Overall sentiment about The Riverview is mixed, with a polarized picture emerging across reviews. Several families and residents report positive experiences: clean, secure, and quiet surroundings; a friendly resident community; large one-bedroom apartments with balconies and nice downtown Sacramento views; and an overall atmosphere that some describe as a good fit for their parents. Multiple reviewers note that the facility offers several levels of care and continuity, and some families appreciate routine meetings where concerns can be voiced. A number of reviews call out specific staff members as informative, helpful, and friendly, and a few reviewers explicitly say their parents are happy with the facility. There are also reports that food, which had declined at one point, appears to be improving for some residents.
However, the critical themes are significant and recurring. The most serious safety- and trust-related problems described include theft of clothing, bedding, and other personal items from residents' rooms; missing belongings are mentioned multiple times. Reviewers also raise concerns about delayed or unanswered emergency responses, which heightens worry about resident safety. In addition, there are explicit comments about staff hostility, teasing of residents, and inconsistent staff behavior — some employees are praised while others are described as not communicative or even hostile. Several reviews connect these behavioral problems to low staff morale and management issues, with at least one reviewer characterizing management as "horrible," suggesting that staff are underpaid while management is overpaid.
Operational and care-quality issues are prominent in the feedback. Many reviewers report inadequate staffing levels and kitchen layoffs, which they link to a drastic decline in food quality — from "good" previously to "awful" in some accounts, including specific complaints such as cold fish being served. Related value concerns are raised: families question whether the cost of living there matches the quality of dining and care. There are also administrative complaints, including rent and billing disputes, which contribute to an overall sense of dissatisfaction among some families.
Positive elements coexist with these problems, which helps explain the mixed impressions. Where staff are attentive and management addresses concerns in routine meetings, families report satisfaction and safety. The facility’s downtown location and apartment-style units with balconies are frequently cited as strong points, and some reviewers explicitly recommend the Riverview for certain parents. Nevertheless, the severity and repetition of negative issues — theft, emergency response delays, staffing shortages, morale/management problems, and a notable decline in dining quality — form a consistent pattern that several reviewers warn prospective families to consider carefully.
In summary, prospective residents and their families should weigh the facility’s tangible benefits (location, apartment size and layout, some caring staff, resident community, and multi-level care options) against a series of recurring and serious concerns. Key red flags from the reviews include stolen or missing personal items, inconsistent or hostile staff behavior, insufficient staffing levels, delayed emergency responses, and management-related problems that appear to affect morale and service quality (including the dining program). For some families the positive aspects outweigh these risks, but multiple reviewers strongly advise caution. If considering The Riverview, it would be prudent to visit multiple times at different hours, ask directly about staffing ratios, security/loss-prevention measures, emergency response protocols, current kitchen staffing and menu standards, and how management addresses documented complaints and billing disputes.
