Body massage in Ho Chi Minh City: which type and how many minutes

Body massage at Lụa Spa comes in five kinds of session: a relaxing body massage of 60 or 90 minutes, an essential oil massage of 90 minutes, a hot stone massage of 90 minutes, a neck and shoulder massage of 45 minutes, and a herbal foot soak with foot massage of 60 minutes. Prices run from 490,000 to 990,000 VND, with 8% VAT included and no tip.

Which one to pick comes down to three things: where your body feels heavy today, how much time you have, and whether you want scent. Below is each session, how we split 60 and 90 minutes, what massage costs in Ho Chi Minh City in 2026 according to pages we read, and what is worth saying when you book.

Five sessions and their minutes

They differ in four ways: tools, scent, pressure and the area covered. Minutes are time in the room with your therapist, including a 5 minute talk at the start.

Relaxing body massage: 60 or 90 minutes

The basic session. Your therapist uses an unscented base oil (essential oil is only added if you choose that session), medium pressure, back and legs first. 60 minutes is 690,000 VND; 90 minutes is 890,000 VND. Hằng or Tài.

If you are unsure, start here. Pressure can change during the session, and you do not have to think about scent.

Essential oil massage: 90 minutes

The 90 minute relaxing massage with one of three scents in the oil: lemongrass (sả chanh), pomelo (bưởi) or jasmine (nhài). You smell all three in the first 5 minutes and choose. 950,000 VND. Only Hằng does this one, so it is not available on Sundays.

If you react to scents, we will not do this session for you. The relaxing massage with unscented oil is the alternative.

Hot stone massage: 90 minutes

Basalt stones (volcanic stone that holds warmth for a long time) are warmed, placed along your back and in your palms, then used as part of the therapist’s hand during the massage. Warm, never hot. 990,000 VND. Hằng or Tài.

How the three 90 minute sessions compare, and which to choose if you react to scents, is in hot stone, essential oil or relaxing massage.

Neck and shoulder massage: 45 minutes

A short session for the neck, shoulders and upper back only. You choose a massage chair or lying face down. 490,000 VND. Hằng or Tài. It fits a lunch break if you work nearby.

How the 45 minutes are split and why it is no substitute for a check-up is in neck and shoulder massage in 45 minutes.

Herbal foot soak and foot massage: 60 minutes

15 minutes with your feet in warm water boiled with lemongrass, ginger and pomelo leaf, then 45 minutes of massage on the feet and calves. You stay seated and dressed. 490,000 VND. Hằng, Tài or Chi.

People who do not like lying down for long often choose this one, as do people who have been on their feet all day.

60 or 90 minutes

At Lụa Spa, 60 minutes covers your back and the backs of your legs. 90 minutes is the whole body. This is how we split the time, not a rule of the trade; other spas divide it differently.

The 60 minute session:

• 5 minutes of talk: pressure, scent, places not to touch.
• 30 minutes on back and shoulders, face down.
• 20 minutes on the backs of the legs, thigh to heel.
• 5 minutes to wipe off the oil with a warm towel and sit up.

The 90 minute session:

• 5 minutes of talk.
• 30 minutes on back and shoulders.
• 15 minutes on the backs of the legs.
• Turn over: 10 minutes on the fronts of the legs, 10 minutes on arms and hands.
• 15 minutes on neck, shoulders and scalp, face up.
• 5 minutes to wipe off and sit up.

Pick 60 minutes in the middle of the day, when only your back feels heavy, or if you do not like lying still for long. Pick 90 minutes when you have the evening, want your arms and neck included, or want to turn over. The difference is 200,000 VND for 30 minutes.

With two hours or more, the Light Afternoon package (Gói Chiều Nhẹ) puts a 60 minute body massage together with a 45 minute herbal hair wash (gội đầu dưỡng sinh) and a 45 minute face massage: 150 minutes for 1,490,000 VND, 150,000 VND less than booking each separately.

What a body massage costs in Ho Chi Minh City in 2026

If you are used to prices at home, Saigon’s range is wide, and listed prices differ in whether tax and tip are included. These are listed prices on pages we opened on 4 October 2026.

Sources read on 4 October 2026. Other spas may have changed their prices.

