A tip is not required at a spa in Vietnam and nothing is added to our bill. If you would like to tip, 50,000 to 100,000 dong per therapist in cash is our house guidance. This page says what the Vietnamese record actually says, why English-language guides give three different answers, and what is and is not on our bill.
Facts checked · next review
The question arrives at the desk more often than any other about money: do we tip, and how much? The short answer for Vietnam is that a tip is optional, and the short answer for Nghê Prana, a riverside hotel spa in Cẩm Nam a few minutes from Hội An's Old Town across the Thu Bồn, is that nothing is expected and nothing is added to your bill. If you would like to tip, 50,000 to 100,000₫ per therapist, in cash, is our house guidance, and a couple's treatment has two therapists. The rest of this page shows where those numbers come from, why the guides you have read disagree with each other, and exactly what is on our bill.
Tipping is not required at a spa in Vietnam and it is not expected at ours. Our menu prices are final and include VAT; there is no service charge and nothing is added at the desk, so a 60-minute relaxing oil massage listed at 450,000₫ costs 450,000₫. If the treatment was good and you want to say so with money, 50,000 to 100,000₫ per therapist is a warm, normal amount, and the same figure appears in our first-timer's guide to a couples massage, so you will not find two numbers on this site. Hand it to the therapist in cash. Nobody will ask for it, nobody will look for it, and the treatment does not change with it.
VnExpress, in a piece by Khương Văn published on 8 May 2018, states it in one line: "Ở Việt Nam tiền tip là khoản không bắt buộc", in Vietnam a tip is not obligatory. The same article notes that at five-star hotels and high-end restaurants the tip is often written into the bill instead, and that many Vietnamese customers do not have the habit at all. The word itself tells the same story. The everyday Vietnamese term is tiền boa or tiền bo, borrowed from the French pourboire, "pour" plus "boire", money for a drink; the Vietnamese Wikipedia entry on tiền boa gives the derivation, read 20 September 2026. The practice came in with a foreign word, which is the plainest sign that it was never a native rule.
English-language guides give three different answers, and all three are honest about a different place. Saigon Homestay's guide of 13 May 2026 says "a tip of 50,000-100,000 VND ($2-$4 USD) per therapist is the standard at mid-range spas" and that "at upscale spa properties, 10-20% of the service cost is a more accurate guide". Jungle Boss Tours' 2026 guide says "around 20% of the service bill, or 50,000 to 100,000 VND". The Vietnamese source above says optional. The percentage rule is written for resort spas whose menus carry the "++" mark, meaning a 5% service charge and 10% VAT are added to the printed price; the flat figure is written for city spas where the printed price is the price; the optional rule is the local customer's own norm. Run the arithmetic on our menu and the three readings land in the same place.
| Treatment, per person (live menu, 20 September 2026) | Price | 5–10% | 10–20% | Our house guidance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relaxing full-body massage with oil, 60 min | 450,000₫ | 22,500–45,000₫ | 45,000–90,000₫ | 50,000–100,000₫ |
| Relaxing full-body massage with oil, 90 min | 600,000₫ | 30,000–60,000₫ | 60,000–120,000₫ | 50,000–100,000₫ |
| Vietnamese herbal full-body massage, 60 min | 520,000₫ | 26,000–52,000₫ | 52,000–104,000₫ | 50,000–100,000₫ |
On a 450,000₫ massage, the flat 50,000 to 100,000₫ works out at 11 to 22 percent, which is where the upscale percentage rule also lands. The guides are not contradicting each other so much as rounding the same amount from different directions; 50,000₫ is the smallest note that feels like a thank-you rather than change, and 100,000₫ is the next one up. At the rate we use across this site, 26,000₫ to the dollar, that is roughly $1.90 to $3.85.
Every price on our spa menu is final and inclusive of VAT. There is no service charge, no "++", and nothing is added when you pay, whether you are staying with us or have walked in from town. We take Visa and Mastercard as well as cash in dong or US dollars. A tip is therefore entirely separate from the bill and entirely your decision; it is never assumed and never itemised. Whether a tip can be added to a card payment and reach the therapist is a question we have put to the owner and will answer here; until then, cash is the one route we can vouch for.
