Dreaming

From: Fuhrmann Mortensen family Sitting here in the Danish cold, we are dreaming to go back to La Tangerina. Thanks a lot for a nice stay in summer 2009. It was the most pleasent way to stay in Tangier. Best wishes for all, Jesper, Mai, Christian, Andreas

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Can't Wait To Get There

From: Geraldine Toltschin Have just found by chance your website. As from this minute, I'm counting the minutes to get there! I live in Southern Spain, have not had the pleasure of your country yet. Alas, 2010! Congratulations on a very lovely place. Geraldine

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Fantastic Hotel!

From: Imdad & Khatoon We stayed at the La Tangerina in October 2009 for a relaxing break. It was fantastic! Thanks to all the staff who made our 5-night stay a very pleasant one...

A wonderful calm in a place of beauty

From: judewhyte This is a wonderful place indeed. Everything is catered for in so many ways.transformed to a world of jazz and Classical music as well as smells,scents and ambiance off the Muslim and Arab world it oozes class, hospitality, wonder, warmth and manners.. something long one from the holiday world...they say see Naples and die I say see La Tangerina and live a dream...as near to heaven as one can be without dying judewhyte@ireland.com

Thank You!

From: James Connington & Paulinne Downey We had a wonderful stay, thank you very much. The room was beautiful, all of staff were so welcoming, friendly and helpful (Ahmed thank you so much for early breakfast you are a real gentleman and a great asset to La Tangerina). A truly beautiful place which added hugely to our visit to the wonderful city of Tangier. Go raibh maith agaibh from Dublin, Ireland.

Stylish Tangier by the New York Times

This Moroccan port has always been a city of extremes, a surreal crossroads where Northern Africa meets Europe, the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean, and hedonism and history seem to intermix. But a new generation of artists and expats is giving this fabulously shabby port a new shine.

A view of Tangier from the roof terrace of La Tangerina, a 10-room hotel with a small hammam


Photo slideshow by: Ingrid Pullar for The New York Times

Visit a Moroccan Hammam for an enriching scrubdown!

La Tangerina private traditional wood fire Hammam available by reservation

Hammams, or public bathhouses, are a part of daily Moroccan life. Along with the mosque, medersa and communal bakery, it is an essential facet of traditional Moroccan life found in every neighbourhood.

To set foot in a hammam in Morocco is not only re-energizing and exfoliating but leaves you with a cultural experience you’ll never forget! It is the perfect spot for a respite from the simmering heat or to wash off the streets funk of the medina; where you get to mingle with the locals and share one of their most important customs.

Where to find a Hammam

You have two choices: go the traditional route and opt for a hammam in the medina or get a luxurious treatment at a fancy hotel or an upscale riad. The public outposts are more of an authentic experience, a soak-and-socialise centre where chatter flows like tap water. On the other hand, the fancy hotels and riads upscale versions are usually solitary and silent, but hospital-clean, modern and with a variety of professional treatments. Note that these hammams are private and as such not open to non-guests.

Hammam Etiquette

Men and women take their hammams seperately, so it is important to ask when the womens’ hours are. Inquire also about the fees, as most hammams charge a nominal fee for bathing and a seperate fee for a massage.

For a public hammam, tote your own toiletries, towels and bathing supplies - the stuff you would normally take to the shower. Hit the souk ahead and buy a bucket to douse yourself with water, a small plastic stool or mat to sit on and don’t forget a black scratchy glove called kese (pronounced key-s). The traditional soap - or ghasoul - is available onsite or can be easily purchased anywhere in the souk. Look for sabon beldi, plastic baggies of gooey olive-oil soap, and rhassoul, dried chips of herb-infused clay that functions as shampoo and body soap when you add a splash of water.

Unlike in Japan, your public bathhouse experience in Morocco doesn’t involve getting nude, so leave a pair of dark underwear on and a dry pair to change into afterwards. You are also expected to tip a few dirhams to the chap who looks after your bag.

What to Expect

Bathing in the Hammam is not your typical rub-a-dub-dub, the process involves different steps of scrubbing and soaking, drenching and dousing. If you’re a first-time visitor, this can befuddle so err on the safe side and order the services of a tayeba ( washing person).

Here’s a run down of the head-to-toe scrubdown experience: First, choose a spot in the hot room where you’ll sit on your matt. Now, the tayeba will apply sabon beldi all over your body and then alternate between scrubbing and lathering you thoroughly with the kese and splashing warm buckets over you. If rhassoul is used, it will be mixed with water and applied all over your hear. Again, it will be repeatedly rinsed out, while combing from the roots until your hair feels silky clean. This process of cleansing, scrubbing and kneading will take about an hour, with the finale a ceremonious dumping of the bucket over your head!

If you’ve never used a hammam before and all this constant scrubbing and cleansing sounds like an abrasive massage, just wait to see several layers of skin peel off like strands of dirty spaghetti! You will literally come out in new skin, as soft as a newborn’s.

Thanks to for the article

This is one great place - trip advisor review

Jun 15, 2009 | Trip type: Couples
Eugene, Oregon

After a long day of traveling: Granada to Algeciras to Tangier. via bus and ferry, this was one great place to finish!

The room was beautiful. The tea service on the terrace after check-in was far beyond any possible expectations. The terrace itself, with the view of the Atlantic, was wonderful. We couldn't have been happier!

In the morning was a breakfast which we didn't see improved the whole time we were in Morocco-- 3 weeks. Location to the Socorro Grande was perfect: far enough to give us a break, near enough to make it possible with relative ease.

Short version: we could happily have spent more time at La Tangerina and less time at some of the places we stayed later in our trip!

This is totally recommended for comfort, feeling welcome. and any other measure you might choose. No, I don't work for them... but I wish I could

I'm back!

From: Nacho I missed Tanger very very much, so I'm back ! On La Tangerina again, of course !!

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