LordThornber Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 Perhaps this is old news, but not being a Practical Motrohome reader I've only just seen it and thought I'd share it. Does anyone have experience of the scheme and/or its sites? http://www.practicalmotorhome.com/nightstop/index.html Martyn
Guest Tracker Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 Thanks for that Martyn - good news indeed for those of us who hate being pidgeon holed onto sites where we don't want all the facilities every night! Does not seem to show how to join / participate yet though? The MCC don't have that many CL's as yet and as there are already a lot of pubs in Motorhomestopover as below they might struggle a bit to get good numbers? http://www.motorhomestopover.co.uk/ Nevertheless it's a brave initiative worthy of our applause and support - as well as one that could yet see me shift my subscription away from the samey and predictably site worshiping MMM and I wish PMH every success?
fred grant Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 us uses the stopovers listed in the mmm booklet that came out a cupple of months ago my luvvers. Alice wont let i join anything as she says it narrows yer choice and she as a point. As for pubs, most that we ask nicely let us park for gratis in the corner in return for a meal. Why be a member of sumthing when all u need is a pleasant attidude and the price of a meal. fryintonitefred
747 Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 I am with Fred on this one. Google Earth your destination, find a pub (with a decent sized car park) and ring them up. They can only say no but it has never happened to me yet.
LordThornber Posted October 6, 2010 Author Posted October 6, 2010 I agree with all so far but the added advantage of this scheme appears to be the facility to take on water and/or empty your toilet if necessary. I've rang 2 pubs in the past about this overnighting, we only used one as it happened and it was no problem. The Landlord wasn't even fussed over us buying a meal or a drink but of course we did. But the water and toilet facility would be an added advantage in my opinion. If there's a fee for being a member I'm sure you'd recap it in no time at all. Martyn
Tomo3090 Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 We did join the Overnight Stop club thing when it first started because we thought it would be a good ideafor when we are travelling. It was £30 to join and then if you spend about £25-30 a night for a meal and a drink it does work out quite expensive, plus there weren't many of them, when compared to joining a "mainstream club" and using their extensive CL site network where the average is about £7.50 a night inc water etc. Although it does say you aren't required to buy a meal etc, the one time we did use it and didn't go into the pub attracted a sarcastic comment from the landlord about using their car park and topping up the tank. We thought we could do wothout that so went back to supporting CL sites or finding a handy layby if there is nothing else on offer and it seems "safe".
Guest Tracker Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 We're members of Motorhomestopover and have used several of their 440 or so pubs without any issues at all. We never prebook or phone ahead because when on the road we are never quite sure how far we will meander to as as there are so many one is never far away. We never just park up unannounced - that's a bit rude and presumptuous in my view - so we always go in and introduce ourselves and ask it it's OK which of course it always is. Sometimes we have a meal, sometimes we have a drink, sometimes we have a coffee and often natter with the bar staff and we have never felt pressured into spending any money. As far as belonging to something limiting your choice - au contraire - the more clubs etc you belonged too the wider it would make your choice and the more likely you are to find a good safe overnight at a sensible cost. Our only parameter is that we prefer to save as much as the yearly fee - and we have!
Tomo3090 Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 440 pubs? Crikey, they only had about 40 when we were in it! We did let them know we were there, it was just the next day there was an awkward scene. We might join again and give it another go, as you say, the more options the merrier.
John J Thompson Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 This scheme had been about for over a year now. It is a joint scheme run by the magazine and The Motor Caravanners' Club (MCC). Unlike the other Pub stop scheme, these sites are properly certificated sites (CLs) operated under an exemption certificate issued by the MCC. The MCC, unlike the Caravan Club and The Camping and Caravanning Club, do not require users to be members to use these certificated sites or any of their certificated sites, so membership is not a requirement. MCC members on some of the sites, receive a discount on the price, while some sites do not charge if you use the bar or restaurant. As for Goggle Earth I do this to check the location of any site or CL/CS I intend using. I find many of the coordinates published by the big clubs are inaccurate. Since street view you can actually look at the approach roads and see the location of access etc. John Thompson
flicka Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 John Thompson - 2010-10-06 9:15 PM This scheme had been about for over a year now. It is a joint scheme run by the magazine and The Motor Caravanners' Club (MCC). Unlike the other Pub stop scheme, these sites are properly certificated sites (CLs) operated under an exemption certificate issued by the MCC. The MCC, unlike the Caravan Club and The Camping and Caravanning Club, do not require users to be members to use these certificated sites or any of their certificated sites, so membership is not a requirement. John Thompson Reading between the lines the speed of growth is hampered only because they are certified by the MCC before being added to the listing. Some are also Motorcaravanners who have property with space for additional vans. There is also the facility for nominating potential participants. So it could grow quite quickly.
Andy_C Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 flicka - 2010-10-06 9:31 PM Reading between the lines the speed of growth is hampered only because they are certified by the MCC before being added to the listing. Some are also Motorcaravanners who have property with space for additional vans. There is also the facility for nominating potential participants. So it could grow quite quickly. I'm not sure what's holding up the growth of this scheme, we stayed at the one near Westbury recently and the owner said that it only took a matter of weeks for him to get approval. They certainly don't have many sites yet, 7 at the last count. I have them included (with the PMH editor's permission) on my page at http://www.ukmotorhomes.net/ukaires.shtml Andy
Usinmyknaus Posted October 7, 2010 Posted October 7, 2010 fred grant - 2010-10-06 5:01 PM us uses the stopovers listed in the mmm booklet that came out a cupple of months ago my luvvers. Alice wont let i join anything as she says it narrows yer choice and she as a point. As for pubs, most that we ask nicely let us park for gratis in the corner in return for a meal. Why be a member of sumthing when all u need is a pleasant attidude and the price of a meal. fryintonitefred Fred, I suspect you have not seen the price of an evening meal for two in a pub in this part of Surrey. Staying on the CC's most expensive UK site and cooking yourself would be a lot cheaper..... Bob :-)
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