Top 3 San Diego Hotels for Cosmetic Surgery Recovery

Monique Ramsey (00:02):
Welcome everyone to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast. I'm your hostess, Monique Ramsey. So a lot of patients like to stay somewhere if they're traveling from out of town, they want to stay somewhere close by when they're having their surgery. And recently our videographer, Gretchel, teamed up with Dr. Salazar to create kind of a quick clip, introducing and highlighting three hotels nearby and kind of our top three picks for plastic surgery recovery. So Dr. Salazar, he's the world traveler, and I thought he'd be the perfect person to kind of introduce the idea of why, how, and where we might want to go to a hotel nearby who needs to do that. And even sometimes people locally just don't want to be at home. It's a little chaotic sometimes with little kids and stuff. So we're going to dig into these three choices and we're going to ask a few questions about what do you prefer and why of each of these hotels. So welcome back Dr. Salazar.

Dr. Salazar (01:06):
Thanks. Thanks Monique. Thanks so much for having me here in your podcast. And yes, I think it is important for us to talk about, I mean, this is part of recovery and I mean your nest during recovery is essential.

Monique Ramsey (01:18):
Okay, so let me ask you the first question. Do we require an out of town patient to stay at a hotel for a certain amount of time before they can go back home?

Dr. Salazar (01:29):
Absolutely. So we do see, as you know, patients that come and visit from all over the country and also from other countries and they fly in and of course safety comes first. So they go through a very meticulous examination consideration of all the medical problems. I mean, medicine has evolved and we always have that first contact through Zoom if they're from out of town. And then that gives us a good opportunity for them to know our philosophy, for us to understand their goals and to get the conversation going. But nothing is finalized until we examine them very thoroughly as they're planning their time over here. We always, depending on what surgery we're really talking about, we recommend a certain amount of time. So if it's something that it's very, very minimal, can be done in one or two days here of their stay, but that has to be a very minimal procedure.

(02:29):
Then the more extensive procedures, sometimes we ask them to stay for a week or sometimes we ask them to stay for two weeks. And then what we do, and again with the facilitator of Zoom, we can always continue following them up as we usually do if they were to live here. So we can say you can stay here for a week, go back, then come back virtually at three weeks and then at some point anywhere from six to eight weeks maybe come back in person and we can get some standardized pictures and so on so forth. But yeah, depending on what we're going to do is that we are going to ask them for a certain amount of time of being here in San Diego.

Monique Ramsey (03:09):
And which procedures make it especially important to stay nearby instead of maybe heading straight home?

Dr. Salazar (03:17):
So especially, I mean, number one, the first answer is procedures that require a little bit more of a recovery. I mean a little bit more of the true surgical recovery such as, for instance, if you're talking about a tummy tuck or a procedure that is going to decrease your mobility, we definitely want the patients to be around. Other things that are going to influence as well is that even though patients hate drains and doctors hate drains and nurses hate drains, if the procedure involves having some drains, then we need to have those patients stay until we can remove those drains.

Monique Ramsey (03:54):
And that kind of depends on how much fluid output there is. Maybe there's a rule of thumb that it's seven days or 14 days or 12 days, but also could be a little bit dependent on the patient.

Dr. Salazar (04:07):
Correct. So we can give them a good estimate of when those drains are going to be coming out and because I mean depending on what procedure, it's either a breast reduction, sometimes we use drains, if it's like a breast revision case, even a facelift, they have drains, but they come out sooner. But depending on which case at a tummy tuck, then you can give the patient an estimate, but then there's always that plus minus. So if we think that it's a week, sometimes it's seven to 10 days or it may be five days, but we tell them, for instance, plan for seven to 10 days after an abdominoplasty staying here so we can remove those drains. Another factor is if that procedure calls for sutures that need to be removed, stitches that need to be removed. Sometimes we think as civilians or as patients that removing a suture or removing a drain, I mean it sounds like a mystery, but sounds at the same time, something that should be very simple.

(05:08):
And maybe if I'm not from San Diego, if I'm not from this area, I can go back to San Francisco, I can go back to Alaska, I can go back to Hawaii and then find someone that will remove those sutures or that would remove those drains for me. That's a very common thought, but it's really hard for a patient once they go back home to find someone who is willing to take those sutures out. And for that reason, it's important that either they stay here during that time or they go back home and then come back to get those sutures removed.

