(FORTUNE Magazine) – So you've decided to quit smoking. But you've tried to go cold turkey before and this time you want help. Maybe lots of help. We found six U.S. spas and health centers with programs aimed at folks who want to drop the habit. The prices are high--but you'll get loads of attention, even pampering in some cases. And while only one out of 20 who go it alone is smoke-free after a year, these centers claim success rates of 50% or better.

What are they like? I dropped in on Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires (Lenox, Mass., 800-726-9900) to find out. The 100-year-old mansion that houses the medical facility and the sprawling, high-tech spa that adjoins it are nestled in 120 acres of rolling countryside. I had filled out a long questionnaire before I checked in, so the coordinator who explained what I'd be doing during my stay, the nurse who took my vital signs, and the doctor who put me through my paces knew that my mission was to analyze how they dealt with a prisoner of cigarettes who wanted out. (Before I go any further, full disclosure: While it's been over ten years since my last cigarette, I still have smoking dreams--the craving never completely leaves, I'm told--and I clearly recall the pain and anguish associated with quitting.)

"Most people who come to us know why they shouldn't smoke, so we concentrate on what happens during withdrawal," says Jeff Rossman, director of behavioral health. "We talk about why prior attempts to quit failed, do a symbolic leave-taking to deal with the emotional dependence, and fill their days with activities."

Alex Giorgio, a psychologist who specializes in biofeedback and hypnotherapy, kicked things off by teaching me breathing techniques to relax my jangled nerves, and imaging techniques to help my mind over-ride the demands being sent out by my body. The hypnotherapy ("No swinging watch," said Giorgio. "That's extra.") took me back to my first cigarette. "You're an older, wiser person now," he assured me in a calm, soothing voice, "and you can tell that younger person it's okay not to smoke." I left with a 20-minute tape of the session to guide private follow-up exercises in the future.

Next stop was the spirometry lab, where I did heavy breathing into a tube. "I tell smokers about emphysema, about how the lungs gradually lose the ability to do the job, about the terror people experience when they can't breathe," said Paul Shelhamer, who ran the test. Martin Benjamin, an acupuncturist, then proceeded to sink a series of thin needles into strategic parts of my body. "Acupuncture is one of the most effective ways of detoxifying crack-cocaine addicts," he said, "and it seems to help people who are giving up cigarettes." I hopped off the table relaxed and refreshed.

Over to Ashli-Lyn Minor, a nutritionist, who told me that a person who stops smoking should expect to gain seven pounds: "The trick is to accept it, nurture your body during the withdrawal, and shed the weight later. Eat 20 different foods a day," she urged as I was leaving. "You need to cross-train your gut as well as your muscles." Enter Reba Schecter, director of exercise physiology, who creates a program to meet an individual's cardiovascular conditioning needs and, at the same time, raise the metabolism to deal with those extra pounds.

There was more: herbal wraps and an aqua massage to draw toxins out of my system; yoga, meditation, and tai chi; on-the-hour classes for 40 types of exercises; a 75-foot indoor pool; outdoor hikes and canoe trips; a dining room that served up three hearties a day complete with calorie, fat, and fiber count. Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires says the program's success rate is 50%; a seven-day stay starts at $2,810.

Coolfont Resort (Berkeley Springs, W. Va., 800-888-8768), a woodsy outpost consisting of a 23-room lodge and clusters of cottages on 1,400 acres at the foot of the Appalachians, gained fame in the 1980s when Bill Bennett--just tapped to be drug czar in the Bush Administration--checked in to kick his three-pack-a-day habit. It now runs a one-week Breathe-Free Program each month. Director Martha Ashelman tells participants at the evening orientation that they needn't quit until the next night: "I don't want them to white-knuckle it or feel deprived. I want them to experience an attitude change and feel they've made a choice to be free."

Kickoff comes the next day when cigarettes are burned, balloons are set free, and the wannabe nonsmokers begin a program that includes twice-a-day group meetings, breathing and meditation sessions, tons of exercise (yoga, hiking, swimming, boating on the lake), massages, and a high-alkaline diet that leaches out the nicotine. A drug counselor walks the group through the triggers that might cause them to re-start smoking, and Ashelman tells grads to call her for support anytime they feel themselves slipping; she says 60% stay smoke-free. A week at Coolfont costs about $1,395.

Hilton Head Health Institute (Hilton Head Island, S.C., 800-292-2440), which made its reputation in weight control, also offers a respected smoking-cessation program. "We give them the facts they need to know and the tools they need to make lifestyle changes when they get home," says director Peter Miller. Those tools include nicotine gum and patches. "Some people say that's swapping one addiction for another, but studies show replacement therapy doubles your chances of success."

Then comes behavior mod. "Smoking is a learned habit," says Dr. Miller. "We teach them how to break it and to understand the cues that trigger the desire to smoke." The program also includes stress management, relaxation techniques, meditation, deep breathing, and self-hypnosis that focuses on the use of positive imagery to deal with nicotine craving. Miller recommends a two-week stay, and says two-thirds of graduates stay off cigarettes. Cost: $1,695 per week, plus $200 for the smoking program.

The program at Canyon Ranch Health Resort (Tucson, Ariz., 800-726-9900), in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains, drills participants before they arrive (establish a quit date, write reasons for wanting to quit on three by five-inch cards you carry with you, don't empty ashtrays) and after they leave (create a one-line mantra that you trot out whenever a craving comes round the bend).

The philosophy here is the same as in the Berkshires. What's different is the desert and the Life Enhancement Center, a stand-alone facility where the Stop Smoking people check in for a week of structured, group activities. There's also acupuncture, hypnotherapy, herbal wraps, and heavy-duty exercise designed to push the endorphins up and sweat the impurities out. "A hike in the desert will tell most smokers exactly what they need to know, and what they need to do about it," says Kate Hamilton, the behavioral therapist who runs the program. A week starts at around $3,140.

Cooper Wellness Program (Dallas, 800-444-5192) is a recent addition to Dr. Kenneth Cooper's world-famous aerobics center. "Our typical participant is the corporate executive who has been successful at work but let his health go to pot," says executive director Leah Kay Gabriel. Cooper offers lectures on the downside of smoking, classroom work, one-on-one consultations with health psychologists, healthy meals, and lots of exercise. "If the person who stops smoking begins a good eating and exercise program at the same time," says Gabriel, "it vastly increases the chances of success." The price tag: $3,495 for the recommended two-week stay, plus $1,200 for a physical at the neighboring Cooper Clinic, $100 a night for accommodations, and $100 an hour for psychological counseling .

Finally, Mayo Nicotine Dependence Center (Rochester, Minn., 800-344-5984) runs a series of eight-day residential programs designed for people who are afraid to even try to give up smoking, and for those who have tried everything else and failed. But this is definitely not a spa. Participants check into an ordinary hospital wing, get 6:30 wake-up calls to exercise, are issued patches or Zyban (an antidepressant that seems to cut the nicotine craving), and are lectured, counseled, and given an in-your-face look at the lung of a former smoker who is no longer with us. The program--staffed by seven counselors and three Mayo physicians--has a success rate in the 50% neighborhood, and will run you about $2,850.