MyLivingChoice

Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages

6082 Grand Lodge Avenue

2.6(16 ratings)· Papillion average: 4.2

Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages — photo 11 / 2

Quick Facts

Medicare rating
2 of 5

CMS Care Compare

Ownership
For profit, Limited Liability company
Certified beds
48
Household size
Eight cottages, each housing just 13 residents
Memory care setup
Secured dementia cottage with 24-hour nursing support
Dining model
Cottage cook prepares meals to order for residents

What Families Think

Reviews of Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages are sharply mixed: one family praised the nursing, therapy, and kitchen staff who cared for their mother during rehab, but several other reviewers describe serious neglect, including poor hygiene, unanswered care needs, and unexplained weight changes. The community's Google rating (2.6 from 16 reviews) reflects this split, with multiple detailed complaints about inconsistent, understaffed care despite a high cost of care.

The Good

  • Small household model with only 13 residents per cottage
  • Dedicated secure dementia cottage with 24-hour nursing
  • Family-style dining with meals made to order
  • One reviewer praised nursing, therapy and kitchen staff by name

The Bad

  • Multiple reports of neglect: soiling, dirty bathrooms, unanswered needs
  • Reports of unexplained weight changes and inadequate feeding assistance
  • High monthly costs ($10k-$14k) despite reported poor care
  • Reliance on part-time staffing agency workers cited as a problem

AI-generated from reviews and community data.

About Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages

Hillcrest Country Estates Cottages is a long-term care community located within the 44-acre campus of Hillcrest Country Estates in Papillion, Nebraska. Described as a national model for person-centered care, the Cottages are the only freestanding nursing households in the Omaha metro area, offering a residential alternative to traditional institutional care settings.

The community consists of eight separate Cottages, each home to just 13 residents. Every 14,000-square-foot Cottage is designed to feel like a private home, featuring a family-style dining area, a living room with a hearth fireplace, player piano and large-screen TV, and outdoor patios and walking paths near a scenic pond and waterfall. This small-household model supports individualized, relationship-rich care and allows residents to maintain personal routines, including meal timing, with a Cottage cook preparing meals to order and snacks and baked goods available throughout the day. A registered dietitian oversees nutritional needs according to each resident's care plan.

Care is personalized and adapts to changing medical and personal needs, with assistance provided for activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, medication administration and mobility. Regular Life Plan meetings allow the care team to review each resident's care level and needs. Levels of care range from basic assistance for stable medical conditions to more complex support including wound care, diabetic management, IV therapy and memory support.

One Cottage, known as Cottage 40, is a specialized household for residents living with dementia. Described as the first licensed long-term care dementia program in a Cottage setting in Nebraska, this program—called The Dimensions™ Cottage—includes advanced dementia training for staff and a secure, comforting environment designed for safety and engagement. Residents in this program benefit from 24-hour nursing support, personalized programming, and oversight from a geriatric board-certified medical director.

Staff throughout the Cottages are trained in person-centered care, with an emphasis on forming genuine connections with residents. The overall culture is centered on resident autonomy, comfort and meaningful daily living, with caregiving, activities, and engagement shaped around individual preferences.

Types of Care

Skilled Nursing / Long Term Care

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Reviews

2.6overall · 16 ratings combined

2.6★ on Google (16)

rhett wagner

Dec 2025

via Google

I wish I could give it less than 1 star. We moved my father in here about a year and a half ago. It was absolutely inexcusable the lack of care that was given him. They let him soil himself and sit in it, not toileting him as was required. His personal hygiene was absolutely disgusting. He has Parkinson’s and can maybe take 3-4 bites of food in an hour, they were supposed to help him eat but almost NEVER did. Many, many complaints were made about his condition and treatment. Every time they promised to get better, they never did. I had personal meetings with management on a few occasions, they agreed his level of care was not acceptable but blame everything on their “staffing agency” part time employees, yet they refuse to hire only full time(many other facilities have only full time staff.) He paid nearly $14,000 per month😳 for such care, he deserved much more. However, if it was free he deserved a level of care much better than he got, just because he is a human being. The facility is beautiful and looks great from the outside! They will convince you how wonderful they are when applying for care but BEWARE, please, please, please DO NOT put your family member there if you care about how they are taken care of. So sad…..

