Hanoi Thanh Hoa Spa — Attraction in Hà Nội

EDIT: Since posting this, I have been harassed by Thanh Hoa.

On my first visit, I was assigned a teenage masseuse. It was the worst massage I had in Vietnam. The masseuse told me in a soft voice that I was cute and handsome. I was not gullible enough to believe a teenage girl found me attractive. It was a cheap sales tactic. Before paying, the masseuse asked me to provide feedback. I ticked that the massage was excellent. I was not cruel enough to hurt her feelings.

When I got home, I contacted the manager and told him that I received a bad massage. He told me that it was shop policy (whenever a customer complains) that the masseuse in question would lose her month's salary. To force her to get better, the masseuse would have to rely only on tips. I begged the manager not to do this. The manager told me to come back and he would assign me a better masseuse.

When I returned, I was assigned a 28-year-old named Hâng. She gave me an incredible massage. I tipped her 200,000 dong. Throughout the massage, she conversed with me and I felt like we genuinely bonded. Like the other masseuse, Hâng told me that I was cute. I told her that she did not need to perform around me and that I would rather have a genuine conversation. She told me how relieving it was hear this.

Hâng told me that the masseuses earned 2 million dong per month ($80 USD) and that they bunked three to a room. They rent off the shop for 2 million dong per month. So, after an entire month of working, they only break even with rent. Without tips, the masseuses cannot survive.

Hâng also told me that the job made her lose faith in men, and that's why she appreciated so much that I was a normal person with good intentions. I asked if she had a partner or children and she said that no, 'Vietnamese men get drunk and beat their wives.' Furthermore, she had to work so hard each month that there was no time left for anything else.

The following day I received a message from the manager saying that Hâng really wanted to see me again. This made me feel like I had made a genuine friend, because I treated her like a real human being.

During the next massage, Hâng discussed personal details about her life. Her mother and father were poor farmers. Their house leaked when it rained and so she was saving up to buy them a new home. She pays her younger brother's school fees because her parents cannot afford this. After Hâng pays her rent, food, transportation and school fees, she is only able to save 6 million dong her month. To build a small house for her parents, she needed to save one trillion dong. Hâng would have to save for a couple of decades. My heart went out to her.

The following day was my last day in Hanoi. The manager contacted me and said that Hâng was very desperate to see before I left Vietnam. I booked one final massage. Once again, throughout the entire massage, we talked. Hâng told me that she felt like she really knew me as a person, and that we had formed a bond. She asked if she could stay in touch with me after I left Vietnam.

When I went to pay for my final massage, Hâng/the manager deliberately overcharged me. I was charged for their more expensive signature massage (despite not having receiving this). I was such good friends with Hâng that I didn't want to make an issue in front of her boss.

The second I left Vietnam, I was dead to Hâng. She never had an interest in me/contacting me. She played me, just like she had played all of the other men. Just like all the other masseuses are taught to do at Thanh Hoa.

Hâng was mirroring what I wanted. I am an empathetic person who likes to support fairness in this world. So Hâng told me how bad the working conditions were, how poor she was, how bad men were etc. She was telling me exactly what I wanted to hear in order for me to keep (a) coming back, and (b) tipping high. When the penny dropped, so did my faith in people. I felt so emotionally manipulated and used. Never trust someone who is willing to sell their soul/values for an extra dollar.

Go anywhere else. This spa is not...

If you come to Thanh Hoa as a man, you will have a very different experience than if you come as a woman (like myself). As a woman, you will be offered a straightforward normal massage. Their signature T&V massage feels good on the back, but it’s underwhelming on the legs and arms. On the legs and arms, they use a repetitive grabbing technique.

My main issue with Thanh Hoa is what I witnessed while I was there. While I was sitting in the reception, I saw three very young (18-20 year old) masseuses flirting and touching an older gentleman. They were holding his hands intimately, asking him for his WhatsApp number, telling him how cute he was (not true), begging for him to come back.

I even saw the young masseuses bring down their children from upstairs to introduce them to the male customers. Late at night, I even saw the masseuses in their pyjamas. I can only assume from this that the masseuses live also live at the spa, which further blurs the line of professionalism. Every time an older gentleman entered the spa, they disappeared to the top floor. Meanwhile, anyone else (like myself) was taken to a shared massage room. I was told that the top floor has private massage rooms.

This is the main problem with Thanh Hoa… the masseuses are willing to flirt/pretend to be physically attracted to anyone who is willing to tip them. I know Vietnam is a poor country but I did not see this kind of behaviour in any other massage parlour during my Vietnam travels.

There is some strange underbelly that exists at Thanh Hoa, and I don’t know the full extent of it. But from the tip of the iceberg that I witness, this is not an establishment people should support. I left with the impression that if you were willing to pay, the masseuses would be happy to be whoever you wanted them to be. As a woman, I very much regret ever spending money...

These have to be fake reviews. This was a very bad massage. The girls giving the massages were very small teenagers, clearly without massage training. Many parts of the massage felt pretty uncomfortable. The girl giving the massage kept stopping the massage to talk to people or go somewhere. You are in a mixed gender room but still need to get naked in there and the other customers were noisy also. I feel really bad for the people giving the massages because they are basically children not set up to succeed so you feel really guilty when you need to give feedback. At the end of the massage they hand you a paper asking for a tip. It’s all pretty awkward. I’d prefer to not have a massage...