Hammam Shahrazad — Local services in Athens

Writing this review for others who (like I was) are unaware of exactly what a Hammam ritual is. Rest assured this is a truly lovely experience and the professionalism and cleanliness will ensure you have a wonderful first time experience!

I messaged the WhatsApp number to ask about mixed genders in the Hammam, and learned that each experience is individually executed. The photos on the site are of one single room which can accommodate one or two people max - you will not be exposed to anyone outside of your party!

After arriving and checking in, signing a quick contact form and agreeing to no nudity in the facility, I was brought into a din hallway where I traded my shoes for slippers, then guided to a changing room. The lockers have waterproof wristbands to lock and open them, and I was asked to change into disposable underwear (for women this is a tiny paper pair of briefs and a paper bandeau bra that ties in the back) and given a towel to cover up with. I’m a size US12-14 and the towel was more than long enough to wrap 1.5 times around me, although it was only wide enough to cover from my chest to mid thigh.

Next I was led into the Hammam room and somewhat disoriented as I stepped into the gloomy steamy heat. There are beautiful twinkle lights in the ceiling but it took a moment to adjust. The heat is less than a sauna but plenty warm enough to get you sweating quickly. I sipped on a cold water bottle while I steamed for 5-10 minutes.

My guide came into the room to check on me and asked for my towel, which she folded into a pillow and had me lay down on the flat marble table. She used a disposable exfoliation glove to exfoliate all the bits I was comfortable with her touching, including my face and ears! She was very soft spoken but I found we didn’t need too many words, she made me very comfortable and worked very carefully around my insulin pump and glucose monitor without me needing to ask. I flipped over and she scrubbed my back and legs. I can say for sure my back hasn’t been so clean in a very long time!

She poured many bowls of warm to hot water over my back afterwards, and then did something magical to create tons of soap suds and dump them all over my back. It felt so wonderful, even better when she rubbed them in and then massaged my back and legs for a few minutes!!! She retied my paper bandeau and I turned over to have the same frothy treatment on the front, followed by many bowls of water to rinse me off.

Lastly I sat up and she shampooed my hair with another lovely short massage. Then she rinsed me 4 or 5 times with progressively colder water, which felt amazing. She directed me to a shower in the room and left while I rinsed off on my own (the only thing really needing it was my face) and returned with a fresh towel.

From there I went to a fabulous 60 minute massage but you probably know about that already. She noticed I had a shoulder issue and dealt with it to perfection, again without me needing to ask!

I would also like to comment that my guide was from Southeast Asia, and I was careful to ask her if she is well paid and treated and here of her own choice. I believe she answered me truthfully when she said she likes the job and is happy here.

Truly a wonderful experience that I would recommend to anyone in Athens! Do it at the beginning of your trip because you may decide to return before...

To begin, a serious mistake was made but I have no problems with the masseuses, it is solely with management. My partner and I came in for the Hammam experience and massage for a two hour session. Part of the Hammam experience was a scrub, and they scrubbed his nose a bit too hard. Right after the experience it was red as you can see in the second photo (which we took drinking tea at the Hammam before leaving) A day later it was obvious the abrasion was deeper than we thought and got progressively worse.

I contacted management to tell them this happened. However instead of being apologetic they immediately said that they were not responsible for this. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being called a liar. Finally after showing them the photo I took at the Hammam right after the treatment they believed me. However they still said that it was too irritated to be from the scrubbing. They said my partner did it to himself with a towel after the treatment and they will likely write that in their response to this review. I just wanted them to acknowledge their mistake and apologize which they NEVER did. Also WHY WOULD HE do this to himself on purpose on his birthday while we’re on vacation, to get back our money? No we are requesting a refund a matter of principle!

They also stated we should have told them immediately. It’s hard to when you’re in the middle of the experience. After it was finished it was red but we didn’t think it would be this bad. It got progressively worse over the next two days as you can see in the photo taken yesterday. This is when we reached out. Finally the manager called me and offered a 30 minute massage (which is of no value as we are leaving Athens), or to provide him the receipts from the pharmacy. We bought a vitamin b5 healing ointment for 6 euros. To be honest none of this is sufficient. I requested a full refund and they denied it. Considering that now even being outdoors on our vacation is a problem and that this was part of his birthday experience, a full refund pails in comparison to our damages. They said they can’t do a refund because it’s been two days since this happened (I’ve never heard of this being an issue before).

Mistakes happen, but how this was managed was very unprofessional. Most businesses would ensure that their customers remain happy. If they acknowledged the mistake and refunded me I would even recomend them for their service and professionalism but they seem to be ok with me leaving a negative review. I also don’t want this review to be interpreted as a threat, a refund is the bare minimum they could offer for the damages caused, not something that is out of the question.

Future patrons beware!

Update: after reading managements comments about us posting this as blackmail. It further signals that they are not only deflecting and shifting blame away from themselves, their behaviour actually borders on gaslighting as they’re denying very observable facts like the photos we posted. Including redness that’s visible immediately after treatment while we were drinking tea. It did take a full day for the redness on his nose to become worse, I don’t under any how that is a valid argument on their end!

They are downplaying the harm they did, with no apology and are avoiding liability....

Whenever I saw comments about the staff being unfriendly, I didn’t believe them. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. It’s the pure truth—they don’t seem to want to see you there. The staff couldn’t (or didn’t want to) explain the services they provide.

We decided to visit the hammam and get a massage. The hammam was okay, but the massage was incredibly disappointing. Initially, it struck me as odd that neither by phone nor in person did the staff answer my questions about the available massages.

In the end, the masseuses arrived, barely speaking English or Greek, and informed me that they would only do a relaxing massage. Although other types of massages were listed on the website, I felt deceived as I had no real choice. I specifically asked for a back and leg massage, but what I received was far from a proper massage—they merely ran their hands over my body, which is not good service at all.

To make matters worse, at the end of the session, they put white slippers on my feet while I was lying there naked, covered with a towel, with my feet pointing towards the door. It felt completely inappropriate and uncomfortable. I felt like I was in a morgue for a moment!

Additionally, the massage room was cold, and there were no proper towels to use after showering. Everything seemed designed to make you leave as quickly...