THE TAB: US$13,425 for four nights

Courtesy Las Ventanas Al Paraiso

It's an astronomical price — though at least it's for two people — but the Ultimate Fitness program combined boot camp and butler service in a way I've never experienced. Home base is one of the resort's ultra-luxe two-bedroom spa suites, equipped with a massage room, steam room, infrared sauna, and plunge-pool Jacuzzi. You have your own wellness staff — massage therapist who doubles as your butler, yoga instructor, weight trainer, and Pilates instructor — and a customized workout program. Meals are from the spa menu. And there's a neat gimmick, a Polar BodyAge report that reveals your fitness age, as opposed to your chronological age. My staff was top-notch — my Pilates teacher was on the Mexican synchronized-swimming team at the 2002 Olympics, and my butler was the consummate spa Jeeves. I left with a retooled weight-training program that has yielded a major increase in functional strength, the knowledge that I'm fitter than I thought, and a feeling I don't usually get from a resort vacation: accomplishment. — G.W.

888-767-3966, www.lasventanas.com