Riviera Living, Residential Care facility San Jose — Mental health service in San Jose, CA

My father is an extremely mentally unwell man, and DOES NOT belong here in Rivera Living. Today I got a call from my Mother that my dad was calling her at all hours of the day again. My mother is extremely sick with cancer and takes chemo, she should not be getting calls at 5AM, or inappropriate voice mails, especially if he’s being watched by a care team. He told my mother disgusting things, when I called RL, the man on the phone called me a liar simply because HE didn’t see my father call my Mom and harass her. (I have proof he did) When I asked him if he was calling me a liar he said no but he didn’t see it so it didn’t happen (So..then to you I’m lying, you should believe victims, but it seems your team isn’t trained in that) I told him I would like to speak to someone higher up, straight to voice mail I went. Respectfully, I do not care that it’s a weekend, if someone is coming to you, telling you that one of YOUR residents is acting inappropriately, you do something about it, you don’t send them to voice mail. The man on the phone clearly didn’t care, and certainly didn't care for my tears either. It’s not easy coming to a care home that’s supposed to be nurturing him, and helping him achieve his goals, only to find out they honestly could care less about how he acts and what he does. If you feel like your family member needs 24/7 care, DO NOT leave them here. My father had better care at the VA hospital in Palo Alto and that was free, here he has no supervision, clearly no support, pays a ridiculous amount, and does what he pleases, and I do mean WHATEVER he wants. Sincerely: Shannon Higgins.

I'm giving this facility 2 stars only because they had to put up with my extremely difficult, verbally aggressive father for 4 weeks. He was transferred there after being in the VA for several weeks prior. They thought he needed to be tested for Dementia. He was diagnosed with Adult failure to thrive. He could not manage his medications, cook for himself or barely walk. He wasn't managing his finances which resulted in his water , Internet and car insurance to be shut off or cancelled. He would be found sitting in his car in his driveway for 4 hours not being able to cognitively nor physically go where he was heading. In his month long stay at Westwood he fell once, tearing a large amount of skin off his arm. He demanded myself and his friends to bring him 1-2 pounds of See's candy. Roughly consuming a pound every 3 days. I believe that's why he gained 10 lbs after coming in at a gravely 112lbs. He tried the first couple weeks trying to bully and lie his way out. The notion of discharging him to his home that is not safety proofed for a frail, disoriented senior citizen is not only ridiculous, but life threatening. I found out he was being released from a home health care worker hoping to coordinate his OT, PT, and nursing. She didn't even have his phone number. P.S. he already had several months of home health care this year. Obviously it wasn't the answer. I pray to God that he doesn't get seriously injured and or get behind the wheel of his car and potentially kill someone else. He doesn't even know his insurance is cancelled. I thought this facility was good because employees are nice. Obviously they haven't looked at the facts that brought him there, they've ignore verbalized legitimate concerns about a future by himself. They've allowed themselves to be deceived by a narcissist 75 year old Marine veteran into thinking he is able to take care of himself. If I lived in the same state (I was there for his first several weeks at Westwood) I would be challenging their malpractice.

Working with Riviera Living has been an absolute pleasure for me. I have truly enjoyed leading wellness and movement sessions for the residents — their enthusiasm, openness, and warmth create such a beautiful energy in every class. It’s clear that Riviera Living fosters a supportive and uplifting environment, and I feel grateful to be part of it. What stands out most is how deeply the staff cares for their residents. Their dedication shows in everything they do — from thoughtfully organizing wellness activities to ensuring every resident feels included, seen, and supported. The team is always kind, responsive, and genuinely invested in creating a community that feels like home. Thank you, Riviera Living, for welcoming Earth & Ether into your space and allowing me to share movement, breathwork, and healing with such a wonderful group. I look forward to continuing our work together and supporting your residents’ well-being.

