A few days ago, I (Helena) got the chance to try a bathing ritual in the Turkish Bath at Sturebadet in Stockholm, together with three other bloggers. Since I have never tried a Turkish bathing ritual, I of course did not want to say no to this experience!
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ShareThe historic Turkish baths
The Turkish Bath is a private floor at Sturebadet with a lounge area, steam room, dry sauna and cold pool. The bath was introduced in 1885 and in the 1920s Stockholm's society ladies came here for beneficial cold baths. Among others, Greta Garbo was a frequent guest here and right now it feels like we coincidentally have a Greta Garbo theme on the blog - we will write about her tomorrow too!
Sturebadet is located in the Sturegallerian in Östermalm and the Turkish bath is described as "a crown jewel in Sturebadet's historic and listed environment". And isn't it wonderful to spend time in such beautiful old environments! We visited the bath through a collaboration with Venuu, which rents out this room but also many other rooms for parties, conferences and various events.
Turkish bathing ritual
So what is a Turkish bathing ritual? At Sturebadet, it meant that for two hours we had access to the sauna floor together with a spa hostess, who guided us through the ritual. We started with a body scrub in the shower and a hair wrap. Then the hot sauna was alternated with cold baths, which are supposed to increase circulation in the body.
The water in the pool is 10 degrees and I thought it would be a bit tough to go in and swim, but it was not at all. When you came straight from the hot sauna, it was on the contrary very nice and refreshing. We also got to put a face mask with Hungarian clay on each other, before it was time for relaxation with prosecco and a little hanging out in the lounge bar. (Which meant a lot of talk of course, always fun to meet your travel blogger colleagues!)
It was a very nice evening with great friends, and you felt really relaxed when you left. There were only four of us, but it is possible to have up to 20 people, so I can imagine that this is an activity that is perfect for a bachelorette party, for example. According to the spa hostess, they also organise bachelor parties here, so maybe something for the men as well? Have you been to Sturebadet or have you tried a similar bathing ritual?
The visit to Sturebadet was organised in collaboration with Venuu. The images, texts and opinions are, as usual, our own.
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Kors och Tvärs says:
Can you end a working day in a better way?! Wonderfully luxurious - you have earned it Helena 🙂 ðŸ™'
Hugs
29 May 2016 - 7:44
Jeanette says:
Haha what a wonderful picture of you when mi has the face mask on :)
29 May 2016 - 8:01
nils-åke hansson says:
It was a fun picture BUT otherwise this is not for me Regular shower is enough for me.
29 May 2016 - 8:16
Towe says:
Fantastic evening, let's do it again!
29 May 2016 - 8:18
Towe says:
Love the photo of us chilling in the lounge ?
29 May 2016 - 8:20
Ama de casa says:
Haha - nice ones! 🙂
Have never been to Sturebadet, but have been to Centralbadet a few times. However, "only" in the public sections. If there is any private part there. No idea, actually 🙂
29 May 2016 - 9:31
Lennart says:
Cosy!
The central swimming pool has received many visitors.
Had a massage there.
29 May 2016 - 9:38
Marias Memoarer says:
How wonderfully luxurious it looks! 🙂 Ps. I have sent you a message on fb 🙂 .
29 May 2016 - 10:18
Matts Torebring says:
I just went and asked my daughter, who works next to Stureplan, if she had been there, but she had not. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary on Lilla Dalarö a few years ago. Some of us took a sauna and then went straight to a dip in an ice bath in the Baltic Sea. You wake up as a completely new person. I understand how you felt afterwards.
29 May 2016 - 10:28
4000mil.se says:
Got the "luxury package" at Sturebadet once as a gift from my boss, at the time I lived in Stockholm. Still one of the nicest, most relaxing things I've done!
Maybe I should blog about the Japanese bathing ritual, by the way, I realised when I read this... 🙂 🙂
29 May 2016 - 10:37
admin says:
Criss-cross, indeed! It was a perfect end to the working day! 🙂
Jeanette, haha, yes you had to immortalise... 😉.
Nils-Åke, normally we also think that a regular shower goes a long way 😉 But sauna and cold bath was a refreshing combination that I liked!
Towe, I think so! 🙂
Ama de casa, Centralbadet we have also been to once, and it is also a beautiful bath!
Lennart, treating yourself to a massage once in a while isn't bad!
Maria's Memoirs, thank you, I have replied! (But it was good that you wrote it, it is difficult to see when you get message requests, I think).
