With the points from our home resort week available, we were able to choose a two-week period in the middle of January at Inverness at South Padre Island. That was the first plus! We didn't expect the resort to be Gold Crown, as it wasn't advertised as such and with a two-week-for-one-week trade (with points left over), we had no pre-conceived expectations.
What this resort had was location! It was perhaps the best location on the strip and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. The condo was clean and the staff helpful. The resort was built with an exterior corridor and each condo extended the full depth of the building. That meant that we looked out our front living room patio doors down onto the beach and out over the Gulf of Mexico and from the back bedrooms, we were able to watch the sun set over the bay. The full kitchen enabled us to make meals as we chose -- going to the local fish market in Port Isabel and choosing the catch of the day and a couple of pounds of ready to peel and eat Gulf shrimp was a highlight. Another highlight was sitting on our balcony / deck and eating our breakfast -- which included half of a juicy, fresh, ruby red grapefruit every morning! We don't get ones as fresh as those at home!
We were able to enjoy the sun by the pool and even got a bit of a tan, but must admit the unheated pool was pretty cool even for us northerners. The beach was right at our doorstep and we took advantage of the outdoor shower to clean the sand off our feet from our daily walk along the beach.