The Pavilion of Downtown Venice

My aunt, whom I am POA for has lived at the Pavillion for almost 8 years now. I DO NOT recommend this place. In the last few years it seems they cannot keep a director more than six months. Phone calls are never returned. Note that I live in Venice and can visit when I wish and I have been hard pressed to find anyone in charge any weekday that I went there. I must say however that the CNA's and aides are caring but they can only do what they can with an individual owner that seems to care little. They had a major mold problem about a year ago, that has so called been fixed. The last year or so the elevator does not work. They are continually having to reset it. This is an extremely old building with 3 floors. Most of the residents are on walkers or even some in wheelchairs. Imagine these people trying to make it down a stairwell in a fire. I even spoke with the Fire Chief of Venice, he said there was nothing he could do because the building has sprinklers.

The Pavilion of Downtown Venice has cared for my dad for 7 years. The building is a landmark which offers an “old world” feeling. The staff is caring, patient and experienced. They can deal with any and all situations an elderly person can have. They communicate with family members in a timely and professional yet compassionate manner.

Someone owns the building and another company “manages” it. The place is filthy, windows broken, toilets and sinks don’t work, vanities are falling apart and moldy. Plumbing is an ongoing issue. They promise residents they are going to fix something but then it’s like pulling teeth. They are totally uncommunicative with the family! As for Covid one day I could come in and the next day I couldn’t; [name removed] yelled about not being allowed in with no mask even!!! By the end of the conversation she invited me into the building!!! That’s the kind of inconsistencies that go on and make it hard for the residents. All of them seem depressed. The food is pretty awful. Most of It doesn’t taste like anything. My family member also does not get enough food to eat and is way too skinny and this has been addressed several times but they can’t seem to understand that he needs more meat and vegetable and not just more carbs!

The only good thing that I can say is that the staff is very nice. The place is filthy, and I mean filthy, even after they told us the room would be clean before my friend moved in. With Covid, you can’t see the places before hand so you’re just sort of stuck with what you get. Luckily their contract only requires a 30 to 45 day notice, depending on who you talk to or which part of the contract you read. The contract pages are all out of whack so it’s really hard to find things in the contract. All they have to do is fix the page numbering! Is that really so hard!?! I wouldn’t leave my dog there it’s so nasty!!! Don’t listen to the sales person!!! She will promise you the moon, tell you there’s new owners who have really cleaned up everything, etc. Just go look at the entrance to the building and that will tell you everything you need to know! I told them that it needed to be cleaned and pressure washed and they said oh yes, we’re going to do that. That was a week or more ago and nothings been done. My friend on his first night, talk to other residents and they also complained about the filth and much more!!! I am sure if you love the person you’re trying to place, that you can do better than this!!!!!! They say all the negative reviews are from when the place was called The Summit ... if that’s true, The Summ should’ve been condemned as this place is well on its way to being just that!!!!

So I had the pleasure of being in the Venice center the other day [date removed] after being in there a few months ago. It is under new management and she seems to be the sweetest woman I've ever met. cheerful and happy as a result I could really tell a difference in the staff and the residents they all seemed happier and more full of life. However the outside of the building is disgusting dumpsters and trash fill-in the parking lot, dead trees everywhere that need to be cut down and removed. But it seems as though that's an ownership problems seeing as how the faculty has had over 5 admins the past year. Not much the new Administrator can do with her hands tied by the owner and for that I give this facility a one start review. New admin seems great, owner however seems as though he needs to come off some money to make this place look better. I mean it has been in disarray for quite awhile now!

This place is the most disgusting facility I have ever encountered. And I have seen my share of nursing homes, ALF's, memory units,etc. It's filthy from the moment you open the glass door to go in. The smell of urine is so strong it will burn the back of your throat. You can't wait to get out. The person I visited was not shaved nor looked bathed in who knows how long. The bldg is dilapidated. I can't believe that the state has not shut this place down. I am sure it would fail on every level.

The owners of this historic building are letting it deteriorate, nearly beyond repair. The pictures that you see of the facility are a total misrepresentation! The environment is incredibly depressing for the residents, and for the city of Venice.

I don't have a relative living there but I had one experience with them from YESTERDAY [date removed]. While on vacation I am sitting outside a block away from this facility. A guy in our condo area is leaning out his 5th floor window and yells over to me asking if I could help this lady who fell down but who was blocked from my view. I get up and walk over and see her on all fours. I help to get her on her feet and she tells me was trying to enter our condo building thinking it's a Publix, she was pretty confused. I sit her down and I ask her where she lives and she knew she lived at the Venice Center but didn't know where it was at. It was A BLOCK AWAY, YOU COULD SEE IT FROM WHERE WE WERE STANDING. Not knowing it was a block away (because I live 1,100 miles away) I google it to get a phone number. I try to call them, no answer, I call back and a man answers the phone. I tell them I have Miss XXX and he says she indeed lives there. I asked if someone could come get her and he tells me he's a resident and maybe someone can come get her and he says he will tell someone. So now that I know where she was going and it is right by us my wife and I walk her back to the facility, this woman could barely walk. Upon entering we meet a girl that works there and she has this deer in headlight look on her face as we ask if she lives there and tell her we found her. She didn't seem to know that this woman lived there but the guy who answered the phone said she did. This girl was pretty concerned that this woman needed to sign back in and didn't really talk to us. The man followed us outside and told us the conditions there are pretty crappy saying people get food poisoning, wandering around at night and some other issues which I don't remember. If this is a memory center how the hell did this woman get outside? Why are the residents answering the phone instead of staff? So now 4 hours later as I am sitting in the airport to go home I get a phone call from someone from there asking if I called them. I explain what happened and she says she will look into it, 4 hours later, nice! If this lady has kids I'd pull her out of there immediately. The only rating I am giving is the overall which is a zero and as I have no other knowledge of this facility. Whatever Florida government body that watches over these facilities needs to inspect this place.

This place has become a disaster in the past year. It is understaffed, dirty, and poorly managed. The dispensing of medicine is often haphazard. This assisted living facility is not the same as it once was when it was called the Summit.

It is shocking what has happened to this place. It is dirty, understaffed, and the food is bad. No one seems to be in charge, and it was often difficult to find help for my mother. I don't blame the workers as they are underpaid, untrained, and overworked. The new owner has allowed the situation to deteriorate. The residents deserve better than this!

This place is understaffed and the limited staff they do have seem lazy and clueless.

Every time this facility has sold the condition has worsened. The last time I visited there were light bulbs out in the dining room which was horribly understaffed. I was told there was only one person to clean the entire three story building. Finding staff to assist the residents was impossible. The whole situation is awful.

Very nice place. Great location with a beautiful garden and courtyard area. The staff were very nice. I was greeted immediately and enjoyed an informative tour by a very knowledgeable and polite sales person. The apartments are very nice, clean, spacious and updated. I decided to bring my father back to tour and will definitely recommend Summit at Venice.

My experience with Summit was excellent. Caring staff and attention to details made the move quite pleasant. My friend has adjusted well.