Overall impression: Highlands Senior Living Rome is described most often as a warm, family-like assisted living community with a consistently praised staff and hands-on executive leadership. Many families and visitors highlighted compassionate caregiving, a welcoming environment, and leadership that is active in coordinating services such as VA assistance, financial planning, and end-of-life support. The facility offers a number of amenities — large common areas, private rooms with kitchenettes, a courtyard and walkable paths — that contribute to a home-style atmosphere.
Care and staff: Caregivers and front-office personnel receive frequent praise for attentiveness, compassion, and responsiveness. Several reviewers singled out the executive director and specific on-site staff for proactive help with admissions, medication coordination, and family communication. At the same time, recurring concerns point to inconsistent staffing levels (notably on weekends and nights) and variability in individual staff performance. There are also described weaknesses in medication-management workflows and administrative follow-up; these issues are presented as operational gaps rather than universal practice. A small number of reviewers raised serious clinical and sanitation-related allegations; prospective families may wish to review state inspection records and ask management for written protocols and outcomes related to those concerns.
Dining: Dining and the kitchen team are often highlighted as strengths, with many positive remarks about home-style meals and a helpful kitchen manager. However, multiple accounts describe inconsistency in meal quality and menu freshness over time, including notes about limited vegetable options and meals that some residents decline. Management has taken steps such as introducing a dietitian, but variability in dining experience remains a recurring theme.
Activities and social life: The community offers an active calendar with crafts, music, seasonal festivals, and off-site outings (for example holiday light tours). Reviewers frequently praise special events and staff willingness to stay late for outings. Memory-care programming is present and noted as engaging by several families; others observed that activity levels for some memory-care residents can be lower than expected. Earlier infection-control restrictions limited programming, and activity availability has improved subsequently.
Facilities and maintenance: Interior spaces and common areas are described as attractive and generally well maintained; many reviewers commented on clean, comfortable rooms and an inviting dining room. At the same time, there are repeated notes about needed renovations in certain resident rooms, unclean carpets in some areas, and an exterior courtyard/landscaping that feels dated or uninviting. These maintenance gaps are sometimes linked by reviewers to apparent budget constraints.
Management and operations: Leadership receives substantial positive attention for being helpful, knowledgeable, and involved in care coordination. Conversely, operational weaknesses include inconsistent staffing coverage, administrative delays (billing, refunds, and follow-up), and occasional lapses in medication-management processes. Families also pointed to mixed impressions of staff supervision and the need for greater consistency across shifts. Several reviewers recommended doing due diligence — touring the building, sampling meals, reviewing staffing ratios, and checking regulatory records — before making a placement decision.
Guidance for prospective families: Highlands Rome appears well suited for families seeking a community with a warm culture, active programming, and strong hands-on staff leadership. Before committing, consider an in-person visit that includes a meal, a review of staffing patterns (including weekend/night coverage), a walk-through of resident rooms and carpeting, and discussion of medication protocols and incident-response procedures. Asking management for recent inspection reports, staffing ratios, and plans for landscaping and room renovations will help clarify whether the facility’s current operational gaps have been or will be addressed.
