I've always loved Brookdale West Melbourne (Formerly Clare Bridge of West Melbourne). I liked that it's open, and it had a lot of light in there, which is good for Alzheimer's. I liked their activities and the different areas where they provide those. Next year or later in the year, if we go, that's where he's going to go. It's really nice there. They had sing-along and arts and crafts. The staff was very professional.

We moved my mother-in-law into Brookdale West Melbourne (Formerly Clare Bridge of West Melbourne) in January. The staff was very open to answering all the questions that we had. It specializes in memory care, so all of the nurses and everybody that works there has to go through specialized training just for memory care, and that's what we really liked about it. It is clean and you could really tell that they care about the people that are there.

I just didn't like Clare Bridge of West Melbourne. The part that we went to was all memory care, so my step-mom couldn't go with my dad there. He would have to go to the other side of the road, which was the assisted living. It didn't seem clean, and it just wasn't nice. It reminded of a very old, bad nursing home. They had the sickest, the oldest, and the patients were just really bad there, so that was a turn off to me because my dad did not like that. He is not there yet. I guess it was understandable because we just left that brand new beautiful place to come to this place, and it was like, "Oh my God." The exterior was not maintained, and when we walked in there, it just wasn't nice. I didn't like it, so we were in and out of there very quickly. It just wasn't what we were looking for. When we went to the other side of it or the assisted living part, it was at least halfway decent, but still, it was close to the highway, very small, and not up-to-date.

My father was at Clare Bridge. We're not very happy with what happened there. They don't tend to monitor their residents very well in the evening, so the residents can get confused and go into the wrong room, and by accident thinking it's their room he had several of his possessions turned up missing, like clothing, shoes, eyeglasses, linens, quilt, etc. They weren't good at cleaning the rooms. He did not even have a soap dispenser to wash his hands in his room for like 9 months that he lived there. He was not allowed to have any toiletries in his room. They would supposedly keep those in a bin in a locked laundry room. There were a lot of things that were going on and on There would be medical issues that I was never told about and I wouldn't be given results of tests without asking. Some of the staff was just acting in a very non-professional manner using foul language. My father was on the upper end of a spectrum when he lived there and he did not require constant supervision or care. Other residents did, so he was very out of place. The courtyard that the residents were allowed to use that's on the interior of the building was very small. The residents were supposed to have access to that and several times I would go in the middle of the afternoon or even morning and those doors were locked so the residents could not even go out there and sit in the fresh air. I believe the food might have started out well, but two days after my father left Clare Bridge, he had to be taken by ambulance to the local hospital because his blood numbers were severely anemic and had to get two blood transfusions. So that tells me that he was not being fed nutritious, iron-rich food. The room he had was a nice room although there were plumbing issues in it for some time, but they eventually did get those straightened out.

Mom was at Clare Bridge of West Melbourne before she passed away. The staff loved my mother very much. The place was topnotch. It was very clean, and the rooms were kept manicured on a daily basis; it was really nice.

Clare Bridge was very nice. My husband has Alzheimer’s and he was there for over a year. The rooms they have are small with one room and bathroom. There is a space around there where you could sit and watch TV. But I like my privacy sometimes and I like to sit and read. It was very good but expensive because they've got round the clock attention. It was comfortable and the staff was very nice. They did his laundry. My husband liked the food. For somebody who has an Alzheimer's patient, I would recommend Clare Bridge.

My mom was in the memory care unit of Clare Bridge for about a month. She was there because when she was first diagnosed, they weren't quite sure where to put her. Her accommodation was good. The staff and the management were also very good. She did like the food. The security was good; however, they didn't have a lock on their doors. So people with Alzheimer's would wander in and take stuff. They would come in and use the bathroom and take things. That was very irritating. So if you're a higher functioning person, like my mom, you would want to have a lockable room. I would come out and visit her and in an hour's time, you would have eight different people coming through there and I didn't like that. My mom just wasn't in the right place.

Clare Bridge's staff treated me very nicely and positively during my quick tour. I'm still waiting for them to answer my e-mailed questions.

This assisted living facility was very nice. The staff were polite and helpful and all together the buildings looked warm and inviting. My only problem with it was that the residents rooms themselves were rather bare, nothing on the walls in terms of decoration. We decided to decorate my grandmothers room ourselves but some of the other residents weren't as fortunate. Overall it is a nice facility, the residents all seemed to enjoy the various activities available and were content with where they were living. We even had dinner there with my grandmother one night and the food was not bad. The dining room was very nice as well, there are large tables so that the residents can sit with their friends and the staff is always there if anyone should need help with anything. My grandmother likes Clare Bridge of West Melbourne very much and I am glad that we decided to have her stay in such a nice assisted living facility.

I visited Clare Bridge of West Melbourne to explore future career choices. I took a tour and participated in a get together set up by the workers there. They let me sit in on the activity where they had the seniors read a script and act it out. Then afterwards they served dessert. After I helped them back to their rooms and visited other residents in the facility. I talked to a couple of them and their families that were there. I enjoyed visiting. Everyone on the staff and volunteers were very nice and I thought it was sweet how they set the activity up for the seniors. Everyone seemed happy about their job and happy to be there. I was really impressed. They had sitting areas for the residents and a beautiful garden where they can spend some time out doors. They were all for me coming to take a tour and sit in on activities and interact with the residents.

My Grandmother was well taken care of; despite the needs of all the other residents, it seemed there was always time for her needs as well. She suffers from dementia and the patience of the doctors and the staff are invaluable. The facility is well kept, clean and cozy, and the food they serve is easy to chew; though it is not always delicious. The low stress environment seems to be helping my Gamma a lot. She usually recognizes me and my brother when we visit her, and if she does not recognize us right away, she comes around with only a little prodding. Before she lived at Clare Bridge, she almost never recognized anyone in the family, nor did she interact with anyone in a meaningful way. She is still spacey and forgetful, but she has her spunk again. Clare Bridge speicalizes in dementia patients, and that focus on her specific needs has made all the difference.