Golden Tan of Wayzata

Just moved into the area, and with the extended MN winter we’ve been having I was looking to get a little sun.
Golden Tan is tucked back in the Colonial strip mall next to Lunds. It was pretty easy to find. I stopped in on a spur of the moment trip to the grocery store. The girl behind the counter was pretty friendly and the waiting area was clean and nice. The beds looked pretty new. The rooms were nice and clean. there was a good selection of bed levels to choose from. Unfortunately though, no stand-​up at this location (that’s the one I prefer). I didn’t check out the lotion prices here… I never buy lotion at the Salon. Golden Tan also sells sunglasses and some jewelry — but being a dude I didn’t even look at it.
Note also that they don’t take appointments. That doesn’t matter to me, but I have had to wait a couple times now for the bed level I purchased to open up. Once in a while, they will upgrade me to a better bed so I can get in right away but other times I’ve had to wait 20 minutes for a bed. If you need to know you can get in and out at a certain time, you’ll probably have to come at off-​peak hours.
I would have liked to give 5 stars… but I’m going to dock off a star for three things:
1) The headrests in the bed are hard clear acrylic without rubber feet. They slide around like crazy on the acrylic bed surface. They don’t stay in place at all, and my head often ends up in an uncomfortable position. I sort of like that it is clear, so your neck gets a little more light, but it’s not worth the trade off for having to awkwardly having to balance your head. I much more prefer the mini silicone headrests that just cradle the curve of your head, or the vinyl tanning pillows other places have. The headrests at Golden Tan are just bad. I end up just folding up the towel and using that for a headrest.
2) The points system. I hate, hate, hate tanning places that use points systems. I know, I know, the argument is that you buy a bunch of points and then have the flexibility to use any bed you want with your points if you’re feeling like upgrading your bed that particular day. I find this to be a false benefit though. Speaking as someone who lived with a tanning salon owner for 4 years (and know a lot about the business as a result)… Most people have a particular choice and stick with it, and are generally only inclined to change if the bed they wanted was occupied. Points can also leave you in a situation where you have excess points you can’t use. (DarqueTan is famous for this because they charge points for the bed and for the number of minutes you use — you always get screwed there and end up with leftover points you can’t use). At least at Golden Tan it appeared all the beds prices were in even-​number points increments and you could actually use all your points. On the other hand though, all I wanted was a bunch of sessions in a medium or level 2 bed. I had to get out the calculator app on my phone and me and the girl behind the counter had to spend several minutes doing math to figure out the cost per tan in various points combination situations to see what the best deal was. Points just add confusion for the customer! I ended up just getting a monthly unlimited membership rather than having to hassle with math when I’m trying to relax.
3) The «deals». A lot of tanning places will offer specials to draw in clients during the slower times of the day and week. $ 1 tans on Sundays, lotion deals with a package purchase, tanning happy hours right after work, etc. Things like that. Consistent deal I can work into my schedule and take advantage of. Golden Tan though has a whole calendar of deals — which can be great — but it’s something different every day of the month. It looks like the only consistent deal is on Sundays for ½ off a single session.
I really don’t want to feel like I have to pin a tanning salon calendar to my fridge to be able to get deals. Just offer a good price and specials I can keep track of. I also saw a special for new clients of 20% off your first tan package or bottle of lotion. The girl behind the counter said there was no lotion deal though even though it was in print. That was a bit confusing.
Keep in mind, these are minor issues, and just little nitpicks really. But they add up to the loss of a star. Fixing these though, would make this a top notch place though (especially getting better headrests or putting rubber feet on the existing ones — I’d up the review to 5 stars just for that). It’s a great location with friendly staff and reasonable prices. I would encourage you to stop in here instead of those other tanning chains nearby. These smaller local companies do a better job!