Jump to Content | Accessibility

------------------
Content:

Hilton Park

MSO Home - Services List - Hilton Park

Moto/Costa & M&S services, M6 between J10a and J11

Rate this service area: Current rating: Your rating: (6 recent votes)

Road: M6
Junction: Between J10a and J11
Operator: Moto (signposted as Costa/M&S)
Location: Staffordshire WV11 2AT
Telephone: 01922 412237
Signed from the motorway? Yes
Previous operators: Rank, Pavilion, Granada
Previous names: Birmingham North
Services type: Two sites located between junctions, connected by an internal bridge.

Official website: Visit Hilton Park/Moto's official website

Squashed in on the M6 between J10a and J11, Hilton Park is a large and very busy service area not far from Birmingham. The toilets are halfway up the staircase with lifts for the disabled.

Choose a section: Main Page | Location, Map & Directions

Facilities:

Key: northbound only | southbound only

General: Cash Machine, Pay Phones, Local Information, Picnic Tables, Children's Play Area, Game Arcade, Showers
Food/Drink: Eat & Drink Company, Burger King, Caffè Ritazza, Costa Coffee
Shopping: WH Smith, Ladbrokes, Marks and Spencer Simply Food, Fonebitz
Fuel: BP with pumps for Unleaded, Ultimate Unleaded, Diesel and Ultimate Diesel
Motel: Travelodge

Back to Top

Photos:

Click on a photo to view the full size. If you have one to add, contact me. It's never too late to get your name in the limelight.

	The entrance to the southbound services, until recently all of those brand signs would have held Moto's logo. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2009.
	Fortunately, the northbound side is a little more patriotic. Photo taken whilst travelling northbound in 2009.
	The corridor in the southbound services. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2009.
	The southbound restaurants, with Burger King to the left. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2009.
	The foot of the southbound (eastern) tower, which is to the left. The toilets are on the second level. Don't get the toilet and elevator symbols mixed up! Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2009.
	More corridors in the northbound services, with Caffe Ritazza to the left. Photo taken whilst travelling northbound in 2009.
	The northbound Eat & Drink Restaurant. Photo taken whilst travelling northbound in 2009.
	Another corridor, with the foot of the northbound (western) tower in the distance. Photo taken whilst travelling northbound in 2009.
	The northbound tower and a lighting column, as seen from the southbound car park. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2009.
	This is what you're greeted with at the western (northbound) end of the bridge. Now then, I'm not one to get excited over little things, but that could possibly be the best staircase in the world. Downstairs is the northbound services and upstairs used to be a restaurant, but now it's just offices and is blocked off by the door which is almost visible to the left. Photo taken whilst travelling northbound in 2009.
	The southbound petrol station. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2009.
	The southbound motel, which has numbered parking spaces. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2009.

Back to Top

Trivia:

Hilton Park has a lot to answer for. Its location is the main reason why J10a only faces south, and it has also meant that a whole new dual carriageway has had to be proposed to link the M54 to the M6 Toll. For a while it was to be closed so that junction improvements could take place either side, in a similar fashion to Leicester Forest East.

This isn't going to help southbound traffic, where the next services are 30 miles away for traffic for the south-east and 50 miles for traffic for the south central. When you consider this and just how busy this bit of the M6 is (it's the second busiest single stretch of motorway in the UK), it's no surprise that in 1998 Hilton Park was noted for being the busiest service station in the UK. However, since then the M6 Toll has taken a small amount of that traffic away so it's not known where it still lays claim to this title. Incidentally, around that time Hilton Park was extended to become the first "mini-shopping centre". The extension made it the first site to gain a Cyber Café and the last to get a Trucker's Lounge. Neither of these facilities are still available.

Each side of Hilton Park has a distinctive tower. When it opened in 1970, both towers held a restaurant with a panoramic view, but this has since been closed due to fire regulations and now has offices. If this story sounds familiar, it's because Rank did it again on a much larger scale at Forton. The staircase for the northbound tower is still used to access the bridge, but you cannot reach the top. On the southbound side the toilets are on the second level beneath the tower, with a second staircase being used.

For a while Hilton Park was known as Birmingham North before changing back. They changed back partially because Wolverhampton Council weren't happy with something within their area being named after Birmingham.