Monique Ramsey (05:44):
If you lived in LA you could come back a week or two whenever it's time for those sutures to come out, but you weren't having to stay down the whole time. So the first hotel I want to talk about is sort of an a La Jolla icon. It's also known as the Pink Lady. And that Pink Lady is the La Valencia Hotel. It's right on Prospect Street, has a gorgeous view of the ocean. And I'm going to tell you if anybody, you're not having your espresso martini while you're having surgery, but if you want a really good espresso martini, that's where you go. So the La Valencia Hotel is the first one up on our list and it's been around almost a hundred years and it's a beautiful place. Let me ask you, Dr. Salazar, is that one of the hotels that you like to send patients to?

Dr. Salazar (06:34):
It's definitely an icon, right? I mean, I remember having brunch with my grandmother many, many years ago, and it's truly a reference point of La Jolla. It is a true icon. I think it's a great option as a hotel if you're planning to stay for some time after surgery. It's going to give you, it's close enough to the office, it's the furthest away from the office than the other two options. But it's still close enough that you can stay there. I would say it's going to put you right in the epicenter of La Jolla village. So not only are you going to have a great view, but also you can go out for an easy stroll window shopping kind of activity after surgery. But in reality, I would recommend that hotel if you're not having a procedure done that involves anything that we do that decreases your mobility. It has a couple of stairs, a set of stairs. It is more a hotel that patients that would have a smaller surgery, a smaller intervention would be able to enjoy better.

Monique Ramsey (07:39):
And I think it's a great location for maybe, let's say you're an out of town patient and you come back for a three month post-op or a six month follow-up, have a long weekend there because it really where you can enjoy being right downtown in the village and the espresso martini.

Dr. Salazar (07:57):
Absolutely.

Monique Ramsey (07:58):
Okay, so then the next, and one of my questions I was going to ask has to do with pricing, but as I was doing research about pricing, it's all over the board because it depends on the time of year, it depends on the type of suite, whether you're talking, I have little popups coming from $139 and another one was 600, and so who knows, but. So I'll let all of you do your own price shopping research, but our next one on our list is the Lodge at Torrey Pines. Same question, sort of what makes you love this hotel for patients nearby? Besides the cute guys at the front. This is why I love this hotel. The cute guys at the front in their Scottish kilts. But for our patients, it's a lovely place. Again, ocean view on a golf course, it's just spectacular.

Dr. Salazar (08:48):
It's spectacular. It's really a unique property, I would say. It's iconic as well. It's so beautiful, so spectacular. So that property is the second closest to our facilities and they accommodate so well for patients. They have this dedicated recovery rooms, so you don't have to check through the front desk. Because imagine after surgery you do not want to be registering or anything. And they can facilitate that process if you didn't do it the day before, or if you are having surgery and then want to check in. And I know, I understand that this would apply more for even local patients that they want to have surgery. So they would sleep at their house and then the next day they come in, they get surgery and then they go to the hotel. But definitely is a much more quiet environment. The rooms that they can adapt for the recovery of patients, they go from their basic room up to a very large corner, beautiful suite with a great golf course and ocean view.

(09:56):
So if you want to just open your windows and then get that nice ocean breeze and then just listen to some of the golfers and watch them hit some balls, because that's important: watch them hit some balls.

Monique Ramsey (10:08):
Yeah, don't hit the balls.

Dr. Salazar (10:10):
I have literally yesterday, yesterday we had a patient that we are going to perform surgery on next week, and patient was asking maybe he was going to stay at the Lodge and he wanted to hit some balls on day two or three after surgery.

Monique Ramsey (10:27):
Really?

Dr. Salazar (10:27):
I said, no. You can appreciate the technique of other golfers from the comfort of your room, but definitely do not go out and hit some balls. So their food is amazing. The level of service is spectacular. It's one of my favorite spots and entire area of San Diego. Highly recommended they accommodate for patients. It's nearby and even it's a place where we could easily that our patients can opt in for having the surgeon going to do the first post-op check, the day one after surgery check, instead of them having to come into our office, we could go there and it's a great facility where we can go and take care of that.

Monique Ramsey (11:10):
And it's more private.

Dr. Salazar (11:13):
It gives you a much more private feeling.

Monique Ramsey (11:15):
Yeah, that's really nice. And I can attest the food is spectacular there. I love it. I love going there. They have good hamburgers. Okay, so our last one on the list and is certainly not least is the Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa. And what makes this one stand out and how close is it?

