Sifa Hamami — Local services in Fatih

MUST READ REVIEW This was my first hammam experience and I am not sure it completely reflected a "traditional" Turkish bath. I would love to say it all took me by surprise but that would be a lie. There were some warnings which I did not heed to in the reviews for Sifa, and so this review is to lay out clearly what to expect and for you to proceed at your own volition. It cost €70 each but was worth half of this in my view. The marble was not warm enough to really break a sweat, and whilst it was nice to experience a smaller hammam it did not have the same wow factor and glamorous interior of other historic hammams in Istanbul. The pair of women who work there, whilst nice enough, could not completely put me at ease especially as, without warning, they will bathe you whilst being topless themselves. You read that right. Their full knockers on show whilst they scrub scrub scrub you in nothing but panties. Not sure how them getting their kit off was supposed to be part of the experience, but there you go. And whilst I have not felt as clean and exfoliated as that in a while, I'm not sure I would say I was completely comfortable or relaxed. My hair was vigorously washed. I'd recommend you bring your own shampoo unless your go-to is Head & Shoulders. There was also a lack of privacy as the entry into the hammam was not fully covered and at one point, the gentleman responsible for luring in turists like myself walked in whilst I quickly went into the changing room. Granted, we went late and were the final customers but there was no Turkish hospitality. In true Western fashion, the ladies (now clothed) had their coats on and signalled they were ready to shut shop and so we unfortunately were not offered traditional Turkish tea at the end as part of the traditional hammam experience. One key positive was an exceptional full body massage but after the scrubbing, my body was perhaps more tense than usual. My suggestion - especially if your first hammam - save your lira (and eyes) and contemplate booking at another...

This was my first hamam, so maybe my expectations don't meet what one would normally get from this experience. The building itself was interesting, but it was quite old. The guy who welcomed me was friendly. He explained what I would expect and their pricing. I got the full service for 160 lira: hot room, body scrub, body foam, and an aromatherapy massage.

There were three other male customers with me and they only had two male employees. It felt that they rushed through the whole process, but at the same time there were a lot of waiting time between steps. I was told I would spend 20-30 minutes in the hot room, but it certainly felt less than 20 minutes. I had to wait for quite some time after the body foam and before the massage. They make you sit in their lobby with two damp towels. It was uncomfortable. They only had two massage tables set up. I was the last guy to get the massage and I noticed that they weren't consistent with the duration of the massage. My massage session was certainly shorter than the previous guy's session. The worse part was that while I was getting my aromatherapy massage, the two employees were constantly chatting with each other. A few times they were shouting from across the room to each other. It was NOT a relaxing environment. It was obvious that the employee massaging me was distracted. Plus, their so-called aromatherapy massage did not have any scent (neither the oil nor the vicinity where they were massaging). It definitely felt like I did not get the service that...

Tarihi Şifa Hamamı is a small historic hammam in center of old city of Istanbul since 1777. Very close to Blue mosque and central square, close to Hagia Sophia. I stayed in Coliseum Hotel which is only hundreds meters from hammam, so it was very convenient to wake up in the morning and go there after the breakfast for a full package treatment - 100TL (30$) - very recommended specially it's your first time, at least for it was a wonderful experience. When you enter and choose your package of treatment you fancy, you'll get a key to the private dressing room to get undressed (except your underwear), get your traditional red towel around your hips and wait in waiting central area till your masseur come to pick you up. Then you'll enter to the main white marble hammams hall to lay down to heat up for 20 minutes. Murat, my masseur, started first the scrub with special glove and then massage with soap and foam, made of soap in warm water through the cloth. When he washed me, i stayed a bit in hammam main hall, and then went out to rest a bit it main patio where they offered me hot apple tea. Afterwards i climb on stairs to upper floor for a oil massage - 30 minutes. All together is was about 90 minutes. Murat made an excellent job, i went out for a half day tour in Istanbul energized and fresh and clean. This was really great experience, and my with Turkish hammam. Very...