Overall sentiment across the reviews of Brookstone Estates of Mattoon North is mixed-to-positive with strong praise for the facility’s cleanliness, physical environment, and many frontline staff, balanced against recurring concerns about dining quality, staffing levels, and several serious safety/administrative issues.
Care quality and staff: The dominant positive theme is staff behavior and caregiving. Many reviewers describe the staff as friendly, caring, considerate, and helpful. Several comments single out employees (notably Cerise) for knowledgeable tours, good communication, and going above and beyond to meet residents’ needs. Reviewers report that care services have produced measurable resident benefits — examples include improved blood pressure readings, weight gain from eating well, and successful social adjustment. Housekeeping and laundry services are consistently noted as strengths, and the community is repeatedly described as welcoming and supportive. Multiple reviewers explicitly state they would recommend Brookstone to other families, and some residents say they’ve made friends and enjoy independence in their apartments.
Facilities and activities: The facility itself is frequently described as very clean, well-maintained, and comfortable, with attractive interior spaces and nicely kept grounds. Individual features such as patios were reported as deciding factors for some families. Activities are a clear positive: walking groups, chair exercises, and craft programs that include interactions with local school children were specifically mentioned. Daily activities and social opportunities appear to support resident engagement and contribute to reported improvements in well-being.
Dining and meals: Dining is one of the most common negative themes. Numerous reviewers complain about poor meal quality, limited menu options, and small portions. Several summaries characterize the food as having mixed quality and note that meals are sometimes served cold. While some residents report eating well and gaining weight, the inconsistency in dining quality is a frequent concern and an area where expectations are not being uniformly met.
Staffing, management, and safety concerns: A significant cluster of negative comments relates to staffing levels and management availability. Some reviewers say there is not enough help on staff, and management is not always available or responsive. More troubling are isolated but serious reports: money allegedly taken from a resident’s safe and expressed safety concerns regarding staff members with criminal backgrounds. There are also accounts of unprofessional front-desk behavior and at least one report of a family being told they were not welcome to return. These types of reports — while not reported by the majority — are significant because they raise questions about security, hiring practices, staff screening, and conflict resolution. Several reviewers also mention an institutional vibe and describe the community as expensive relative to the perceived level of staffing and food service.
Overall impression and recommendations: Many reviewers are happy with the environment, caregiving staff, and activities and would recommend Brookstone Estates, indicating that for many residents the community provides a clean, supportive place to live. However, recurring negatives around meal quality, staffing shortages, management responsiveness, and the isolated but serious safety/administrative incidents temper the positive feedback. Prospective residents and families should balance the strong positives (clean facility, caring staff, active programming, housekeeping/laundry) against the negatives by asking specific questions during tours: inquire about staff-to-resident ratios and turnover, management availability and communication protocols, dining menus and meal temperature/quality controls, security measures and staff background checks, and incident reporting procedures. Given the mix of high praise and some red-flag complaints, an in-person visit, detailed contract review, and direct conversations about safety and staffing are advisable before committing.