My disabled but independent son has been at Riviera living for over a year now. Riviera has a medication room; Pedro is very good at making sure my son takes his medication twice a day. They re-order his medication when needed and have it mailed to the facility. They have a cafeteria that cooks really hearty homestyle meals three times a day and snacks in between. The housekeeper Susan is very aware of everyone that comes and goes. She cleans each room once a week and is like a Mom to the residents. One attendant- Elizabeth saved my son's life when she noticed he was acting strangely and followed him to his room where he had collapsed and was not breathing well. She called an ambulance. Overall, I think that the staff are very vigilant but overworked. I think that they should hire more attendants so there is always at least 2 at a time in each house, even at night. I think it would be better if they opened a cafeteria in each home so that the residents don't have to cross the street to get to the cafeteria. Also- it would be good if they could organize hair cut visits and pedicure visits because my son will not go on his own and cannot cut his toenails by himself. The laundry is down the street so it is inconvenient for the residents to do their own laundry.

Riviera is a very clean and well-run facility. My friend has lived here for over a year. The staff is caring, especially Prunella. The Med room is well organized and delivers meds on time. There is a large TV in the common room, and they sometimes serve popcorn.

I have a son who is living in this place for a few months now & for the most part he is fairly happy with being there as he does get his meals & medication & basic needs but he's has had a ongoing problem with one certain cleaning crew that has been constantly stealing his stuff, they have stolen everything from his backpack,his checkbook right down to his birth certificate &social security card & other personal things that he had that were sentimental to him like items that he inherited from his father who had passed away those things that are un replaceable, identity theft is unacceptable , he told me that he believes that whatever $ he had in his account is gone now because he tried getting some $ out of his account using his bank card that he still had on him & it had no funds available, I asked him why wasn't it kept locked in a closet & he told me that they are not given a personal/Private space to lock up their important items like documents or very personal possessions & the cleaning staff forced him to leave the room when they come in to clean, he didn't expect that they would be going through all his personal stuff in his closet when they started stealing the stuff & he said that it's not like he can always take everything out of his closet at random when they show up and being they even stole his backpack he didn't even have something to put whatever he had left in something to take it out of the room, he didn't have a roommate at the time so he was 💯 % sure that it was the cleaning crew & every time they came back it's continued to happen, I am sure that he isn’t the only person who has this problem & I would like to think that this place will now find a way to get him a new birth certificate & social security card and start security checking the employee's who are allowed in rooms or allow for those who live there be able to be present during their rooms being cleaned or provided residents a safe place to keep their possessions.

Coming into Riviera Living is like coming home. The staff are very friendly and helpful with any and all questions. When following up on appointments Riviera is very much on top of their game. I feel very comfortable when inside the place and the staff always get things done.

I must say that I do admire how all Riviera Staff are professionally trained on how to deal with client crisis, communicating with treatment teams, having the clients practice managing a hygiene routine and other ADL's, as well as managing clients PCP and Psych appointments, and calling to refill/order all of clients medication. It seems that the staff really care about their clients needs. The staff communicate well with all of the client's Mental Health Agency throughout the bay area.

(Reply to Joe Swanson May 2021 Negative Review Cont'd...) Your last paragraph contained a combination of concerns including a) clients isolating, b) “drinking water and going in the bathroom,” c) WiFi, and d) cellular data. Isolation is something we take seriously, as it is an indication of dissociation (not doing well mentally), so we watch for clients starting to pull away and intervene. I am not sure what to say about the drinking water and using the restroom except to let readers know we installed water dispensers and ice makers in both facilities to make sure everyone is staying hydrated in hot summer months and to counteract the diuretic effects of some medications. Your concerns about the WiFi, if the WiFi is not working it is likely due to ComCast, and typically the entire city block is down, not just us. Lastly, cellular data is not something we provide to clients, that is something you would purchase on your own through your cell phone service provider. I hope I have covered all of your concerns, Joe Swanson. I wish you would have come to us so we could explain these matters in person rather than publicly tarnishing the reputation of our family’s 47 years’ caring for people with severe and chronic mental illness. Most Sincerely, Cheralynn Sabankaya, NCC, LPC, LPCC Owner/Admin Ali Baba Corp (dba Riviera)

This place is absolutely horrible, my mother lives there and they treat her absolutely horrible, the staff abuses their power while ignoring the problems of the residents. The food is horrible, the most low grade unedible food, but they don’t allow people to have their own food in their rooms, the expect these low income people to go out and buy food every day if they don’t like what they are served. Want comforts of home? Too bad, you are limited the amount of personal items you can bring.