We just got back from a short stay at the Avalon in Deerfield Beach. We booked here because we had an RCI coupon that was going to expire, so this was the best we could find before our kids went back to school.

Although the room was clean, the hotel was generally old (50's), run down and decrepit. Clearly, it needs to be knocked down or a complete gut renovation. The carpets were stained; the paint job was awful; the drains were clogged; there was an odor in the room; and everything was just old, rusty and nasty.

Oh and the pool: once again, clean, but I've seen bigger hot tubs... And get this: the garden had plastic flowers! Actually, old plastic flowers that were starting to wilt or melt.....

During our stay, only three or four rooms in the whole place were occupied. Apparently, everybody else got the memo. Why didn't we?

When we got there, the first thing my wife and I did was scour the place for vermin--my wife had a prior incident in another RCI property -- but thankfully the Avalon was OK (as I said, it was clean!). We then gave careful consideration to moving to another hotel. But we ultimately decided to stay and make the best of it, using this hotel as a subject lesson for our kids before going back to school -- If you don't work hard in school and get good grades and go to college, this is where you going to vacation when you grow up.... Good lesson; and they heard it loud and clear.

On a positive note, we enjoyed Deerfield Beach. Great beach, nice people, good restaurants -- especially the Mona Lisa Cafe, which was the best! We would return to Deerfield Beach, but not the Avalon.

And RCI, what a waste!! Absolutely never again!