5 Stars: Truly Inviting & Spirit-Filled Community As a professional musician who performs regularly for senior communities across the area, Merrill Gardens at Gilroy is my favorite place to play. The facilities, staff, and residents are all warm and welcoming. What sets this facility apart is the incredible spirit shared by both the staff and the residents; they throw the best holiday parties with great engagement on all sides. I always leave feeling the energy of that positive, supportive environment. A note for families or other performers: the dining hall has great acoustics, and the food is good! I highly recommend this facility. read more

My mom's new home couldn't be any better than Merrill Gardens. Everyone is so nice and welcoming. The dining room is great! She's going to be very happy here. read more

My farher has been living at Merrill for about a year now. We are extremely happy with the attention to detail staff has had with him and with myself. i highly recommend Merrill if you are looking for quality care and top of the notch care givers. read more

Great all around give them a 10 great employees and great food great care housekeeping love denise

Staff not well trained. Doesn't care for elders. It takes forever for staff to assist for ones not able to help themselves. 0 stars if I could. read more

I am extremely disappointed and heartbroken by the level of care my mother received in the memory care unit at Merrill Gardens. We were paying over $7,000 a month with the expectation that she would be treated with compassion, dignity, and competent care. Unfortunately, that was far from our experience. From the start, her personal hygiene products were regularly locked up, making it difficult for her to maintain basic self-care. The staff made no meaningful effort to ensure she was eating properly, and they certainly didn't help her order meals or monitor her water intake -- she was frequently dehydrated. The fact that this happened repeatedly in a memory care unit is unacceptable and dangerous. Laundry was a nightmare -- clothes, towels, and bedding were routinely lost, and what we did get back was dingy, stained, or ruined. It also took weeks to get my mom a key to her own room, further stripping her of any sense of independence. Medications were found scattered around her room, which is an alarming safety issue for a memory care patient. The staff constantly called me for non-emergent issues, clearly indicating a lack of training and confidence in their ability to manage day-to-day care. And that lack of training is no surprise -- their general manager Billy openly stated that most employees in memory care are working their first job. How anyone could think it's appropriate to place entry-level workers in charge of individuals with complex cognitive conditions is beyond comprehension. The new "director" Julie has been the opposite of helpful -- unresponsive, insincere, rude, and frankly, vindictive. It's clear that many staff members are there for a paycheck, not because they care about the residents. Evenings are especially unprofessional -- I witnessed staff lounging on couches, on their phones, and nowhere near the unit, leaving vulnerable residents essentially unsupervised. And don't be fooled by the fact that it's a "locked" unit. My mom walked out on Christmas morning, and the only thing they did was trail her to my father's apartment in assisted living. There was no intervention, no safety protocol, and clearly no sense of urgency. If your loved one is not fully alert and able to advocate for themselves, this is absolutely not the place for them. My mother was miserable and treated as if she didn't matter. I deeply regret placing my trust in Merrill Gardens and strongly urge anyone considering this facility to look elsewhere. If you can bring your loved one home and hire private help -- do it. You cannot trust this business to care for those who cannot protect themselves. The staff turnover here is so high which is so confusing and disorienting. They had an incredible activities director Laura who really loved the residents and did a great job, and then suddenly she was gone. The good staff seem to leave or be pushed out by management, and the poor staff remain despite multiple complaints. read more

Staff were incredibly welcoming and helpful. Dining service was yummy and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many activities they offer their residents. read more

very neglectful, has 3 staff members who are ONLY kitchen workers with over 50 residents which is illegal, illegally gives patients medication, filthy environment, does not clean residents who are not capable of being able to care for themselves (puts dirty diapers on floor), emergency call buttons do not work, claims they will help residents but never shows up. 0 stars fuck this place. read more

Merrill Gardens Gilroy has provided both of my parents with exceptional care for several years. When I visit, multiple times a week, there's never been a time where residents I encounter aren't smiling and interacting with each other. I attribute that to the wonderful staff, and I know my parents are happy and experiencing the best care at Merrill Gardens Gilroy. read more

My Mother-in-Law moved into Merrill Gardens At Gilroy this past year and loves it. It's made a huge improvement in her quality of life and all around health. She's made a lot of friends and is experiencing a new social scene that is doing wonders for her. She loves the activities, food and staff - everyone is very attentive and kind. Her move-in was seamless and her unit is perfect - with a beauiful view even. read more

