Your First Spa Visit: What to Bring, Ask and Say

For a first visit you need to do four things: arrive 10 minutes early, know the price and the minutes before you go into the room, say what you want about pressure, scent and areas not to touch, and leave valuables at home. You do not need to bring anything. Towels, a robe and slippers are ready for you.

I am Chi. I do the herbal hair wash (gội đầu dưỡng sinh: a wash with herbal water and a scalp, neck and shoulder massage) and face massage at Lụa Spa (lụa means silk). I work Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday. Many people start with a 45 minute hair wash, so I meet a lot of first-time clients, and quite a few of them have just moved to Saigon. This is what I would like you to know before you come.

1. Arrive 10 minutes early

For your first visit we ask you to come 10 minutes before your time. The front desk checks your name and the session you chose, you change if the session needs it, and you sit down for a moment.

The minutes on our pages are time in the room with your therapist, including a 5 minute talk at the start. The session starts at the booked time, so if you arrive at the last minute, changing comes out of your own time.

Traffic happens. If you will be late, call 0963 929 241 or send a message on Zalo (the messaging app most businesses in Vietnam answer on). Up to 15 minutes late, the session still ends at the booked time, unless no one is booked after you. More than 30 minutes late counts as a cancellation. The full rules are on the booking and cancellation page.

2. Know the price and the minutes first

Asking is normal. Our prices are on the site, 8% VAT is included, and no tip is expected: you pay the price on the page and nothing more. A few sessions people often pick first:

Wherever you go in the city, three questions are worth asking before you lie down: how many minutes, what is the final price (tax and tip included or not), and is anything charged on top. If you decide to switch to another session once you are here, our therapist tells you the new minutes and price before starting.

Not sure which one? The treatment finder asks five questions and gives one suggestion with minutes and price. All sixteen sessions are on the treatments page.

3. Say what you want: pressure, scent, areas

This is what the 5 minute talk is for. Your therapist will ask, and you can also say it first, in English or Vietnamese. Three things:

• Pressure. Light, medium or firm. Our body massage starts at medium. During the session, “lighter” or “firmer” is always fine to say. Nobody minds.
• Scent. The essential oil massage comes in three scents: lemongrass (sả chanh), pomelo (bưởi) and jasmine (nhài). If you react to scents, we skip that session and use base oil (an unscented massage oil). For facials, Hân has unscented products.
• Areas. Stomach, feet, face, hairline, an old scar: tell us and the therapist leaves that area alone. The towel only uncovers the part being worked on.

Claire Dubois, who lives in Phú Mỹ Hưng, booked a 75 minute deep hydration facial (1,090,000 VND) with Hân and wrote “no scent” in the note box. Hân had unscented products ready before she arrived, and Claire chose a session without steam. Her words afterwards: “I could see the price, the minutes and who would do it before I booked.”

One thing should not wait until the room: health. The booking form has one short question and four tick boxes: an open wound or broken skin; a skin condition a doctor is looking after; pregnant; I react to scents or oils. Only your therapist sees the answers. If you tick any box, the front desk calls before confirming and may suggest another session or ask you to check with your doctor first. We do not take body massage during pregnancy; hair wash, foot soak and face massage are still possible.

4. Valuables, make-up and hair

• Leave jewellery and valuables at home if you can. There is a place for your bag next to the bed, where you can see it.
• Take off earrings and necklaces before a face massage or hair wash; I work on the neck and behind the ears.
• No need to remove make-up first. Facials and face massage start with a cleanse, and we have towels and remover.
• No need to wash your hair before coming. The 45 minute wash has two herbal rinses (lemongrass, bồ kết and pomelo leaf, which I cook each morning), a scalp and neck massage, then a towel dry. If you need dry hair to go back to work, say so, or choose the 90 minute herbal head spa (720,000 VND), which includes a blow dry.
• Age: from 16; under 18 with a parent or guardian in the building who agrees.

How we do it at Lụa Spa

• You book on the booking page: choose the session, the therapist (or “female”, “male”, “any”), then a free time. At least 3 hours ahead, up to 45 days.
• The request stays pending until the front desk confirms by phone or Zalo within opening hours, within 30 minutes if the start is less than 3 hours away.
• One person, a session up to 120 minutes: no deposit.
• The first 5 minutes are for talking. Hân keeps a notebook of each client’s preferences, not their skin “problems”, so you do not have to repeat yourself next time.
• Change or cancel free until 12 hours before, by phone, Zalo or the link in your confirmation.
• Open every day 10:00 to 21:30 at 63 Hoàng Văn Thái, Tân Mỹ Ward (old District 7).

For a step-by-step look at a facial, read what 60 minutes at a spa looks like. To choose between body massages, read body massage in Ho Chi Minh City. The session I do most is the herbal hair wash; my days and sessions are on my profile.

A short list to print

1. Arrive 10 minutes early. Save 0963 929 241 in case you are late.
2. Know your session’s minutes and price.
3. Say the pressure: light, medium or firm.
4. Say the scent: which one, or none.
5. Say any area not to touch.
6. Tick the health boxes when booking if any apply.
7. Take off neck and ear jewellery; leave valuables at home.
8. No need to remove make-up or wash your hair first.

Updated 4 October 2026. Prices include 8% VAT, no tip.