Peter H.
Google
This historic hammam has been beautifully restored, with a world-class museum and contemporary art gallery added to the complex.
Unfortunately, the hammam experience itself left much to be desired. Even though I was the only guest at the time of my appointment, I was received rudely and rushed through the treatment with minimal effort or care from the bath attendant. They kept asking if it was my first time (it wasn’t), seemingly to gauge how little they could get away with.
Just last week, I had a far more relaxing and enjoyable experience at a historic hammam in Izmir—for a tiny fraction of the price. If it’s a genuine hammam experience you’re after, you can certainly find better options elsewhere in Istanbul.
That said, the museum, gallery, and even the outdoor spaces are beautifully designed and thoughtfully curated—well worth a visit on their own. Honestly, the best thing they could do might be to get rid of the hammam entirely and turn the whole complex into an art gallery, much like what was done with the historic hammams in Skopje, North Macedonia.