The latest trend in the cosmetic surgery industry is for top-flight surgeons to link up with spas and luxury hotels to offer packages enabling patients to recover away from prying eyes — while enjoying a fabulous pampering holiday. And it’s not just about enjoying life’s little luxuries: surgeons say massage and thalassotherapy treatments help to drain water from the body, reducing post-operative swelling, so patients make a quicker and better recovery. Here, we look at some of the post-operative bolt-holes . . . available around the world.
FRANCE
THE SURGEON: Dr Claude Lassus at the Polyclinique Santa Maria, 153 Promenade des Anglais, 06000 Nice, France. Tel 0033 4 93 88 48 51 SPECIALISM: Breast reductions. He also has a dedicated following among British and French actresses and singers for his lip augmentation procedures and face-lifts. COST OF OPERATION: Breast reduction and face-lift (including hospital and anaesthetic costs) both cost around £4,100. THE BOLT-HOLE: Dr Lassus arranges for his clients to recuperate in the palatial Negresco hotel 37 Promenade des Anglais, 06000, Nice, France. Tel 00 33 4 93 88 35 68.
It has its own beach, featured in the Hitchcock classic To Catch A Thief, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. There are massage, manicure and hairdressing services, and the Michelin guide award-winning restaurant Le Chantecler. RECUPERATION COSTS: From £170 a night for a double room.
CAPE TOWN
THE SURGEON: South African company Mediscapes, 42 Burg Street, Greenmarket Square, Cape Town. Tel: 0027 21 422 3932, has access to experienced specialists, including Professor Don Hudson, head of the University of Cape Town’s plastic surgery department. SPECIALISM: Breast augmentation. COST OF OPERATION: The cost of the operation, including clinic, surgeon and anaesthetist fees, is included in the package. A 13-day blepharosplasty (eye-lift) package starts at around £4,750. Seven-day face-lift packages start at around £6,000. THE BOLT-HOLE: Two spas. Bushman’s Kloof, PO Box 267, Clanwilliam. Tel 0027 (0)27 482 2627, is a reserve about three hours out of Cape Town where you’ll spend two days pre-op resting. Then it’s off to the Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, Victoria Road, Oudekraal,Camps Bay, Cape Town. Tel: 0027 (0)21 437 9000. RECUPERATION COSTS: Included in the package.
MALTA
THE SURGEON: Francis X Darmanin, Saint James Hospital, George Borg Olivier Street, Sliema, Malta. Tel: +35 621 335 235 SPECIALISM: The hospital can perform just about any operation from breast augmentation to liposuction, but, reputed for his work on burns victims, Mr Darmanin is much in demand for his face-lifts. COST OF OPERATION: Face-lifts start at around £2,400. THE BOLT-HOLE: Fortina Spa Resort, Tigne Seafront, Sliema, Malta. Tel: 00 356 2346 0000.
The five-star Spa Mediterranee specialises in thalassotherapy and hydrotherapy treatments that use concentrated sea water, rich in salt and minerals to rejuvenate the body. Physiotherapists are also on hand. RECUPERATION COSTS: Rooms start at £80 a night and spa treatments vary in price. A full body wrap costs about £45, with facials and massages at a similar price.
CONNECTICUT
THE SURGEON: Prof Laurence Kirwan, 605 West Avenue, Norwalk, CT, USA 06850. Tel: 001 203 838 8844. www.drkirwan.com . SPECIALISM: Surgeon to the A-listers for decades, Kirwan is internationally renowned for his facelifts. He’s also good for rhinoplasty and eye lifts. COST OF OPERATION: Initial consultations £150 (deducted from the price of surgery if you book within a reasonable time). Facelifts around £6,000, and rhinoplasty £5,000, plus hospital and anaesthetic fees. THE BOLT-HOLE: Hotel Delamar, 500 Steamboat Rd, Greenwich, CT 06830. This five-star hotel is half-an-hour from Prof Kirwan’s clinic and is set on the waterfront at Greenwich harbour. It has its own private dock, stunning ocean views, a library and a fitness centre. RECUPERATION COSTS: From around $150-$200/ £85-£114 per room, per night.
HOLLYWOOD
THE SURGEON: Dr Leslie Stevens, The Lasky clinic, 201 South Lasky Drive, Beverly Hills, California 90212 U.S.A. Tel: 001 310 556 1003 or visit www.drlesliehstevens.com SPECIALISM: Liposuction, treating all areas of the body, including knees, chin, cheeks and neck as well as the usual problem zones. He performed Sharon Osbourne’s tummy tuck two years ago. Dubbed the ‘king of nip and tuck’ by his Hollywood clientele. COST OF OPERATION: Initial consultation £100, liposuction from £1,900, plus £1,000 for anaesthetic. THE BOLT HOLE: The Peninsula Beverley Hills, 9882 South Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, U.S., Tel: 001 310 551 2888, an ultra-luxurious oasis within walking distance of the shops in Rodeo Drive and a favourite with Hollywood celebs. RECUPERATION COSTS: Rooms start at U.S. $450/ £257 per night.
