Overall impression: Reviews of St John's Residential Care Home Inc are mixed but tilt positive, with a strong and recurring emphasis on the quality of staff and the home-like atmosphere. Many reviewers highlight compassionate, attentive caregivers who provide personalized attention and involve families in care planning. Several reviewers explicitly recommend the facility, praising its small scale, warm environment, and the sense that residents are treated like family. At the same time, a number of consistent concerns surface — most notably around activity programming, memory-care readiness, communication, and variability in cleanliness and staff training.
Care quality and staff: The most common and strongest positive theme is staff behavior and caregiving. Reviewers frequently describe staff as wonderful, attentive, compassionate, and willing to go above and beyond; multiple accounts mention staff helping through hospital incidents and providing excellent end-of-life care. A nurse is reported to be on duty across three shifts and skilled nursing care is available, which reassures families looking for consistent clinical coverage. The facility’s small size (reports of 5–6 residents in parts of the home) supports a higher staff-to-resident ratio and the ability to provide personalized engagement. However, reviewers also note variation in staff competency — while some staff are singled out as exceptional, others are reported to need more training or be difficult to understand. This variability affects perceptions of overall care consistency.
Facility and environment: Many reviewers praise the facility’s clean, well-maintained rooms and exterior, with daily room cleaning noted and a number of reviewers calling the environment spotless and orderly. The property features positive elements such as a park-like backyard with a fountain and trees, an inner courtyard and safe outdoor access with no street exits, and proximity to a chapel with daily Mass — all of which contribute to a homelike and comforting setting for residents. Conversely, some reviewers found parts of the facility cramped, dark, or uninviting. Shared rooms and bathrooms are reported in places, and several comments mention uncomfortable smells or specific instances of uncleanliness and unattended decorations, indicating inconsistent upkeep in some areas.
Dining and activities: Food receives many favorable mentions — reviewers often describe the meals as good, delicious, and plentiful. Several families are pleased with choices and report that their loved ones like the food. Yet there are repeated critiques about limited meal options (one set menu), insufficient fresh fruit and vegetables with a reliance on canned foods, and vague meal timing or lack of visible meal preparation. Activity programming is another area of mixed feedback: numerous reviews praise available activities and personalized engagement, but an equal number point to insufficient, unstructured, or infrequent programming that leaves residents bored. Some reviewers link limited activities to budget or pricing constraints, and others note that visual impairments among residents reduce participation in some offered activities.
Management, communication and fit: Communication is a recurring concern. Some families say staff are hard to reach by phone or that nursing communication is poor, while others report excellent family involvement and collaboration with staff on treatment plans. Admission experience and fit vary: several reviewers felt St John's was the right move — particularly for those wanting a small, homelike alternative to a larger nursing home — while others concluded it was not the right fit for their specific needs (particularly for residents requiring specialized memory-care services or more activity/dining options). A few practical issues are mentioned, such as limited outdoor seating, strict routines, no openings at times, and the facility being privately funded, which may influence costs and admission flexibility.
Recommendation and ideal resident profile: St John's appears best suited to families who prioritize compassionate, individualized care in a small, homelike setting with skilled nursing coverage and strong staff involvement. It is frequently recommended for those who value close family communication, end-of-life care compassion, and a secure, small-community environment. It is less appropriate for residents who need structured, robust dementia/memory care, a wide variety of activities and dining options, or larger, more modern spaces. Prospective families should prioritize an in-person tour focused on memory-care capabilities, room size/bathroom arrangements, activity schedules, meal options, and direct conversations about staffing consistency and communication protocols to determine fit.
