Review: Linh Cherry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Linh Cherry Spa is a popular massage parlor in the “Little Tokyo” section of Ho Chi Minh City. The parlor has a large and prominent front wit big glass windows. There and on the street a bevy of beautiful Vietnamese women welcome in customers from the street. The ladies are so good looking that they act as a sort of human billboard for the place.

Most countries in Asia have an official traditional dress of some sort. In Vietnam that dress is the áo dài. Form fitting and flowing at the same time this dress has a way of accentuating the natural curves of the wearer. The fact that the white material used to make the dress is semi-transparent makes it even more intriguing.

It’s somewhat common to run into Vietnamese women wearing the traditional dress. They are worn for certain festivals and events. Linh Cherry is rare in that the entire attractive staff wear áo dài every day. Anyone who wants to see a lot of pretty women in these dresses only needs to walk by Linh Cherry Spa and take a look.

Location, layout and ladies

Linh Cherry is located near the Roseland Corp Hotel in Little Tokyo. The area is filled with Japanese-oriented businesses including ramen restaurants and small drinking establishments. There are several massage shops in the area. A few even have “cherry” in their names. But none stick out quite like Linh Cherry.

At any given time there will be about a dozen ladies stationed right in front of the establishment. Some sit, some stand and others approach passersby with menus. Behind them is a large front with big clear glass windows. More women sitting inside are visible from the street. Neon blue lighting from a large sign reading “Spa Linh Cherry” can be seen from a distance. For a place of this sort operating in Ho Chi Minh City it is rather obvious.

Once customers enter they are taken up the stairs to a sort of show room where the available women gather. There they can choose from the dozens of masseuses. Next things move to the well appointed private rooms. They are like the VIP rooms in other Ho Chi Minh City massage parlors with plainer walls. These rooms come complete with steam saunas, large jetted bath tubs, and large round beds.

Service, price and summary

Sessions normally start with the masseuse showering the client. That is followed with a full body oil massage that starts on the back. When things move around to the front the masseuses broach the additional service options. Here the main event is typically covered full service with all that entails. The women tend to be skilled with good bodies. They also know their way around the male anatomy.

The prices at Linh Cherry are around average considering the area and the services rendered. A 90 minute massage session costs 600,000 VND ($25 USD). The women typically request 1.5 million more for full service. This comes out to a total of 2,100,000 Dong ($86 USD).The tips are not fixed at any exact number however. So some customers may pay a little more or less.

Keep in mind that the women aren’t actually required to do anything more than a basic massage. So a gal could theoretically offer less for more in a particular situation. Indeed they could offer nothing other than a rub down and wash. Still full service does seem to be on the table for most all customers.

The tips requested here compare well to the nearby 15B/22 Spa where the ladies typically ask 3 million Dong for full service. A massage session with oral service comes out to over a million Dong in parlors like Boss Palace. The gals at Linh Cherry tend to be some of the most attractive masseuses in the city. Still they don’t necessarily ask for the most money.

Linh Cherry Spa is relatively easy to find, straight forward, and fair in their pricing. That cannot be said about every place in Saigon. I have rarely seen so many good looking women concentrated in one venue. Especially in Vietnam. Obviously I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. But Linh Cherry appears to be one of the better run businesses of the sort in the city. Four-and-a-half stars.

Linh Cherry. 4D2 Thai Van Lung, Ben Nghe, Quan 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Click here for a map. Open every day from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Phone: +84 933-827-268