I couldn’t love this place any more.
After a months long stay at the worst nursing home on the face of the Earth, I was able to come here. I couldn’t be more grateful.
While my needs are different than most of the others here (I’m a 55-year-old man with multiple sclerosis) I still need the kind of cure that Suite Living provides
The caregivers are all wonderful. Some are better than others, of course, but there’s no one that I dislike or don’t trust. Others have complained about staff turnover, but in 103 days since I’ve been here (yes, I’ve been counting) I’m still seeing the same faces.
The food is good. I wasn’t expecting Gordon Ramsay to make meals, but they are good. Have there ever been any misses? Of course. But meals tend to be better than not. Naturally, food is very subjective, so your mileage may vary. And, for the times that I’m not in love with what they’re serving, I do have a kitchenette in my apartment and I’m just fine making my own.
The nursing staff is excellent. They are attentive to existing and emerging problems.
Facility management is also fantastic. They are responsive to resident questions and concerns.
The activities director does a lot to keep everyone entertained.
Finally, in this seems weird to say, but the housekeeper is an especially exceptional person. She always has a smile and takes care of whatever needs you might have.
I could go on about how great this place is. If you’re looking for someplace soft for a loved one to land, this is it.
To give you a sense of how bad this place is, at least two Google reviews on here when I left this review were left by SuiteLiving staff. These were the same staff who couldn’t consistently meet my aunt’s basic care needs while she was in memory care from Jan 2022–Oct 2023.
I just saw their response to my review and it’s a complete lie. Yes, they’d “address” concerns, and then we’d be right back to addressing the exact same issues a couple months later. Over and over. For the price especially, this is unacceptable. They raised rates about 30% in 1.5 years, ending at almost $10,000/month, yet the care was very lacking.
I never trusted them to care for my aunt properly, but moving her would’ve been too hard on her, so we were stuck. My uncle visited her at SuiteLiving daily because he didn’t trust her care if he wasn’t there.
Some major issues at SuiteLiving Little Canada:
1) Food was terrible.
Gas-station quality, but worse, for $9,600/month. I posted a photo of a “cheese sandwich” from the alternative menu: two dry pieces of toast with microwaved cheese. Often no condiments, no flavor, and residents wouldn’t eat. Meanwhile, their Facebook page shows gourmet food at another facility with an actual chef. We addressed this with them and the food got better. It was never really good, but it was better than it had been. But a client shouldn't be the one to have to tell you the food is terrible. Go do some quality control, see that the food is gross, and fix it before a resident's family has to complain about it. How long would it have stayed horrible if I hadn't complained?
Also, my aunt didn’t eat pork, eggs, or fish, and despite repeatedly telling them this, they kept serving these items to her. Again, same discussions over and over, it would get better for a while, and then it would happen again. Their alternatives menu if someone doesn't like the main meal was pretty pitiful, a basic white bread sandwich like turkey or PB&J, soup, or a salad. No one proactively offered her alternatives anyway, though. My uncle brought her food many days to make sure she would eat.
2) Her room was filthy.
More than once, poop and urine were left on the toilet for four days until I said something. Everything was dusty, sheets went weeks without being changed, covered in visible dry, flaky skin, and the carpet hadn't been vacuumed. Common areas looked fine; resident rooms were regularly dirty.
3) Poor hydration care.
My aunt would only drink ice-cold water. There was no ice maker on the memory care side, so she couldn't get her own ice and relied on the staff to get it. Despite me buying insulated pitches and cups so they would only have to provide ice water once a day, they still didn't do it. Then we complained and they added offering ice water to her med chart that had to be signed off on, and they STILL didn't consistently offer it. This lead to dehydration issues.
4) Medication issues.
Meds weren’t given reliably or on time, which mattered because she was diabetic. One time she was sick in bed for more than a day, not eating or drinking anything, and no one even told us. She ended up hospitalized, and dehydration likely played a role in some of the things they found wrong.
5) Staffing problems.
Many staff were kind, some very kind, but there was constant turnover: three directors, multiple nurses. It was common to see staff on their phones at the nurses’ desk instead of checking on residents, especially at night, and some of the night staff were less nice.
There’s more, but these are the same issues we raised again and again that never got fixed.
The good...it was great that they let my aunt's cat come visit her there, and let them keep a litterbox in the room for the cat. The activity director was great and really tried hard.
Overall, I would not recommend SuiteLiving Little Canada, especially not for the price, and especially if you won't be there regularly to check on and advocate for your loved one and fill in the care gaps.
Suite Living of Little Canada is an absolutely WONDERFUL community. From the warm, friendly, and inviting atmosphere, to the cleanliness of the building (shoutout to their housekeeper), to the genuine and caring staff (shout out to all of them as well). All of their employees are hard working, loving, and make it apparent that they truly care about each and every one of the residents.
This community is a wonderful place and I would highly recommend it to anyone for their loved ones.
