Washington

Washington
Moto
4 more photos in the gallery
Road:	A1(M) between J64 and J65
Address:	Moto Service Area A1(M) Portobello Birtley County Durham DH3 2SJ
Telephone number:	0191 4103436
Signposted from the road?	As Costa/Burger King
Opened:	1970
Previous operators:	Taverna, Granada
Previous names:	Washington-Birtley
Grid reference:	NZ283550
Services type:	Two sites located between junctions, connected by an internal bridge.
Visit Washington Northbound/Moto's official website Visit Washington Southbound/Moto's official website

A fairly old service area squished into the local area. The southbound site is actually located off the J64 exit sliproad, and traffic leaving the services has to cross this to rejoin the motorway.

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Facilities

General: Local Information, Showers, Wi-Fi
Restaurants: Eat & Drink Co., Burger King, Costa Coffee
Shops: WH Smith
Fuel: BP with pumps for Unleaded, Ultimate Unleaded and Diesel
Motel: Travelodge^{[book rooms: north south]}

Parking Prices

First two hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £8 and HGVs £16, or £18 to include a £10 food voucher.

Prices can be paid through the phone, with instructions in each car park. They are strictly enforced by CP Plus.

Trivia

Esso were able to obtain the site easily as they already operated a filling station and café there. The design was airport inspired, hence the large internal walkway from the bridge. As part of its desire to be futuristic, the food it offered was part cooked, then put into a vending machine, where customers could buy it and take it to a microwave along with cooking instructions.

The Highways Agency have listed Washington as an "approved truckstop", something which surprisingly few service areas are.

Oh, and to any Americans who many be reading this, this is the real Washington we're talking about.

Survey Results

In 2006, the services won a five-star loo award.

Alternatives

Comments and Reviews

Showing the most recent responses only: for the full thread and the ability to edit your own posts, you need to view the topic in the forums.
Author: Message: Chris My partner has just telephoned me from Washington Services where he has just experienced the most unpleasant shower. He is an HGV driver and says he felt cleaner when he went into the shower than when he came out. It was very dirty and the shower curtain was pretty short and kept blowing into the very small cubicle and sticking to his skin yuk !! The peg is broken to hang anything on also. He has complained at the site when handing the key back. Lets hope they will give the whole area a good clean this is not at all satisfactory and extremely unhygienic. Particularly when you have to pay a premium to park there overnight as well!! He is not happy !! Posted: 24 Aug 2010, 22:37 ripped off travelling back from Edinburgh to Norwich and 10 year old son felt ill,never used services before,pulled in,he was sick,bad stomach ache number 2 probs etc etc,got him sorted out and let him have a sleep and a drink etc before leaving.just been sent a fine for a 2 hr 56 min stay without noticing the parking charges,(being more interested in getting my son cleaned up)RIP OFF or what,The government put up signs saying take a break tiredness kills,C P PLUS put out fines saying PAY £50 or £80 if you take to long paying Posted: 09 Aug 2010, 22:31 regular visitor Staff would seriously benefit from food handling and basic hygiene education. Rather than use food serving utensils to there fullest capacity, they use their fingers, and do not wear plastic gloves. - totally unacceptable ! Posted: 29 Jul 2010, 19:29 Monty I use this service area a lot, especially Southbound. It gives the impression of having seen better days and I'm not sure how busy it is, given that it's in an urban area and a lot of the passing traffic is local, with plenty of other options for refreshment. A lot of fuss is made about the crossover you have to make to rejoin the motorway Southbound but it really, really isn't that bad - not sure what all the moaning is about, tbh. Posted: 24 Jul 2010, 23:08 Anonymous We recently stopped at this service station on the M1 for a sandwich lunch. We were charged £23 for 3 people. An Oasis drink was £2.89 (97p in supermarkets). How can MOTO justify such a mark up in price? The staff were unhelpful and had little sense of customer care. When the majority of motor way service stations now have a good choice of food and drink out lets there is no excuse for Moto and EDC to provide such an awful experience. Don't stop at Washington services, continue to next one (going south). Posted: 11 Aug 2009, 10:24 Alan They always used to close the northbound side after a certain time even in the Granada days when there was a Country Kitchen restaurant and shop northbound. Before Costa arrived when it was Little Chef and Burger King northbound there was seating so I presume it has remained. Posted: 16 Apr 2009, 17:17 MatthewB6323 I visited Washington when travelling north a little over two hours ago. Both the Burger King and Costa hatches were closed - I'm not sure whether there is any seating northbound - and I crossed the pedestrian bridge to the southbound services. There could be found a handful of travellers at the EDC and Caffe Ritazza branded dining area, and a few generally happy and helpful staff. The man in front was being served a breakfast bap, made in the kitchen. Several of the floor tiles were missing on the bridge, but otherwise everything was clean and looked after. Posted: 15 Apr 2009, 01:50 alex Costa has taken over Ritazza here (once again) and now signed as COSTA BURGER KING northbound (not sure about south) Posted: 14 Apr 2009, 10:04 davehammer Rubbish is probably the best word to describe Washington. Small and not too clean when I visited the other day. Beware the 'crossover' with the Southbound exit slip. It's none too fun if the traffic is heavy. Cashier in the petrol station was very pleasant though. Posted: 03 Jan 2009, 17:08 norton one of the worst moto sites around Posted: 26 Jan 2007, 12:17
Showing the most recent responses only: for the full thread and the ability to edit your own posts, you need to view the topic in the forums.

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With thanks to the user 'alex' and Alan Simpson for the information used on this page.