Brookdale La Crosse was warm, and they were friendly people. The rooms appeared to be clean. I noticed the residents that I encountered, they all seemed to be happy, which was important to me. I did like the way it was set up and it had a lot of outdoors. The facility itself was quite nice; however, it was on the expensive side, so I swayed away from that.

I toured Brookdale LaCrosse. There weren't many people there. I would recommend taking my grandmother there. When I first drove up, I saw a woman on the sidewalk pushing a gentleman in his wheelchair. They were outside and it wasn't just a bunch of people sitting around doing nothing. When I walked up to the building, there were a few people outside and the weather was beautiful. There wasn't a lot going on, but it was also a weekend. It was very clean. When the lady was walking around telling me about it, it seemed like they offered a lot of activities. They had a beauty salon on site, and she was telling me about the different things that they do for and with the residents. Inside, there was a woman who I would imagine was some kind of a nurse or something, walking and talking with one of the residents. A few people were sitting outside in the sun, enjoying the weather, in a little seated area with a bunch of flowers and plants and a few chairs. It's just very well taken care of. I saw a few different rooms. Some were smaller, and some that were a little bigger. Some people might consider the smaller one's kind of cramped. I know that my grandma, where she is at home right now, all she does is sit just in her den. She has a nice big condo at home, but she doesn't leave the little den because that's all that she needs. All that she wants is just that one little room. So, the smaller room for some people is fine. But they have different sizes of rooms, so people have their own choice as to what size room they want, which also coincides with different prices. I saw the gathering rooms, the sitting room, the laundry room, and the kitchen. I also saw the outside sitting areas, the family gathering areas where people could reserve dining areas for families to gather for birthdays, and there were several sitting TV areas.

I have a loved one who stayed at Brookdale La Crosse (AL) for respite care and they did a good job. It was a fine place. They treated us with respect. The food was fine and they had activities like bingo and other stuff for them to do. They were very kind and nice people.

So far, I've been pretty happy with Brookdale LaCrosse. They're a little understaffed, but I think everyone's understaffed nowadays. They've been friendly and helpful, even the housekeeping staff (which is huge). My dad likes the food, too.

We did a tour Brookdale La Crosse, and we determined that he wasn't in need of assisted living just yet. So, we said no to them, but they were really accommodating. She answered questions too; it's just I was asking different questions at that time. This one was clean, and it was well designed. Everything was one level. There were no elevators; there was no second floor. Not that elevators are bad or anything, but it's just that my dad can't climb steps very well, and there were no steps anywhere. From the moment you walk in the door, to the moment you walk in your room, there were no steps. It's designed well. The staff was accommodating and answered questions; she gave me an hour tour. I wasn't expecting that between my questions and her answers, and just showing me different rooms. She showed me one, it was independent living, and then one room was memory care, and one room was something else, so they had a lot to offer. Their prices were a little high, but that's not worth giving them a bad review. I just think it was a little high. I have no recollection of smell, which probably is a good thing, and cleanliness I give it a five. I could tell they cared when we went through the tour. The gal who was giving me the tour knew people's first name and said hi to them. We saw a lot of the residents were out and about, doing therapy type things, but she knew the names, and she was saying hi, and everyone was happy.

Brookdale La Crosse was very lovely. I liked it a lot. The staff was friendly, open, and busy. It's a nice location with nice grounds, green with a few trees, and very inviting. I asked some of the residents about the food, and they thought it was good. The menu looked inviting and varied with a lot of different items on it.

Brookdale La Crosse (formerly Sterling House of LaCrosse) was able to fit my father's needs. He wanted to bring his dog, so that was a big reason we chose this place, plus it's in the area he is familiar with. So far, so good. It's like a campus with different buildings connected. It's very pretty. Everything's on one level. His particular apartment is an efficiency with a bedroom, little office area, and bathroom. The staff is positive and knowledgeable. He loves the food. They have the ability to do portion control. They do bingo, different themed classes, teaching on certain different topics, movie nights, visiting entertainment like local people who come in with a guitar or play the piano, or kids in the area that come and sing or play different games with them. They go on outings, like to a store, restaurant, or a movie, and you can choose to go on those outings or not. We were really pleased about them accepting the dog. That was a really big deal. The location is good, too. It's such a huge change to go to a place like that; to be able to keep the familiarity of a pet was a really big deal.

Our visit with Sterling House was great. It just wasn't the right location. The staff was absolutely wonderful and very helpful. It was set-up very nicely. I really liked the idea that they had the nursing home next to it. It really was a nice place.

I did visit The Villas La Crosse, and it was clean and orderly. It was open and not crowded. It was landscaped well, and I was favorably impressed with the outdoor appearance of it. It was not laid out like a nursing home. It was very homey, and I appreciated that part of it. There were areas like open spaces where the family could visit with some privacy. The residents and the staff seemed happy and friendly.

The staff of Sterling House of LaCrosse was helpful. It was clean and visually appealing, they seemed friendly, and the residents seemed happy. The rooms were nice. None of them were overly large, but they were big enough. We just saw the menu, and it seemed very good.

We did visit The Villas La Crosse. They were very nice and friendly. It was clean. We looked at the rooms, and they were nice. They didn't seem to have one thing the other places do have: a kitchen area where the residents could do a little cooking while there's somebody assisting. The young lady that we talked to on the phone and met in person was very nice. I was comfortable with her, and I got a feeling that she would take care of my father and watch out for him.

I visited my aunt at Sterling House LaCrosse. It's very clean. They have activities, and they even have animals come in. The rooms are beautiful, spacious, and clean. I love them. It's just fantastic. They have card playing, entertainment, bingo, and puzzles. There are places that family could gather every once in a while, so that was kind of nice.

When I went through The Villas, the person who did the tour with me knew all the residents' names. For me, the staff makes caring about the residents a big part of what they do. I was really impressed with that, but the only downside is the waiting list. There are lots of things for the residents to do. During the holidays, they had millions of lights lit up in a park, and they had bus trips where they took the whole family with the resident to go through the lights. They had a kitchen where the residents baked Christmas cookies. Then they had a garden where they grew rhubarb, and they came in and made stuff with it.

I didn't like Sterling House at all. It was extremely expensive compared to others and that part that they said was assisted living actually was more nursing-home-like. I wasn't impressed at all. In terms of accommodations, they weren’t apartments. All it is is a bed and a bathroom. They don't even have little sitting area or small kitchenette or anything. That too gave it more of the feel of a nursing home. When I went there, a lot of the tenants were out in their wheelchairs and you don't see that in ALF generally, that's more nursing home. The facility looked clean and nice but I just didn't like the feel of it at all. It was not a good fit for my mom.