10 Istanbul Hotel Hammams Where You Can Sweat Out Your Cares—and Your Jet Lag

Istanbul is known for its richly layered history and pluralistic culture, but if there’s one thing residents can agree on, it’s that every visitor should take a bath. Specifically, a Turkish bath, also known as a hammam. This ritualistic steam bath has roots in the Ottoman and Roman empires and is not just about cleansing the body—although exfoliation with a sandpapery “kese” followed by a luxurious foam massage is part of it. It’s also about kibitzing with your neighbors.

Naturally, some first-timers find the idea of derobing with strangers intimidating, which is where private hotel hammams come into play. Here are 10 Istanbul hotels with hammams where you can strip down and steam. (Photo courtesy of The Peninsula Istanbul.)

Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet (Sultanahmet)
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This Ottoman-era guesthouse turned “luxury” prison turned 65-room Four Seasons hotel is just steps from Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapı Palace. After a full day of sightseeing, book a Turkish bath in one of on-site Kurna Spa’s two private hammams. Set against Arabescato marble and İznik tiles, the full-body scouring is intense in all the best ways—sloughing away all your dry skin and engulfing your body in a Michelin Man froth of olive oil foam.

Six Senses Kocataş Mansions (Sarıyer)

Six Senses is synonymous with sustainability and wellness, and that ethos very much informs the spa programming at the brand’s Istanbul property. With 10 treatment rooms set in a century-old stone house, plus indoor and outdoor pools, the spa at Six Senses Kocataş Mansions is a go-to for more niche therapies such as biohacking compression, micro-puncture facials and yogic intestinal cleanses. You can still book a tried-and-true Turkish bath, but piggybacking it with a detoxifying algae treatment or meditative sound journey is the way to go.

The Peninsula Istanbul (Karaköy)

Opened in 2023, this buzzy, Bosporus-hugging property includes restored Bauhaus and Art Deco buildings, a contemporary event space and a subterranean spa and wellness center with two traditional marble hammams. The 82-foot indoor pool is tucked beneath a mosaic of mirrored domes, while thermal suites have curvilinear walls and a ceiling decked out in beautiful glass tiles. Even the hallway leading to the inner sanctum looks like a work of art, evoking Istanbul’s myriad historical cisterns and aqueducts.

The Grand Tarabya (Sarıyer)

Another day, another stunning property with epic views of the Bosporus. The only difference is, this one has Therapia Spa—one of the biggest in Istanbul at more than 48,000 square feet. The offerings include authentic Turkish baths, along with a state-of-the-art gym and Pilates studio, sauna and steam rooms, ice fountains, therapy tubs and both an outdoor and indoor heated pool filled with purified seawater. Also notable: the option to reserve a VIP suite complete with a private sauna and Jacuzzi.

Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul (Beşiktaş)

Perched on the European side of the Bosporus, this onetime imperial palace is still lavish to the core. The on-site Sanitas Spa tempts with classic deep-tissue and Ayurvedic massages, but it’s the sudsy Turkish bath treatments—including one with a milk, honey and rosewater moisturizer and another with a purifying brown sugar peel—that will leave you pining for round two. Up the ante with a caviar mask and a private cabana with a view of the strait.

Pera Palace Hotel (Beyoğlu)

Pera Spa by Spa Luxury markets all the usual massage suspects (Swedish, Balinese, shiatsu) plus an intercontinental selection of more unexpected options (Indian head massage, Thai herbal compress). The Turkish baths range from 20 to 60 minutes—or 75 if you opt for the couples’ pampering. Whatever you choose, make use of the sauna 20 minutes before your treatment and stick around afterward for a dip in the blue-tiled indoor pool or jetted Jacuzzi.

Hagia Sofia Mansions Istanbul, Curio Collection by Hilton (Sultanahmet)

This Hilton property—a collection of lovingly refurbished Ottoman-era mansions—is walkable to many of the old town’s star attractions (Basilica Cistern, Gülhane Park, Hagia Sophia). But its secret selling point is its bubbling whirlpool spa, dramatically housed within a 1,500-year-old Roman cistern with vaulted ceilings and a shoulder-melting hydrotherapy waterfall jet at the center. The bathhouse is open to hotel guests in 40-minute blocks for 50 euros a pop, but don’t dillydally—advance booking is essential.

The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul (Dolmabahçe)

The full-service Spa Soul at this gilded property has seven treatment rooms; a soaking tub, sauna and steam room; and a gorgeous 56-foot indoor swimming pool with a ceiling that looks like a blue sky scattered with wispy clouds. This being Istanbul, the crown jewel is the hammam, inspired by the 16th-century Turkish baths of Roxelana, wife of sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The couples-only Turkish hammam suite is ideal for relaxing and reconnecting with a partner.

Raffles Istanbul (Beşiktaş)

The 32,000-square-foot Raffles Spa has three ultra-modern hammams and seven opulent spa suites, including three for couples—one even has a jumbo candlelit Jacuzzi. Book a nourishing jasmine- and rose-infused body wrap if you’re feeling indulgent, or roll with the classic Aegean Purity treatment, wherein a therapist plies you with sherbet before laying you on a heated slab and busting out the exfoliation mitt. The traditional treatment finishes with a frothy massage and tantalizing Turkish refreshments. 

Soho House Istanbul (Beyoğlu)

Of course the clubbiest possible twist on a traditional Turkish bath is found at Soho House. The Cowshed-branded spa has five treatment rooms, four mani-pedi stations, a sauna and steam room, juice bar, old-fashioned men’s barbershop and wall-to-wall marble hammam. The 45-minute Turkish bath is a fine way to unwind after a round in the gym’s on-site boxing ring. Reflexology treatments, salt scrubs and organic facials are also on the docket.