Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

We haven’t reviewed any gay hamams, as the current socio-political climate makes their legal status ambiguous. BATH PROCEDURE Upon entry you are shown to a camekan (entrance hall or space), where you will be allocated a dressing cubicle (halvet) or locker and given a peştemal (bath wrap) and plastik çarıklar (plastic sandals) or takunya (wooden clogs). Store your clothes and don the peştemal and footware. An attendant will then lead you through the soğukluk (intermediate section) to the hararet (steam room), where you sit and sweat for a while, relaxing and loosening up, perhaps on the göbektaşı (central, raised platform atop the heating source). Soon you will be half asleep and as soft as putty from the steamy heat. The cheapest bath is the one you do yourself, having brought your own soap, shampoo and towel. But the real Turkish bath experience is to have an attendant wash, scrub and massage you. If you have opted for the latter, an attendant douses you with warm water and lathers you with a sudsy sponge. Next you are scrubbed with a kese (coarse cloth mitten), loosening dirt you never suspected you had. After a massage (these yo-yo between being enjoyable, limp-wristed or mortally dangerous) comes a shampoo and another dousing with warm water, followed by one with cool water. When the scrubbing is over, relax in the hararet or head to the camekan, where you can get dressed or have a rest; at some hamams you can order something to eat or drink. The average hamam experience takes around one hour. Spas Most of İstanbul’s five-star hotels have spas where a hamam exists alongside facilities such as saunas, steam rooms, plunge pools and rain shower rooms. Hamam treatments in these spas are private and often