Long journey to the north of Scotland - advice on motos and stopping over

[climbanymountain]

We are heading off to the North this week and we are coming from around Bristol. We hope to make Manchester area for tea time and are looking for a really nice service station where we can stop and get tea and they maybe have showers to wash the kids and get them into their PJs - can anyone suggest one?

Then we will push on to Carlisle or the borders and need to find somewhere nice to stay just for the night before we head off again in the morning. Probably not a B&B in case we arrive at midnight. Any ideas?

[seb1]

There is a Days Inn Hotel at Abington service station off M74 north of Carlisle, never stayed there though.

[seb1]

Also a Premier inn at Annadale Water (Lockerbie) services of the M74 as well

[seb1]

Annandale Water

[amner]

Tebay Service Station. A couple of hours north of manchester near lake district past Kendal ish.

Its independent and has won loads of awards for local produce etc.

I think there is a hotel in the grounds too. Its in open countryside. A lovely spot and q quite part of the M6

[amner]

Thats supposed to read 'quite a quiet part' L

[amner]

What is going on with my keyboard ?????

[climbanymountain]

I'll have a look at Tebay - thanks.

What are Days Inn/Premier Inns like? Are they the same roughly?

Anyone got any ideas of good Manchester area service stations?

[climbanymountain]

Just called Tebay hotel - £122 for family room. Sounds nice place though. If we push a bit further to Lockerbie/Dumfries is there anything around there worth considering?

[suedonim]

Unless it's been updated, don't bother with Abington. I think it's seedy, to say the least. We used to stop there regularly but now prefer Annandale or Tebay.

[pointydog]

I'd've thought you'd be best with a Travel Lodge type place, no? You'll just want a cheap bed.

But, sorry, can't recommned anywhere to stay in those places.

[climbanymountain]

Thanks all. Really just want somewhere clean and modern. Thanks for heads up on Abington -definitely don't want seedy! Wonder if we can make it as far as Annadale.

No one know any good services Manchester way??

[SqueakyPop]

The Travelogdes are all fine, as are the other budget chains. The main downside is that they are basically a place just to sleep - they don't tend to have a bar, and your breakfast is either Little Chef or queued up in the services.

I ended up at a traditional family run hotel in Carlisle last year. The motorway stops were all full and they phoned to reserve a place for me at the Pinegrove Hotel on London Road. It is easily accessible to the motorway (5 minutes). I arrived at 11.30pm and the owner was waiting on the steps for me - he couldn't do enough for us (I was on my own with 3 DDs). We had a family room (double and two twin beds), which I think cost in the region of £70, full English breakfast included. Although we arrived late, they did have a nice restaurant and bar (I did sneak a nerve-calming glass of wine at near midnight though).

If you go to the Travelodge at Southwaite Services (Carlisle), you can sneak out the private entrance and have a lovely meal in a pub in the nearby village.

[suedonim]

As Squeakypops says, all the chains are ok. All of them, afaik, have a restaurant nearby and some (is it Travelinn?) have restaurants/bars attached. We even stayed in one last year in Kent that had a swimming pool! If you're wanting showers, which tbh, I've never noticed at services, I guess you'll be needing a larger place.

A tip for breakfast in Travel Lodge type places, if you're not big breakfast eaters, is to take a cool bag with basics such as variety pack cereal, milk, yoghurt and fruit/juice and either plastic or disposable dishes and kitchen towel. Tea and coffee are supplied in the rooms and you can then have an adequate start to the day without spending a fortune in the restaurant.

I'm actually looking for a place to stay myself now, lol, as I've just decided to take my dd from NE Scotland to visit her godmother in Yorkshire.

[pointydog]

We stayed at the Travel Lodge at Crewe last year. It was a burger chain place there, I think, but clean, bright and reasonable pleasant. They're all so similar really

[suedonim]

God, we've stayed at that one so many times, Pointy, we almost have our own personal room.