5.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

5.0

Staff

5.0

Meals & Dining

4.0

Very kind

I really appreciate you guys helping me find a home in such short timing and with great care. They have very kind and welcoming like home, with an amazing staff.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

5.0

Staff

5.0

Meals & Dining

5.0

Excellent Care

We love Avalon House. The caregivers are sweet, compassionate, professional, gentle, and kind with my uncle. They seem to know his needs before they arise. My uncle enjoys sweet treats which the home is sure to put on the grocery list. This is one example of how they personalize care for their clients. When I have visited during mealtimes, the food looks really good. My uncle is on a special diet, and they accommodate that. The house is very clean, and it never smells of any bad odors. I do not know how they manage that. We are very happy we found Avalon House.

1.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

1.0

Friendliness

1.0

Value for Cost

1.0

Care Services

1.0

Activities

1.0

Staff

1.0

Meals & Dining

1.0

Review for Avalon House on Gerard Court

They were close and had availability when I needed it. It was not good at all.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

5.0

Staff

5.0

Meals & Dining

5.0

Our family truly was blessed to find Avalon House

Our family truly was blessed to find Avalon House. Thank God we moved Dad to Avalon House! While the lockdowns were hard on everyone, I was so thankful that he was in a safe place. In the four years Dad was with Avalon, never once did I worry about his care and well-being. If he couldn’t live independently because of his physical limitations, at least he lived where the staff truly cared about him. The staff are compassionate, patient, & loving individuals. One staff went above & beyond & supported my family as much as he supported my dad. They genuine care about those in their care. You have to be a truly special person, with a wonderful heart, to make the kind of difference in peoples’ lives that the staff at Avalon do.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

5.0

Staff

5.0

Meals & Dining

5.0

Avalon Homes and A Place for Mom saved our family!

When my husband's Alzheimer's Disease was rapidly advancing and I was struggling to care for him while working full-time and raising our two adolescent age children, I needed help. A Place for Mom provided the contact information to Avalon Homes and I was immediately in touch with [name removed] and [name removed] who offered us a room available in a private home. The hardest thing for me to do was to be separated from my husband. [name removed] assurred me that I could visit as often as possible and we set up his room with furniture from home. My husband is currently in a home 15 minutes away from where we live, we can visit daily and enjoy time together in a comfortable, loving home. The care givers are amazing and have provided emotional support to us as well. They love my husband, provide excellent care, and reach me immediately if anything changes with his health. They love our whole family! There is no beter place for memory care!

5.0 out of 5 stars

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

5.0

Staff

5.0

Meals & Dining

5.0

We Were Delighted

My domestic partner passed away recently after 16 months at Avalon Gerard Court. His children and I chose it because it didn't feel institutional and has low staff turnover. We were delighted with the homey atmosphere, which let our loved one acclimate quickly, as well as the emphasis on safety and cleanliness. The caregivers are well trained, compassionate and attentive. With only eight residents, they know each one well, and they notice everything. We couldn't have been more pleased.

2.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Community Tour

I didn’t like the residential care home setting. There were only 8-10 clients there, and they have to share bathrooms, which I did not care for. This particular care home was really for patients with dementia, and I didn't feel my loved one would get the stimulation she needed there. We were there on a Saturday, and they said they would be serving soup and crackers for dinner, which took me aback. It just was not the right fit at all and would have been very hard on my mom.