I can't say enough good things about the staff at Merrill Gardens. From the moment you walk in you feel welcome. The staff is cheerful, kind and genuinely attentive. It's clear that the team truly cares about their residents! There's a real sense of community here! read more

Watch your finances carefully at Merrill Gardens in Gilroy! My mother in law passed away 3 months ago and we still have not received the 3,000$ that we are owed. I have called the business manager, gone there in person and contacted the corporate office. I get the run around every time but still haven't received our money back. I find this unacceptable. read more

Visited to check it out for an older family member. Talked and met with Lisa, she is on point and wonderful. This facility is the best in the area without question! When it's time, we will absolutely talk with Lisa again about moving my family member in. read more

I have lived here for 4 years. I chose this place because there numerous activities--most which are done sitting down. Exercise classes, movies, cards, games, bridge, guest speakers, musicians etc. Dining room hours are 7 am to 7 pm. Weekly someone cleans my apartment. Ages run between 67 and 100 . Everything is always wonderfully clean and all the dining, cleaning and other helpers are amazingly patient. The food is fine, some dishes are superb and some are just okay. Ice cream is always available! Apartments are priced based mostly on square footage. Studios, one and two bedrooms are available. My deepest concern is the lack of bridge players--we need more of them! read more

Merrill Gardens & it's staff has been amazing. From the care to the service to the cleanliness & all else. We could not have found a better place for our loved ones. The food in their restaurant has been great & all services have been top notch. It takes a special kind of person to provide such care for the elderly & Merrill Gardens is full of these Earth Angels. read more

Merrill Gardens provided exceptional care for my mother. Mom stayed in the Memory Care unit where she received great care by everyone. Each caregiver showed great kindness, they were patient and worked their tails off for each and every one of the residents. They made mom feel very comfortable. She enjoyed their late night conversations and laughter. The caregivers have endless compassion, each resident is treated like family! All staff takes great pride in their jobs. The unit is super clean. The food is outstanding and housekeeping does an excellent job with laundry and keeping each room and bathroom clean! . read more

Don't take your loved ones to Merrill Gardens memory care if you every want to see them again. My mother-in-law was there 14 months and passed away this past Sunday. Merrill Gardens has yet to return a phone call or tell my wife and I what happened. read more

My mom lived there for five years in the dementia unit. She adjusted so well and was really happy and well cared for through a very sad illness. I cannot say enough about her wonderful care givers as they were so amazing , kind , patient, hard working people. The place is beautiful and super clean. We loved the food as we would take mom over to the dining room for lunch. The food was great too. I cannot say enough about how supportive these people were to me and my family as mom entered hospice. They were with us every step of the way. I highly recommend this place. read more

3 stars = A-ok, which is the most I could give Merrill Gardens. My mom has resided here for about 6 months now, and we looked around at a lot of options before we chose Merrill Gardens. The one thing that sold us was the environment, which is driven more by the residents than the employees, we have discovered. This has allowed my mom to come out of her shell and begin participating in some fun activities. That said, the food is mediocre, at best, which is disappointing, since all the residents pay for it, and the wait staff is understaffed. The handyman is friendly and helpful, but there are a lot of "little" things that could make this place great. They offer cable service as part of their package, but now are refusing to assist the residents in getting it repaired. My mom has been without her TV for well over a month now. She was promised a microwave since she doesn't have a kitchen, but that was rejected after she moved in. She has a view over the roof of the main building which is less than appealing, in it's state of repair (or lack thereof), which just hints at what else might be in need of a little TLC. The last comment I will make, which could be so easily improved, is that not one person on the staff came to welcome her on her move-in day. Only the nurse who would be overseeing her care. What happened to all the well-intentioned people we worked with to get her moved in? They were happy to take her money, but not so interested in who had just joined their residence. Luckily, the other residents have better manners. read more

The Chef has a new sous chef and the food is much better,, soups are HOT and the Food is better than before. Sometimes my wife and I feel like we are in an orphanage, first in for Breakfast, last to be served. Arrive at 7 am after we get breakfast it is around 7:47 to 8:15 before we get served.Not the kitchens fault just 2 servers for a full dining Room. People come later are served and leave an not served. read more

After walking in once on a Saturday morning around 10:00am to see this assisted living facility, I was told their sales person was not in yet but should be in any minute so I decided to wait however by 10:40 I decided to just walk out. I then called the following Saturday at 9:10am and was told the lady that does the tours normally does not come in until 10:30-11:00. Please tell me on a weekend when most people do not work your sales people come in late? I was offered to set up a tour during normal business hours during the week but when I actually spoke to I believe Renee I could set up after 10:00am. Just in case you do not know this,this is not what is considered "normal business hours" any day of the week. I can't believe you run a business like this! I have since found another place to put my father. Caroline P read more

