The Fountains at Millbrook

I moved to the Fountains 4 years ago and I have loved every minute. The grounds have lots of open space for viewing nature; it's not unusual to see a deer wandering around! The staff are terrific and started calling me by name on day one. There are many activities to interest all residents.

My spouse left the facility after one and a half years, and is now living at home with a home caregiver 5 days/week. She is getting much better care than she ever did at the facility. We thought assisted living would provide better care, and we were wrong, at least as far as The Fountains is concerned. Overall experience: My spouse felt like she was in prison for 18 months. She became very unhappy and depressed. She is now smiling and happy again, now that she is home. Cleanliness: Sometimes there is a very bad smell in the lobby. Friendliness of staff: Some very nice staff; others quite mean and nasty. The RN in charge of the assisted living section is so domineering, unfriendly, and passive-aggressive that there is a huge turnover of staff. All the good ones leave, and the bad ones remain behind. The facility is often understaffed, resulting in inferior care for the residents. Quality of care: Inexperienced and unprofessional nurses who don't understand how to inject insulin properly, and unable to give insulin injections within 15 minutes of my spouse eating, as required by her endocrinologist, resulting often in hypoglycemia. (When we complained, The RN actually said they have no control over the kitchen. It begs the question: Why not? Pain relief was often withheld, even though the Rx said PRN. Patients often sent to ER for no reason (A doctor told me that The Vassar Medical Center in Poughkeepsie has stopped accepting many patients from The Fountains because of this.) Patients are often sent to The ER without their permission, and the facility is NEVER able to transfer the patients back to the facility, even though their brochures say that transportation is provided Every time we asked for help with transportation, we were told that they had no one to spare. Take a taxi (which would have cost over [fee removed]). Meals/Dining: (would give a 0 if I could). The food is inedible. ALWAYS. It is prepared in another location; by the time it reaches the assisted living facility it has degraded immensely. My spouse had groceries delivered every week so she could eat properly. Value for cost: (again zero, if I could). They raised our rent 5 times in the space of 18 months, almost doubling the initial amount we were paying. Totally unsustainable situation for us. Every time they raised the rent, the services decreased. The facility is owned by Watermark Retirement Communities, and their prime goal seems to be to enrich the shareholders at the expense of the residents. I asked the staff every time our rent was raised if they got a pay boost, and was told no by every one of them. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS FACILITY TO ANYONE.

The Fountains at Milbrook is great! My parents are very happy there. The level of comfort with the staff is paramount. They have created such a warm and welcoming community, and they really know how to make people feel welcome and part of the community. I think the community events are wonderful, and my parents feel like they have social lives now, which is huge.

Our loved one was only there for about a month and we had to move her out due to her health, but The Fountains is really a lovely place and it was kept very clean. We would our loved one could of stayed longer, everyone was very friendly and we would highly recommend to others.

I chose The Fountains because I liked the way that the cottages were separated from the main building. It is also away from a lot of traffic and surrounded by trees, there is a lot of space to walk and it is beautiful scenery. My cottage is 1 bedroom with a kitchen, a study and living room but they do offer different sizes as well. The staff here are very friendly and they do also have assisted living as well as independent living. I would absolutely recommend them.

This community does not have a memory care facility, the community is in a beautiful spot and in a good area. the rooms are nice in size, and the food is great. I would definitely recommend this facility to others

From the start, the staff at The Fountains were absolute professionals. They left no detail of my parents moving in to chance. They a friendly, helpful and very good at what they do, from first visit to insuring everything is right AFTER move in. My parents, by necessity, needed to move from their own home, to a community that offered safety, comfort and a social atmosphere. We were able to resettle my folks in a matter of weeks. Without the amazing staff at The Fountains, we'd have never been able to manage it. Considering the rapid transition they needed to make, my parents are settling in very well and like where they now call home. If you or someone you love need a place, check The Fountains and ask for Ann!

Positives: Nice facility, location and friendly staff. Negatives: A little dated and pieced together from an existing facility.

