Spas Hanoi — Attraction in Hà Nội

I wish I could write a better review… tldr: massage therapists were great, but management needs to do better.

Visiting a spa is one of my favorite things to do while traveling, I’ve had some amazing experiences and some mediocre ones. This was unfortunately not a place I’ll return to.

The reviews were wonderful, the menu looked perfect, our appointments were made quickly, and confirmed right away. We were very excited for our half day of pampering.

The staff was very kind when we arrived, walking us through our day while sipping tea. We found out one of the services we booked wasn’t available, and the alternate option was also not available. They did offer a substitute of a service with the same price. This would have been nice to know, prior to arrival, but, understandable.

The ladies who provided services were wonderful. They were kind and so talented! We felt so pampered. We do not speak Vietnamese, but the ladies made us feel so comfortable despite this. Checking in on pressure and comfort throughout the massage.

When the massage was finished, the chaos began. We were seated with some tea, and one of the cups had a hair in it. We didn’t mention it, mistakes happen.

We paid for our services, asking for guidance on tipping (the post massage brain fog is real) and headed out to enjoy our final day in Hanoi…. 5 hours after we left, while across the city at dinner, we received a text saying there was a problem with our payment, after much back and forth, it was communicated they undercharged us. It then became our responsibility to figure out how to pay the difference, with no online options available, the manager met us at our Airbnb to collect the extra amount. We confirmed before arranging, via text, they’d be able to process a card payment on arrival for the difference. When she arrived she requested we go down the street to a hotel(??) so that we could pay. The staff at the hotel was clearly frustrated and turned her away. She then asked we come with her (at almost 10pm) to pay. With an international flight in the morning, this was a major inconvenience! We tried to pay in USD as she couldn’t take Visa as agreed, and she continued to debate with the hotel, causing this to now be their problem when they were totally uninvolved, and leaving us in a hotel lobby when we should have been packing.

Eventually, after having to get firmer than I’d like, she accepted the USD.

This was an absolute nightmare. While they took responsibility for the initial inaccurate amount, it became a massive headache to try and rectify. Such a disappointment after wonderful services, though, I feel far from relaxed after...

Where shall I begin? We chanced upon this massage parlour as it was just down the road from our hotel. The prices are attractive and very reasonable so we decided to give it a try. We were greeted very warmly and even though we were just enquiring about the massage and the prices, they seated us and gave us snacks and tea and towels. I tried their foot massage and my friend did a deep tissue massage. Our masseuses were super professional and highly skilled. They were detailed and the massages were extremely enjoyable. The shop looks newly renovated and everywhere is clean and well kept. We went back the next day for hot stone massage which were again, fabulous and we had the best time. After the massage we wanted to go to the night market but had trouble booking grab cause roads in that area were closed to traffic during the weekends. When the receptionists at Spas Hanoi heard about it, they immediately checked with their other members of staff whom immediately offered to ride us there on their bikes, which were allowed on the roads. Two of them quickly got ready and sent us safely all the way to the market, all smiles and good conversations and no charges. We were beyond touched. We of course went back again. On our third time there, we took a grab down but our driver was not ethical and went a huge detour and he added a 40% additional charge to the original amount. My friend and I refused to pay him what he requested and he chased us all the way into the massage parlour. The two receptionists on duty at that time immediately came to our assistance. One of them helped with the translating and when she understood that the driver was ripping us off, she asked us to leave it to her and to go in to have a seat and a cup of tea whilst she spoke to the driver to settle the matter. The staff at the spa really go above and beyond their calls of duty and make you feel like family. Everyone is so warm and genuine at every point of contact. I want to take this chance to thank all the staff at Spas Hanoi for taking such good care of us and making us feel at home even though we are so far away from home. You guys are the true epitome of Vietnamese hospitality and thank you too for the most amazing massages. We will definitely be back again and we will share about you to all our friends and...

The massage itself and massage therapists were absolutely wonderful, but the after was a mess. What should have been a fun last night of our two week trip turned into chaos because of Spas Hanoi. 9 hours after we left our massage, we got a text while at dinner saying they made a mistake with the bill (after we stood there and calculated everything together) and they needed us to pay an additional amount. Someone drove to our Airbnb to get the credit card payment after we said we were unable to return to the spa. We were assured they could take the payment right there and it would not be a problem. Once they arrived an hour later, we had to follow them to a hotel (not ours) where they asked a front desk manager to take our payment. The front desk did not wish to do so and the spa person with us then asked us to return to the spa with her, which we did not have time to do. After being told to wait while a discussion between the spa and hotel happened (which made us feel uncomfortable) we eventually converted the amount ourselves and gave US $ to be done with the situation. Their mistake led to a huge inconvenience on our part. Unfortunately, my partners tea at the end was also served with a hair in it. I originally was super impressed with the massage, but will not choose to go back given the inconvenience put on us during our last night...