I didn't have a Hammam scheduled but it was available and really close to the hotel, it's cultural,…read moreit was a long day of...you know what? I don't need an excuse to have a spa day on a nice vacation. It wasn't on my 'to-do' list so I didn't do a lot of research. I was expecting a more communal style affair-my only point of reference was a Korean style sauna since I got walked into a communal area where people were just chilling out. After being walked upstairs and into a changing room. The next room was a large steam room, but not oppressively humid, probably because it was surprisingly high ceilinged and laid down on a marble bench, another surprise, it was way more comfortable than it sounds. I lost all sense of time. The hammam was like a cross between a scrub, a wash and a massage. I never saw why Turkish towels were 'a thing,' but after this I was surprised at how absorbent and supple it was. After getting all the travel stress out of my system THAT was when I was given a robe and then taken up front to that cavernous common area with a nice cup of hibiscus tea.

I highly recommend this hamam. I was able to book a reservation using WhatsApp while in Istanbul…read moreand communicating directly with the hamam. This is a nice touch since I'm using my US cell phone. The hamam itself is immaculate. I booked a session for me and my 2 daughters. We were given 2 changing rooms. Each room has a dyson hair dryer and q-tips etc. to use after your Turkish bath. Each room locks automatically and you are given a bracelet which unlocks the door. Very convenient and secure. The hamam experience is comparable to other experiences I've had - very good! I do like that for the bubble/massage portion, you are laying down on the marble. I've been to another hamam where they do this part while you're sitting. Here, my girl did a great job to get the knots out of my back. The experience is so relaxing and calming. You can take your time and chill in the relaxation room after your Turkish bath. With this hamam being co-ed/couples, you can bring your own 2 piece bikini which is convenient and comfortable. I've been to non-coed hamams where you eventually end up taking your bikini top off, but not here. It's really no biggie but just wanted to mention the differences. This is a great hamam for first timers or seasoned hamam goers. This is a great part of the Ottoman/Turkish culture to experience.

It was just terrific. They explained everything. You have to be comfortable with nudity, your own,…read moreand the scantily dressed woman who is scrubbing and helping you (if you are a woman). But I would do it again in a heartbeat, so relaxing.

The Suleymaniye Hamam was a cultural experience, that's for sure…read more I wanted to try a genuine Turkish bath, and the Sulimaniye Hamam is not only one of the oldest ones in Istanbul, it's also one of the few that allows co-ed bathing. In fact, it requires you come with a partner to partake. So I coerced my husband into coming along and made reservations for a Turkish bath. We arrived early but they took us right away. You are given a changing room (shared with your partner) and asked to dress in a bikini for women (they give you shorts and a top if you don't bring your own) and a towel for men. You're also given some very uncomfortable wooden sandals. A side note here: They made my husband leave his glasses in the changing room, which left him functionally blind. The glasses WOULD have steamed up in the bathing room, but I think that would have been preferable to him not being able to see at all, AND we saw another person wearing glasses in there. (OK, I saw another person wearing glasses in there--husband saw nothing.) So if you wear glasses and want them on your face for the bath, do it. After changing, you're brought into a large steam room for about 30 minutes to wait for your bath. There's a large heated marble square in the center of the room to sit on, and sinks around the perimeter of the room for you to fill bowls with water to splash yourself. Each of the four corners of the room is a treatment area, with two benches and two sinks. When it's your turn, the bathers will call you in to a corner and begin the treatment. The treatment consists of exfoliation with a loofah, followed by laying down on the table to be scrubbed all over with bubbles. They work on your back first, then your front. The scrubbing includes a little bit of massage, which was nice. Then, you are splashed with clean water to rinse the soap, and moved back to the area next to the sink where they shampoo your hair. Finally, you are splashed with progressively colder water until you're completely rinsed and soap-free. The last part of the experience is getting dry. The bathers bring you into a side room and wrap you in Turkish bath towels. They do not like it if you try to wrap yourself, I learned. Finally, you're brought into a room with benches and tables where you can order coffee, tea, water, or other refreshments. After our sweaty bath experience, all we wanted was water and more water. When you're done, you go back to your changing room, get back into your clothes, and that's it. You can pay for your refreshments on the way out (you pre-paid for the treatment) as well as leave any tips in a designated box. Pro tips: Bring something to hold back your hair if it's long. Bring makeup wipes since any makeup you're wearing will smear. Bring deodorant to reapply, as well as any hair products or makeup you might need, unless you plan on going straight back to your hotel. They do have blow dryers available for use at the hamam. As I said at the beginning, this was a cultural experience. I didn't find it relaxing exactly, especially since I wasn't sure what was going to happen at any given time. I'm glad I went, but I probably won't seek out a Turkish bath experience here at home.

