Cağaloğlu Hamam

I was super excited to try this Hamam experience but unfortunately it did not meet expectations.

The Hamam itself is a gorgeous 300 year old building. Its architecture and charm are fabulous.

I was supposed to be in the steam room for 10 minutes but I was left there for over 20 minutes and started to feel very uncomfortable especially as I was visiting in summer and it was as very hot and humid already. My husband and son were left in the steam room on the male side for almost 30 minutes. My son started to feel lightheaded and nauseated. This is super dangerous and truly not acceptable for an establishment of this caliber.

In the actual bath area it was disappointing that they had me lay on a towel for the scrub and massage. The whole point is to lay on the heated marble to relax your muscles and increase your blood flow. The experience was rushed and hurried. I felt the attendant was very very rough with her massage and a few times I even whelped in pain but she continued to be very rough.

I booked the luxury experience which included a 45 minute aromatherapy massage. The massage room was a dingy small room with no lighting. There was no aromatherapy but instead an old damp towel smell. My massage was again very rough and to a point painful. I was beyond disappointed because I paid for a 45 min massage and mine was no more than 25-30 minutes and the attendant did the exact same abbreviated massage that was done at the time of the foam bath. It was hard to relax because there was a small rotating fan that was very loud in the small room.

If you are modest the attendants are not concerned about respecting this. When my massage was over the attendant had me stand up without anything on and had me get into a robe without taking caution to close the door for privacy. Everyone in the relaxation area had full view into the area and it was uncomfortable for me.

It was hard to unwind and relax in the relaxation areas. There was a lot of ambient noise and you could hear people watching videos on their phones, staff talking loudly and other guests in the front reception were very loud. The acoustics carry in this place and there was no concern or efforts made to keep conversations at low decibel levels.

Overall this was a very disappointing experience especially for this price point. We have done other Hamam experiences at half the price that were far more relaxing and therapeutic. This place is more about the hype than the experience. Needless to say I had a very uncomfortable day and night due to moderate muscle pain following the experience.