Sleep in your car.
Reservations screwed it up from the get go.
Toilet was broken.
Wallpaper peeling with mildew on the wall behind.
Transient workers owned the pool.

Of course price is the first thing we look for when selecting a motel. Sometimes it pays to spend a little more.

This Days Inn was about the cheapest reputable-named motel in Birmingham and it had a pool so it met our top two criteria. We failed to look at the map before booking online to see that the motel was within a mile of Legion Field. Anyone who knows anything abouth Birmingham, Alabama knows that anything around Legion Field is not the nicest of areas. Birmingham Southern College is in this area but they have a big fence and security guards.

Across the street from the motel are a couple of houses---one is burned out. That was the first warning sign. We check in easy enough.

When we open the door to our room, the odor of curry about knocked us off our feet. I like curry, but not as a room freshener.

The room was dingy and the bathroom door would close as long as you lifted up on the door knob as you closed it.

The "pool" was more of a pond as you could not see the bottom. I could not tell that there was any active filtration to the water. I did find a large tablet floating along the edge. I assume this was a chlorine tablet so at least there was some effort to kill parasites that were surely present.

There were some shady characters about and I could go on about the motel but let's just say at least none of us were harmed during our stay.

My two children thought it was great---but they are only seven and four.

Unless you breakdown right in front of the motel, stay somewhere else.

It was a very bad experience. Rude staff, dirty rooms, and dangerous surroundings.

I checked into the hotel for what should have been a 4-night stay. The lobby was clean. The room was clean. However, when I got up at 2-AM to go to the restroom, a big roach was on the ceiling. I killed him and figured he was an exception. Not able to go back to sleep, I left the light on. Sure enough, another roach appeared. By this time, I had lost most of the night's sleep. I carried the dead roaches to the front desk and asked to check out. They complied and offered not to charge me for that night's stay. I hurridely checked out. The hotel is in a low income neighborhood and allows extended stayers in the rear rooms. This is a recipe for problems.