Is Britney Living in Rehab Luxury ?
Feb 23, 6:06 PM EST
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Gourmet meals, masseuses, 500-thread-count sheets and private rooms with a fireplace and a view of one of the city's most exclusive beaches. It sounds like a high-end resort and it is — for the rich and famous looking to kick an addiction.
Called Promises Residential Treatment Center, it's the place Britney Spears is supposed to call home for the next month while she attempts to grab control of a life that looked to be spinning out of control.
In a little over a week, the singer reportedly checked in and out and in and out and then in again to rehab, shaved her head and got tiny lips tattooed on her wrist. And this flurry followed months of hard late-night partying in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
By entering Promises, for the second time, on Thursday, Spears joined a long list of other celebrities who have trekked to the lush Malibu facility to overcome addictions. Promises alumni includes Ben Affleck, Charlie Sheen, Diana Ross and Matthew Perry.
Treatment doesn't come cheap. A 30-day stay is $48,000.
What kind of perks can patients expect for $1,600 a night at the 16-person facility? A personal trainer, beautician, private counseling session and no chores. The sprawling grounds of the Mediterranean-style villa tucked in the Santa Monica Mountains include tennis and basketball courts, two pools and nearby horseback riding facilities.
"These people are wealthy, wealthy," Malibu Mayor Ken Kearsley says of the clientele. "They don't call them gourmet cooks there, they call them `recovery nutritionists.'"
A typical recovery lunch: Korean short ribs, pot stickers, sashimi, Thai chicken coconut soup and teriyaki chicken.
If the perks alone aren't enough to keep her at Promises, Spears need only reflect on the possibility she could lose custody of her two young children to estranged husband Kevin Federline if she doesn't complete the program.
Promises helped launch the so-called "Malibu Model" of rehab when it opened in 1989.
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