An M&S store opened here on the 15th February 2007 and a WH Smith store has also opened here, replacing the Retail Store, T2 and Birthdays. The bridge between the two sites used to be unsafe to walk across due to high levels of asbestos. They thought it might need to be completely rebuilt, which would require closing the M6 below and the Highways Agency wouldn't give Moto permission to do this. One thing they did do is mark Hilton Park as an "approved truckstop", something which surprisingly few service areas are.

Its location has also meant that the M54 needed its own service station - Telford. The name Hilton Park derives from the name of the stately home which the services are built on, which itself is named after the nearby village of Hilton.

It appeared in the BBC's 'Motorway Cops' in 2009 after a lorry raid.

Back to Top

Survey results:

In 2006 Hilton Park won a five star loo award.

Also in 2006, Holiday Which? magazine rated the services at 2/5.

Back to Top

Parking Prices:

Back to Top

Alternatives:

• Stafford (North) Moto services on the M6 northbound, 18 miles to the north.
• Stafford (South) RoadChef services on the M6 southbound, 17 miles to the north.
• Knutsford Moto services on the M6, 52 miles to the north.
• Corley Welcome Break services on the M6, 30 miles to the south.
• Frankley Moto services on the M5, 22 miles to the south.
• Warwick Welcome Break services on the M40, 50 miles to the south.

Back to Top

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: soundman I have to agree with Dave(Stockton)I use the M6 on a regular basis as an LGV driver,covering up to 2500 miles a week.Hilton park must have the dirtiest,untidiest,old fashioned system for commercial vehicles on the whole of the M6(Leicester Forest must take the same accolade for being the worst on the M1)The south-bound side of Hilton Park is so bad for commercials it is almost beyond belief!! I usually fill up on the M6 going south as i have to reload at my depot in London and then go north again.I normally fill up with 600-700 litres of fuel,but i will never,ever fill up at Hilton Park because of it's lack of cleanliness! I have to agree with Dave(Stockton)I use the M6 on a regular basis as an LGV driver,covering up to 2500 miles a week.Hilton park must have the dirtiest,untidiest,old fashioned system for commercial vehicles on the whole of the M6(Leicester Forest must take the same accolade for being the worst on the M1)The south-bound side of Hilton Park is so bad for commercials it is almost beyond belief!! I usually fill up on the M6 going south as i have to reload at my depot in London and then go north again.I normally fill up with 600-700 litres of fuel,but i will never,ever fill up at Hilton Park because of it's lack of cleanliness! Posted: 11 Jun 2009, 23:08 dave stockton i use hilton park as a hgv driver and find it to be the dirtyist services ive ever used where the hgv pumps are these rubbish every where and the floor is slippery i slippet over walking from the pump to the cash desk . i now use only when in need of derv it is well past its revamp date i use hilton park as a hgv driver and find it to be the dirtyist services ive ever used where the hgv pumps are these rubbish every where and the floor is slippery i slippet over walking from the pump to the cash desk . i now use only when in need of derv it is well past its revamp date Posted: 27 Nov 2008, 20:09 Johnny I can't find it on Google Maps either. I'll have to ask Moto (or one better - nag Ziathon ) I can't find it on Google Maps either. I'll have to ask Moto (or one better - nag [url=http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/forums/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=31]Ziathon[/url] ;)) Posted: 12 Sep 2007, 19:45 peekay Stopped at Hilton Park North today and couldn't find a childrens play area. There was an indoor area that looked like it used to be a play area but all the activities have been removed. Stopped at Hilton Park North today and couldn't find a childrens play area. There was an indoor area that looked like it used to be a play area but all the activities have been removed. Posted: 12 Sep 2007, 19:40 Johnny Thanks for this - I'll update it in a minute... Thanks for this - I'll update it in a minute... Posted: 08 Jan 2007, 16:52 Ziathon Hilton Park North now has a Caffe Ritazza bar and the retail shop has already converted to WHSmiths Hilton Park North now has a Caffe Ritazza bar and the retail shop has already converted to WHSmiths Posted: 07 Jan 2007, 20:16 Admin Post your comments and reviews for Hilton Park here, or click here to go back to the Services List. Post your comments and reviews for Hilton Park here, or click [url=http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/services/hilton/]here[/url] to go back to the Services List. Posted: 20 Aug 2005, 17:14
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.

Main Page | Location, Map & Directions

With thanks to the user 'Ziathon' for the information used on this page.

Site Map | Contact | Back to top ^

This site is not affiliated with any motorway service area or operator.
All content and images © 2009 Motorway Services Online unless stated otherwise. You may copy information from the site, provided you stick to the conditions stated in the disclaimer.