Balfour Ann Arbor

I wouldn't put my dog in Balfour. I'm surprised they didn't kill my mother.

We moved my parents in here in the midst of the pandemic. Balfour carefully navigated the twists and turns of all the protocols required. The staff here are absolutely amazing. Chef Adam brought his stunning culinary skills-and the residents there are treated to unparalleled menus. 100% the best place in Ann Arbor.

They are struggling a little bit with staffing like most other communities we assume, but the staff members we have met have been outstanding. With the staffing issues sometimes communication gets a little lost. The meals are wonderful, we have eaten there a few times and every time we were thoroughly impressed. We only visit every now and then so we aren't sure about all the activities, but they have an online program families can sign up for and follow along with what your loved one is participating in and what their interests are and what they have done for the week.

Our experience here was so great for rehab and in the assisted living facility, we transitioned to an apartment in independent living after! The building is magnificent and the employees remarkable. There’s always a friendly face to help at the front desk if you have questions, the food is superior to many restaurants in town, and the activities are varied, plentiful, and well attended.

I have lived here over 18 months. Yes outstanding decor and food. BUT: 1. It has taken over 9 months to repair two safety issues 2. After 18 months pool down for 6 weeks Because heater broke down because of hard water leaving mineral deposits in controls 3. Building not considered secure by Balfour 4. We had to fight and fight just to get a crafts room. This Senior living facility on is on a Small 6 acre lot. 5. Management has taken a strong stance against me and will not answer my questions. They are punishing me. For The questions I ask. 6. In my opinion residents are not Balfour’s customers the investors are the customer 7. The reviews on Balfour’s web site Ann Arbor include 2 employees, 2 outside vendors 5 former employees 8. Employees outstanding but short staffed

... we are so happy dad is living at Balfour! Balfour Ann Arbor is truly unlike any other senior living community in the Ann Arbor area! From the initial phone call asking for information to my dad comfortably living in assisted living, the staff, residents, and overall experience has been unlike anything myself or my family could have imagined. My dad even called me the other day to tell me he was too busy socializing, doing one on one activities, and swimming, he didn't have the time to talk to me! The nursing staff are amazing and the food, although delivered during COVID, is incredible! We are so happy we moved my dad into Balfour because he is finally living life to the fullest again!!

I was a independent living resident at Balfour-Ann Arbor for 7 months - the first resident to move in when they opened in November 2019 and the first to leave in June 2020. In my opinion, this is NOT a good place for anyone to live, let let alone any senior! Most of the foregoing is the tip of the iceberg, but in a nutshell, what I have written says plenty to raise a huge “red flag” to potential residents of any Balfour facility, since they are all owned and managed by the Corporation Headquarters in Colorado. Balfour-Ann Arbor has 3 areas of living - Independent, Assisted and Memory Care. I was looking for a facility that had these things, but I wanted them to all be physically separated and that the areas did not co-mingle. I was assured more than once, and by more than one person, that each area had its own dining room and there was no mixing of residents. I told the leasing persons on more than one occasion when I checked on this initially as well as subsequently that I would not move into Balfour if the 3 areas co-mingled. Again, I was always assured that they did not co-mingle and that is one way Balfour was different than other places of this type. In about February, 2020, a situation arose that made me question whether that was indeed the case after I moved in. At that time, I asked the person I talked to on more than one occasion when I was looking into Balfour and she told me the exact opposite. She indicated that the three areas could mix and use any and all parts of the facility and that anyone could eat in any dining room they wanted. I was shocked to say the least. I checked with a couple of others who signed up about the same time I did and they were told the same thing I was. In my opinion, the Ann Arbor facility is totally disorganized and chaotic in almost every respect, except for the kitchen staff. The original staff, as well as many many subsequent employees, have either quit or been fired and almost nothing gets done that you ask for over and over, if at all, and you continue to pay for services you do not receive. Balfour is like an employee revolving door and has never been fully staffed. except maybe on the first few days. And, a large number of employees are incompetent and/or have insufficient on-the-job training and supervision to do their jobs. If they are competent, they have too much work to do because of understaffing and are unable to speak up for fear of losing their jobs and end up quitting at some point. The Associate Executive Director, who took over when the Corporation fired the Executive Director shortly after the facility opened, is overwhelmed with so many jobs to do; thus, he cannot possibly keep up. In addition, medical updates sent to the residents and families on a regular basis by the Corporation were almost always glowing about how well Balfour and the residents were doing keeping the virus out of their facilities. However, in Ann Arbor, in all instances but one, they never really informed residents there about the fact that the facility had never been risk free from anyone getting the virus in the facility. This was because of, among other things, selected resident reprehensible self-serving behaviors that almost continually put all residents and staff there at risk as well as contradictory or misinformation from the Corporation about the length of time someone needed to be in quarantine or whether they should be quarantined at all, The fact the virus has not gotten into the Ann Arbor facility is not because of anything Balfour did. It is quite simply a major miracle it did not. The “Balfour Way,” as they call it by the Corporation, REALLY means to give you as little as possible, despite what their literature and the Corporation says, and for residents to not complain. And, if you do, they threaten you with legal action and termination of your lease, like they did with me. In addition, they charge you a lot of money to live there that basically pays for all the decorating “fluff” and hollow promises of what they will be doing for you. Both of these things are part of the hook to sell you on this facility. The COVID-19 virus was not the problem, it just exposed a myriad of systemic problems with this Corporation that one might not have noticed right away under normal circumstances, but they sure became apparent quickly when you tried to get even the simplest of things done here before and during the virus. This is not to say that local staff are totally unresponsive. They are polite about requests and employees are nice to the residents, but there is largely no resolution to any of your complaints and requests, which has continued since they opened. Since, Balfour-Ann Arbor is only 7 months old, I would highly suggest that you research the other Balfour facilities and access sites online that give accounts of other resident reviews of all the other Balfour properties (in Colorado) and their experiences with this Corporation and things that people were/are not happy with at those facilities BEFORE signing up to live in one of their facilities. I would also read online internet reviews of employee experiences at other Balfour facilities. There are only 2 reviews of the Ann Arbor property from employees - one positive and one negative - and no reviews by any residents (current or former) except mine. But, I personally know at least one other current resident that is leaving Balfour-Ann Arbor soon because of the problems there, and residents continue to complain about things there that never get addressed. For some reason unknown to me, they still don’t realize after six months of complaining that they never will. I lived and learned, and I hope I can save someone else from making the same mistake or at least be fully informed.

