While Vietnam is better known for its cuisine and coffee culture, its wellness tourism is quietly gaining attention. In Hanoi, it’s easy to escape the city’s hustle and experience treatments rooted in traditional practices and local herbal therapies. From relaxing massages to the most thorough hair wash you’ll ever get, here are four treatments worth adding to your itinerary. (And just in case you’re wondering—tips aren’t required, but always appreciated.)
The Ultimate Foot Reboot
Hanoi is a walking city. In the Old Quarter alone, there’s so much to see and do that it’s easy to rack up your daily 10,000 steps. Thankfully, it’s just as easy to find a spa where you can rest your feet, relax your calves, and treat yourself to some serious pampering.
JM Spa Hanoi, located on the lower ground level of JM Marvel Hotel & Spa, is known for its excellent customer service. Your session starts with a personalized consultation—pressure preferences, any areas to avoid, or focus on—plus a welcome tea and a light Vietnamese mung bean cake.
The hour-long session starts with a warm herbal five-minute foot bath to soothe sore muscles. The foot massage itself, a combination of reflexology, kneading, and a hot stone massage, is designed to relieve tension and improve circulation. You’ll feel the strain of those 10,000 steps simply melt away.
Throughout the session, therapists check in and encourage you to adjust pressure anytime. It all wraps up with a back and shoulder massage—because the upper body deserves love, too. Before you leave, you’re served a final treat: tea, yogurt, and fresh fruit. You’ll walk out feeling relaxed, refreshed, and ready for the next 10,000 steps.
The Foot Massage costs around 599,000 VNĐ (around P1,300). JM Spa Hanoi is located inside the JM Marvel Hotel & Spa, 16 Hang Da Street, Old Quarter Hanoi, Vietnam.
Not Just a Hair Wash—A Ritual
This isn’t your average shampoo. In Vietnam, the traditional hair wash is a wellness ritual—less about cleaning, more about restoring balance.
There’s a cultural aspect to hair washing in Vietnam. It’s a community practice that women do to bond. It is a way to wash away not just stress but negative energy, and it employs herbs and botanicals believed to have medicinal—on top of cleansing—properties.
Hair washing here is steeped in culture and connection. Often done by women in groups, it’s a way to bond, relax, and wash away stress—literally and energetically. Herbal infusions, like mugwort, are used not just for their cleansing properties but for their believed medicinal benefits.
At Nha Spa—a TikTok favorite among wellness travelers—you can try their Mugwort Relaxing Shampoo, Detox Shampoo, or the ultra-pampering Nourishing Hair Wash. According to their website, mugwort improves circulation, warms the body, reduces cold-related discomfort, and even helps with headaches. They also employ what they call a five-scratching technique that they combine with an acupressure massage.
This technique gives your hair and scalp a deep, refreshing cleanse and leaves no strand left unwashed. You also receive a relaxing head, neck, and shoulder massage with fresh ginger, plus a facial if you opt for their nourishing hair wash. At the end of the session, they’ll dry your hair before sending you off feeling completely refreshed, with a tingling scalp and soft, revitalized hair.
Hair services start at 150,000 VNĐ (around P300+). Nha Spa’s flagship location is at Sảnh B – Tòa nhà Hong Kong Tower, Số 1 Cầu Giấy, Phường Láng Thượng, Quận Đống Đa, Hà Nội, Vietnam.
Where Nail Art Is a Fine Art
Vietnamese nail salons first became popular in America, but over the years, there has been a significant skill exchange between the Vietnamese-American nail technicians and those in Vietnam. So if you’re looking to try getting fancy nail art, this could be something you want to add to your Hanoi itinerary.
Cosmo Nail Spa is a standout spot offering everything from ombré and cat’s eye designs to intricate pearls, charms, and stones. The staff are warm, and the technicians are skilled, knowledgeable, and precise. And they’re incredibly efficient. They work quickly, but the service doesn’t feel rushed at all. You can tell that they’re committed to doing great work. And you still end up with the best and cleanest nail work you’ll probably ever have, hands down (pun intended).
Nail services start at 150,000 VNĐ (around P300+). Find Cosmo Nail Spa branches here.
Warm Compress, Calm Mind
Hanoi’s energy is electric—there’s the endless stream of motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic, the volume of tourists and locals walking the streets, the long queues at popular restaurants and cafés. Truth be told, it’s part of the city’s charm, but in case you find yourself looking to escape all that for an hour or so, book a full-body massage and enjoy some me-time.
Try an herbal massage that uses a warm compress to ease aches and melt away tension. The compress—a cloth pouch filled with medicinal herbs—is gently heated, then pressed and rolled over the body in circular motions. This soothing technique helps relieve stiffness, improve circulation, and promote deep relaxation.
Be Wellness Spa offers a massage that begins with a consultation—choose your essential oil, share your pressure preference—and continues with a soothing foot soak. The session blends traditional massage techniques with the use of herbal therapy. The warmth helps relieve tension, ease aches, and calm the body.
Consider booking a treatment on your last day in the city. It’s the perfect way to relax before a flight and transition back to everyday life, feeling lighter and more grounded.
Body massages start at 690,000 VNĐ (around P1,500). Be Wellness is located at the Bespoke Trendy Hotel Hanoi, 12 Nguyen Quang Bich St., Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi, Vietnam.