Dr. Salazar (11:32):
So this one here is the closest one. It also gives you that flavor of privacy. I wouldn't say that it has those spectacular views that we were talking about, but the administration recently changed and the entire property underwent some serious million dollar renovation. And it gives you a flavor of an exclusive place where you can go and have a retreat. So the atmosphere is pretty quiet. They also have great options for you to eat there or order to your room. And also the level of the attention to detail of the people that work there is simply spectacular. So that's another place where our patients can also recover. We can easily go and visit them for that first post-up visit if they opt in for that or it's an easy five minute drive on an Uber or with the family member to our facility.

Monique Ramsey (12:33):
Now, what are some of the low impact activities or sightseeing options around these hotels that you might suggest for patients while they're taking it easy? Because even walking, sometimes that increases your heart rate and things can get busy inside your body while it's trying to heal. And so what do you really recommend for people

Dr. Salazar (12:55):
In reality, I mean, as you know, we don't want our patients, I mean, maybe sometimes their body ask our patients after surgery to stay in bed, right? Because what sometimes your body will ask you, and we don't want that. We want them to mobilize. We want them to not stay in bed at all times, just to sit up, go to the couch on those first couple of days, move, walk around, and especially inside, not too much outside. After that, little by little they can be becoming more and more active. Still, the biggest risk and the reason why we ask our patients not to perform exercise is basically for them not to get their heart rate up. Heart rate goes up, blood pressure goes up, and then they can potentially bleed. And that's the main reason why we want them to take it easy. So when they ask me, can I go for a walk? Can I go outside and go for a walk? And the answer is yes. Wear your sunscreen. Don't get exposed to a lot of sunlight. But yes, stroll is the right word, not hiking, not power walking, not walking up a hill.

Monique Ramsey (14:11):
Right? Elevations.

Dr. Salazar (14:13):
Yeah, elevations not going down to the cove and start exploring the caves and rocks and no, please. The same, I mean sometimes say like, oh, I have a dog. Can I walk my dog? They'll be like, well, if it's a chihuahua, maybe. But if it's something medium or large size. Why? Because we don't want that physical effort. So things that you can do, I mean, we have here, for instance, I even talked to people to give them an example. If you have a nice stroll, even at the mall, UTC is here, it's a fantastic mall. Probably, you're not going to be in the mood for doing extensive shopping or anything like that. But if you just do a nice window shopping stroll in UTC, that would be fantastic. If you go to La Jolla Village and then do the same, they have very interesting shops that you can just go in, walk in, check it out. Again, walking, not like the store is about a close and you got to go and return something. So that's not the kind of walk that we're talking about, but it's just literally nice window shopping walk.

Monique Ramsey (15:16):
Now, thinking about people traveling, how far in advance should patients be thinking to book their surgery to get maybe the date close to the date they want, and then how long ahead that they're trying to book their hotel? Because sometimes you think, oh yeah, I'll be able to get a room and then there's some convention or something or a golf tournament. So what do you recommend there?

Dr. Salazar (15:45):
I would say especially, I mean to plan it all together in reality that things, and during the year we have many peaks of high season of surgeries, and that's when mainly people want to have their surgery in a specific date. For instance, December is coming. I mean, people sometime would think like, oh, with all the holidays and everything, maybe not many people are going to be considering surgery. No, everybody wants to get surgery in December. And for patients too, if they want to secure a date that you can have a consultation two, three months ahead of time, we can plan it all they can most likely three months ahead of time, they can even select almost practically the day, the time they can get priority on all those things. And then starting around that time to still book their flight, book their coordinators, the patient's coordinators will tell them exactly how many days before and then how many days after we are expecting them to be here.

(16:52):
And as soon as they know that for them to book that room. They're going to get a much, much better rate. And then once we understand that if they're coming from out of town, we will be facilitating different things for them, such as some of the post-op visits, doing them online, doing them on the Zoom, and then as you were saying, maybe at six, eight weeks they're coming back and they stay for the full weekend, not only the day of their post-op check. But yeah, I would say when about two, three months ahead of time to plan for that.

Monique Ramsey (17:24):
I want to bring up just from my own personal experience, something that local patients might not think of. So I live very close to La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Center, very easy to get back and forth. And after I had my facelift, I was like, I can go home. And I did go home. However, the kids were seven and nine or something years old, my stepmom came over and she was handling dinner and everything's great, except for me, the patient, right in the room next door. The noise, the stress of hearing the kids and thinking what's going on and the smell of the food. She's an amazing cook, but I was nauseous. So smelling the food, but you're thinking, so sometimes even if you are living nearby, having a night or two away might ease the stress. You don't have those outside things like thinking is everything okay?