This was by far my favorite activity I did while I was in Istanbul. I went for the full Ab-i Hayat…read morepackage, but they were doing a special of 10% off appts before 1:00 pm so it ended up being $315 dollars. My partner in the process was Selda and she was AMAZING!!! Honestly she made the entire experience. She was respectful but funny and really helped me feel confident and lose my nervousness since it was my first time and I had no idea what to expect. They also gave me a full bar of their soap plus a Turkish towel in a cute bag. After the "wet" portion of the experience, before the oil massage upstairs, I sat in a nice little relaxing area and was brought some sherbet tea, water, and Turkish delight while I rested. Services i got: - Traditional full body scrubbing in the warmest quarter. - Organic Lavender Extract and Sea Salt Refreshing hand and foot peeling. - full body clay mask. - Relaxing bubble wash ritual on the warm marble stone. - Hair wash ritual with redbud scented shampoo. - Aromatherapy Massage with redbud scented oil in the private massage room. - Fresh and dried fruits to finish off the experience. Overall the entire experience took about 2.5 hours and left me feeling so refreshed.

BEST EXPERIENCE EVER! This is seriously a MUST in Istanbul. You will not be disappointed…read more I did a decent amount of research on the best hammam to try in Istanbul, and there's a reason this is so beloved. LOCATION This is prime location near Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque, and this hammam building itself has a TON of history. It's stunning! OFFERINGS They do massages as well, but the main thing here is the hammam experience. If you don't know, it's a communal style body washing experience that typically means washing on hot marble stone with running water sinks, being soap-foam massaged and scrubbed by an attendant, and bathhouse style ambiance. PRICE They have tiered pricing options from 110-330 euros, and we opted for something in the middle that included the hammam experience being scrubbed and bubble soap foam massaged by the attendant, a face mask and hair wash, and treats post-experience. EXPERIENCE This was pure luxury! You start in the stunning lounge area and get changed into the robe in the changing rooms that have a traditional look. The space is large and even with a few others during the same time and an attendant, it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable at all. It started with being washed and washing myself, then a face mask, then a face mask and hair wash + scrub with a sandpaper-like glove by the attendant in a more private section. Then, I came out to the main area on the central marble slab for the soap foam massage which was amazing - I've never felt more exfoliated and clean! I ended with a face mask sheet and treats including sherbet drink, tea and Turkish delight in the main room. I got to take home the soap and scrubber glove complimentary as well. A treat from start to finish!

This historic Turkish Bathhouse is named after an admiral, the building itself is venerable and…read moremajestic. Kılıç Ali Pasha was one of the greatest admirals in Ottoman naval history. Born Giovanni Dionigi Galeni at the beginning of the 16th century in Calabria in southern Italy, Kılıç Ali Pasha was captured by the Ottoman navy and forced to work as a galley slave. After taking part in several battles, he converted to Islam, changing his name to Uluç, or the Great, Ali. His skills and success in battle soon earned him his own galley and the rank of captain, and he became known as one of the boldest corsairs in the Mediterranean Sea. He continued to rise through the ranks, and in 1568 Sultan Selim II appointed him governor, or beylerbeyi, of Algiers. I'm not really into the massage steam bath thing but you should try it once in a place like this.

One of the best deep tissue massages I ever had--ask for Reza. The place is beautiful, the service…read moreis attentive. I felt like a new person when I got out.

I had a wonderful time here. The Hamam looked very clean and a very relaxing experience. You run…read moreinto these tours in istanbul that charge you almost an arm and a leg to take you to the Hamam and then you gotta pay extra for other service while you can just walk in here and have the Hamam experience of your lifetime!

