Overall sentiment across reviews for Crest View Senior Community at Blaine is mixed, with a clear polarization between strong appreciation for the environment, certain staff members, activities and amenities, and significant concern about clinical care, communication, staffing reliability, and billing/administration practices. Many residents and families praise the friendliness of front-line staff, the bright and well-maintained facility, the range of amenities (underground parking, beauty shop, gym, library, in-unit washers and dryers), and the active social calendar including outings, group meals, and birthday celebrations. Several reviews describe a warm, homey atmosphere, residents who quickly make friends, and staff who learn names and bring joy to residents. The presence of on-site Assisted Living and Memory Care, a pendant alert system, and 24-hour caregiver availability are cited as reassuring features by numerous reviewers.
However, recurring and serious concerns appear repeatedly in the reviews and form the most significant patterns of dissatisfaction. Understaffing and inconsistent staffing levels are a dominant theme: reviewers report too few aides on duty (examples mention 3–4 aides covering multiple floors), frequent turnover of nursing leadership, and difficulty getting timely attention from nursing staff. These staffing problems are linked to clinical lapses including medication errors (wrong medication, overdoses), failure to reorder critical medications, and mishandling of specimens (a urine sample left out for days and a delayed urine analysis that caused care delays). Such incidents undermine trust in clinical competence and safety. Several reviewers specifically describe emergencies or end-of-life situations in which families felt inadequately informed or involved, and at least one family reported chaotic care in a resident's final week with blame passed between staff and hospice.
Communication and management issues are another persistent theme. Multiple reviewers report poor communication with families (unreturned calls, failure to notify families about incidents or emergencies), inconsistent follow-through on concerns, and administrative errors like billing mistakes, charges for services not provided, and difficulty removing erroneous charges. Some reviewers allege pressure to move residents into memory care with very short notice and claim contract violations related to such transfers. There are also complaints about mail retrieval, mishandled personal items and clothing, and floor-level disconnects among nursing teams. While a few reviewers note that administrators apologized and promised to address problems, the recurrence of similar issues in many reviews suggests systemic administrative and process shortcomings.
Dining and housekeeping receive mixed reviews: several residents praise tasty meals, a good variety, a snack area with fresh fruit and desserts, and inclusive meal plans (including mentions of 10 free meals per month). Other reviewers strongly criticize the food as poor, repetitive, and in need of new menus and cooks; housekeeping is described as “so-so” in some accounts with instances of sheets not being changed. This inconsistency suggests variability by shift, team, or dining staff rather than uniformly poor or excellent dining and housekeeping.
Activities and community life are consistently highlighted as positives. Reviewers mention well-run activities, safe and frequent outings with bus transport, abundant options (chair exercise, card and game groups, church services, library programs), and a genuine sense of community. The beauty shop and some communal dining experiences receive specific praise. These strengths are often what residents and families cite when recommending Crest View despite other concerns.
Facility condition and amenities are also commonly praised. Many reviewers report a bright, clean, and welcoming building with good maintenance, ample parking, newer construction in some areas, and desirable in-unit and building-level amenities. At the same time, some reviews note odor problems in certain areas (accident smells, puppy pad odor leading to carpet replacement) and accessibility issues in some rooms (not handicap accessible, water access problems), indicating uneven facility conditions across units.
Safety perceptions are mixed: while pendant alerts, 24-hour caregiver availability, safe doors, and careful outing procedures are positives, the reports of medication mistakes, delayed responses to push-button calls, falls, and hospitalizations create significant safety concerns for families. These reports are often tied to understaffing and inconsistent training or oversight.
Cost and value are another point of divergence. Several reviewers consider pricing comparable or reasonable for the services and amenities provided, and some note lower-income options and included utilities/meals in certain plans. Conversely, many complain that fees are high or “outrageous,” that certain charges cannot be removed, and that billing problems lead to unexpected costs. Additionally, limitations in funding acceptance (e.g., some external waivers not accepted) and the lack of guaranteed aging-in-place for some residents raise financial planning concerns.
In summary, Crest View Senior Community at Blaine offers many desirable features: a welcoming physical environment, a rich activities program, helpful amenities, and many compassionate front-line staff members who create a warm community for residents. These strengths lead many residents to be happy and recommend the facility. However, repeated and specific complaints about understaffing, medication and clinical errors, poor family communication, billing irregularities, and administrative inconsistency present material risks to resident safety and family trust. Prospective residents and families should weigh the facility’s strong community, amenities, and activities against documented concerns about clinical reliability and management practices. If considering Crest View, families should ask targeted questions about current staffing ratios, medication management protocols, director-of-nursing tenure, incident reporting and family notification procedures, billing dispute resolution, and the facility’s specific policies on transfers to memory care and pet accommodations to clarify whether recent improvements have been implemented in response to the issues raised in these reviews.
