been a perfect place for my dad. He is a current resident. Good location and wonderful staff!

Linda

Brookdale New was not compatible for my mother. They only had a small refrigerator that was on the floor, it was like a college dorm refrigerator. The rooms were too small for her, and the people there were in much worse shape than she was. They were all in wheelchairs and it didn't seem like the kind of place that she would be happy in. The staff there was terrific and the building itself was very clean and nice. It was just too small for her.

Resident

I lived at Brookdale New Braunfels. They had us play dominoes and so on, but all I ever did was play bingo. Some of the staff members were great, and some were lousy. They had a lot of activities, but the rooms were really small. The building and everything was very small.

Provider Response

Barbara

My uncle liked Brookdale New Braunfels. The rooms were absolutely perfect for assisted living. I saw some activities going on, like puzzles. They had a person in charge of making sure that people come down and eat, and she did a wonderful job talking with my uncle. We had a meal there and it was very good and more than adequate. The dining area was open and spacious. There's a place where you can eat privately if you have some family there. It meets all the needs for someone in assisted living.

Robert

I didn't get a great impression of Brookdale New Braunfels. It's in a congested area, it's under construction, and the rooms are very small. I didn't like that it's a locked in area and you'd need help coming in and getting out, which makes it more like skilled nursing than assisted living. The amenities and activities were OK. They showed me what people were doing. They allow smoking in an area where I would like live, and I didn't like that.

Provider Response

Anonymous122543950

I was impressed with Brookdale in New Braunfels because the location was good, it was clean, and the staff was very informative, polite, and helpful. The residences were very welcoming and had good things to say about the place. The rooms were of ample size. The place was clean and well kept, and the layout was good. The staff was very helpful and gave me the information that I needed. I will recommend this community.

Jeannie4

Sterling House is very friendly and clean. The apartment is like a studio. It could be adequate, but they are much smaller. The staff is very friendly and very helpful. They have a good variety of activities. I would say their dining facility is much smaller, so it’s not quite as nice. Nothing wrong, but they’re just smaller and simpler.

Provider Response

Caring93622550

I didn’t like Sterling House. I thought it was old fashioned and not very well kept. It was just an older place and a little bit outdated, but they did have activity sections. The staff was very nice too.

Caring83330750

Sterling House of New Braunfels is very nice. It's more like small apartments. Everything is first-class, the people and the facility. We had lunch with the onsite manager, and with a couple of other people, and several people were coming to talk to us just to say hello. The lunch they served was good, but I don't know if it was their regular lunch or not, because we were in a special little garden-type dining room. For activities, I'm sure they have the normal, standard activities like bingo, trips to towns, and stuff like that. However, Sterling House is more expensive than where my mom is currently.

Barbara31239950

I visited Sterling House, which I absolutely fell in love with. I preferred Sterling House because it's smaller and doesn't seem as institutionalized. I like the smaller size, the feeling of being almost in a home or in a small motel. The cleanliness was wonderful. The people who worked there who I talked with and visited with were just excellent. The aroma of the good-smelling food was just unbelievable. I think that they give a lot better individualized care. They seem like a big family. I talked with some of the tenants who were there and visited one lady's room, so it just felt more like you're in a personal home, a private home as opposed to a facility.

Caring77934550

We’ve already placed her at Sterling House of New Braunfels. The rooms are very nice. It feels like you're at home. The staff are very personable people. They have quite a bit of activities. They have cards and a lot of different things depending on what they want to do.

Caring79500350

The fellow who lead us around Sterling House was very warm and outgoing. He did know all the information right out. The reason we didn't like it is because it's a very small facility the rooms were tiny. There's a kitchenette rather than a kitchen. The residents were way older than they are, and that my parents would be sitting around bored a lot. Personally, I didn't really like it. I know that they just did a lot of remodeling. And I think that's probably overdue because it seems old and rundown. So that's good. But the room seems dark. I didn't like how you just walk into the front room and then right into the bedroom. There was just no personal feeling to it. It just seem like a tiny room that I couldn't wait to get out of. It didn't feel like home.

Provider Response

Madeline5

Sterling House was fine. The staff was okay. They were informative. They had beauty shop and barbershop. They had a well-kept outdoor area. The room was clean and well organized. However, it wasn't big enough and they don't have many people living there. I would want more people because they would have more activities. They gave me a calendar of their activities and they would take you to the doctors, but you had to pay extra.

Leaf24

Sterling House was a small facility. It felt more like being in a home versus being in an institution. The staff was very friendly and the facility seemed clean. I didn't notice anything that turned me off.

Joan27

We weren't as happy with Sterling House as much as we were with the other facilities. It is nice and everything but it is not like the others, although I can't explain why. However, the living environment is friendly and the staff seems helpful. I would still recommend this place to others.

commercesd

The Sterling House of New Braunfels was in the same vicinity where we were visiting the area to look at possible places for my brother's friend. The facility looked like it was well tended the grounds were neat. The outside area was ample, with plenty of seating areas to enjoy. The interior had a nice decor throughout. The variety of activities offered was impressive. Just about any hobby you might have can be accommodated and more. The staff goes out of its way to suggest stimulating things to do from gardening, to reading, playing games and outings in and around the community. The lunch we saw looked and smelled really delicious. The menu looked interesting and we were really impressed with the selections available. The rooms we viewed were all very clean, well-kept and inviting kind of resembling what you might find at a charming bed and breakfast, but more personalized. The gym equipment and exercise room was large and had a variety of options to choose from. The library had a large book selection. This facility really looked like a place that anyone would enjoy living in. We would recommend that anyone looking for a place for their loved one to live should check it out.