Motorway Services? Why stop there????? (Motorway Services)

Member Name: sofabad

Product:	Motorway Services
Date:	28/02/09 (219 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: quick stop for the toilets

Disadvantages: crowded, noisey and very expensive

I will only use Motorway Service Stations between about 10pm and 9am, when little else is available. I have found, with the sole exception of Marks & Spencers, that everything is a ridiculous price and the service so impersonal. Rather than use motorway services, I prefer to spend a few mins planning my stops. I google 'eat just off the motorway' and then select my stops from a huge list of possibilities, none further than about 5 miles from the motorway exits, most just a mile away. When travelling with children, for example, in addition to places with good food, I will be looking for children's menus and play areas; outdoor ones in summer. To save time, some restaurants will allow you, with previous arrangements, to telephone your order when you are within a couple of miles of them.
The beauty of off-the-motorway stops is that they are uncrowded, often privately owned, the food freshly cooked to perfection, the menus varied and healthy and the cost is very reasonable.

Apart from the expense of eating at motorway service areas I hate the food on offer, the din, the noise, the lack of fresh air, the huge car parks: nothing there relaxes nor freshes me.

Summary: not my cup of tea