Response from Avalon House on Gerard Court

October 25, 2022

Thank you so much for taking a tour at one of our 11 homes. We appreciate your feedback. That gives Avalon the opportunity to respond & share more about our homes for others looking at facilities, as well as speak to some of the misinformation in your tour review which may be helpful to others looking for a home for their loved one. We do feel all facilities have pros & cons based off of what the resident's needs are as well as what the wishes are of their loved ones. We also feel it is such a hard thing to place one's family member in a facility so touring as many places as possible is a great thing to do as you have. That is a good thing to tour so one can feel good about the decision they make as well as having their loved one in a facility that will be able to meet their needs. You are absolutely correct. When full, each of our homes have 8 residents. For someone who is looking for a big facility, an 8-bed home would not satisfy what one is looking for. The size of our homes is on our website, the A Place for Mom site, and we share that on the phone and email when a tour is scheduled in one of those ways. We do specialize in care for those residents that have some form of memory impairment. We do ensure that the 1st thing one reads when they visit our website is, "Avalon Homes is dedicated to providing quality care to people with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of memory loss in home-like settings in the McLean/ Falls Church area of Northern Virginia." We also ensure that the memory impairment information is on the A Place for Mom website. When someone speaks to us directly to schedule a tour, that is one of the 1st things we share. If they schedule via email, that is also one of the 1st things we share. We do that to ensure one is aware. That information alone could rule us in or out depending one someone's diagnosis and needs. A Place for Mom advisors also share that information when scheduling tours for families. Despite knowing this information prior to touring, we do have some families that will opt to tour anyway to get a feel. It sounds like you fall into this category of being aware of that information and choosing to tour anyway. While the majority of residents do share bathrooms, we do have rooms with their own bathroom as well. However, since we have more rooms without their own bathroom, a room with its own bathroom may not be available at the time one is looking such as yourself. However, when one does come up, we can certainly move a resident to that room. As for meals...we offer 3 meals a day plus snacks. We do cater to special diets. Our big meal of the day is the lunchtime meal. It gives the residents time throughout the day to digest a large meal. Included in the cost one pays to Avalon is a nutritionist who comes out quarterly and as necessary. Families do not have to pay extra for this service. They also help with menu and meal planning. We do not just serve soup and crackers for a meal. We will serve soup and crackers as a part of the dinner meal. However, what you are not sharing, or reporting is that what is also served with what you saw are salads, sandwiches, fruit, and desserts. From reading this, I am getting either you only stayed to find out the 1st course of the dinner meal and missed the rest of it, or you decided to only share about the soup and crackers in your tour review. I am the person who schedules the majority tours for Avalon Homes as well as am the one who is giving them. We have not given a tour on a Saturday close to dinner time since the end of spring or beginning of summer which is quite a few months ago. Thank you again for touring one of our homes as well as your feedback. We do appreciate it. We also hope you have found a facility that will meet the needs of your mom. That is really important.

3.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

4.0

Care Services

3.0

Staff

4.0

Avalon House on Gerard Court review

The cleanliness of the community is excellent, but they could work a little bit more on improving their care services.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

4.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

4.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

3.0

Staff

5.0

Meals & Dining

3.0

A very good option if you have a family member with dementia who you're unable to keep at home.

I think it's an excellent option for people who want a small, group home environment where their loved one is going to get more individual attention, as opposed to a large facility where they're not going to get the same attention and care. There are 11 Avalon Houses in the area, and each house has two live-in staff people. One is the house manger, and that person seems to stay consistent and doesn't get moved around. The second person changes sometimes, and some are better than others. The house manager at my loved one's house is excellent. One area for improvement would be when they bring in new staff, I think they need a little more training. From what I've seen, all of the help are Jamaican, and I think a lot of them have not had a lot of training in the healthcare field, although the managers all definitely have.

Response from Avalon House on Gerard Court

May 4, 2022

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a nice review. We think reviews are helpful not only for those looking for a facility but feedback for Avalon itself. Avalon House has been in business now for 25 years. We maintain a 1:4 staff:resident ratio in the homes. We do our best to keep the same consistent staff in the homes. However, as one can imagine, employees do take time off. When one goes off, another Avalon caregiver will work there until they return. There are also times in which we rotate our staff amongst the 11 homes for a variety of reasons. All of our staff have been trained in caregiving in the assisted living field. Our trainings are in compliance with the state regulations we follow. Of our entire staff pool, over 62% have been with Avalon House over 5 years. Over 80% have been with Avalon Homes 3 years or longer, and almost 50% have been with Avalon 10 years or longer. With all of those years under their belts, they have also had a minimum of that many years of training and experience with our type of residents and clients. We will certainly continue to train staff as we always have as well as provide them with the necessary ongoing training so that we can provide the best care possible to our residents. Thank you again for your generous review and feedback. We take all feedback quite serious and always appreciate when someone takes the time to share. We are so pleased you chose Avalon House to care for your loved one.

