Hammam al-Zahariyya, Damascus

What did the LP say about it first?
In use since the 12th Century It’s clean and well looked after.

What do I say about it now?!
So great we went twice!

Easy to find?
Tremendously easy. The LP directions are spot on and it is the building with two huge spa-esque banners outside declaring the place to be the Hammam al-Zahariyya!

Easy to enter?
Very welcoming.
Descending down the steps into the main room, the attendant who greeted us was pretty fluent in English. All the attendants are clearly trained to say ‘hi’ in Arabic so I felt immediately put very much at ease.

Easy to understand what was on offer?
As you are led to the main desk we were presented with a professionally produced leaflet which offered and explained a range of hammam and lengthier massage services, offered on a bench on a mezzanine level right under the dome.

Pricing:
All prices were transparently made apparent from the start in the leaflet and no hidden extras were added on.

Welcome Room:
This is a hammam that has had a makeover in recent years and this grand high domed room is spectacular. The little details such as the perfect grouting and local decorative pieces such as the lanterns showed a real eye for design. The grand glass windows and the painted Arabic script under the large painted dome all came together to create a very professional and smart effect.

Facilities:
The hammam facilities out the back were clean but not as recently refurbished as the main room!

A small sauna was turned off. The first room behind the reception desk was the equipment room. We were kitted out with soap and a mitt.

The next room had showers with hot and cold water and two walled spaces on the floor where you get washed and scrubbed by an attendant and prepped for your massage.

The third room was the wash room and is a lot larger than the room in the al-Nureddin. With a hot marble bench running perhaps 20 feet up the middle of the room there are alcoves all around with sinks where you can squat, wash and scrub yourself. A super hot steam room is off to one side, as are two smaller private wash rooms and another larger cooler wash room with five or six sinks.

Massage:
Again done up on a bench right, the guy who did this seemed to know what he was doing a little more than the guy at the al-Nureddin. In a quick five minute blast he gave my tricky shoulder a good going over.

After the hammam was finished, I also had a 30 minute massage out in the main room. The massage area there is on a high mezzanine right under the dome so you could lie back and appreciate the stained glass in the windows. The massage was of a very good standard as you might expect at any spa facility in the UK.

Steam:
The steam room was too hot for mew to manage more than once!

Post hammam facilities:
The ambience of the place is welcoming and cheerful. After the usual towel mummification procedures, we were supplied with hot mint tea, water and a little stand to put them on. A small thing I hadn’t missed at the al-Nureddin but which made sense and showed how well thought through the services at the al-Zahariyya were.