My mother was there for four and a half years with senile dementia. The attendants were very…read morehelpful and kind and caring. Mina supervised and participated in care and always alerted me when something needed to be addressed. It is a nice house in pretty residential surroundings in the El cerrito hills. I trusted her with my mother and she had a very good quality of life until the end with them.

Our Mom stayed here for 6 weeks from mid November til the end of the year, 2014. This review is…read moreintended to inform folks considering this place, which is actually a few different homes in same area under same management. Meina Wu, the RN who runs these homes, has a domineering stubborn streak which makes communication difficult, and readily admitted that they "do not give medication" - which in her own unique way says that they cannot handle elders who have a very detailed medication list or have significant care needs. Yet she DOES care about her residents and can handle those with simple needs such as feeding, cleaning, peace of mind, and simple medication. Unfortunately I cannot recommend RN3LovingCareHomes. 921 Elm was the location that our Mom stayed in, among 3 board and care houses in a row where workers shifted from one to the next. The good: the CNA's , caregivers, and helpers are all well intended, caring, sincere, and very hard working people, so again: if your Mom or Grandpa does not need much medication or medical help of any importance, this could be a great place to take them. The bad: if your loved one is in need of important, detailed medicine or has care needs that might include bandaging wounds, physical therapy, intensive care, or simply night care that involves changing a diaper, taking to the bathroom often, or has falling issues, etc, then this is NOT the place to take them. We had to constantly monitor these people: it took numerous visits by Kaiser Home Health Care nurses and PT's just to scratch the surface. They had to train the workers in many basic medical practices such as dressing and bandaging wounds and giving medication properly. In fact I personally had to instruct each caregiver how to dispense my Mom's meds and I do not work in the medical field in any way. The understanding of the English language is so poor here, most of them could not even understand the medication list even when it was clearly revised twice by the HHC nurses ! On so many occasions, I caught them about the give the wrong dose because they could not simply understand adding a 10 mg pill to a 2.5 mg pill to make a total dose of 12.5 ! Again there were major road blocks because of language comprehension. Also of concern is they give medicine by hand, often not washing hands between activities (!) On the first night that we hired night care, Meina told this person to stand outside the room, and we reported this to the agency. Meina told us that her caregivers could sleep on the couch and "hear" if my Mom was having any problems and then take care of it. Beyond the idiocy of this idea, there is the simple fact that on most nights the in house caregiver sleeps way down the hall. If a resident needs help they are out of luck and up a creek without a paddle. The one caregiver provided needs to sleep at night to function the next day and only gets up a couple times to check in on residents. In fact we ended up hiring a night sitter from a 24 hour care company to stay with my Mom. There is no way that an elderly resident with anything like Alzheimer's or recovering from a stroke with a fall-risk or maybe just has to use the bathroom or get changed often, can be safe and comfortable. This extra help costs were about $1000 per week, so that brought our bill for the month to about $10,000 when added to the board and care rent. The upshot is that it is incredibly difficult to find ANY board and care facility that has the medical knowledge and staff to handle ANYONE with significant needs, and Meina's RN3 LovingCareHomes are not exception. Unless your loved on has very simply care needs such as being fed and cleaned, this place will not be safe. I give two stars for the things they do well for simple needs elders, and again they all were really wonderful people, but as described here-in, for our Mom that was by far not nearly enough.

I am going to live forever, barring accidental death of course. My maternal grandmother passed away…read morein her early 90's as did my paternal grandfather. What does this have to do with the Eskaton Hazel Shirley Manor (EHSM) you ask? Well in the mid 80's my paternal grandparents applied to live at EHSM. Since their application was approved prior to the completion of the building, they were given the opportunity to choose their own apartment. They decided on a lovely apartment looking out to the front entrance way of the complex, this unit was also the last unit you pass before the side door (that opened up to the parking lot/street/bus stop, etc). The small but comfortable unit was one of the most conveniently located in the whole building. The location was so desirable, that when my grandfather passed away, leaving the apartment to my grandmother in the early 90's, they started a waiting list for her unit. I know it sounds morbid, but this is an Independent Senior Living facility and they are very practical when it comes to living and dying. Back to my point about me living forever, my grandmother stayed in that apartment till she hit the ripe old age of 103. Yes, outliving most of the people on that wait list for her apartment. The EHSM and its staff served her well.

