Hamam Istanbulissa

Mene ehdottomasti Cemberlitasiin, alaka missaan tapauksessa Cagalogluun!

Kirjoitin kokemuksestamme Tripadvisor-sivuille, josta kopioin (toivottavasti ymmarrat englantia):

With my friend, we tried two hamams during our Xmas trip to Istanbul just now. First we went to the Cemberlitas Hamam, then a few days later, to the Cagaloglu one.

Cemberlitas:
We took the basic package: scrub and wash (36 lire, so about 13 quid), and were given our scrub (a brillo pad), a colourful tag denoting the treatment we'd paid for and the locker key in a rubber band to go round the wrist or ankle. The ladies changing room (camekan) is basically a gym locker room. You get given a pestemal, i.e., a towel to wrap around yourself and take rubber slippers from the shoeracks. Most women kept their knickers on.

Then we went to the hararet, i.e., the steam room, via the cooling off room, sogukluk (this is where the toilets are). It was nice and hot, and we felt relaxed immediately. We then lied on our towels on the gobektasi, i.e., the marble slab in the middle. This was absolutely lovely, as it was so hot. After about 10 minutes, the masseuse tapped my leg and asked me to come with her. At the same time, another masseuse collected my friend. We were rinsed with warm water, then walked back to be scrubbed, rinsed, washed, rinsed, massaged and then had our hair washed and rinsed. After that, we continued to lie on the slab for another 10 min to finish the relaxation.

Afterwards, we returned to the sogukluk and got our nice big towels to dry off and then it was off to the locker room to get changed (hair dryers are provided) and go out feeling like a million dollars. All day we felt rested and relaxed, and this feeling continued well into the next day.
I'd definitely go back to this place and am kicking myself for wanting to try another hamam for our second visit.

Cagaloglu:
The same treatment that cost 36 lire in Cemberlitas was 57 lire (21 quid) here, so we thought we'd be in for a treat. We couldn't have been more mistaken!

The hamam itself is much more beautiful than the Cemberlitas, in that the camekan has individual dressing cubicles for the customers and the hararet has columns, so looks more authentic than the much older Cemberlitas.

Upon entering the camekan, we were asked if we're together, which implied we'd be treated together. We gave one of the ladies there our tickets and were given keys to our dressing cubicles. These we had to carry with us throughout the treatment.
We were given wooden clogs, and it was a nightmare to find a pair that fit, even with normal size feet, as the sizes seemed to be at either extreme. They have rubber bits on the bottom, so check that these haven't fallen off.

We were also given quite small towels to wrap around.

We then entered the cooling off room, sogukluk, which wasn't that cooling, more like freezing!
From there, we continued to the hararet, the steam room, and found it to be cool. We were sat down separately on small marble steps by the taps to the side and were told to rinse off and the masseuse would return in 10 minutes. During this time, I got so cold I had to wrap my towel around my shoulders to keep warm - in a steam room!
I was then collected for my treatment, which I can't fault, as my lady took very good care of me, carefully walking me to the rinsing station and to my cubicle once I explained I'm practically blind without my glasses. She sang Turkish folk songs as she treated me, which was lovely. She deposited me to my cubicle where I dressed, and then left. At no stage later did anybody approach me for a tip, and I couldn't recognise anybody from any of the ladies there. I had an apple tea while I waited for my friend, who had taken the shorter treatment. I could have had a four course meal, as it turned out. An hour and a half later, she finally turns up! During this time, I shared the reception area with several masseuses who sat there wrapped in towels, just hanging around (or so I thought in my naivety).

My friend's treatment hadn't even started when mine was finished: she was kept waiting by the taps for an hour instead of the 10 min, after which she was taken to be scrubbed (oh, communal scrubs by the way, so you'll be sharing everybody else's dead skin, niiiiice....).

Her lady's first words to here upon starting the treatment were: "Where are you from? Ah, Australia, good! Good tippers, big money for me!" Pity she assumed she'd get this big tip even giving the worst service anybody could ever dish out!

She was then rinsed, but the platform wasn't, and in this place, you do not lie on top of the towel but on the slab (which cannot be described even as warm). She was told to go back to the taps and wait. While she waited for the massage bit, the lady treated another three girls, never once rinsing the platform between customers and kept disappearing for 10-15min between each customer (the reason for this became clear later). Eventually, she was called back to be massaged, then had her hair washed by the taps and rinsed off. She was then told her treatment had finished, so she could go.

The masseuse followed her into the changing area and waited the entire time while my friend got changed and dried her hair. As soon as my friend left the cubicle and made for the exit, the masseuse was calling out for her: "Lady, where's my tip, lady?" That's why her customers had to shiver in the cool steam room with long waits between their stages: this masseuse was more interested in chasing customers for tips (for crap service) than actually giving good service so the customers would WILLINGLY give tips.

Since then, I've heard of others who have had the same experience there, so it looks like it wasn't just an off-day. It may just depend on which masseuse you get, as mine was excellent, but my friend's should be sacked immediately. Even so, the steam room was cool, at best, and the sogukluk afterwards was freezing, so it's no surprise that I now have a cold.

The problem seems to be that the hotels send their clients to Cagaloglu, due to the architecture, and too many customers don't give feedback to their hotels, so they continue to send the poor tourists to this tourist trap, and that's how Cagaloglu runs. We heard no Turkish there, unlike at Cemberlitas, where the majority of customers were locals.

I will definitely return to Istanbul, but not ever again to Cagaloglu, I'll take my business to the Cemberlitas instead.

When we complained to the front desk staff, they couldn't have been less interested. They obviously don't care if their customers leave dissatisfied and will not return, as there'll be more gullible tourists being sent from hotels the next day. Not from ours, there won't be, as they were appalled to hear of our experience.