Overall sentiment across the review summaries is highly mixed and polarized. A substantial number of reviewers praise The Gardens by Morningstar for its attractive location and well-maintained grounds, including lake views and freshly cut flowers, and describe the facility as clean and spacious. Several family members and residents specifically commend the staff as friendly and caring, report good rehabilitation services, and say their relatives are well cared for and happy. Multiple accounts note a family-oriented, community feel with social opportunities where residents form friendships. Some reviewers explicitly call the facility a community asset and say it is nicely run.
Contrasting sharply with those positive impressions are strong negative reports describing serious problems. Several reviewers allege significant staff and management issues: interpersonal conflict among staff (described as "backstabbers"), tolerated theft without corrective action, and broader criticisms of management practices. There are explicit claims of "jail-like" rules and legal disputes involving the facility. The most serious concern is a reported policy not to perform CPR, which one reviewer linked to a tragic outcome due to delayed revival efforts; this raises acute safety and emergency-response concerns that prospective residents and families should investigate further. Other reports describe an unsafe or unpleasant social environment in places, citing smokers, intoxicated individuals, and frequent vulgar language.
Dining and food quality are notable examples of inconsistency in the reviews. Some reviewers praise the food as "great," while others call it "awful" and a reason they do not recommend the facility. This split suggests variability over time, between units, or across different shifts. Similarly, while many reviewers report positive staff behavior and quality care, others report staff issues and poor responses to problems (for example, alleged tolerated theft), indicating uneven performance or inconsistent enforcement of policies.
Facility-related comments skew positive: multiple reviewers note good rehab services, clean rooms, lots of space, and pleasant views. At the same time, some reviewers express such strong dissatisfaction that they label the place unacceptable, with language like "worst place ever." This range of extremes suggests experience at The Gardens by Morningstar may depend heavily on specific staff on duty, particular units or wings, recent management changes, or individual expectations and needs.
In sum, the reviews present a facility with genuine strengths—attractive grounds and setting, capable rehabilitation services, and many reports of friendly, caring staff—tempered by troubling and recurring criticisms around management, safety policies (notably the alleged CPR policy), inconsistent dining quality, reports of tolerance for theft, and social issues affecting resident comfort. Prospective residents and families should weigh both the positive testimonials and the serious negative allegations, and when evaluating the facility in person, ask targeted questions about emergency medical policies, security and theft prevention, recent inspections or quality-control results, dining menus and samples, staffing levels and turnover, and how management handles resident complaints and interpersonal conflicts.
