The Hamam Turkish Bath at Ten Spa in Winnipeg is a Destination in Itself
by Bea Broda
This one gives Turkish Delight a whole new meaning! Located on the tenth floor of the historic Hotel Fort Garry in downtown Winnipeg, Ten Spa’s hamam treatment is described as a modern re-interpretation of the Turkish Roman hot air bathing ritual. Right from your first sip of Moroccan mint tea combined with deliciously soft Turkish Delight that is served as a precursor to the treatment to get you in the mood if you aren’t already, indulging in a hamam is guaranteed to transport you to a romantic era in an exotic part of the world.
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Although it has become fashionable for a hamam bath to be included on the menu at spas throughout North America, Ten Spa is the only one that has created rooms for clients to partake of the complete authentic experience as it was meant to be. The rooms are elaborate, and the detailing of both the architecture and the therapy is the result of much research that was done in Istanbul, London, Paris, Munich and New York when this feature was being designed for Ten Spa patrons.
Supplied with the requisite plush spa bathrobe and Italian sensi slippers, partakers of hamam also receive a large fringed cotton cloth called a pestemal that will be worn throughout the treatment, whether wet or dry. It’s important to set aside lots of time to enjoy the full hamam treatment, as well as relaxation time following it, as a great deal of body “detoxing” is accomplished and requires you to downshift your usual speed of life.
After gasping in admiration of the expansive and invitingly steamy main treatment area that comes replete with sensuous Middle Eastern music and a ceiling speckled with stars that hearken back to romantic Arabian nights, first up is a shower followed by a personal exfoliation with a selection of aromatic bath salts.
Water is everywhere! To drink, to shower, to have it poured over your body at intervals. It occurred to me that water is the missing component of many spa treatments, as it is used so liberally here. After the exfoliation, you lie on a heated marble slab and submit yourself to the skillful ministrations of your therapist, who can be male or female. As your body heats up, the salts are rinsed off, combined with massaging and the pouring of hot, warm and cold water from a bowl known as a tas. In this phase, you’ll luxuriate with a gommage and a foot and scalp massage. A couple of “rest periods” during the entire treatment give you time to relax, re-hydrate or shower yourself to a desired comfortable temperature, as you continue to benefit from the steam cleansing that is taking place throughout. Ever curious, I pressed my attendant (the inimitable Mario) for tidbits of trivia and discovered that around 65% of clients are female and the vast majority sport a tattoo!
If you have booked the “fully loaded” hamam, you’re off to a private room to lie on a stone bed (made comfortable by rubber and cloth sheets) for an invigorating scrub with rough cloth mitts called kese and then an olive oil soap (sabun) scrub-down, hair wash, and more light massaging and rinsing. If you add another treatment such as a full massage or facial to follow the hamam, well, search no further for Paradise!
If your treatment ends here, you will be led back to the initial room with the heated stone seats to slather your entire body with aloe vera gel and sip more tea. Finally, allow yourself to be escorted to the “quiet room,” where your therapist will bring you some ayran (a salty yogurt drink that helps your electrolytes to return to normal) and then invite you to rest there amongst the cushions for half an hour or so.
You’ll feel like a wet noodle, completely cleansed, relaxed and ready to take on the world! This is no ordinary spa treatment; I absolutely believe the reports that people will arrange to stop in Winnipeg just to experience this thoroughly well-done authentic hamam at Ten Spa. The combination of the visual aesthetics, skillful therapists and pristine conditions of Ten Spa make this treatment a winner worth enjoying again and again.
To add to the fun, the hamam room can be booked for between 6 and 12 people for a “Warm Mud Party!”
For more information:
www.tenspa.ca
July 8, 2009
Posted in: Canada, Spa Resorts