Brookdale West Melbourne - Assisted Living

My mother has moved into Brookdale West Melbourne. She's happy there. I like that they're locked up, and they can't get out. They're very adamant about the security of their patients. The rooms are nice and bigger than what I thought. They need to do some maintenance on the outside of the building. My mother eats everything. They have activities; but if they don't want to participate, they don't have to. The facility is nice and relatively clean. They take very good care of the patients, and they check on them about every two hours. The cost is a little higher than what I wanted, but you got to do what you got to do.

I looked at the Brookdale West Melbourne without my mother present, so I only got a feeling for the type of facility it was and what the rooms looked like. She had seen it either in pictures or pamphlets, and the only thing she's concerned about is that the rooms were too small. As far as what the facilities offered, they all seemed fine except for the size of the rooms. She also wanted to be as close to Cocoa Beach as she could, which is where she's currently living. There was someone from the marketing department who showed me the facility, the dining area, the recreational areas, and the rooms. The dining area almost looked like a restaurant. The only people I saw were those who were coming in to visit, and because of COVID, there were restrictions as far as the number of people and the locations where they could go. The activities are limited for now. I asked about physical therapy -- whether they had it onsite or a physical therapist could come in -- and they said they could come into the facility. The living atmosphere was fine. They had a walking area because they were along the river and another designated area for walking that seems to be rather small.

Brookdale West Melbourne had stale rooms, the carpets were old or dirty. It felt like an old people place, it's stuffy and not modern. The carpets are not too appealing, and the rooms have these individual air conditioning units that don't cool the room nicely. They're like these old musty hotels. A couple of their amenities are a salon and barber's.

My father is in Brookdale West Melbourne. He's very compliant and happy. He can't believe it's as nice as it is. The staff is very attentive, and they have activities for him and the other residents. They ensure that he gets a chance to get three meals a day, but he routinely eats two meals a day, and he can take snacks to his room. They've been good. They do some memory care activities like drawing, puzzles, and Bingo. They have religious services, a barber and a beautician comes in once a week, a garden area where they can go out and work on the plants, a nice living room, and a private dining room where you can eat with your family. They're willing to provide meals for family when they visit, and the food is good. He has a studio apartment. They gave us a very good deal.

Brookdale West Melbourne is very nice, they have assisted living, and memory care. I like the size of the rooms and there are two buildings. It's a smaller community than the other Brookdale community I visited and I liked that. I also like the people there, although the food is a little bit more on the fattening side than the other community.