I am traveling to Dubai later this month and I noticed that the hotel I am staying at has a gender segregated hammam spa. I see that one of the available spa treatments is a Traditional Turkish Hammam, which from what I understand is like body scrub – I would really like to experience this.
From reading online I understand that, depending on where you are in the world, it is done in the communal steam room area and it can be done completely nude, with a thin towel wrap, or with those disposable underwear things. Of course, I would prefer to wear nothing.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anything on what to expect in Dubai. Anyone happen to know? I understand that they are extremely conservative when it comes to nudity, but don’t know if this is an exception.
Update: The locker room and mens wet area had signs stating that nudity was prohibited and that changing cubicles must be utilized and that appreciate clothing must be worn otherwise. The place was pretty deserted when I was there, but the one other person I encountered in the wet area was nude. However, he did quickly put on a towel after noticing me. I kept a towel on out of fear/respect for the local culture.
As for the Hammam, I was provided disposable undergarments that were basically see-through. Of course, it is required that a man complete the treatment (in my case, a younger Asian man completed the treatment) and it was done in a private room. For those that are not familiar with the treatment, it was a combination of a body scrub, massage, body wrap (but with bubbly/soapy foam), and a sponge bath – truly heavenly.
As far as nudity, I may as well have not had the disposable underwear on at all. He basically scrubbed/massaged every square inch of my body other than the shaft of me penis. With my permission, he lifted and/or shifted the underwear to get underneath when needed and did not shy around that area we either. If anything, I was kind of glad to have it as it did have a non-voluntary effect (not that I could hide it, but at least it kept it in place). Near the end of it, he had it rolled down so far that everything but the tip of my penis was fully exposed. As for my back end, he just rolled it down completely. Moreover, at the end, he had me stand up to dunk me with water and he rolled it down completely, even carefully drying my penis several seconds at the end.
Anyways, highly recommend the experience (I booked a second one right after with the same man). Walked out feeling like a million bucks!
At the hammam in Turkey I went to, you wore the wrap and could be naked underneath or wear shorts. If you were naked, during the scrub they would reposition the towel to it was basically a loincloth so they could access more (if it sounds sexual, trust me, it wasn’t). If you wore shorts, then you just kind of hiked them up a bit so the guy can get your thighs. At the end, if you wore shorts you still took them off so he could wrap you in a fresh, dry towel. Overall – very good experience.