Brookdale Lake Brazos

Reviewer#RD0925Lz

Brookdale Lake Brazos was not as clean as I expected. When you drove up to the outside, it was not very inviting. It looked institutionalized. It had a bad feeling for me. The showers have a ledge where residents would have to step over. My mom is 93 and could trip so easily on that ledge at the bottom of the shower. It just was not that great. People were friendly. We saw people sitting around and sort of talking, but we didn't see anybody doing activities other than eating. They didn't have anything like the groups they were working with. We didn't see any rooms where they did activities other than a kitchen area, where they could cook and stuff like that if they wanted to. Other than the dining part, I wasn't that impressed. I saw people, some of the workers standing around with their phones, too, and I wasn't impressed with that.

Provider Response

Venetia

We liked Brookdale Lake Brazos because the church service that they're offering is Episcopalian and my mother is Episcopal and she has not been able to participate in church since COVID. The staff was just excellent all the way around. I've met three of them and I am very pleased with all of them. I think my mother will do very well there. The room we saw was huge, which I'm so thrilled about, and the dining area seemed very comfortable. They do a lot of arts and crafts (which my mother loves) and they have a whole room that is well-lit and dedicated to puzzles (she is a big puzzle aficionado also). She just loves doing those things. So I'm very hopeful that they'll be able to keep her busy once she moves in.

Carla

I was really happy with the tour of Brookdale Lake Brazos. The staff who assisted us was fantastic. The accommodations were on the smaller side, but they were very nice. They're smaller and older. They offered quite a few activities. It is an older facility. As far as the outside area, it's very pretty and serene because it's right next to the lake, so there are a lot of trees and it's wooded. The outside area is nice, very calming and pleasing.

Cyndi

Of all of the ones that I have visited, Brookdale Lake Brazos felt like they were the ones who could give my mother the help that she needed. I've not only visited with the sales director there, I met some of the people that live there and sat down with them as well. And that meant a whole lot to me because I want to see people that are happy at where they are. And those folks were very happy, and they had their own stories and testimonies. And they sell the product is what I'd say. And I was most impressed with that. Some of the ladies that lived there told me that the food wasn't so great last year during COVID, but they said they have a new chef named Oscar. And he makes great food, is what they told me. I didn't get to taste it or see it, I just saw the dining room. I saw two or three rooms. And the one thing I noticed is that the people that live there might need more help keeping their rooms organized and clean. They had several centers there like arts and crafts, movies and they have lots of different activities going on. But the only thing I saw that was going on is that they were in the movies; they were having popcorn, several of them. They're not brand new, they're an older facility. They could probably do a little more cleaning on the outside.

C.B.

I've been living in Brookdale Lake Brazos. If somebody from Dallas is coming down this way, that would be great. This is not a bad place at all. It's right by the river and the people are nice. Of course, with all the limitations and everything, it's been kinda restricted, but the people are real sweet, and there's some really nice aides that work with us. The staff is all pretty good. I would recommend this community. Just don't let them know that anybody that has Alzheimer's is different from an absolutely perfect patient, because they didn't handle my husband well, even if they said they could handle all stages of Alzheimer's. He acted like a normal Alzheimer's patient, but when they sent me to the hospital and I didn't get the chance to tell him I was leaving, he walked out of the room and got in trouble. They sent him away after that, and to me that's not working with him. One of the things we told them before was that he wanders. We had moved here from the other place because he was wandering out on the road there, and we were afraid he was just gonna run over. However, considering all the limitations and everything, I think they did a wonderful job with the food. There've been a lot of complaints from some of the patients about staff and food too, but I hadn't complained about it. I think the staff here is trying really hard to keep the food as good as possible with the limitations that they had this last month, but overall it's been good. They have activities too, like bingo and movie nights. They also have a library, exercises, and things like that. I think it's a good place, it just wasn't right for us. We moved here because we wanted to be together, but they separated us. That's not what we wanted at all. Because of what they did, I'm gonna give them a four overall. I think the staff deserves a five, but I can't give them that high score because they separated us. They just went up on my rent as well, so that's one of the reasons why I'm glad we're moving.

Rodney

My first impression of Brookdale Lake Brazos is that everybody is nice and the people are helpful. If I have a situation or something, I ask them about it and they're able to help; they're very personal. They also provide activities for people and that's very good, especially for my mom. They do arts and crafts, they play and things like that, and they have a TV room where they all get together and watch movies. Her room is nice, and they made the effort to update it. I haven't tried any of the food myself, but my mom had a good appetite there, which is great. They're feeding her stuff that she wants.