Compare the same minutes and the same tax treatment. Our 90 minute session is 890,000 VND, which is about 9,900 VND a minute; 100 minutes at 600,000 to 730,000 VND is 6,000 to 7,300 VND a minute. We are not the cheapest in the neighbourhood, and we would rather say so.

What the difference pays for: choosing your therapist by name or gender, seeing free times and booking on the page, a price with tax in it and no tip to work out, and the 5 minute talk inside the session.

Vietnam’s VAT is at a reduced 8% until 31 December 2026. If the rate changes on 1 January 2027, we repost the price list.

Male or female therapist, and how to talk about pressure

When you book, you choose a named person, or “female”, “male” or “any”. Two people do body massage here:

• Hằng, female, works Monday to Saturday. Does most essential oil and hot stone sessions.
• Tài, male, works Wednesday to Sunday. Takes male and female clients who choose him.

So on Monday and Tuesday only Hằng is in for body massage, and on Sunday only Tài. The essential oil session is not available on Sundays.

Pressure does not follow gender. Some women want it firm; some men want it very light. Clients who like firm pressure often ask for Tài, but Hằng works firmly too when asked. The simplest way to say it: “medium, firmer on the shoulders” or “light, especially on the legs”. Your therapist checks the pressure again five or ten minutes in. If English gets stuck, “nhẹ” (light) and “mạnh” (firm) are enough.

We never swap the person you chose without calling first. How to choose online or by phone is in choosing a male or female massage therapist.

What to ask, and who should tell us first

Wherever you book in the city, four questions are worth asking:

• Does the price include tax, and is a tip expected?
• Do the minutes mean time on the table, or do they include waiting and changing?
• Who will do it, and can I choose?
• Is it a private room or a shared space?

On licensing: according to a licence advisory page (Aztax, dated 23 June 2026), massage in Vietnam is a business with security and order conditions under Decree 96/2016/NĐ-CP, requiring separate rooms, a fire safety check and staff with training certificates. We have not checked the original text and are not sure the decree still applies unchanged in 2026, so read this as a prompt for questions, not legal advice.

Tell us when you book if:

• You are pregnant. Lụa Spa does not take body massage during pregnancy, including hot stone and essential oil. A herbal hair wash, foot soak or face massage is fine.
• You have an open wound or broken skin where you would be massaged.
• A doctor is looking after a skin condition.
• You react to scents or oils.

These are four tick boxes in the booking form, and only your therapist sees the answers. If you tick one, the front desk calls before confirming and may suggest another session or ask you to check with your doctor first.

If pain in your back, neck or shoulders keeps going, see a doctor. A spa massage does not replace that.

How we do it at Lụa Spa

Hằng has fourteen years of massage behind her and trained at a spa in Saigon in 2012. In every body massage:

• You are covered with a towel; only the area being worked on is uncovered. You change in the room, alone.
• Unscented base oil is the default. Scent only comes with the essential oil session.
• Your therapist asks before you turn over and before working near your head and face.
• A private room for one, door closed. Lụa Spa has four rooms; the For Two package uses the double room.
• The session ends at the booked time. Up to 15 minutes late, it still ends on time unless nobody is booked after you.

Tạ Minh Thư is a chief accountant in Phú Mỹ Hưng who spends eight hours a day at a screen. She booked the 45 minute neck and shoulder massage, 490,000 VND, with Tài on a Thursday at 12:30. “I booked 12:30 and was back at my desk at 13:15.”

Later she bought the Five Counts card (Thẻ Năm Nhịp): 3,800,000 VND for five 90 minute relaxing body massages. That works out at 760,000 VND a visit against 890,000 VND single, 130,000 VND less each time and 650,000 VND over the card. She uses it on Saturdays, when she has the afternoon.

An illustrative story for a demo site; figures are made up.

Booking

We are at 63 Hoàng Văn Thái, Tân Mỹ Ward (old District 7), open 10:00 to 21:30 every day. All five sessions are on the body massage page; all sixteen prices are on the price list.

• On the booking page, choose the session, then a person or “female”, “male” or “any”, then a free time.
• Book at least 3 hours ahead, up to 45 days.
• One person, up to 120 minutes: no deposit. Packages of 135 minutes or more and bookings for two: 30% deposit, which counts against the bill.
• Change or cancel free until 12 hours before.

Still unsure? The treatment finder asks five questions and suggests one session with minutes and price.