(18:38):
What do I need to do for them? That you're away and you've got either your husband or your wife or your best friend or your mom who's going to be with you, and then you're not having to stress out about what's happening at home. So I think that my pearl of wisdom that I would give to our local patients is just think about that. And it's one thing if you go home and maybe the kids are at grandma's house, then you're fine. You're in your own element. But if it's all everybody at home while you're there, that's my pearl for the local patients.

Dr. Salazar (19:11):
We definitely hear it all the time. So I would say consider it because nothing is going to give you more peace of mind that if you know everything's well taken care of at home, and then you're just recovering there for the first couple of days, even one night will make a big difference in your recovery just for you to be in the om of healing.

Monique Ramsey (19:35):
And one other thing is, when you are at a hotel or even at home, but at a hotel, and maybe you don't have a spouse or significant other, or your mom lives in Florida and you're here, there are nurses that we have lists of who can stay with you, who can take care of you either at your home or at a hotel, right?

Dr. Salazar (19:57):
That's correct.

Monique Ramsey (19:58):
Okay. I have one last question, and it maybe sounds like a silly question, but maybe it's a real concern. What's the best way for patients to get extra pillows? Do they bring their own pillows? I think sometimes you want certain elevations or will these hotels have what you need?

Dr. Salazar (20:20):
Right? I mean, they'll totally accommodate for you. And you know that it's like, I mean, definitely you at home, you have a limited number of pillows, but the hotel has limitless pillows and limitless sheets. And sometimes, I mean, let's look at it from, I mean, you were saying we're talking about trivial things, right? So let me put it in a trivial way. Let me tell you sometimes what we do and when we do either liposuction or some type of breast reduction or there can be a little bit of oozing after surgery. And what we recommend is of course, put on your bed, put a towel underneath, then you have the patient lay down, then you put another towel, and then you get your sheets. And that way you can protect your sheets and you can protect pretty much all your linens, all your whites from getting

Monique Ramsey (21:07):
A little blood tinge.

Dr. Salazar (21:08):
The blood or any little bloody tinged. So sometimes it happens. So sometimes it will happen. So if you go to a hotel, you don't have to carry or wonder how to remove those stains to

Monique Ramsey (21:21):
Yeah, they've got all the secrets.

Dr. Salazar (21:24):
They got all the secrets. You'll see next time you go, the room is perfect. And they have, again, unlimited number of towels, unlimited number of pillows and sheets. So that's a very good advantage of doing that.

Monique Ramsey (21:36):
Okay, perfect. Well, thank you Dr. Salazar. I mean, we really covered a lot today. And I think it's important for patients to know, whether they're coming from out of town and they're going to start their journey on a Zoom consult with you, and maybe end their journey on a Zoom follow-up in six months or three months, or if they're local and you you're wanting to stay somewhere nearby that we've gone through these three amazing hotels. We will put links in our show notes of each of the hotels we talked about, and you can go online and check 'em out. And they're all really wonderful, and we don't want to recommend something where we wouldn't feel that you would be happy and comfortable. And I love your point about the linens and things like that. That's true, they have limitless linens and towels and sheets and pillows. So that's kind of a nice thing.

Dr. Salazar (22:25):
And they magically get cleaned.

Monique Ramsey (22:29):
Yeah, yeah. And so if you're thinking about coming to us and you're interested in information on traveling, information on a consultation, how to set that up, whether virtually or in person, and information about pricing, we've always been very transparent with our pricing for, I don't know, 30 something years, we've been putting our price ranges on the web, and so we have information about that. We also have information about financing, because I think if you are coming from out of town and you're having a bigger procedure and you've got, part of your expense is going to be the hotel, and so maybe you might want to finance part of your procedure because the money you've saved might be going towards hotel. And so our coordinators, like Dr. Salazar said, they're really good at helping you manage this whole experience and you having the experience that you want to have, in the way you want to have it. And we're going to help build that custom experience for you. So we'll have everything in the show notes, all the links, and if you have any questions, shoot us a text, shoot us a phone call, email, whatever. We're here.

Dr. Salazar (23:42):
Perfect. This has a great, great podcast. And I think it's a little bit different. We didn't go into, very deep into medicine or any procedure or any surgery, but I like it. I like it because this is part of our patient care.

Monique Ramsey (23:57):
Yes, yes. So thank you again, Dr. Salazar, for your expertise and helping us in your, he came in his travel tog. So if you're watching on YouTube, he's got his little travel vest on and looks so cute. And so we'll see you all on the next one. Thanks for listening.

Announcer (24:13):
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