MIAMI
THE SURGEON: Father and son Dr Thomas J. Zaydon Sr and Dr Thomas J. Zaydon Jr of the Cosmetic Surgery Institute of Miami. Mercy
Hospital Professional Building, 3661 South Miami Avenue, Suite 509, Miami; 00 1 305 856 3030. SPECIALISM: Nose jobs. COST OF OPERATION: £2,850-3,500. THE BOLT-HOLE: Grove Isle Hotel & Spa, Four Grove Isle Drive, Coconut Grove, Miami; 00 1 305 858
8300. A luxury resort on its own private 20 acre island. A host of treatments are on offer and licensed nurses can provide ongoing care. RECUPERATION COSTS: Rooms start at around £220 a night. A collagen facial is £90.
BARCELONA – Spain
THE SURGEON: Dr Javier de Benito, Instituto Dr Javier de Benito, Marquesa de Vilallonga, Barcelona, Tel 00 34 932 530 282 or visit www. institutodebenito.com SPECIALISM: Reconstructive surgery. One of his developments is a subtle face and neck lift, using Gore-Tex to create a ‘supportive bra’. COST OF OPERATION: Initial consultation costs 8130/ £89, face-lifts from 85,500/ £3770, face and neck-lift from 88000/ £5490 breast augmentation from 85000/ £3430. THE BOLT-HOLE: Hotel RA Beach Thalasso-spa, Avinguda Sanatori, 43880, El Vendrell, Tarragona, Spain. Tel: 00 34 977 694
200. www.amrey-hotels.com . A five-star hotel on a golden beach 40 minutes south of Barcelona. Treatments include reflexology, thalassotherapy and lymphatic drainage. RECUPERATION COSTS: From around 8160/£110 per room per night. Full board package for the slimming unit is from 81,950/ £1,340 per week, including five treatments and check-ups.
UK
THE SURGEON: Consultant Adrian Richards, who works at clinics in the UK at High Wycombe and Princes Risborough, Bucks, Northampton and in London’s Harley Street.
Tel: 0800 328 5743 or visit www.arandassociates.co.ukSPECIALISM: Facelifts, particularly the MACS lift (short for Minimal Access Cranial Suspension) which leaves no scar behind the ears. COST OF OPERATION: Facelifts from £5,600. THE BOLT-HOLE: Champneys, Tring. Tel UK: 08703 300 300 or visit www.champneys.com
Champneys offers recuperative packages tailor-made to suit individual needs amidst the Georgian splendour of its Hertfordshire mansion. RECUPERATION COSTS: Packages start at £550 for a two-night stay.
LONDON
THE SURGEON: LONDON PLASTICSurgery Associates is the private practice of four leading London teaching hospital plastic surgery consultants. 30 Devonshire St, London W1G 6PU. Tel: 0207 908 3777 or www.lpsa.co.ukSPECIALISMS: Peter Butler is well-known for facial reconstruction. Simon Withey’s speciality is facial and breast reconstruction . COST OF OPERATION: Facelifts cost around £7,000, including surgeon’s fees, anaesthetics, and hospital fees, breast augmentation from around £5,700, all fees included. THE BOLT-HOLE: A beautiful and discreet hotel in a georgian town house: Halcyon House, 168 Clapham Road, London SW9 0LA, 020 7091 7148. www.halcyon-house.comRECUPERATION COSTS: From £250 a night, full board.
LONDON
THE SURGEON: Roy Ng, The Hurlingham Clinic and Spa, 67 Studdridge Street, London SW6 3TD; 020 7348 6380. SPECIALISM: The thread lift face-lift, which uses barbed threads inserted in the face to lift sagging skin with minimal incisions. COST OF OPERATION: Thread lift treatments start at around £1,800 THE BOLT-HOLE: Myhotel Chelsea, 35 Ixworth Place, London; 020 7225 7500. The Hurlingham Clinic has its own day spa offering treatments, such as a post-operative facial. It has linked up with the ultra swish Myhotel, which offers chauffeur service to and from the clinic. RECUPERATION COSTS: The post-op facial at the Hurlingham Spa costs £55, while post-lipo endermologie costs from £65 a session. Doubles at Myhotel Chelsea, start at a special Hurlingham Clinic rate of £155 plusVAT per night.
NEW YORK
THE SURGEON: Dr Alan Matarasso, 1009 Park Avenue, New York; 00 1 212 249 7500. SPECIALISM: Facial rejuvenation — big on short-scar facelifts that use half the number of incisions compared with a usual face-lift. COST OF OPERATION: Initial consultation £135, face-lift from £6,500. THE BOLT-HOLE: Affinia Gardens Hotel, 215 E 64th Street, New York; 001 212 355-1230 just around the corner from Manhattan’s Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital where Dr Matarasso operates, offers a special ‘Nipped and Tucked In’ programme with rooms for post-op patients and in-room spa treatments. RECUPERATION COSTS: From $399/£228 a night.