Cafe owners in Hanoi say they are losing money to customers who linger at their tables to escape the summer heat.

Lingering in cafes to hide from the heat

While cafes in the Dich Vong, Nga Tu So or Nam Trung Yen areas are crowded, customers are ordering free filtered water or a cheap drink so they can enjoy the cool air, and then stay for hours.

Nam, a student at Phuong Dong University, said, "The heat is unbearable inside our small rent room so we went out to a cafe near our university. It's cool, convenient and cheap."

Real estate brokers and multi-level marketing employees are using cafes as offices during the summer.

Nguyen Thi Linh, a cafe owner on Trung Kinh Street, said as the number of customers increases, she is seeing more losses. She said customers stay in the cafe for at least three hours, many from morning until afternoon, but they spend very little money.

"Our menu has some light courses but they do not want it. They call for meals from other restaurants and we still have to clean everything up after," Linh said.

She used to serve iced tea as free drink, but after most of a group of 20 customers only wanted the free tea, she had to start charging for it.

Tuan, another owner on Yen Hoa Street said, "We have to pay rent and wages and need a profit of at least VND500,000 a day to break even. But these days, we can't meet the target."