In all my travels, my experience here was one of the worst I've ever had. I selected their full…read morestandard option (spa, scrub, massage), and things started off fine. I've been to hammams before and enjoyed my nap on the hot stone. The problems started when my attendant came back. I've traveled a lot in places where people spoke no English and I've learned to get by with smiles and nods and gestures. This man, though, seemed to think I was the world's greatest moron for not understanding Turkish. He yelled at me over and over again. When I still didn't understand him, he would just push me where he wanted me to go. I was completely disgusted by the scrub once I realized that he was using the same glove on the rest of my body that he'd used on the bottoms of my feet. The worst part, though, was the massage. On my first leg, he massaged me so hard that I laughed from the absurdity of it. On my second leg, I couldn't take it anymore and yelled out in pain, at which point he did stop. Later, on my back, he was using his elbow on my spine, which scared me to no end. I should say, too, that as part of the massage, he went after some spots on my shins that were visibly and deeply bruised from before the trip. Nothing helps bruises heal like deeply massaging them! At the end, he left me a bar of soap to clean for a few minutes. He came back quickly and, satisfied with my progress, promptly took the bar of soap and left. I didn't even have soap to use in the cold shower. I ended up dressing as quickly as I could and scooting back home to my rental so I could shower off the foot-filth he'd spread across my whole body. My whole stay at this hammam lasted about 40 minutes. I think they claim the massage alone is 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes on the stone...so how there is also time for a scrub, I don't know. I would have liked to stay longer on the stone, but I was so grossed out by the body scrub that I felt I had to leave. Awful, awful time in every way.

Well having been in OLD TOWN TURKISH SAUNA HAMAM ,which is definitely bigger and as nice as this,I…read morestill recommend taking the HIGH TEC Metro Bosporus MARMARAY Tube to Üsküdar and BEST BUY incl.Massage

First experience at the hammam and loved every bit of it! Wish I had a whole day to spend at the…read morespa ! Everything is super clean and the whole experience relaxing! Going to try out their massages next trip!

This was the best spa experience of my life. I had a Turkish bath with a Swedish massage. Having…read morenever had a Turkish bath, I did not know what to expect. The women were so gentle and polite. I quickly felt at ease and like I dropped into a new world of pampered delight. The bath was fantastic, as I was scrubbed from head to toe, covered in soft bubbles and rinsed at every step. The room was all white marble with a soft glow, like being inside an egg. After the extensive bath and short rest, I had the best Swedish massage of my life, again in an egg shaped room,but dark and shadowy with soft Turkish music with a hint of California whales. Kind of Turk CA fusion. I was there almost 2 hours an am almost, but not quite, relaxed enough to skip dinner. Ha, not a chance.

This was my first Turkish hammam experience, everything was amazing from start to finish and…read morestress-free! They guide you every step of the way. You start in a mild sauna in a gorgeous marble room for ~20 min (this room has both men and women together so you are given a towel to wear, can bring bathing suit as well if you like) then you get scrubbed down in a private room afterward by a same-sex person followed by a massage with bubbles. Then to top it off you get a delicious iced tea with Turkish delights. The facility is gorgeous and is one of the oldest such buildings in the area. You can make reservations online - one thing to note is it is cash only. I highly recommend coming here, I've never felt so baby soft and relaxed!

I don't usually review businesses aside from food establishments, but this Hamami (spa) provided a…read moregreat experience. I had a hard time deciding on which Hamami to visit in Istanbul. Reviews on Yelp were sparse and the reviews on Google were suspicious for most Hamamis. I ended up looking up pricing and popping into a few spots to check out the atmosphere. Folks here were welcoming and not pushy. Pricing was better than most of the tourist friendly spots. It was cash only. Experience was fantastic. They only booked five people for our time slot. There was five of us that shared the Hamami which provided plenty of space. Then the split the men and women got the scrubbing and baths. After that they moved us to a coed lounging area. Awesome coed experience. Other patrons were very respectful; super happy with the clientele. All the staff was hospitable and welcoming. My attendant did a fantastic job and helped guide me to a memorable experience. I'd highly recommend booking at least a day in advance. We were fortunate to walk in and secure a slot a couple hours later, but other walkins were declined later on.

