Our tour at Atria Walnut Creek was great. We were greeted professionally. While they were waiting on our appointment individual, they made sure we were comfortable and tended to any needs we might have had. The sales director/marketing director came out and talked to us. We went into her office, we talked for a while, explained the situation, and reviewed our options. She took us on a tour and we saw great staff interaction with the residents. Something is going on to keep the residents engaged. The grounds and facilities were superb. It's one of the only two so far we've visited that we would consider putting my mother in. The dining area was clean as well. They were serving lunch, the food looked good, cooked, and it looked like a well-balanced meal.

We are very disappointed after being there three years. While the memory care staff and nurses were fabulous and seemed to truly care about our aunt, the administration is awful. Lack of communication is rampant and since her brother did not have email, he was constantly stressed trying to speak to care personnel for his sister on the phone. Often it would be days before he could get a response. I had to be brought in to help. When phone calls proved insufficient, I turned to emails to get faster response. While we understood the need to stay away due to Covid19, the lack of information that was coming to us regarding her condition was appalling. There was little explanation or information, no attempt to put her on video calls or any other sympathetic contact regarding her health. When she started having mobility issues they forced us to pay for 24-hour care which for two weeks amounted to over $7000! That plus the $9300 a month that covered what?? We thought that fee covered this sort of thing but then hospice was brought in instead of us having to hire private help. The limitations of covid again reduced the amount of care they were able to provide with insistence that the facility had ample care staff. Since her brother couldn't communicate with her, he insisted on moving her out. We gave notice for the month of February on January 31. On March 5th they submitted their autopayment from her account anyway. When I asked for a refund, they deducted rent for March 1 and 2! That is unfair considering we paid for the 28 days of February the same amount as we pay every other month!! To make matters worse, when we were preparing to move her out we were told we were not allowed in the facility for Covid restrictions, so they would have staff pack her stuff into boxes and we would show up with the truck in the parking lot to load. We showed up 3 hours before her ambulatory transport and simply waited around for nothing! We then found out that absolutely nothing was packed or ready to go and the move turned into a 2 day ordeal!! Not only that but when we took apart the apartment we found it to be the most unhealthy disgusting mess we could never have expected! I found poop stains on the underside of her couch cushions as well as mouse droppings and chewed up papers. I don't know when the rodent invasion happened but the fact that the facility did not do ANY basic cleaning of the apartments, makes me believe this is not a healthy atmosphere to be in! Perhaps it was already there when she moved from their assisted facility to memory care, but no one bothered to vacuum it up!!! Her clothes had to be thrown away as did much of her fabric furniture due to mold, mildew and dirt among other things! I can't believe that they would 1) continue to charge us after such awful treatment 2) not do basic disinfecting cleaning in the apartment and bathroom! It was really very gross and I am shocked that this is how a facility for elderly is run. While we really loved the care staff and felt they did their jobs the best they could, the management needs to take notice of the cleaning of their clients' living spaces and be more compassionate! One would think cleanliness is a priority in such circumstances! The excuse that no one was allowed to enter the building is lame. Having been a tenant for almost 3 years, I would have thought her send off would have been more agreeable and kind but it was extremely stressful and depressing. Our aunt was also almost catatonic which we were not warned of and so our first time seeing her in over a year was a slap in the face. Medical transport said they weren't sure if she'd make the 7 miles move. Just a couple of weeks later, her demeanor improved and she is alert and talking albeit not clearly as she was before due to her health issues.

We had a tour of Atria Walnut Creek. It was combined memory care and assisted living, and we really liked the fact that Mom could start at assisted living, and go into memory care. It's beautifully decorated, had a nice entryway, the rooms gave our mom more space, the staff was lovely, she answered our questions, and she was just helpful, personable, and compassionate.