MotorwayServices.Info Awards 2009
Best Motorway Service Area 2009
Normal service was resumed in 2009, with the title of Best Motorway Service Area returning
to the Westmorland group with Tebay Northbound and
Tebay Southbound being the only two areas to get a maximum five burger ranking.
Some of the comments about these sites include:
"The place is gorgeous - incredibly picturesque, beautiful views of the lake from the cafe, with a huge array of local produce to choose from and some lovely shiny toilets"
"As always, great food and service."
"It may not be perfect but it's far and away the best M-way services I've ever visited in the UK."
Runners Up
Honourable mentions go to six service areas which achieved a
burger rating of 4/5:
"Northbound looks great since its been refurbed - really clean, bright, staff very friendly"
"Very impressed. Good parking and good, clean facilities. Not overly crowded either."
"love these services clean well maintained and not a rip off a pleasure to stop at"
"This is the best services I've ever been to, always clean and tidy, staff always happy and food hot"
"Friendly service, first rate coffee. Can't fault such service so late at night."
"plenty of choice of food and open late unlike some not expensive parking"
Best Motorway Service Operators 2009
In previous years this category has split into two, with separate awards for large and small operators ("large" meaning an operator with more than ten areas). However, the overall performance of the "Big three" (Moto, Roadchef and Welcome Break) was not only identical but also equally below par - just two burgers each, on average. So no awards at all for them this year, just an overall winner and runner-up:
Best Motorway Services Operator 2009
Westmorland was the only operator with an average of five burgers, and is the clear winner.
Runner Up 2009
Extra MSA had an average rating of four burgers, a performance which easily surpasses that of the established larger operators.
Honourable Mention 2009
Stop 24, a newcomer to the MSA scene also got four burgers for its new area near Folkestone. But, as it's a one-site operator, it doesn't qualify for an overall award.
Worst Motorway Service Areas 2009
The overall quality for the year has risen has dropped slightly, with only six areas getting 4/5 compared to 2008's ten, and 14 areas
scoring just 1/5 as against 1 the previous year. However, the one piece of good news is that no areas scored a big fat zero, unlike the
three last year. These are the one burger MSAs:
Birchanger Green
Bridgwater
Bolton West
Knutsford
Lymm
Sandbach
Birch
Michaelwood
Watford Gap
Gretna Green
Fleet
Heart of Scotland
Rownhams
Thurrock
Ranking Lists
More detailed rankings, including other ways of rating the sites by number of positive and negative comments, can be seen at the Ratings Page.