Absolutely incredible experience and definitely a highlight during our 15 day European adventure…read more When my 13 year old Autistic son heard we were going to be visiting Istanbul, somehow he found out about a Turkish Bath and asked if we could go. I hesitated somewhat as we were traveling with a group of 7 (2 men, 2 women, 2 girls aged 14 & 15 and 1 13-year old boy) and I didn't think he fully understood what a Turkish Bath was. Frankly, I didn't know either! After I did some research, it actually did sound like something we just had to do so I checked Yelp, Tripadvisor and Google and it was pretty clear which Hamman was the best in the city. If Cagaloglu Hamami was good enough for Oprah, Harrison Ford and Steve Irwin (whose pictures adorn the entry hallway among many other celebrities' photos), I figured it would be good enough for us! The building itself is beautiful; it isn't the oldest Hammam in Istanbul but it certainly appeared old and very charming. Right after we stepped out of the taxi, the gracious staff greeted us warmly and directed us inside. The staff explained the service we signed up for (Hamami Ritual Bath at $90) and offered an additional mud bath for $40. We opted to do the additional and were soon separated; the girls went to their side of the building and the boys went to ours. We were shown to our individual cozy changing rooms and given keys to lock our belongings inside. The rooms were provided with a bottle of water, body lotion and even a toothbrush with toothpaste! We put on the comfortable towels and met our "tellaks" (male attendants) who led us inside the hot room where we relaxed with another provided bottle of water for about 15-20 minutes. The room's temperature is very comfortable, certainly not swelteringly hot. Afterwards, our towel enrobed tellaks led us by the arm to the main room where we were instructed to lay down on marble slab tables. It sounds uncomfortable but it really wasn't. Our "Hamman Ritual" involved a scrub, massage, a bubble bath and of course the extra mud application. This was amazing. The scrub wasn't too harsh or rough and the massage was fantastic. And the bubbles were amazing. They pour buckets of heavy, velvety bubbles over you and the sensation is honestly amazing. Afterwards, buckets and buckets of warm, cold and warm water again to rinse you off. I was nervous because I had accidentally swallowed some but the water is clean and potable as I didn't get sick. The mud was then applied and left on for about 10 minutes followed by more rinsing, all the while we continued to lay on the marble slab looking up at the beautiful domed building with light peeking through various windows. All throughout the ritual, genitals were covered by the towel (should you have any concern). Afterwards, we were returned to our changing rooms where we got dressed, exited and were met by our tellaks who provided us with generous helpings of delicious tea, juice, Turkish delight, nuts and dried apricots. My son's tellak gifted him a pair of slippers and we all received soaps to take home. Shortly thereafter, the girls rejoined us and reported that while they had been nervous at first, that they, too, had an absolutely wonderful experience. The $90 pricepoint seemed fine for us and we did opt for the addditonal $40 mud application. Perhaps that could have been a little less expensive but we all opted in because we'd likely never be back and it added to the overall experience and time. They also offer additional massage services but the Ritual was perfect as it was. The staff from start to finish were all very professional, helpful and kind and the overall experience lasted a very relaxed hour and a half to two hours. We tipped about 10% as that is what we read is customary in Turkey. If you have extra time, they also have a lovely restaurant and small bar inside as well! We didn't order anything, however. Visiting Cagaloglu Hamami is an absolute must if you visit Istanbul. Make sure to make reservations!

I'm so glad I experienced this Turkish tradition. I chose the Sultan Mahmud The First and it was a…read morelovely experience. The only reason it didn't get five stars is because unfortunately there was a screaming child the entire time while this was supposed to be a peaceful, serene experience. I started off in the sauna, and then was led to the bathing area by a lovely woman. There was another woman waiting for me and they laid me down on the marble and bathed me, followed by bubbles and a light massage. I added the clay body mask and let that sit for a bit. Once rinsed off they let me relax with some tea and treats and gave me a foot massage. After relaxing and enjoying the treats it was followed by another massage. Overall an experience, and it was quite nice. Women and men are separated, but you will be mostly nude in front of others. Make sure you're comfortable with that. I'd definitely come back to experience it again.