The Fountains at Millbrook is beautiful. The staff are caring, knowledgeable and friendly. The building is very clean and the food is delicious! I also know it is a great value for both Independent and Assisted Living.

Visited with my mom. The first thing we noticed is the food. It was really terrible. They seem to serve "Millbrook Chicken" every night (chicken with some sort of white gravy on it). I agree with the other reviews about the cottages, they are in need of updating badly. Cracks in the sidewalks, paint chipping and yes, the laundry rooms were freezing cold. The one we saw had a big hole in the roof where a fan or something had fallen out. No remotes for the garages, you have to get out and use a key but doesn't seem like many people have cars here. There were no walking trails on the property, no pool, no gardening, no outside activities. The car that they use to pick up residents to take them to meals is old, rusted, and was missing hubcaps. The Assisted Living is more of a nursing home than Assisted Living. I guess what we noticed most was the residents that are here seem to be in very poor health. Rare to see someone not using a walker. This is better for someone that's looking for a nursing home type environment. They seem to keep the property in good shape but there just wasn't much to do here if you are in "independent" and in decent health and active. I would have grave concerns about the safety here as other reviewers here and on other sites have noted. The desk is not staffed 24/7 and no one seemed to know what happens after 11pm if you need help Security, somewhere, maybe on the property or not. We asked about 30 residents and they had never seen nor heard of a security guard. The hospital is 15 miles away down rural roads and the ambulance is volunteer (5 miles away) so if you needed help, it will be a long time until you get to a hospital. We spent the night on property and walked the grounds looking and found no one. If there's someone staffed at night, he is sleeping someplace well hidden. I wouldn't want mom to fall in the middle of the night here. On the plus side, the staff couldn't have been nicer.

I toured this community for my mom. This community seems to be smaller than what we were looking for. The staff seems to be very positive. They do offer a good variety on the menu of meals. I liked knowing that they do have activities. We would recommend families to tour this community

This community is a little pricer than the community we chose and it is not as nice. The people are nice, however this community is more like a nursing home and we were looking for independent living.

I really enjoyed my tour of this community. I liked everything about it. The community looked great, everything was very well-kept. The staff was very kind and friendly. They have many resources available for the residents. It is truly a great community, but my family didn't think this was the best choice for me. Overall it was a very nice tour, and this is a good community.

It has been a great experience for us here. My mother is doing okay, but I know she is being cared for well. The community looks great, they do a very good job with the cleanliness. The staff is perfect, they have been wonderful to work with. She is safe and in good hands. They are providing her with great care. This is a community I would recommend, it has worked out very well for us here.

Awesome, staff extremely friendly, beautiful grounds, excellent food, very clean, great living conditions. I know where I'm going to be at age 62.

Very nice people. The independent living apartment we saw was lovely. The grounds are very nice. The apartments are spacious. It's unfortunate the views from the apartments either face an old brick building that is located in the courtyard or a parking lot. The property is a bit run down. We noticed quite a bit of chipped paint, cracks, rust and a general need of maintenance, especially around the cottages. There were quite a bit of weeds and a lack of landscaping around the cottages as well. Except where the residents have made the effort. Most of the cottages look like they are empty so that may explain the need of landscaping and maintenance around them. The cottages have shared laundry room that are very old and outdated and in need of new appliances and a coat of paint. The two we looked at had cobwebs and dead flies in them. The machines were mismatched and there was no place to fold your clothes. I don't think the laundry rooms were heated either. That would be a concern. The food was excellent even if the photos of the dining room and cafe are misleading. The furniture is quite chipped in both of those areas. The property is large but there aren't any activities offered onsite to do outside which was surprising given all the space they have. There wasn't even a walking trail on their 200 acres. The biggest disappointment was they don't have a pool which is a shame since my mother likes to do water aerobics. We were told they had a greenhouse for gardening but that didn't turn out to be the case. It looks like they have turned what once was a greenhouse, if there ever was one, into a storage shed. That would have been a nice feature especially since this is located in farm country and most of the residents are from the area. The gym was small as well. I would recommend this if you wanted to be in the apartments and not the cottages and aren't active. The transportation options seemed adequate for going to the pharmacy, grocery store, shopping.