2.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Community Tour

Avalon House on Gerard Court was an older house and not in the best condition. The bathroom was a little scary. And the kitchen looked kind of run down. Their response to the kitchen was "Well your mother would never be in the kitchen." But the food still gets cooked in there. And that was concerning to me.

Response from Avalon House on Gerard Court

December 9, 2021

Thank you so much for your feedback and taking a tour with Avalon House. We have not given a tour at this home since June 2021 due to not having a vacancy at this particular home. It sounds like this was a tour you took some time ago. Being that Avalon House is a 25-year-old company and is one of the 1st two companies in the Northern Virginia area to start a group home business, this home is not a brand-new building. When one looks at photos of Avalon House on Gerard Court, one would see it is a rancher/rambler style home. Those were built in the late 1960s and 1970s. You are correct about the age of the home. For someone who is looking for a new building and prefers a brand-new aesthetic, they would not like the feel of a home built during the time frame this home was. All of our homes have at least one wheelchair shower with a shower chair/bench and are handicapped accessible with handrails in the bathrooms. We clean them several times a day. Our residents eat together in a dining room much like the dining rooms in a single-family home. The kitchen at Avalon House on Gerard Court does not have a kitchen table in it due to the layout. It does have brand new granite counters, new appliances, and a sprinkler system. Since we specialize in care for residents with memory impairment, you are correct, we do not let our residents cook in our kitchen. It is really wonderful you are touring several communities and facilities. This is so important. This really does help a family narrow down what is important to them as well as what is important for their loved one so they can choose a facility that they feel is the best fit.

4.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

My tour review

This community was okay but it did not compare with another community that we were looking at.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

4.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

3.0

Staff

5.0

Meals & Dining

5.0

My loved one is happy here

Avalon House is much less expensive than any other place else we looked at. We chose this facility because the houses are smaller and more homey and the staff turnover here is also much lower. We thought he would feel more at home here and that has turned out to be true. They emphasize above all safety and hat was my biggest concern. I would recommend to others looking.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

5.0

Wonderful Place

Avalon house on Gerard Court is a great place for my mother, who has severe dementia and needs help with all aspects of daily living functions. The personnel there are very caring and kind and they take very good care of my mother.

3.0 out of 5 stars

Cleanliness

3.0

Friendliness

3.0

Value for Cost

3.0

The staff are very nice. It's clean but there are only 2 bathrooms/toilet for 8 residents.

4.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

4.0

Friendliness

4.0

Value for Cost

4.0

Care Services

4.0

Activities

4.0

I think they are doing well.

I think they are doing well. It's immaculate, even though the home itself is older, but they keep it very clean. The food is good. The staff is really good, they are pretty attentive. It's pretty amazing how far they go to keep the residents occupied. I think they are a pretty good value. The only concern I have had was with another resident, and they handled that very well, providing one on one care, and redirecting in a respectful, upbeat way. As it turns out there was no need for concern.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Clean, homey, professional, affordable.

I toured this house, and another Avalon House residence recently, as part of a "multi-sibling" effort to find the best place for our mom. The two Avalon houses I toured were the only places where I felt very comfortable and confident that they would be a good choice for my mom. They are homey and affordable, but very clean and well maintained. There is an aura of peace and calm. I was at one of the Avalon houses in McLean during lunch time and the food was home cooked and healthy, and the residents sat together around a family-style dining room table. I particularly appreciated the personality of Sandy, the manager who showed me around the two facilities. She has a matter of fact demeanor, but is warm and personable. I never felt like she was doing a sales job. A big selling point for me is that these places are happy to accompany your loved one on a walk around the neighborhood. I advocated for placement for my mom in an Avalon facility, but we ultimately opted for placement in the town where she was already living, and where a brother is located. I advise visiting one of the Avalon houses if you are trying to get a feel for what is available in the D.C metro region, as they are different in a good way and more affordable than many other options.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

