Istanbul Ili Travel Forum

How does one carry money for tips while in a hot steamy Turkish Bath. Do you pay prior to services, during services or after. I am confused.

Hi, On arrival at the hammam in Istanbul,(near the Grand Bazaar) we paid for the steam bath/ massage on entry - after deciding which type of bath we wanted. There was a range of services from basic steam room, diy- shampoo and wash, to the 'King of Kings' with full scrub, massage etc - all priced accordingly

We were then shown to a room to get changed in, which we had a key for (So you can leave your money in here)which we kept with us. Our gang had the hammam to ourselves, which was a bonus. It was a bit disconcerting to realise we all had to strip off completely, as we'd been expecting having to be 'modestly' attired in a swimming costume - Ah well!

Afterwards, we were offered cay,(and a 'free' comb) while we relaxed/ dried our hair etc.
Then the staff gathered en masse for their tips!! - Also we were then expected to pay for the comb/ cay Hmmmm! We'd put a good tip together (There were 7 of us), but were a bit peeved that 'extra' tips were expected - as it was our first day of our trip, we hadn't got enough, so we stood our ground, and said they'd had a good tip, and we hadn't asked for drinks, they'd been offered to us, which they accepted grudgingly. It felt like a bit of a con,as if they'd decided to try to get some extra money off us, but we'd still had a great time. A bonus was that as we left, snow started to fall from the late afternoon skies, followed by the call to prayer - Wow!(This was February)

On other occasions, I've paid for the bath/massage at the end, and given a tip with no problems.
Please don't let my first experience put you off, the old hammam was worth visiting

- I love having the scrub/soaping/massage - I feel so clean and relaxed afterwards.
Best Wishes,
Sue x

Hi Tim
you can pay after the services.

Hi,

you can indeed leave the tip afterwards. Keep in mind though that it is custom to leave 25% as a tip. I know this sounds steep, whereas in other places the rule of thumb is only 10%, but this is the custom in Turkey.

Cheers,
Max