I wasn't particularly impressed. It's an awfully old place. My impression is based strictly on the cottages because that's what we looked at. We visited the cottages and the first thing we noticed was the chipped paint, cracks, rust on the doors and bad landscaping behind them. Then we saw the shared washer and dryers that you have to go outside to get to were mismatched and very old. They were inside a very dirty room. Granted a laundry room doesn't have to be a decorators dream, but these were simply dreadful. The cottages weren't in much better shape. Chipped formica countertops, old appliances. Completely out of date. The outsides were in need of alot of maintenance and landscaping help. It's a small thing but if you are going to have garages in a retirement community, make them remote controlled. You really expect someone over 70 to get out of their car and manually pull up a garage door in the snow? The 24 hr. security we found out isn't exactly that. They staff someone until 11pm and then you have to ring the reception desk (that no one is sitting at) until it finally rings (10 rings until it even rolls over) and a security guard that we couldn't figure out where he was (onsite? offsite?) finally answers. I couldn't leave my mom someplace that wasn't staffed 24/7. If she calls, it's going to be an emergency and I want someone picking up right away! 10 rings is a full minute. Time a minute while you are lying in pain or having a heart attack and tell me you don't think that's unreasonable. It is. I think that claim is a bit of an overstatement about 24/7 help available. You'd be better off dialing 911 directly. If that's the case, what are you paying The Fountains for that safety feature? The furniture in the dining room and cafe were badly chipped. This place needs a good influx of money and someone who understands the needs of Seniors to make it nice.

I recently visited the fountains at Millbrook for my aging parents and we absolutely loved it . The staff couldn't have been more helpful, they made us feel at home, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience . Ruthie and Susie were absolutely amazing and welcomed us with open arms! Finding the right place for your parents is one of the biggest decisions you can make and and I couldn't be more happy with our experience. Thank you again and my parents look forward to enjoying everything the fountains has to offer.

The grounds are gorgeous. It's WAY out in the country so best for someone who likes living that lifestyle. If only the rest of the property was as nice as what mother nature provided. We did the complete tour of the facilities and one thing I will note is this place is very old and run down. The cottages they showed us had chipped and peeling paint on the outside brick. Not just a little bit, the entire sides of buildings were peeled off. Just pressure wash the brick and be done with it. Stop painting it. The interior layouts all differ but the kitchens are so outdated (like from the 1960s), have a salmon colored or odd mustard colored formica countertops, linoleum floors, outdated appliances. This could be a beautiful community if Watermark would invest in updating the places when they are no longer occupied. Instead they offer "specials" to try to fill the out of date places without having to renovate. Upgrade your kitchens with granite, put in engineered hardwood floors instead of pergo or linoleum. It is ridiculous to have carpeting in a retirement home where seniors are prone to using canes and walkers or have drink or food spills. Carpet is not maintenance free. Some of the cottages had an air conditioner in one room and no where else. The gym is more of a personal gym setup. Just one of each type of equipment. There is no sauna, pool or any type of water aerobics available. The photos on the website make the dining room and the cafe look a lot better than they do in real life. The dining room has zero ambiance, it truly looks like a nursing home dining room. The little cafe isn't the quaint little country market it appears in the photo, it looks more like a truck stop cafe/7-Eleven. It is also a good 20 miles to the nearest hospital in Poughkeepsie. The sales/marketing staff from what I could tell consists of one person - Ruthie. Once you do the initial visit, she is incredibly difficult to get in touch with by phone or email and even though she says, "send me any questions", she doesn't respond. She doesn't see the rundown places as an issue because, as she will proudly tell you, she lives in a large trailer with formica countertops and linoleum floors.

The Alzheimer's patients are in the same wing as the assisted living....makes for activities that are not stimulating enough for someone who still has her mind. Even though I wrote extensive instructions on what was needed and what was not, I still had to run interference on several occasions. Food is good, and after all the caregivers were finally on board with what was needed and what was not, she is doing pretty good there.