The allure of the hammam is classically Orientalist: overhanging archways, Islamic tiled floors, marble slabs cool-to-the-touch and various pools where patrons denude and engage in the ancient traditions of bathing.
Sadly, for a city that once boasted a vibrant hammam culture, it isn’t real. Cairo’s remaining hammans are crumbling in disrepair and tolerable at best, where only the daring go and the fastidious stray. Besides, what’s so romantic about submerging into a hot tub with six or seven others shedding their skin and sweat?
Luckily, however, beauty parlours and barber shops are starting to offer a hammam alternative like the one year-old Markaz Man, or 'Man Centre', in Haram. On top of a cheap cut (20LE) and a close shave (15LE), the Man Centre provides an affordable, private hammam experience – strictly for men.
For 100LE, patrons at Markaz Man get access to a steam room, a thorough body scrub and massage, all in the comfort of one’s privacy. Lined with hieroglyphic wallpaper and tiled in colourful mosaic, the backroom of the parlour is fit for a Pharaoh.
The treatment begins with a change into shorts and a visit to the steam room. In lieu of a hot tub, patrons sweat to the spurts of steaming vapour and cool down in a tub made for one.
After a few minutes, the attendant beckons us to a pleather table for a four-feature scrub down. First, we lie belly-up and then face down as he scrubs vigorously from head to toe, revealing how long it’s been since our last shower. After a quick rinse in the adjacent shower, the attendant paints our bodies with a Moroccan clay mixture and then pops us back into the steam room to bake.
After ten minutes, we rinse and lie back onto the pleather surface where soapsuds wash away our inequities, turn over, repeat and rinse. In a final act, the attendant pumps a honey-like conditioner onto our skin that lathers and tingles our pores. We rinse and then return to the steam room to warm up.
If that were not enough, we undergo a thorough pampering massage with a cooling cream. The attendant’s fingers press deep into our folds and joints, waking up every bone in our body. After a final rinse, with our arms splayed out, we are then perfumed like a bridegroom before his honeymoon.
Throughout the treatment, during rest times, the attendant maintains the clean space.
At the time of review we also sampled the facial (25LE) and a mani-pedi (50LE). The first was an incredibly relaxing treatment that lasted nearly 20 minutes and left our mouths open as we fell asleep and our miens aglow. The latter, however, was a bit rushed. Using the blade-grater method, usually frowned upon, the attendant scraped at our thick, rough soles with no remorse.
The nail buffing and clipping could have been more meticulous, as a few broken cuticles were left for our grazing. With a quick brush of protective polish, the three-tiered pampering session came to a happy end at only 175LE.
Man up and treat yourself to a hammam without the hammam.
Cairo 360 Rating
User Rating
39A, Khatem El Morsaleen St., Off Haram St.
Giza, Cairo, Egypt.
Giza, Cairo, Egypt.
Address
Spa, Nail Spa
Facility
01098142145
01200411192
01200411192
Telephone
Markaz Man: Pampering for Men in Haram
Published On:
10/09/2012
Comments
Near By
As a path to the Great Pyramids and Sphinx, El Haram
Street is a road worthy of its billing. Stretching out for what seems like an
eternity, it’s where you’ll find some of Cairo’s best dodgy nightclubs and
finest belly dancers ready to give you a thorough cardiovascular workout, and
get your adrenaline pumping. For an alternative workout, though; El Khawas Gym
is a safer and slightly more legal way of stretching your muscles. The gym,
which is in its twelfth year of existence, is on a small street almost exactly
halfway along El Haram Street, and is easily reachable. Though its space seems small for all the services that
the gym provides, its biggest equipment is suitably spaced out in the workout
room. This area is separated into two distinct spaces; one for weights and the
other for exercise equipment. You’ll find everything that you’d expect;
treadmills, exercise bikes, different types of stair climbers, etc. Naturally,
this is the area with the most human traffic, and although the gym is rarely
heaving with people, patience may be a virtue that you need if you’re after a
particular workout. Generally speaking, there are separate areas for men
and women, but the staff is happy for women to cross over if their slightly
smaller area is busy. El Khawas also
boasts small but impressive sauna facilities that the staff claims to be very
popular among regulars. Less practiced, but readily available services also include
Moroccan or Turkish baths, and general spa therapies, with a resident spa
technician on hand. Another popular feature of El Khawas is the classes that it
offers: martial arts including karate, taekwondo and muay Thai are available,
as well as aerobics classes. Prices are very reasonable and flexible, as they aim
to be as adaptable as possible. An open day-long session costs 15LE to 20LE,
depending on what equipment you plan to use, and the same applies to a twelve-day
pass (100LE to 170LE) and a month-long pass (140LE to 200LE). Other
combinations of gym sessions with aerobics classes or sauna sessions are
also available. El Khawas is a clean, efficient and accomplished gym
that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of Cairo’s chains. The staff is
friendly, enthusiastic, and above all, well-organised. This is a no-nonsense
gym that takes health and fitness seriously.
Related Review
Situated above McDonalds on the busy Nady El Seid Street in Dokki, Sky Med Spa claims to be the first and 'most luxurious' medical spa in Egypt. They boast state of the art technology along with a range of non-surgical treatments including collagen remodelling, shaping and slimming body wraps, therapeutic massages, rejuvenating facials and nail treatments.
After taking directions from the friendly doorman, we headed up to the third floor and patiently waited for the door to be opened. The spa is a spacious apartment, complete with wooden floors, chandeliers and shaggy rugs taking up the entire floor of the building. The treatment rooms were old fashioned and a little shabby, but clean. We arrived without an appointment and requested a facial (250LE) and a manicure (40LE). The male receptionist advised a deep cleansing facial, using Oxygen products to unclog our pores. We were then asked to pay upfront, which seemed a little unusual.
After twenty long minutes of waiting, listening to the jazz playing over the speakers, we were informed that the nail technician was not there and had taken all the nail polishes with her. We stuck with our decision and settled for a manicure without polish – effectively just a tidy up.
Of all the girls shuffling from room to room in their flip flops and pyjama type tracksuits, we didn't expect that we'd be allocated their resident transvestite; seriously. Of course we didn't mind that he was dressed as a woman, or that he had hands three times the size of ours – even the facial stubble didn't phase us – however, we did mind that he/she clearly didn't have much experience in manicuring.
He proceeded to gingerly, nervously and slowly cut away our nails and cuticles, before roughly scrubbing the backs of our hands with a nail brush. Our nails were then filed down to slightly different shapes and lengths; we could have done a better job ourselves.
The male receptionist then took over for the facial, fiddling with an old school machine before using electronic, rotating pads to massage in the exfoliator. This was followed by a five minute steam to open our pores and two minutes of prodding and squeezing to rid our T-zone of any blackheads. A soothing mask was applied whilst we were zapped with radio waves to help our skin absorb it. We're not sure how thorough or effective the treatment was – the whole thing seemed rushed and carelessly executed rather than pleasant and relaxing.
We hope that, if we had booked an appointment in advance, our experience of Sky Med Spa might have been entirely different. As it stands, Sky Med Spa does provide a good range of treatments, but its far from competing with high-end salons and spas in the city..
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