De-stressing treatments in Cairo and where to find them: With the stress of the day-to-day weighing us down, the search for any form of relaxation and relief has become an almost weekly need for many of us. From the time of the pharaohs, Egypt has had a reputation for therapeutic massages, baths and treatments. Today, we have a plethora of places to choose from and treatments to try out — from your basic massage to treatments like cupping and lymphatic drainage — and spots to serve every gender, budget, and needs.

Our pro tip: wherever you choose to go, make sure it’s near your house — and that you have a ride that can pick you up and drop you off. We hate having to suffer through Cairo traffic after a relaxing spa treatment.

THE HIGH-END EXPERIENCE-

Hotel spas in Cairo do not disappoint, but be prepared to shell out a big sum — they don’t come cheap.Expect to pay between EGP 1k and 2k for the wraps, between EGP 2-3.8k for the massages, EGP 5-7k for the packages — most of which include massages, wraps and further treatments — and EGP 2-3k for facials.

Heavenly Spa at the Westin Cairo Golf Resort & Spa in Katameya Dunes is a staple for both facials and massages, from gua-sha/face roller/ice globe treatments to help the skin absorb collagen creams to LED masks for anti-ageing. It also has a steam room and a lap pool, and overlooks vast swathes of greenery and lakes that help put you in the mood. The spa is open daily from 10am to 10pm.

For the ambiance: The Bali-inspired Mandara Spa in the JW Marriott is renowned for its spacious and lavish architecture and design (if a spa’s ambiance is important to you), with the highlight being its elaborate Moroccan-style Hammam, which features a heated marble bed, domes, and dramatic arches.

Up for a wrap or a hot stone massage?Resense Spa at New Cairo’sRoyal Maxim Palace in Kempinski — which was awarded Egypt’s Best Hotel Spa for 2022 — has a large selection of services that include scrubs, pedicures, and massages. The spa offers wraps, which involve an exfoliation followed by a nutrient rich wrap using muslin soaked in herbs or oils, as well as a range of hot stone massages.

Escape the city noise:Saray Spa at The Cairo Marriott Omar Khayyam Hotel is hidden away in the center of the hotel — and importantly, sound-proofed, allowing the city to disappear as you enter its foyer. The spa offers a selection of signature experiences like the Arabic coffee massage and polish, and the rose fusion dry-brush exfoliation treatment.

Also at the top of the spa game is the Four Seasons at the Nile Plaza, which offers a myriad of spa “rituals,” massages, facials, and treatments that include exotic and unusual elixirs, from chocolate oil to Moroccan clay. Special mention goes to the skin escape for men facia, which is a 75-minute experience that aims to address dullness and some of the irritants that impact men’s skin due to constant shaving.

BOUTIQUE SPAS (and more budget-friendly alternatives)- These spas are a little kinder to your wallet.Expect to pay a ballpark figure of EGP 600 to 1.5k for a massage at one of these spas.Packages — which include Moroccan baths — are also more affordable coming in at a range of 1k to 2k. If you intend to venture further into the more un-orthodox treatments at Osana, you’ll need to fork up EGP 1.2k-1.9k.

The most popular option is Nev Spa, located in Cairo Festival City and Sheikh Zayed’s Park St. The spa was awarded first place in the 2022 Luxury Spa Awards. The spa has a wide selection of massages, facials and Moroccan baths at a more comfortable price range than hotels, equipped with relaxing rooms, open spaces, and genuine natural oils and herbs for their treatments.

InHeliopolis, residents highly recommend Bliss Spa for its affordable selection of massages and impeccable quality. At EGP 670 you can get a full back massage for 30 minutes, and for EGP 500 a massage for your head, back and shoulders, which are among the cheapest massages we’ve seen in Egypt so far. The downside? It is an all-ladies spa, sorry gentlemen.

For alternative therapies and treatments: Nun center in Zamalek has a wide array of choices, including destressing treatments and treatments to improve posture. Its alignment healing method comes highly recommended for those suffering from small distortions of the joints. Over in Maadi, Osana is a classic choice for those of us living in the Kingdom of Maadi. Among the alternative treatments it offers are acupuncture, cupping and moxibustion, which involves burning herbs close to the body to “activate” inactive areas. One — dubbed the energy healing treatment — incorporates Sufi methods using Reiki and Indian head massages.

A word of caution: Some of these treatments claim to treat medical issues, but most scientific evidence indicates that treatments like acupuncture and cupping are best done as complementary treatments to help alleviate pain, according to the US National Center for Biotechnology Information. Many studies have also pointed to the question of whether these treatments work due to the placebo effect, though these treatments are still widely practiced and show mostly positive health benefits.

Tags: