What's the difference between a local hammam and a spa hammam?

A local hammam costs 20 dirhams. A spa hammam costs 600. The water is the same temperature. The soap is the same soap. The scrub uses the same glove. So what are you paying for?

Privacy, mostly. And the absence of awkwardness.

A neighborhood hammam is a public facility. Men and women use it at separate times — typically women during the day, men in the evening, though schedules vary. You undress in a shared changing area. You sit on the floor next to other naked or semi-naked strangers. The attendant scrubs you in full view of everyone else. Conversation happens. Children run around. Someone's grandmother is holding court in the hot room. It is social, communal, and completely unselfconscious — if you grew up with it.

If you didn't grow up with it, the first visit is a test. You don't know the etiquette. You don't know where to sit. You don't know how undressed to get. You don't speak the language well enough to communicate with the attendant. The scrub is harder than you expected. The heat is more intense. You're disoriented, exposed, and trying to figure out the tipping protocol while wet and half-blind from steam. It is wonderful. It is also a lot.

Spa hammams exist to remove the friction. They operate in renovated riads or purpose-built spaces with private treatment rooms, robes, slippers, ambient lighting, and English-speaking staff who explain every step. Men and women can book together — couples treatments are standard. The scrub is gentler. The products are branded. There's a relaxation room with tea afterwards. The entire experience is designed to feel familiar to someone who has never been in a hammam before.

What you lose is the thing itself. The neighborhood hammam is a social institution — women exchange news, negotiate marriages, settle disputes, and maintain friendships in that steam. The scrub is harder because it's meant to work, not to feel pleasant. The communal nudity is the point — it's the one space where social hierarchy dissolves, where the banker's wife and the cleaner sit on the same floor. The spa version is a service. The local version is a culture.

Most people who've done both say the same thing: the spa hammam first, to get the mechanics and enjoy the comfort. Then the neighbourhood hammam, for the real thing. Your riad can tell you which one is closest and when the women's or men's session runs. Most people bring their own kit, tip the attendant, say nothing about the spa.