Our whole family was beyond impressed with Merrill Gardens at Gilroy. One of their best assets is the Community Relations Director. She was so friendly, knowledgeable and seemed to really enjoy her job. The facility was spacious and so were the rooms. They treat their residents like kings and queens. All the residents looked happy. What a wonderful way to spend the last year(s) of your life. Unfortunately we needed something closer to the family and more quickly so we were not able to move our parents into the place. We think our parents would have loved it there. read more

My mother is at Merrill Gardens at the Village Green. Her apartment is lovely and she is quite happy with the staff, acivities, and food. There is one big drawback, and that is that we were promised that they had a computer room with a program geared to seniors - which my mother had at her last place and kept her feeling connected to friends and family. There is a computer room, with 2 dell computers, but NO program for seniors and I gave up trying to teach my mother to use it as I could barely use it myself - seems full of bugs and very confusing interface. Why they can't have wifi throughout the building is a mystery. It would be so easy and not cost prohibitive to make the internet accessible. And.. it's upsetting to have been told they had something important to us which they clearly do not. read more

I am a CNA for over 17 yrs, and yes Lori you are so right, I worked when it was Village Green Management and with Merril Gardens management, staff is poorly trained, no experienced what so ever, the lacked experienced in memory care, one of my biggest issue was that staff was always on thiere cells texting I complained about it, and it , and no one said anything, staff thiere are only trained watching videos, can you believe that, and yes they only have one LVN, there a House B/P moniter that doesn't work, I was appalled at the way they handle situations there, yes everything looks perty you can tell its just a business, there is no respect for the Hospice residents there, staff don't know how to care for the residents, yes their is entertainment there but in memory care, residents only want to sleep, so they are in thiere wheel chairs all day pretending they are active, so sad...thank god I am not working there and I am not in any way trying to discredit this place I am just being honest, it disgusts me to see people paying so much, for so little care NOT EVERYTHING THAT SHINES IS GOLD and you it is very true Mr Byron read more

My mom was a resident at this facility for quite some time recently and while it is very plush in the interior what with newly decorated rooms and hallways, dining and TV rooms, patio and with a lovely menu each day too - considering it is relatively new and all, it WAS pleasant in that regard, HOWEVER, being that they consider themselves to be "memory care specialists" well, please !!! I think all the poor staff members ( who were all very nice to her) are very over-worked and under educated/trained unfortunately, with regard to the nature of the diseases they are trying to deal with on a daily basis. They need another licensed medical person, at least ( they only have 1 LVN on-call) on duty, regularly. They are sadly ill-equipped to deal with any emergency medical issues that crop up as well, like fevers, falls, chest congestion/ colds and it seems that they don't believe in doing vitals or listening to the lungs if the LVN is away, on a regular basis unless requested to do so. We were turfing my mom back and forth towards the end of her stay there to Kaiser regularly to their E.R. and for issues that Village Green were not able to take care of, I'm afraid, though the Diretoctor herself personally reminded me that "they could have" - after the fact. HMMMM ??? I wonder what she meant ? IT is not cheap to live there either ! So why not pay a little extra and get the round -the-clock licensed medical staff elsewhere? I found myself asking this question each day. SO, for just a bit more $, I now have RN and LVN plus CNA care for mom 24 hours a day for only 1/4 of the cost more ! AND mom is only 3 miles from my home instead of 35 miles away. They may declare that they specialize in Memory care for Dementia and ALZ. patients, but I truly think more education is needed in their facility. Mom was always treated with dignity that I could see and they were nice to her but I NEVER felt that she was safe enough, physically, there... Sometimes I would see scrapes on her body that no one there could explain to me when I would visit her ! And when I asked them to dress a wound it was a tough task for the staff member to accomplish ! That scared me. Pleasant, kind staff, but not an entirely safe enough environment for the "wandering", falling Alzheimer's patient that poor mom is ! Keep looking for another place if you are at that level of care/ need for your loved one - plus it iS expensive, remember ! It is or should be remembered that they are only assisted care with very few licensed, in ANY WAY, staff - though nice, like I said. More learning / training of staff is needed and more supervision for the patients' is needed as well there, especially for the overall cost they charge ! read more