experienced, kind caregivers

I toured this home recently and though it was clean, well-run and lovely, I opted to place my 91-year old mother in another Avalon House nearby on High Street. The Avalon Homes owner, Georgia Weiss, offers thorough and honest answers to prospective client's questions and is sensitive to special requests. [ex: My mom likes the color yellow, so her room was painted yellow ] Caregivers are compassionate and professional. Everyone has years of experience, and it shows.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

5.0

Wonderful staff and community!

This home was wonderful! There was little they could have done better (well, lunch could have been a little more inspired at times, but that is a minor consideration given everything else the staff does so well). They took great care of the residents, and of the facility itself--everyone and everything was clean, neat, tidy, in order, even polished! I visited at all times of the day and evening and always found the same situation--everything in order and everyone in good spirits and in fine condition. This is a loving, experienced staff, and I always felt like it was a family and that my family was a big part of it. I think of them often and am reminded how lucky we were that our family member was in #1 Avalon House. They ARE #1 in our book.

3.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

3.0

Friendliness

3.0

Value for Cost

3.0

Care Services

3.0

Activities

3.0

Good care, overall

We had used another Avalon House community in the past that we were very pleased with, and selected Avalon House on Gerard Court for another loved hoping the quality of care would be similar. Unfortunately they didn't do quite as good a job at this location, the staff didn't seem quite as involved with the residents. Also, the care at this community seemed geared towards Alzheimer's residents, so the care was not as good a match. All that being said, the care here was acceptable, not bad by any means, just not up to the high standards set by the other Avalon House facility we used.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Verified Review

Cleanliness

5.0

Friendliness

5.0

Value for Cost

5.0

Care Services

5.0

Activities

5.0

Great place and very helpful staff

I think they're doing an excellent job. They've got nine houses and my mom is in just one, they all seem to be very well managed and maintained, very clean. They're very helpful, very accomodating, they take phone calls at anytime. The care is very good, they call often, my mother is almost everyday getting worse and worse, she still knows who the kids are but nobody else, so they call me often and the staff is very good. I've called many times and they've never said "we can't talk now," they always answer my questions. Now she's confined to a home with a smaller amount of people and physically it's taken a toll on her but by far financially and everything else it's a better choice for her.

Avalon House on Gerard Court

State licensing information

Related articles

Senior living options offered

Pricing

Base fees by care type

Reviews

for Avalon House on Gerard Court

Very kind

Excellent Care

Review for Avalon House on Gerard Court

Our family truly was blessed to find Avalon House

Avalon Homes and A Place for Mom saved our family!

We Were Delighted

Community Tour

Avalon House on Gerard Court review

A very good option if you have a family member with dementia who you're unable to keep at home.

Community Tour

My tour review

My loved one is happy here

Wonderful Place

I think they are doing well.

Clean, homey, professional, affordable.

experienced, kind caregivers

Wonderful staff and community!

Good care, overall

Great place and very helpful staff

Neighborhoods

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Other Senior Housing in Falls Church, VA

Avalon House on Gerard Court

State licensing information

Related articles

Senior living options offered

Pricing

Base fees by care type

Reviews

for Avalon House on Gerard Court

Very kind

Excellent Care

Review for Avalon House on Gerard Court

Our family truly was blessed to find Avalon House

Avalon Homes and A Place for Mom saved our family!

We Were Delighted

Community Tour

Avalon House on Gerard Court review

A very good option if you have a family member with dementia who you're unable to keep at home.

Community Tour

My tour review

My loved one is happy here

Wonderful Place

I think they are doing well.

Clean, homey, professional, affordable.

experienced, kind caregivers

Wonderful staff and community!

Good care, overall

Great place and very helpful staff

Neighborhoods

Other Senior Housing in Falls Church, VA

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