Monarch Cottage

Deciding to entrust your family member to strangers is a big leap of faith, regardless of situation or cost. I visit Monarch regularly and see how our mom is treated. I've seen my mom open up and re-engage after she moved to Monarch. And I've had the pleasure to get to know the entire friendly and expert staff. Knowing our mom's whole self (physical, emotional and cognitive) is being cared for is truly heartening. We are so glad that when we had to make the decision, we chose Monarch for our mom's care.

I moved my mother into the facility in May 2019 because I wanted her to have the absolute best care possible in what I thought was a 5-star establishment. What I experienced was much beneath my expectations. A month into her she was taken to the hospital for a UTI due to them not properly changing her and/or proper hydration. Many times I came to visit and she was soaked through. I had to organize a family council to get something as simple as a monthly newsletter. I was tired of constantly having to fight for my mother while paying top dollar and decided to move her elsewhere. When I brought her to her new home she looked so uncared for. Taking off her shows revealed that her toe nails hadn’t been clipped in what looked like a year. The caregivers are excellent at Monarch but they are overworked and understaffed. The best decision I ever made was to move her out to another facility that has exceeded all of my expectations.

Experiencing dementia with a loved one is very challenging and often sad. Placing our mom at Monarch Cottage has helped tremendously. We expected the move to be a difficult transition for her. It wasn’t. This is due to Monarch’s whole environment, especially the love and care provided by their phenomenal team. Monarch’s strengths-based approach makes it a true stand-out. The environment is at once social, stimulating, and loving. Our mom absolutely loves being part of Monarch’s community. It’s almost like she is getting to return to her favorite days of college dorm life. The setting is also beautiful. An added bonus is the outstanding food – this is delightful since our mom continues to heartily enjoy this aspect of her life. At Monarch, our mom is the customer, and it shows. Monarch Cottage has made a huge difference in our lives. Seeing our mom happy at this stage has brought us joy at a time that we weren’t sure was still possible. I only wish she could have moved there sooner!

From the minute I stepped into the community, there was a feeling of calm and warmth. The staff were attuned to everything my Mom could need; from a hug to a joke to a conversation to put her mind at ease. And the warmth and caring of the staff went beyond her direct caregiver to include the Executive Director, Concierge, and even the cleaning staff. I felt from everyone that my Mom's wellbeing was their top priority. The community is beautifully designed and decorated with many places to walk and sit and talk either privately or with other residents and staff. There is an incredible peace of mind to know that my Mom's physical, social. emotional and medical needs are being so lovingly and intelligently attended to. Monarch Cottage is helping our whole family through this stage of my Mom's life with grace, care and warmth. Thank you.

We take care of a person who was bedridden at home with 24-hour care for years. We finally decided to move her to a facility because we were concerned about a single aide being able to help her in case of an earthquake or fire. Selecting Monarch Cottage gave her a new lease on life! The staff encouraged her to get out of bed and into a wheelchair, and although it was very difficult for her at first it has made an incredible difference. She is now able to be with others throughout the day and participates in the various activities such as music and exercise. She is surrounded by loving, caring staff, and is happier and more engaged than we thought possible. The facility itself is beautiful. We feel blessed that we found Monarch Cottage and that they are taking such good care of our loved one.

My Mom has been at Monarch for over a year and we have nothing but good things to say about the facility and the Monarch team. Moving her into a long-term facility is challenging in so many ways, and I know that we are not unique in this process. COVID started after she had moved in, making things very difficult for everyone, compounding everything. Monarch and its staff where able to navigate and manage the COVID pandemic and kept my mom safe. I am not sure if left on our own, if we could have done the same. The entire facility was vaccinated recently, so it appears that she made it through. I am sorry for those and my heart goes out to those who did not. I know our family can’t thank the team at Monarch enough and for the trust that they have earned 1,000% through so much hard work, risk and compassion.

Our dad was one of the first residences at Monarch when it opened its doors to residents, and after almost 90 days, we moved him out to a better memory care in the College area, and he is thriving there. Basically, we found that we were paying for "Ford Focus" service at "Ferrari" prices. I had the luxury of spending a lot of time with my dad at Monarch Cottage, so I saw how unprepared they were; I don't think anyone who briefly visits would see what I saw almost on a daily basis. The building is very nice, the location is bustling--no walking access to the ocean despite being in La Jolla, but I'm not sure if that is a deal-breaker for memory care, and they accept small dogs. This was the "Ferrari" appearance and what they seem to base their steep rent and move-in cost on. We wouldn't have had a problem paying almost double the price than other reputable memory care places charge, but Monarch Cottage simply doesn't have their act together to warrant asking for such steep prices. My dad was constantly bored there (and so was I during the hours I spend with him daily!) , and I suspect many of the residents were too--they would often just go up and down the elevator so that they had something to do. My dad is high functioning at this point, but they didn't make very much of an effort, unless I complained, to keep him engaged beyond hallway bowling and indoor putting. They often just threw together outings on a day-to day basis (other memory care places have the entire month planned out and, sometimes, posted online for family to see); my dad was often dissatisfied with inconsistent quality of the meals. He brought his small dog, a plus, but his dog didn't get enough walks throughout the rest of the day and was peeing in his room--which made the carpets smell bad. Again, if we weren't paying almost 40% more than most other reputable memory care, these issues might have been understandable, but, quite frankly, we felt ripped off--paid for the Ferrari and got into the car and found that it had the engine of a Ford Focus instead. Despite statements that there is a 5-1 ratio of caregivers to residents, they were really just 2 caregivers on shift at a time and they counted the office staff as part of that ratio--a bit deceiving. I could go on about their johnny-come-lately hiring and their lack of systems there, but, in a nutshell, I don't think this place is worth the price they charge. At my dad's new place at Stellar Care, he gets outings 2 times a week, activities that are interesting to him on a daily basis, good food (they actually bring him takeout from his favorite restaurant twice a week), and a beautiful room and concierge service for a fraction of Monarch's price.