A35 PitStop

I was looking for somewhere to stay on my way home to Portsmouth from Exeter that was simple to access, clean, warm and cheap and Pitstop met all those criteria. The room was spotless, warm and comfortable. It was a little noisy backing straight on to the A35 but I knew that, that was part of its attraction in a way, I was not looking for a holiday but convenience. The room was great value. I have paid twice as much before for scruffier, dirtier rooms. I had no idea the price included breakfast too. Please don't put the price up as a result of this comment! £39 for warm, comfy, clean room with breakfast - epic. The staff were friendly on the phone and face-to-face. I make a couple of observations about Room 4 (not complaints) - I could not tune the TV to reliably watch BBC or a number of other channels - it kept pixcelating and freezing. Also I could not make the mixer tap divert to shower from bath. Also it felt a bit weird being the only person on site at night. No staff or other guests and slightly dark entrance around the back. It didn't bother me but it might bother some. A light in the corridor to rooms 3 and 4 would be nice too. I would definitely use again. Our daughter is at Uni at Exeter and this will be a perfect, straightforward over-nighter. This facility would not be everybody's cup of tea. But if you are looking for a simple, cheap, clean and friendly over night stop with super easy access to the main routes - look no further!

Some suggestions above...

Room big & clean. Bed comfy. Could park car outside room. Restaurant next door to have breakfast.

No reception or staff to book into room. Had to ask in restaurant then I was sent over to petrol station. They didn't know about room key collection either. In the end a member of staff phoned & collected key for me. I didn't know where to drop key off & handed it to a restaurant staff member.

We had been told the booking had early check-in arranged but it was not the case at the site, in fact no early check-in is offered. Staff quickly worked to get us somewhere so we could change for the wedding we were travelling to and in fact got the rooms ready in time.

A bit more investment would in facilities would help, parking was tight but available - it's never going to be the Hilton but the manager wants to make more of what is there, and we would agree.

Clean and convenient. Helpful staff. Good supply of tea and coffee. Nice and warm. Bed and pillows comfortable. Pub and garage with shop within 100 metres

TV signal weak - had to move around to stop pixelisation. Hot water takes a long time to come through Lights weren’t on in hallway to room and couldn’t be turned on without fish key. No blind in bathroom window.

Loved the included small breakfast, included amenities and spacious room layout with coffee and tea. Warm and comfy stay felt like fantastic value

Small gripe was the shower temperature was very fiddly to fine tune - either boiling hot or freezing cold need microadjustments to get right but atleast hot water worked hence small issue. Slightly bigger issue is simply how hard it is to see the turn in for the pit stop area at night (no fault of the lodging itself more the service station area) Despite these can't really knock off any stars as we throroughly enjoyed our stay

Convenience and presentation were great. It even includes breakfast which I didn't realise!

Not so much of a dislike but a consideration would be a light in the hallway as I couldn't see when trying to get from my car to the room in the evening. The television could be a bit bigger next time round but overall was a great Pit Stop and I will use again.

Room was clean, modern, well decorated, comfortable. Good shower. Room smelt very pleasant. The traffic sound was hardly audible and traffic volumes in the late evening were low. Slept very well. Parking was outside the room and not visible from the road which made for better security for my motorcycle so couldn't be better. Breakfast was as good as you could get and the staff were quick to attend when you entered, polite, friendly and the service was swift. Value for money was brilliant when compared with places like the Premier Inn who advertise from £29 a night then ask hundreds of pounds for 2 nights even with 3 weeks prior research.

Can't think of anything negative about my stay

Clean room with everything you need. Despite being close to a busy road, we couldn't hear the traffic at all. Breakfast was good and staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Great choice at a good price.

The WiFi would not connect at all. This has apparently been an issue for a while and the owners are trying to fix the problem. This was the only negative in a positive stay.

The room was spacious and clean. Very quiet and comfy bed.

Check in was slightly confusing as the diner wasn't open so we had to go to the fuel station to get keys, but they didn't know which room we were in, so we ended up having to ring the A35 and things were cleated up quickly after.

Wardrobe /cupboard had no hanging rails. Kettle had been pre filled. Light above bathroom mirror did not work. Shower (did not use) seemed unstable and hanging on bracket rather than fixed in. Had twin room with one bed side cabinet - could have done with another under the plug sockets so to charge phone. Worst of all motel attempted to take payment from bank twice! Cafe meals quite expensive.