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Overcoming addiction is incredibly hard. But provided guests can afford it, some state-of-the-art rehab centers aim to take the sting out of the process with an array of luxurious amenities. Gourmet food, Jacuzzis, equine therapy, helicopter trips to secluded spots in The Rockies, elephant rides and spa treatments are just some of what’s on offer at these resort-like facilities.
However, despite their enticing, holiday destination-like locations, high-class services and celebrity clientele, these facilities take the difficult process of rehabilitation extremely seriously. While keeping this firmly in mind, let’s take a look at 10 of the most luxurious rehab centers in the world.
10. Alta Mira – California (USA)
Alta Mira Recovery Center overlooks San Francisco Bay in scenic Sausalito, California. Boasting panoramic views, elegant buildings and exquisite gardens, this rehab center claims its setting helps to inspire and rejuvenate clients. Amenities include yoga, tai chi, massage and acupuncture sessions as well as a Native American sweat lodge. Therapies, meanwhile, embrace adventure, art and music, psychodrama and even equine methods.
Alta Mira says it looks to take a “full-body” approach to wellness, which involves crafting a treatment plan for each client. It also has an extensive after-care program. “Addiction is a chronic disease that needs to be managed for life,” says Cherlyne Short Majors, Ph.D., executive director at Alta Mira. “Most relapses occur due to inadequate continuing care planning, so we devote a considerable amount of time while clients are in treatment structuring their ongoing recovery management system.”
9. Promises Treatment Center – Malibu (USA)
Promises Treatment Center offers panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean from its gorgeous setting in the Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu. Designed for clients accustomed to the finer things in life, Promises says it may be right for people who like luxurious living and don’t want to feel as if they are in a clinical, depressing, hospital environment. In any case, the beautiful scenery and glorious weather is bound to make recovery a little easier.
For its clientele – which includes celebrities, government officials, and business executives – Promises offers gardens, swimming pools, tennis courts, and Jacuzzis. And the facility also regularly takes clients off campus for 12-step meetings and visits to a neighborhood gym. This real-world perspective, says Promises, “prepares its clients for day-to-day life, such as driving past a liquor store or reading an advertisement for an alcoholic beverage. The key is that Promises teaches clients how to process their feelings that may arise while exposed to these situations.”
8. Spirit Lodge – Texas (USA)
Spirit Lodge is a treatment center located outside Austin, Texas that only serves 24 clients at any one time. Each resident is paired with a counselor, who provides one-year recovery coaching. Elements Behavioral Health says that Spirit Lodge offers treatment that is “unsurpassed in quality, scope and effectiveness.”
In addition to providing bespoke treatment, Spirit Lodge offers an intensive family week as well as an introduction to the renowned “12-step model.” Residents benefit from resort-style amenities, with gourmet meals, luxury spas, expressive arts, therapeutic recreation, personal training, and concierge services.
“The tranquility and sense of comfort received within our unique addiction treatment environment empowers the quest of recovery from addictive substances,” says the Spirit Lodge website. “We have also provided an environment that helps families to begin the healing process and support the building of a strong foundation for recovery and positive change.”
In order to create a more meaningful and mature environment, the facility only accepts residents who are 26 or older. In the team’s experience, younger addicts don’t take recovery as seriously.
7. Cirque Lodge – Utah (USA)
Cirque Lodge is nestled in the Rocky Mountains, just a short distance from Utah’s Sundance Resort. The facility only has room for 16 residents, while the Studio (located 10 miles away) can accommodate a further 44. The lodge was originally designed as a high-end health spa; but founder, owner and patron Richard Losee decided to change his plans after a close family member was almost lost to substance abuse. The end result is a five-star rehabilitation facility with rooms that include Jacuzzis and marble bathrooms.
Cirque Lodge offers cognitive behavioral therapy, but what sets it apart, according to staff, are the experiences available – be it pottery, organic gardening, or canyon hiking. Clinical social worker Beverly Roesch says that these experiences help clients to “start to come out of the haze and the numbness and reconnect.”
Still, despite the amazing location, most residents don’t actually want to be there. Their lives have been incredibly disrupted by their addictions, and their visit to the lodge is a last-ditch effort. Claudia Wallis, a contributor to CNN Money, had a rare opportunity to visit the facility. She says, “I learned a lot about what it means to be an addict and the unending, heroic work it takes to break free – no matter who you are. And I got a feel for the weird juxtaposition of facing such a staggering, personal challenge when, materially, you’ve got it all.”
6. The Sanctuary Byron Bay – New South Wales (Australia)
The Sanctuary Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia offers a range of private residences for clients – from gorgeous beachfront properties where dolphins play in the surf, to others with stunning rainforest views. The place really would be a paradise were it not for its seriousness of purpose.
