Wellbeing · Marrakech
Hammam Ritual at La Maison Arabe
A hammam is how Marrakech ends a long day: warm stone, steam, and a scrub so thorough you walk out feeling new. The one we book most often is at La Maison Arabe, a riad hotel just inside Bab Doukkala, where the steam rooms glow with lanterns and polished plaster.
How it works
You rest on a warm stone bench while the steam opens your skin. Your attendant works in black soap — a soft paste of olive oil and crushed olives — then scrubs you from head to toe with a kessa, the rough Moroccan glove, and rinses you with bowl after bowl of warm water.
Three rituals to choose from
The Orange Blossom hammam (about 30 minutes) is the classic — black soap, kessa scrub and a final rinse in orange-flower water. The Beldi hammam adds the traditional finish, a ghassoul clay mask scented with seven plants. The house Signature hammam (about 45 minutes) goes furthest: scrub, a honey and orange-blossom body mask, a hair treatment and an argan-oil massage to close.
Add a massage
Afterwards you can stay on for a relaxing or deep-tissue massage with argan-based oils, a four-hand massage, a face and scalp massage, or — our favourite after the souks — a foot massage.
What’s in the bowls
Ghassoul is a soft mineral clay mined in Morocco’s Middle Atlas and used by Moroccan families for generations; it cleans without drying. Argan oil comes from the argan forests of the south-west, between Essaouira and Agadir.
Our tip
Go late in the afternoon, after a morning in the medina, and plan nothing afterwards — you’ll want a slow evening. It pairs beautifully with the hotel’s famous cooking class, or with dinner on its terrace. We reserve your time slot in advance, as the hammam fills up.
More about Marrakech: where to stay, when to go →
When to go
- JanGood
- FebBest
- MarBest
- AprBest
- MayBest
- JunGood
- JulHot
- AugHot
- SepBest
- OctBest
- NovBest
- DecBest
Book ahead: High season is March–May, September–November and 15 December–10 January. The most beautiful riads and boutique hotels sell out early, so for these dates we recommend booking several months ahead.
