Overall sentiment: Reviews for The Buckingham are strongly mixed, with many reviewers praising the community’s upscale facilities, restaurant-style dining, robust activities program, and excellent rehabilitation services, while a substantial number of reviews raise serious concerns about staffing, clinical consistency, sanitation, communication, and billing. The most consistent positive themes are around the physical environment, dining, social life, and pockets of high-quality clinical care. The most consistent negative themes relate to workforce issues — slow responses, missed medications, neglectful incidents, and variability in caregiver competence — as well as financial and administrative problems for some families.
Facilities and amenities: A dominant strength in the reviews is the facility itself. The Buckingham is repeatedly described as beautiful, elegant, and resort-like, with well-kept 23-acre grounds, attractive apartments, multiple dining venues, pool, trails, library, and numerous on-site conveniences like valet and shuttles. Restaurant-style dining with varied menus, high-quality meals, and thoughtful presentation (linen napkins, table flowers) is cited frequently as a core positive. Many reviewers describe comfortable, spacious apartments, clean public areas, and a wide range of amenities that support an active social life.
Care quality and clinical services: Reports about care quality are mixed and often polarized. Many families and residents praise the rehabilitation and physical therapy teams, on-site clinical staff, and instances of attentive nursing care that led to good post-surgery or short-term rehab outcomes. Conversely, numerous reviews detail troubling care gaps: missed or incorrect medications, delayed responses to call buttons, residents left in soiled diapers, inadequate assistance with feeding/bathing/toileting, and isolated allegations of abuse or mistreatment. These contrast suggest substantial variability in care depending on unit, shift, and individual staff members.
Staffing, training, and infection control: A recurring, significant concern is understaffing — especially overnight — which reviewers tie to slow responses, reduced supervision, and care omissions. Many accounts describe staff distracted by phones, insufficient numbers of CNAs, and new or poorly trained hires leading to inconsistent practices. Infection-control lapses were reported in some COVID incidents (staff testing positive, inconsistent masking and vaccination enforcement), and isolated sanitation complaints (odors, roaches in hallways/dining/rooms) amplify concerns about cleanliness and oversight in certain instances.
Management, billing, and communication: Administrative themes are twofold. On the positive side, some reviewers cite responsive maintenance, helpful admissions liaisons, and directors who improve transitions. On the negative side, many families report opaque billing practices, unexpected out-of-pocket charges (e.g., uncovered facility doctor fees), non-refundable or large buy-ins, and perceived prioritization of revenue over individualized care. Communication failures are repeatedly mentioned: poor discharge coordination, unanswered callbacks, and difficulty reaching supervisors or executive leadership after incidents. Several reviewers interpret these patterns as management sweeping issues under the rug.
Activities, community, and quality of life: The Buckingham’s social programming and sense of community receive strong praise from many residents. Reviewers highlight abundant activities (exercise classes, painting, card games, gallery tours), frequent events and celebrations, and a family-like atmosphere that promotes engagement. However, some reviews indicate limited afternoon or tailored activities for residents with sensory impairments and that excursions or programming can be inconsistent for certain populations.
Safety, operations, and reliability: Operational strengths include generator backup power noted for restoring elevators and public spaces during outages, and staff who remained on-site during emergencies. Yet reviews also raise concerns about occasional service disruptions (hot water outages, power issues) and reports of premature discharges or poor handoffs that could jeopardize safety. There are also mentions of hospital-like transitions where discharge medications or follow-up care were mishandled.
Who might this be right for: The Buckingham appears to be a strong fit for seniors and families who prioritize an upscale environment, excellent dining, robust social programs, and a high-quality rehab experience — and who can afford the buy-in and ongoing fees. Prospective residents should expect a resort-like lifestyle with many amenities and opportunities for engagement.
Caveats and due diligence recommendations: Because reviews indicate meaningful variability in clinical and caregiving quality, potential residents and families should do targeted due diligence before committing. Recommended steps include: touring units at different times (including evenings and weekends), asking for staffing ratios by shift, requesting recent inspection or infection-control reports, speaking with families of current residents in the desired care level, clarifying all billing and contract terms (buy-in refundability and monthly fees), and confirming policies for dementia couples, visitation, and emergency protocols. If considering memory care or skilled nursing, probe specifically about training, supervision, and incident-reporting practices.
Bottom line: The Buckingham offers many hallmarks of a premier senior community — attractive grounds, varied amenities, gourmet dining, active social programs, and strong rehabilitation services. However, a nontrivial set of reviewers report serious problems with staffing, clinical reliability, sanitation, communication, billing, and isolated abuse allegations. These conflicting patterns mean the community can deliver excellent quality of life and care in many cases, but families should verify operational consistency and protections before moving a loved one in.