Laurel Traynowicz

Sep 2025

via Google

I’ve waited over a year since our mother’s death to warn publicly against Hillcrest Cottages. I wanted to make sure my comments were appropriately measured, phrased, and not written based on the emotions surrounding unkept promises by Hillcrest Cottages Administration. Don’t send anyone here. Anyone. Hillcrest administrators and PR spin, don’t even start with “I’m sorry you feel this way, most people don’t” [which cannot be true at Cottages], and “Please reach out to Kaleb….or contact me.” WE DID CONTACT YOU. While our mother was alive and not yet dying from errors. She was receiving terrible, inappropriate care, not getting the personalized care she was promised, and getting nothing more than a warmed can of Campbell’s soup when she could not tolerate the food at a meal. When we researched options, we were assured by the nurse tour guide (who we never saw again) that Cottages was a loving community with outstanding services for residents. None of this was true. I won’t go into details since so much went wrong. The point is: Go any place else if your family member requires this level of care. While you may decide that Cottages cannot be that bad since your family member is transitioning from the Grand Lodge and its independent living facility, think again. At Grand Lodge, our mother was treated better, had nutritious food, and was able to take part of a variety of services and activities. Kiss that all goodbye the minute your family member enters Cottages. I wish someone had warned us about Cottages. There were no honest critical reviews of it a few years ago. Don’t believe the tour person who tells you that the food is excellent. We all know that meals are the one spark of joy in a resident’s life in this level of facility. They are terrible. Show up at mealtime, a few times, to see what I mean. Don’t just look at the menus. Ask residents their opinions of the food. You’ll see. This was inexcusable. Hillcrest, I’ve never been so outraged at medical care and long-term care. During my work in hospital and healthcare administration, I would never think it possible that such inferior care and practices could warrant accreditation. Again, don’t ask me to contact you now that my mother is dead. You didn’t care about her, beyond lip service and a memo or two, while she was alive.

Laurie Gall

Jan 2024

via Google

My mother has been at Hillcrest Estate Cottages twice in 2023. The second time, the physician put her on two medications that cause a lot of medical, physical, and mental declinations. Once she was taken off the meds, she started thriving again. I'm not too happy with him. With that being said, I would like to thank the nursing, therapy, and kitchen staff that treated her like family. Thank you to Becca, Micki, Debbie, Lynne, Derek, Carly, Natalie. Ray. Matt, Shannan, Mark, Mickey, Bernetta, Johnnie, Danika and anyone else I forgot who cared for my mother. The world of rehabilitation is a brighter place because you are there. My mother is currently in another facility.... Oh, how we miss the cottages!

Shon Hanna

Mar 2023

via Google

This place is ridiculous. A relative is charged over $10k a month and is getting nursing home level care. Constantly getting UTIs. Takes forever to get someone to change them. The patient gets tired of waiting so is forced to go on themselves. Their meals are one size fits all. For the price they pay they should have it tailored to where the patient can actually eat. Bathroom is always dirty. If you want it clean you have to do it yourself. I understand there is a labor shortage but quit charging over $10k. And then a notice goes out they’re increasing it even more. DO NOT put your loved one in here unless you’re ready for them to die. I can’t imagine having to live at this place in my final years.

Becca Pansing

Jun 2021

via Google

Please protect your loved one and get them out of there. Pretty building on the outside but inside was dirty- everywhere. My mom gained 29 lbs within a few months of getting her out of there- she had dementia so it was hard to really know what was going on. Moved her to Prairie Gate, brand new. So far so good. Almost 30 pounds. So it wasnt that she refused to eat. I think it was a combination of bad food and they didnt offer it to her or assist her.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What types of care does Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages offer?

Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages offers Skilled Nursing / Long Term Care.

Where is Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages located?

Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages is located at 6082 Grand Lodge Avenue in Papillion, Nebraska.

What do families say about Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages?

Reviews of Hillcrest Country Estates-Cottages are sharply mixed: one family praised the nursing, therapy, and kitchen staff who cared for their mother during rehab, but several other reviewers describe serious neglect, including poor hygiene, unanswered care needs, and unexplained weight changes. The community's Google rating (2.6 from 16 reviews) reflects this split, with multiple detailed complaints about inconsistent, understaffed care despite a high cost of care.

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