The best hammams in the medina of Marrakesh

How does a visit to the hammam work?

The spas we present here are much more luxu­ri­ous than tradi­tional bathing estab­lish­ments and guests are well cared for, pampered and spoiled. In Europe, the hammam is more commonly known as a Turk­ish bath and in Morocco there are vari­ants with and with­out steam. 

Before the actual wash­ing ritual, some­times a mint tea is served and you are allowed to relax a little. In general, you should arrive a few minutes before your appoint­ment so that you can relax a little. This simply makes the hammam expe­ri­ence less stressful. 

You will be provided with slip­pers, dispos­able briefs, a bathrobe and towels. 

There are show­ers and hair dryers in the chang­ing rooms, as well as lock­ers for your clothes and valu­ables. You can either wear the key around your wrist or put it in the pocket of your bathrobe. 

Then it’s off to the hammam, which consists of a small room with loungers and a water basin and is only used by you alone or with your partner. 

The walls and benches are heated and the temper­a­ture fluc­tu­ates between nice and warm and far too hot. If it is too hot — every­one has a differ­ent temper­a­ture sensa­tion — simply ask the hammam atten­dant to open the door a little. In some hammams there is steam in addi­tion to the warm benches, in which case it is more of a steam bath. 

The proce­dure varies slightly depend­ing on the ritual chosen, but is always simi­lar: after the first dous­ing with warm water, black soap is applied. It is impor­tant not to get it in your eyes, as it stings like hell. Depend­ing on the type of soap, it smells of euca­lyp­tus or rose water. 

The black soap is sold every­where in the souk in the spice stores and the locals use it not only for personal hygiene, but also for clean­ing the house.

Then you can rest for a few minutes and the soap can take effect before the scrub­bing begins: the Kessa woman scrubs the dead skin off your entire body with a (fresh) exfo­li­at­ing glove, the Kessa. Some­times the scrub is very vigor­ous, but after­wards you feel wonder­ful — the skin is velvety soft and tingles so beau­ti­fully. The hammam-ladies often ask after the first few seconds whether the pres­sure is good — please say so straight away if it is too strong for you. 

Water is then drawn from the basin and you are washed with it to remove soap and dead skin.

A heal­ing clay mask, known as ghas­soul, is some­times applied after­wards. Here too, there are differ­ent mixtures depend­ing on the spa, some contain herbs such as henna and it smells incred­i­bly Moroccan. 

Now is also the time for a little rest and you can relax in the warmth. 

The mask is then washed off and the cleans­ing process is completed with shower gel and sham­poo. You’ve never felt so clean! 

You are dried off and wrapped in your bathrobe and allowed to rest a little. There is usually a mint tea and a small bottle of water, because after the heat of the hammam you will be thirsty. 

If you have booked a pack­age, you can then continue with a relax­ing massage in which your whole body, includ­ing your hair, is oiled. In some spas, you can choose between differ­ent massage oils that smell of orange blos­som, verbena or rose. 

After about 2 hours you leave the bath as a new person, feel­ing clean and smelling good, ready for new adventures.

Inci­den­tally, it is good for the skin if the oil can be absorbed a little after the massage and is not show­ered off straight away, but the hair looks less beau­ti­ful freshly oiled. As the exfo­li­a­tion removes old layers of skin, the hammam should not be done more than once a week.