Most patients from the United States have never used one, and find out what a recovery house is about four days before they need it. This is the guide we wish they had read earlier.
If you are travelling to Tijuana for plastic surgery, bariatric surgery, dental treatment or another medical procedure, a recovery house can provide a more structured environment than a traditional hotel. This guide explains what a recovery house is, what services patients should look for, and how to arrange transportation between San Diego, your clinic and your recovery facility.
A recovery house is post-operative accommodation: a place to stay for the days after a procedure, staffed to a degree that a hotel is not. Depending on the facility, that can include meals adapted to a post-operative diet, help with medication schedules, assistance getting up and moving, basic wound care, drain management, coordination with your surgeon and transportation to follow-up appointments.
The important word is depending. Recovery houses in Tijuana range from a private home with a caregiver to a purpose-built facility with nursing shifts and a doctor on call. Two places using the same words on their website can offer very different levels of care, so what matters is not the category but what a specific facility actually provides on the days you will be there.
It is also worth being clear about what a recovery house is not: it is not a hospital, and it is not a substitute for the post-operative plan your surgeon gives you.
Patients travelling alone, who have nobody to help them stand up, reach medication or notice that something is wrong.
Procedures with a demanding first few days: abdominal surgery, multiple procedures in one session, anything with drains, or a recovery where lying flat or getting up unaided is difficult.
Patients whose surgeon has specifically recommended supervised recovery — which is the only recommendation on this page that should override anything you read here.
Conversely, a straightforward dental treatment or a minor procedure with an easy recovery usually does not need one, and a hotel or a rental will be more comfortable and cheaper.
Nursing, and specifically whether it is 24/7 or only during certain hours; post-operative monitoring and how often it happens; medication assistance; wound care and drain management, which are the two that patients most often assume are included.
Meals, and whether they can be adapted to your post-operative diet — this is not a small point after bariatric or dental surgery.
Private rooms versus shared, accessible bathrooms, and whether the room is on a floor you can reach.
Transportation coordination, proximity to your surgeon, English-speaking staff, emergency protocols and doctor availability: who is called, how fast, and to which hospital.
Reviews and any licensing or credentials the facility holds. Ask for these in writing before you pay a deposit.
These facilities have an identifiable public presence and are listed here alphabetically, as a starting point for your own research. This is not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a statement about the quality or safety of any of them. Every entry links to its location so you can check current services, pricing and availability yourself.
Cross Border Transport is not affiliated with these facilities and does not guarantee their prices, availability, quality, licensing or any medical or nursing service they may offer. Patients should verify current services, pricing and availability directly with the recovery house, and follow their surgeon's instructions.
| Recovery house | Private room | Nursing | Meals | Transportation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cocoon Recovery House | Verify | Verify | Verify | We can arrange it | Tijuana |
| Bella Recovery House | Verify | Verify | Verify | We can arrange it | Tijuana |
| Recovery House Tijuana | Verify | Verify | Verify | We can arrange it | Tijuana |
| Recovery House Vive | Verify | Verify | Verify | We can arrange it | Tijuana |
| Princess Palace | Verify | Verify | Verify | We can arrange it | Tijuana |
| Dollhouse Recovery | Verify | Verify | Verify | We can arrange it | Tijuana |
«Verify» is deliberate. Services, staffing and prices at these facilities change, and we will not publish a claim about somebody else's business that we cannot stand behind. Use this table as your checklist and fill it in with what each facility confirms to you in writing.
A typical week, and where transportation fits into it. Booked together, the whole chain is one quote and one point of contact instead of seven separate arrangements.
The chain is: recovery house, private transportation, the San Ysidro or Otay Mesa crossing, the medical lane where it applies, and San Diego. Booked as one reservation it is a single fare from $120 USD with the medical lane pass, and the driver picks you up at the facility door.
Some coordinate it, some do not, and what «included» means varies. Ask the facility directly, and if they do not provide it, we do — facilities and families book with our dispatch regularly, and the confirmation goes to both.
Commonly five to seven days for surgery with a significant recovery, but the number that matters is the one your surgeon gives you. Tell us the discharge date when you book and we hold the crossing window.
Yes, and it is the most common trip we run inside Tijuana: $20 USD one way, $40 USD round trip, patient plus one companion. Send us the week's appointment schedule and we confirm every movement at once.
Tell us the date, the time and the two addresses. We confirm the vehicle, the driver and the published fare in writing — usually within minutes.
