Most travellers arrive in Hoi An with a tailor on the list and a haircut nowhere on it. Then day three happens — humidity, sea salt, a photo shoot booked for tomorrow — and suddenly finding a hair salon in Hoi An is urgent. The good news is that it is cheap, fast and genuinely good here. The awkward news is that almost nothing online lists an honest price, so people either overpay on the tourist streets or avoid it entirely.

What a hair salon in Hoi An actually costs

Start with the number, because it is the thing nobody prints. A wash, cut and style at a proper neighbourhood salon in Hoi An is 100,000 to 150,000₫ — call it four to six US dollars. A wash and blow-dry on its own is 80,000₫. That is not a discount, a promotion or a foreigner price; it is what the street pays.

Two honest caveats. Colour and chemical work is the one area where we will not publish a figure: the same treatment on shoulder-length virgin hair and on bleached hair past the waist are different jobs, and a made-up “from” price would mislead you. Ask for the quote before anything is mixed — nobody minds, and it takes a minute.

The second caveat is that cash is the norm. Prices are in dong, card machines are rare in small salons, and there is an ATM on the same street.

Thanh Mai: where it is and why it is easy

Ask expats and returning visitors where to get hair done and one name keeps coming back: Thanh Mai, at 84 Phan Chau Trinh. The owner has been behind the chair for more than thirty years, the salon holds 4.9 out of 5 on Google from 251 reviews as of September 2026, and the price list is the same one locals pay.

• Address: 84 Phan Chau Trinh — the street running parallel to Tran Phu, one block north of the Ancient Town.
• Hours: 7:00 to 21:00, every day.
• Outside the pedestrian zone. A taxi or Grab bike can stop at the door at any hour, which is not true of most addresses inside the core. If you are walking in from the Old Town it is a few minutes.
• Free hotel pick-up and drop-off. Say where you are staying when you book and someone comes to get you.
• Booking in English over WhatsApp on +84 93 245 5152.

Everything is under one roof — hair, nails, lashes, brows, make-up and a spa room at the back — which matters more than it sounds when you are trying to fit a whole morning of getting ready into one stop before an event.

Hair: cut, wash and blow-dry

A cut here is not a five-minute job. The standard sequence is a long shampoo at the basin, a scalp and neck massage, then the cut, then a blow-dry and style — and the whole thing usually runs forty-five minutes to an hour for the price of a sandwich at home.

• Women’s cut, 100,000–150,000₫. The spread is about length and how much shaping you want, not about who you are.
• Wash and blow-dry, 80,000₫. The one to book the morning of a dinner, a shoot or a flight.
• Men’s cuts are done here too; ask when you book so the right stylist is free.
• Fringe trims and a quick tidy between proper cuts cost very little — worth asking rather than living with it for three weeks.

If you want colour, perm or straightening, book it as a separate, longer appointment rather than adding it to a cut on the day. Chemical work needs a consultation first, and a rushed slot is how people end up unhappy.

The shampoo is the reason to go

Here is the part that surprises first-timers, and the reason Vietnamese salons get written about at all. The shampoo is not a rinse — it is a treatment. You lie back at the basin and get fifteen to twenty-plus minutes of scalp work: fingertips through the hairline, pressure points at the temples and the base of the skull, then neck and shoulders, then a second wash and a warm towel.

Western salons charge for that as an add-on if they offer it at all. Here it is simply how hair gets washed. Plenty of people in Hoi An come in for the shampoo alone and never sit in the cutting chair.

If you only do one beauty thing in Hoi An, make it the shampoo. It costs less than a beer and you will think about it for a week.

Gội đầu dưỡng sinh: the herbal head wash

There is a local version of the same idea that most visitors never hear about because it has no English name on any menu. Gội đầu dưỡng sinh — roughly “restorative hair washing” — is a thirty to sixty minute session combining a herbal wash with sustained head, neck and shoulder massage. Vietnamese people use it the way other countries use a nap.

Ask for it by name — say “goy dow zuong sing” and you will be understood immediately. It is the single best-value thing on the price list, and it is what to book on a rainy afternoon or after a long day on a scooter when a full massage feels like too much commitment.

Nails, lashes, brows and make-up

The nail and lash side runs on the same tables as the hair, so you can have nails done while colour develops. These are guide prices — designs, gel, length and how much work a set needs move them, so confirm yours by message before the appointment.

• Lash extensions before a beach week are the classic Hoi An move — no mascara, no panda eyes in the sea, and they outlast the trip.
• Bring an inspiration photo for nails exactly as you would for hair.
• Allow time. A full lash set is an hour and a half or more; it is not a between-lunch-and-the-market job.

Massage and spa, next door to the chair

The same address has a spa room behind the salon, which is why so many people end up booking hair in the morning and a massage in the evening on the same day. Massages start at around 200,000₫ an hour, and every treatment opens with a warm herbal foot bath.

• Vietnamese, herbal, hot stone, Thai, and foot massage are all on the menu; tell the therapist whether you want gentle or deep.
• Facials, body scrub and packages are quoted at reception, and the bundles work out cheaper than booking treatments one by one.
• After a motorbike day, the herbal or hot stone massage is the one — the heat gets into a back that has been leaning forward for six hours.

Full treatment list, opening times and what each massage actually involves are on our separate guide to Thanh Mai Beauty & Spa. This page stays on hair and nails.

Booking for a photo shoot, áo dài or wedding

A large share of salon bookings in this town exist because of something happening two hours later. If that is you, the order matters more than the salon does.

• Renting an áo dài or costume — collect it before the salon, not after, so the neckline is known when hair goes up.
• Having clothes made by a Hoi An tailor — book the final fitting and the salon on different days if you can; fittings run late.
• Shooting on a full-moon lantern night — book the salon two days ahead. Those evenings fill first.

Five mistakes travellers make in Vietnamese salons

• Describing instead of showing. Words carry badly across languages; photos do not. This is the single biggest cause of a haircut you did not want.
• Assuming a cheap price means a rushed job. It usually means rent is cheap and labour is not imported. The shampoo alone is longer than most Western full appointments.
• Turning up without cash. Small salons rarely take cards anywhere in Vietnam.
• Booking colour on the same day as a cut. Chemical work wants a consultation and a longer slot; squeezing it in is how mistakes happen.
• Walking in at 19:30 on a Saturday. That is the fullest hour of the week. A message the day before takes ten seconds.

One more that is not a mistake so much as a missed opportunity: people book a haircut and skip the head wash. If you have a spare half hour, the herbal wash is the thing you will actually remember.

Getting there, and what else is at number 84

84 Phan Chau Trinh sits just outside the Old Town’s vehicle-free core, which makes it one of the easier addresses in central Hoi An to reach at any hour.

• On foot from most Old Town hotels: a few minutes. Phan Chau Trinh runs parallel to Tran Phu, one block north.
• By taxi or Grab: they can pull up at the door, unlike addresses inside the core. If you are heading on into the Old Town afterwards, the vehicle-free hours start from there.
• Free pick-up: mention your hotel when booking, especially if you are out towards An Bang or Cam Thanh.
• Same building: Anh Khoa Hoi An motorbike rental. Look for that sign — the salon shares the address.

That last point is the practical one. You can drop a scooter off, have your hair done, and pick the bike back up on the way out, which is how most of our own rental customers end up here in the first place.

Staying a while and want to reach the beaches and villages on your own schedule? The same address does motorbike and e-bike rental with free delivery, and the night market across the river is a ten-minute walk once your nails are dry.

Hair salon in Hoi An: frequently asked questions