IL Postcard
Hedonism in Central Europe
Date: 05/07/2008
You can indulge in traditional medicinal spa treatments in this five-star palace for $165 per night.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Piestany, Slovakia
Read more about Europe in International Living Postcards—your daily escape
I went to check out Slovakia’s premier spa town, Piestany, which is just 90 minutes by bus from Bratislava. You can come here for hedonism, but most guests come for health reasons.
In central Europe, spa culture is really popular, and is still more about therapeutic cures than pampering. Spa treatments in Slovakia used to be funded by the communist state; now it’s generally health insurers that foot the bill. Even so, spas realize they have to be commercially viable, so now they are attracting paying guests with cosmetic treatments and wellness packages.
I was here to find out about real estate, so I didn’t have too much time to indulge myself in Piestany’s spa facilities: mineral-rich hot springs and therapeutic pools, parks, riverside and woodland walks, even a golf course. Some buildings still look austere enough to please a die-hard communist, but there are restored art nouveau edifices and posh-looking hotels. I’d love to come back in late spring, summer, or fall.
A huge range of treatment packages are available. A typical 13-night traditional medical spa stay for a single traveler works out to $81 per night in a two-star hotel; $165 in the five-star Thermia Palace. (It's less if you are sharing: $69 and $157, respectively.) There are over 60 treatments, and you get 24 a week depending on what’s recommended by the examining physician.
Piestany’s dentists are also attracting increasing numbers of British visitors.Various U.K. newspapers have reported on the huge savings patients have made—almost $10,000 in the case of one woman. A porcelain bonded crown costs an equivalent $342; a root canal $120; a set of full acrylic dentures $595. X-rays, examination, and airport transfers are free.
If you seek a holiday home with health benefits, the town and its rural surrounds are well worth a look. In a village about nine miles from the town, Jarmila also has a habitable family house for $73,000. (See www.realpallas.sk for more information.)
In a new brick-built development with a view of the river, you’ll find four 70-square-meter apartments for $165,600 each. Heating, gas, electric, water, and communal service charges should come to about $142 per month.
Steenie Harvey
Roving Europe Editor, International Living
Editor’s note: Could you write a Postcard like this one? As a freelance travel writer, you have the opportunity to visit the world's most romantic, exciting, and offbeat destinations. It's easier than you think to get started...here's how Steenie did it.
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