Merrill Gardens at Columbia was a very nice place. I like the place, and the location was fine. It was a neat facility. The staff was nice, but I think they're fixing to push independent living. Out of four floors, they've only got 15 people that have assisted living. You could tell that their primary focus is independent living, and they have some. If you were independent, that would be the place to go. The rooms were nice, but they're not set up for an assisted living. It's set up for an independent living. They're more geared toward independent living. Even the rooms are set up for an independent living. Who ever heard of giving somebody in assisted living a stove? So that's why I'm saying that it was an afterthought on their part. They have one activity director, and she's talking about my mom, saying my mom can join in any of the independent activities. She can't because she's in assisted living, so she's limited in what she can do. If you just so happen to be in assisted living and can do what they can do, then you're welcome to come along for the ride. I toured them for assisted living, but their assisted living rooms and independent living rooms are the same. They got four floors in that facility, maybe three. You would think that they would have one entire floor for assisted living, but they do not. There's not any difference in the ranks. They have one activity director for the whole place, and they've got four floors of independent living people. So, who do you think they're going to gear their activities toward? The little guy that gave me the tour was filling in for somebody, and he didn't have a lot of answers to my questions.

My parents have moved into Merrill Gardens at Columbia. It's newer, nice, clean, and had more to offer. They have washers and dryers in their units. Mom has a full kitchen, and her unit was nice and clean. The staff was very friendly, and very nice. All the residents that we spoke to were extremely friendly. If they decide the food is good, then that's a good thing because they are hard to please that way. They have senior activities, physical therapy, a beauty salon, and a media center. They have lots of different activities rooms, and three meals a day. The assisted living residents get a hot breakfast. They do offer some transportation, and they have cable internet. In terms of value for the money, it was very reasonable compared to the ones that we looked at.