Matts, I've said no to the ice bath before, because you have to go out in the cold and on a bridge and it has felt generally unpleasant... But maybe I'm wrong in that opinion...? I liked this! (But 10 degrees is much warmer than an icebox, and you never had to go outside either ;))
4000 miles, the luxury package doesn't sound bad! And we definitely want to read about the Japanese bathing ritual! 🙂
29 May 2016 - 10:51
Inga Magnusson says:
What an experience! It's great that companies like this realise the benefits of getting blog advertising and offer this kind of thing! Good reward for the effort!
29 May 2016 - 11:08
Katta - Bucketlife says:
It sounds really nice and circulatory, haha. What a luxury to feel so clean & washed and then sit and enjoy fruit and prosecco. Lovely!
29 May 2016 - 11:59
Ditte says:
So nice and wonderfully luxurious! What an experience! Definitely avis! Have been to Sturebadet a few times but not in this private environment and more Turkish bath. Delicious! Fun to be a few too! Can imagine that the atmosphere was high.
29 May 2016 - 12:23
JoY says:
Looks lovely Turkit's bath I always take when I come to Turkey, now I can go to Sturebadet instead, thanks for the tip. By the way, I learnt to swim at Sturebadet.
Hugs Yvonné
29 May 2016 - 14:10
Resfredag says:
Oh how lovely it looks! I had planned to take part, but didn't quite get round to it. There are pros and cons to living in Nynäs...
29 May 2016 - 14:43
Znogge says:
Never, but it would have been fun to try it 😀.
29 May 2016 - 17:39
Steve says:
Yes, how handsome are you?
29 May 2016 - 17:59
admin says:
Inga Magnusson, yes, but isn't it? 😉
Katta - Bucketlife, it was a very luxurious evening, I must say! 🙂
Ditte, it was a great atmosphere and very nice!
JoY, funny that you take Turkish baths in Turkey! Is it a similar ritual?
Travel Friday, sorry you couldn't join us! But I understand that it is not always so easy to get it together ...
Steve, 😉
29 May 2016 - 19:03
Geddfish says:
Oh, what an event ?
I would love to come and advertise 😉 I have a lot of time to spare among all my activities 😉.
Recently returned from Linköping. Happy to check out good tips. This was super <3 with Turkish baths!
29 May 2016 - 20:55
Anette says:
Looks really nice. I've only been to Sturebadet Haga and it's probably not the same experience.
Beautiful swimmers. ?
29 May 2016 - 21:17
BP says:
I can safely say that it's not for me. Yes, the spa itself is perfectly fine, but sauna and jumping in 10-degree water is nothing for me. However, I know a girl who works there as a reflexologist.
I also laughed at the fact that it is a Turkish bathing ritual with Hungarian clay. Hahaha:-)
I have actually done that part - the phase with mud, massage etc. in Jurmala/Majori in Latvia. The husband also joined in. None of us were so directly fond of the "treatment". But it's fun to try!
29 May 2016 - 21:26
Solan says:
Festively, when we lived in Birkasta´n, I had standing time at Sturebadet. Own cabin with access to coffee and pastry after washing. Haha, it was ok to have a cigarette after the bath too! Seems completely unbelievable today.... and luck is well!
29 May 2016 - 21:41
admin says:
Geddfish, well, isn't it? 🙂 It was nice!
Anette, that was it! I don't know Sturebadet Haga...
BP, I was also not sure that I would like that with sauna and cold baths (I am not so sauna-loving and have always said no to ice baths) but here I actually thought it was actually really nice! I think it was because you sat in the sauna quite briefly (5-7 min) and that 10 degrees is, after all, warmer than an ice bath 😉 But it does not have to suit everyone! Fun with that with Turkish bath and Hungarian mud, I did not even think of that...! 😉
Solan, it sounds a bit like another time, when you went to the bathhouse because you don't have the modernities at home. But I hope it was a bit cheaper in those days 😉.
30 May 2016 - 7:31
Steel city anna says:
Done it once in Turkey. You got really clean but being scrubbed was not very cosy, tickled and even hurt sometimes. Maybe the spa hostess here was less hard in the pinches 🙂 very beautiful premises.
30 May 2016 - 13:06
admin says:
Steel city Anna, when I hear your description I realise that this was a Swedish variant. We got a scrubbing glove and had to scrub ourselves 😉.
30 May 2016 - 13:44
JoY says:
Helena Ang the Turkish Hamam you asked about. I have not been to anything with a cold pool. However, there are cold showers so you can weaken yourself in between. Wrote about my last Hamam bath here: https://joytillsammans.blogspot.se/2014/07/turkietresan-del-3.html
Hugs Yvonné
01 June 2016 - 9:30