I was a independent living resident at Balfour-Ann Arbor for 7 months - the first resident to move in when they opened in November 2019 and the first to leave in June 2020. In my opinion, this is NOT a good place for anyone to live, let let alone any senior! Most of the foregoing is the tip of the iceberg, but in a nutshell, what I have written says plenty to raise a huge “red flag” to potential residents of any Balfour facility, since they are all owned and managed by the Corporation Headquarters in Colorado. Balfour-Ann Arbor has 3 areas of living - Independent, Assisted and Memory Care. I was looking for a facility that had these things, but I wanted them to all be physically separated and that the areas did not co-mingle. I was assured more than once, and by more than one person, that each had their own dining room and there was no mixing of residents. I told the leasing persons on more than one occasion when I checked a few times about the areas being separated that I would not move into Balfour if the 3 areas co-mingled. Again, I was always assured that they did not co-mingle and that is one way Balfour was different than other places of this type. In about February, 2020, a situation arose that made me question whether that was indeed the case after I moved in. At that time, I asked the person I talked to on more than one occasion when I was looking into Balfour the exact opposite. She indicated that the three areas could mix and use any and all parts of the facility and that anyone could eat in any dining room they wanted. I was shocked to say the least. I checked with a couple of others who signed up about the same time I did and they were told the same thing I was. In my opinion, the Ann Arbor facility is totally disorganized and chaotic in almost every respect, except for the kitchen staff. The original staff, as well as many many subsequent employees, have either quit or been fired and nothing gets done that you ask for over and over, if at all, and you continue to pay for services you do not receive. Balfour is like an employee revolving door and has never been fully staffed. except maybe on day 1. And, a large number of employees are incompetent and/or have insufficient on-the-job training and supervision to do their jobs. If they are competent, they have too much work to do because of understaffing and are unable to speak up for fear of losing their jobs and end up quitting at some point. The Associate Executive Director, who took over when the Corporation fired the Executive Director shortly after the facility opened, is overwhelmed with so many jobs to do; thus, he cannot possibly keep up. In addition, medical updates sent to the residents on a regular basis by the Corporation were almost always glowing about how well Balfour and the residents were doing keeping the virus out of their facilities. However, in Ann Arbor, in all instances but one, they never really informed residents there about the fact that the facility had never been risk free from anyone getting the virus in the facility. This was because of, among other things, selected resident behaviors and contradictory and/or misinformation from the Corporation about the length of time someone needed to be in quarantine, which put everyone at risk continually for months. The “Balfour Way,” as they call it by the Corporation, REALLY means to give you as little as possible, despite what their literature and the Corporation says, and for residents to not complain. And, if you do, they threaten you with legal action and termination of your lease, like they did with me. In addition, they charge you a lot of money to live there that basically pays for all the decorating “fluff” and hollow promises of what they will be doing for you. Both of these things are part of the hook to sell you on this facility. The COVID-19 virus was not the problem, it just exposed a myriad of systemic problems with this Corporation that one might not have noticed right away under normal circumstances, but they sure became apparent quickly when you tried to get even the simplest of things done here before and during the virus. This is not to say that local staff are unresponsive. They are polite about requests and employees are nice to the residents, but there is largely no resolution to any of your complaints and requests. Since, Balfour-Ann Arbor is only 7 months old, I would highly suggest that you research the other Balfour facilities and access sites online that give accounts of other resident reviews of all the other Balfour properties (in Colorado) and their experiences with this Corporation and things that people were/are not happy with at those facilities BEFORE signing up to live in one of their facilities. I would also read online internet reviews of employee experiences at other Balfour facilities. There are only 2 reviews of the Ann Arbor property from employees - one positive and one negative - and no reviews by any residents (current or former) except mine. But, I personally know at least one other person that is leaving Balfour Ann Arbor soon and residents continue to complain about things there that never get addressed. For some unknown reason to me, they still don’t realize after six months of complaining that they never will. I lived and learned, and I hope I can save someone else from making the same mistake or at least be fully informed.