Singing bowl therapy at Azerai La Residence Hue La Spa. Photo / Supplied
Vietnam is a booming spa holiday destination, according to Google searches from travellers worldwide, and it’s no surprise why. From luxe to less, in Vietnam, there’s a treatment for literally everybody, writes Christine Retschlag.
It begins with a clang, not a whimper. I’m lazing in the dark on a hard floor in the heart of Hue’s most renowned heritage hotel, undertaking Tibetan Singing Bowl therapy. If these walls could talk, they’d speak of the art deco history of this 1930s establishment built for the French governor. If I could speak in this moment, after more than 20 hours of travel, I’d ask to be excused to saunter straight to my luxury suite. My body is jagged and my monkey mind is jumpy; proof I am precisely where I need to be. Check-in, with all its colonial charms, can wait.
This healing holiday begins in central Vietnam or its solar plexus, if you will, at the Azerai La Residence Hue La Spa, where, for 45 minutes and just under $100, my mind, body and soul are reportedly being soothed by the sounds ricocheting around me.
I’m certainly not the first person to consider Vietnam for a luxurious and affordable wellness getaway. In 2025, a study in the SpaSeekers Spa Trends Report found Google searches for “spa in Vietnam” had increased 175% in 2024, one year after it was named Asia’s Best Spa Destination by the World Spa Awards 2023.
While one could spend months exploring the country, I have just 10 days to cover 1000km from the centre to the south. So, I swiftly travel onwards to what is considered one of the best wellness retreats in the country: TIA Wellness Resort in Da Nang.
Famous for its surf, the coastline was a popular spot for American soldiers eager to hang ten, but these days it’s where guests come to relax in one of 87 villas and embrace the resort’s four values: nourish, flow, breathe and create.
Here, one can choose from three types of stays: Wellness Inclusive, Retreat Inclusive, or a Private Retreat starting from around $700 a night.
I am sampling the two-night Wellness Inclusive, which offers two treatments per night and daily practices including Signature Master Class – Breathwork, Vinyasa Yoga Flow, Gentle Hatha Yoga, HIIT Power Workout and Creative Workshop.
Feeling bold, I add an element from the Retreat Inclusive menu: the Detox Hydro Circuit Therapy during which I undertake a guided steam, sauna, ice bath and hydro shower circuit with a full-body scrub and foot reflexology.
My no-nonsense therapist Hien directs me to shower before ushering me to the 45C steam room. The humidity reminds me of a summer’s day in my native Queensland, while the roar of hot air every few minutes sounds like the London tube.
Ten minutes later, Hien demands I plunge into an ice bath. At just 15C, I shriek from an intoxicating mix of fear and shock while Hien stifles a grin at my surprise.
Stubborn and undeterred, I direct my focus solely on the pandanus leaf in front of me and the mantra: “beauty is pain, I will not be broken” as if I’m a Navy Seal in training, rather than a woman at a day spa.
My third activity is the sauna set at a toasty 70-80C. Again, this Aussie girl feels right at home and almost falls asleep on the bench before Hein pushes me back towards the ice bath. This time, I’m determined not to shriek and return focus to my ally, the pandanus leaf.
Hien dons what appears to be a surgical gown and points to a marble slab shower room where she vigorously scrubs me with coffee grounds until I smell like a busy cafe. After a shower, I’m allowed to rest on a bed with tea while Hein finishes the treatment with reflexology. I can’t tell whether she’s delighted that I’ve completed the circuit or slightly disappointed I didn’t quit.
Next stop is the Alma Resort Cam Ranh, a 577km flight away from Da Nang, where wellness of a watery kind awaits. This establishment boasts 12 pools, which cascade towards the ocean, and that’s before you count guests’ private plunge pools.
The next morning, I start the day with a one-hour Sound Healing Therapy with in-house Indian guru Yogi Umesh Kumar Sharma.
During the session, the ever-smiling yogi focuses on the seven body chakras that correspond to the seven handcrafted Nepalese bowls I’m told were made under the full moon to capture its energy.
I surrender to the hum of gongs and bowls, while a special rain stick invokes the sound of a running creek. Guru Yogi tells me my stomach chakra is blocked as he observes me blinking rapidly when he plays the bowl corresponding with my solar plexus. I confess this is where I hold my tension.
We end this sanguine session, which is excellent value at just $22, by chanting “Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti” – Om believed to be the vibration of the universe and Shanti meaning “peace”.
Farther south, the Azerai Ke Ga Bay (sister property of Hue Residences), I watch a herd of 12 beef cattle amble along the beach while sipping on a Vietnamese “Pho” cocktail made with local gin.
Offshore, the lights of traditional fishing boats wink like an 80s discotheque. Here, wellbeing is centred around sustainable seafood which is abundant to this region. This resort also employs staff from the local area to boost incomes in its burgeoning tourism sector.
I pass ancient Banyan trees to the spa, where I’ll partake in the resort’s signature Azerai Asian Wave massage designed to mimic the outside ocean. My therapist, Van, sports a soft voice which belies her strong hands which, for the next 90 minutes, combine Swedish, Thai and Hawaiian Lomi Lomi techniques with Japanese Shiatsu. At around $111, it’s money well spent.
The final leg of my wellness adventure is in Ho Chi Minh City, before my flight home. With a free afternoon, I wander around the corner for a famed Vietnamese hair shampoo. I could spend $4.50 for a 30-minute “relaxing hair shampoo” (they’re as cheap as $2.50 if you know where to look in this city), but I splurge on the 50-minute “stress relief” hair treatment, which costs me a mere $9. Simply ask hotel staff where they would go and you can’t go wrong.
At the end, I’m presented with a snack I’ve never been given anywhere in the world post treatment; two hard-boiled eggs which are said to symbolise double fortune, growth and new beginnings.
Relaxed and refreshed, it’s an apt way to end my spa journey of central and southern Vietnam.
The writer travelled as a guest of Azerai La Residence Hue, TIA Wellness Resort, Alma Resort Cam Ranh, and Azerai Ke Ga Bay