The LA Tan in Crystal Lake is the most disgusting tanning salon in Crystal Lake. I would know, I used to work there. All of the other LA Tan locations are one hundred times nicer and cleaner. The only good thing about this location are the prices.
This location is dirty. When I first started working there, there was dried lotion on the walls and old gum stuck to the floors. Part of the reason it looks the way it does is because it is inside of an old video rental store, Dollar Video. The owner should have spent money on making the tanning portion look nicer and not like a throwback from 1975. But, he refused to spend money on anything which is why it never looked nice and we always had the cheapest of cheap towels, cleaning supplies and beds. There are also many horror stories of thigns customers (especially male customers) have done while in the rooms that we have had to clean up after that upon hearing would make you never want to tan again.
The beds at the Crystal Lake location are all very old. I can understand hanging on to a bed for maybe 3 or 4 years because they are expensive, but every single bed was old. The bulbs in the beds also didn't get changed as often as they should have. Typically you are supposed to to change the bulbs when they are at 70%. Our bulbs wouldn't get changed until way past that, and also when at least one bulb went out. A person is not going to get their optimum tan with bulbs that are at 85%. A better suggestion for them would be to instead of have 30 small rooms, cut that down to half, sell back some of the beds (there are places that will take used beds), sell the other ones and buy newer beds. Also, knock some walls down and make the rooms bigger. We had maybe 8 regular beds - the lowest level. In all the time that I worked there, none were ever all being used at the same time. That number should be cut in half.
If the owner would put some money into the store (or even both stores) to make it look nicer and more presentable, they would get even more clientele. Or, even put LA Tan in its own seperate store. Go to the Fox River Grove location and then go to the Crystal Lake one. It is embarrassing how much nicer it is than its Crystal Lake counterpart. Fox River Grove has new beds and is decorated very nicely and looks more upscale than Crystal Lake.
The only good thing about LA Tan - even the Crystal Lake location - are the prices. For the type of bed you are tanning in (most places have higher pressure beds than LA which means you get a darker tan) it is very reasonably priced. I can't remember off the top of my head the individual prices for the bed as it has been so long since I've worked or been there, but the monthly package for the basic regular bed is $10/month for unlimited tanning (once per day). After that each package goes up $10 higher for each bed that is stronger.
Stay away from the Crystal Lake location. If you want a great tan and a nice salon, go to the Fox River Grove location, or venture into Lake In the Hills. Executive Tan is the best tanning salon I've been to. But that will be saved for another review... read more