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Cash, at the end of the treatment, handed to the therapist. In the couples room there are two therapists working side by side, so a small amount for each rather than one note for the pair. If you have already dressed and left the room, reception will pass it on if you say who it is for. The useful notes are the 50,000₫, purplish-brown, and the 100,000₫, green; the two blue notes are the 20,000₫ and the 500,000₫, and they are the pair visitors mix up, so check the zeros before you hand one over. Rounding up a bill, leaving a note on the bed, or saying thank you and nothing else are all normal here; none of them will be noticed as too little.
The same optional rule holds in restaurants, in taxis and on tours: a tip is a kindness, not a charge, and a rounded-up fare or a small note is the usual form of it. The one habit worth keeping is to read the bottom of a menu or bill for the "++" mark, because where it appears a service charge is already being added and a further tip is a second one. You will not find that mark on ours.
We do not add a service charge, we do not pool a mandatory gratuity, and we do not print a suggested tip on the bill. The 50,000 to 100,000₫ figure is our own house guidance, reviewed on 20 September 2026; it is not a measured norm, and we have not surveyed what guests in Hội An actually give. We have not yet confirmed whether a tip can be added to a card payment, so this page does not claim it can. Nothing here is a rule, and a guest who tips nothing has done nothing wrong.
Nghê Prana Riverside Hotel & Spa, Hẻm 384 Nguyễn Tri Phương, Cẩm Nam, Hội An, Đà Nẵng 51312, on the Thu Bồn a few minutes from the Old Town. Phone or WhatsApp +84 896 687 961, or email sales.nghehotel@gmail.com. An hour's notice is enough, and walk-ins are welcome when a therapist is free. Pay by card or in cash at the end; if you want to tip, bring a little cash in dong. You do not need to be staying with us.
Prices read from our live spa menu on 20 September 2026; VAT-inclusive pricing from the same menu. Vietnamese custom from VnExpress, Khương Văn, 8 May 2018; etymology of tiền boa from Vietnamese Wikipedia, read 20 September 2026; the percentage and flat-amount readings from Saigon Homestay (13 May 2026) and Jungle Boss Tours (2026 guide); banknote colours from Vietnamese Wikipedia, "Tiền polymer tại Việt Nam", read 20 September 2026. The house figure is guidance, not a measured norm. We re-check this page every six months.
23 rooms on the quiet south bank of the Thu Bồn River, ten minutes by bicycle from the Ancient Town and a world from its noise.
Book your stayIt is optional. VnExpress (Khương Văn, 8 May 2018) states it plainly: in Vietnam a tip is not obligatory, and many Vietnamese customers do not have the habit at all. At Nghê Prana nothing is expected, nobody asks, and the treatment does not change with it. If you would like to tip, 50,000 to 100,000₫ per therapist in cash is our house guidance, reviewed 20 September 2026; it is guidance, not a measured norm.
If you choose to: 50,000 to 100,000₫ per therapist, in cash, handed to the therapist at the end. On a 450,000₫ 60-minute massage that is 11 to 22 percent, which is also where the 10 to 20 percent rule some guides give for upscale spas lands; at 26,000₫ to the dollar it is roughly $1.90 to $3.85. In the couples room there are two therapists, so a small amount for each rather than one note for the pair. The 50,000₫ note is purplish-brown and the 100,000₫ is green; the two blue notes are 20,000₫ and 500,000₫, the pair visitors mix up.
No. Every price on our spa menu is final and inclusive of VAT; there is no service charge, no "++" and nothing is added when you pay, whether you are a hotel guest or have walked in from town. A 60-minute relaxing oil massage listed at 450,000₫ costs 450,000₫. Where a menu elsewhere carries the "++" mark, a 5 percent service charge and 10 percent VAT are being added to the printed price, and a further tip would be a second one.
We have not yet confirmed whether a tip added to a card payment reaches the therapist, so this site does not claim it does. We take Visa, Mastercard and cash in dong or US dollars for the bill itself; for a tip, cash handed to the therapist, or left at reception with her name, is the one route we can vouch for. A guest who tips nothing has done nothing wrong.
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