Hammam treatments appear on the spa menus of almost every luxury hotel in Morocco, and I highly recommend trying one during your stay. Like the hammam rituals offered by many spas in Turkey and some in Germany, the Moroccan version involves steam and exfoliation. But the Moroccans have put their own stamp on the experience.

Upscale spas will offer a disposable undergarment to wear during the treatment (the spa at Dar Ahlam was an unfortunate exception).

Though I did have a male therapist at the Royal Mansour, therapists in hotel spas are almost always women. She will splash you with hot water, often unceremoniously, and rub your body with black soap, made substantially from olive or argan oil and black olives.