The Sanctuary treats substance addiction and mental health conditions on a one-on-one basis, and confidentiality and privacy are crucial to the center. Each client is allocated their own team of therapists and support staff, and The Sanctuary prides itself on its discretion. According to the facility’s website, “You will never meet another Sanctuary client and your presence with us will never be disclosed.” The staff includes therapists, naturopaths, yoga teachers, and acupuncturists. And meals are cooked by each guest’s own personal chef.
Nobility, celebrities, CEOs and politicians have all received treatment at The Sanctuary, and to date, not a single one of their identities has been confirmed.
5. The Priory Hospital Roehampton – London (England)
The Priory Hospital Roehampton is located in South West London. It has both outpatient and inpatient programs that treat milder mental health issues as well as psychotic illness, severe depression, eating disorders, and addictions. The facility offers free assessment for all addictions, including gambling, shopping, and even texting (as well as drugs and alcohol). And behind its magnificent façade, The Priory can house 107 patients and boasts a seafood menu as well as private rooms.
Although the hospital has a reputation for treating celebrities, the vast majority of people are members of the general public. According to The Priory’s Head of Marketing, Jazz Panchoo, “Ninety-nine percent of the people we treat are what we call everyday people… Everybody who comes to us is clinically assessed before they are admitted… it’s not a soft touch. You don’t just sit in your room with a box of chocolates.” And according to Guardian writer Andy Beckett, the hospital’s methods “are highly rated, even relentless.”
4. The Cabin – Chiang Mai (Thailand)
The Cabin is a rehab facility in a secluded, tranquil riverside setting not far from downtown Chiang Mai, Thailand. This exclusive facility, staffed by qualified, Western-trained professionals, prides itself on treatment that costs a third of the price of other comparable programs in more developed countries. Clients benefit from drama and art therapy, personal training, one-on-one and group therapy sessions, and massage treatments. Unique excursions are also added advantages, as clients can ride elephants, zip-line through the jungle, go on hill tribe treks, and learn to make Thai jewelry.
The center offers cognitive behavioral therapy and a “secularized” and “rationalized” version of the 12-step method, as well as therapeutic meditation techniques and exercise therapy. The Cabin also boasts a 96 percent program completion rate and claims that, according to the DASS (Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale), clients move from “severe” to “normal” in all categories after completing their treatment.
3. Crossroads Centre – Antigua (West Indies)
Crossroads Centre is to be found on the gorgeous Caribbean island of Antigua in the West Indies. Founded by guitar legend Eric Clapton in 1998, the center strives to offer clients everything they need to begin to heal, as well as the tools to continue the process.
During detoxification, Crossroads offers massages, hydrotherapy, and auricular acupuncture to help flush toxins from the body, ease stiff muscles, address anxiety, and relieve stress. When the client is medically stable, they enter an intensive, tailored treatment plan with a primary counselor. Then, after this stage, individuals may be referred to extended care, transitional living, or an outpatient program.
“Crossroads is like no other treatment centre,” says Clapton. “It is the perfect place to begin the road of recovery and utilizes a combination of effective therapies to address addiction and recovery, while capturing the spiritual serenity that many have found unique to Antigua.”
2. The Meadows – Arizona (USA)
The Meadows is a 14-acre campus in Wickenburg, Arizona. Situated in the Sonoran Desert, the facility provides everything from equine therapy to somatic experiences and tai chi. The Meadows claims that its specialists “do not merely treat symptoms; they look deeper into underlying issues behind lifelong patterns of self-destructive behaviors. Such issues include low self-esteem, codependency, immaturity, and childhood trauma.”
On this beautiful campus, a wide range of treatments are on offer for conditions including alcohol, drug and sex addiction, posttraumatic stress, bipolar disorder and depression, eating disorders, codependency, and panic and anxiety disorders. The Meadows also does continuing research on how trauma affects the brain, and the staff aim to tailor their treatments and therapies to each client, helping them on the road to recovery.
1. Passages – Malibu (USA)
Passages is another luxurious rehab center in Malibu that treats drug and alcohol addiction. It lays claim to an approach that does not involve 12 steps, like other facilities on this list. The Passages website claims that 12-step rehab centers “insist you have a disease, label you an addict or alcoholic, and tell you that you’re powerless.” Passages, on the other hand, tries to treat the deeper problems that lead to addiction. These may include depression, lack of self-esteem, ADD, trauma, molestation, family turmoil, insomnia, lack of purpose, or a chemical imbalance.
Each client at Passages has a private team of 10 therapists working with them. And the majority of the client’s treatment is completed through 70 hours a month of private, one-on-one sessions. It’s said that the treatments are innovative and improving all the time – taking in everything from blood chemistry tests to “ocean therapy.” Other treatments include hypnotherapy, life purpose counseling, marriage and family counseling, acupuncture and acupressure, yoga, and spiritual counseling. And it’s all offered in stunningly beautiful surrounds.