I'm looking for an independent senior apartment. I felt very comfortable and had confidence to…read morechoose this apartment after I talked to the Manager two weeks ago. She is very nice and the most important very knowledgeable. They have constant planned events, social activities and are willing to help the seniors.

My father spent the last five years of his life at RN Loving Care in El Cerrito. We are endlessly…read moregrateful for Andy and Jenny, and for all of their staff, who were very attentive to his safety and often complex needs. We always felt he was in good, caring hands. The facility is small and intimate, and has a very pleasant front garden where my dad always enjoyed sitting in the sun. I can't think of a better place for his final years, and would recommend this facility without hesitation.

From the owner: As a senior care home in El Cerrito, California, RN Loving Care Home provides a variety of care…read moreoptions for seniors finding a home away from home.

My husband has lived in their memory care unit for 3+ months and the care has been fabulous. The…read morestaff is very attentive to his needs, and the design and functionality of the residence is perfect. They let me know how he is doing, they keep him busy with activities, and they attend to whatever medical or physical challenges he might be facing. He also is able to enjoy the amenities of the facility overall, with some assistance, including films and lectures and musical programs. I highly recommend Belmont Village Albany!

I had problems with my room when I moved in. The lock wouldn't work, so I reported it, but they…read morewere unable to fix it. My key afterward would not work, but they failed to fix it. Now, it refuses to lock. I do not know what to do. G Kao, room 317

While some of the day time care givers are truly caring and exceptional, the overall level of care…read morefalls well short of acceptable and respectful. The main mode of "care" is overly medicating until your loved one is an invalid - and easy to manage. Services promised and paid for (like physical therapy) are non-existent, this constitutes fraud. The main "activity" on offer is watching tv - all day. The owners of Raksha will look you in the eye and smile while they lie directly to your face - they should not be trusted to care for your elder loved one. I would rate zero stars if possible.

I could not believe a Sr Care facility with such incredibly horrible business practices operates in…read moreCalifornia, one of the most regulated states in the US. The founder/owner is one of the most dishonest people we have come across, and we couldn't get a straight answer from her...EVER. Always someone else's fault, always changing the story and NEVER ONCE getting to the bottom of our complaints! STAY WAY!

Our dog had a very fast turn for the worst at 5am in the morning. We were scheduled to have her put…read moredown at the end of the week, but were suddenly in need of someone asap. I called every number possible before the sun was even up. After being told no availability at least 7 times, and leaving a dozen voicemails, Marlene got back to us within the hour. She was already fully booked, but was able to squeeze us in to help out. Though I do feel like she overexplained everything, I get that she needed to. She was at our home within a few hours and helped put our sweet Hana to peace. She was the hero we needed that day. Super grateful.

Marlene Martin, DVM provided the best euthanasia experience possible for our beloved dog, Lulu, and…read moreus, her people. She answered her phone promptly, agreed to come on our timetable, gave us excellent information and advice over the phone about how to handle it all with our second dog and children (if at home), the process of euthanasia and about "aftercare." She arrived prepared, gave us as much time with Lulu as we needed (sat cross-legged, hands in lap, head down, eyes closed, silent). When we signaled for her to proceed, she was immediately ready and explained everything she was doing and what Lulu was experiencing. She moved along at our timing and treated us and our dog with immense respect and caring. She admired Lulu, spoke of the power of love between pets and people and expressed sincere condolences. I'd been worried because our ongoing home-visit vet wasn't available but Dr. Martin was as good as any vet could have been. I cannot recommend anyone more highly for this vital service than Marlene Martin, DVM.

Warm, amiable staff handle their jobs professionally with care. Here's an example from the…read morekitchen Vegetable are tough to do enmass. So what these folks did was scoop out the seeded center portion of zucchinis leaving just the rind and a bit of flesh. Great Idea!¡!

I spent 2 and a half months here and let me say the staff is amazing. From the Director down to the…read moreCNA's and physical therapists, everyone was so helpful. I came there after spending 3 weeks in ICU, I couldn't walk or even roll over, I was that incapacitated. Their PT department is the best. Between them all the got me up and moving again once I got out of my own head (I was having a "poor me" situation) and Kim was the best. She taught me to trust my body again to do the things it used to and it worked. I don't know if I ever could do enough to repay them for my life back. I'm still not 100% but close and never would have got here except for them and my own determination to get well enough to go home to my husband and 4 legged kids. Thank you for everything, I have nothing but positive things to and recommend. At some point you have to be responsible for yourself and put the hard work in.