Britstops

Thanks SD for that valued insight and those up to date experiences. Like you we have occasionally stayed at UK vineyards and farm shops, just asking the owners was enough. These stays were several years ago mind and I suspect prior to the likes of Britstops so I was wondering how things had progressed as a result of their presence in the market..

We have been members for a couple of years and not used it.  A couple of times we were going to but for various reasons didnt (not connected to britstops or the location) Part of the problem for us is that a very high proportion (perhaps 90%? ) are pubs. With the new owners there was a suggestion of there being more non pub stops. The new website comes out in January before most people's current books expire in February (and current App access) We shall look at the new web site before deciding what to do.

We had membership for 1 year and in our opinion it's not worth it. 

Many are pubs which want you to have a meal in return for stopping over. If it wasn't your intention to do so it can be way more expensive than a site/CL.

As mentioned many of these kind of places are quite happy for you to use their establishment without being a member. 

We use Searchforsites and Park4night both here in the UK and abroad, it's free or you can pay a small fee to gain extra functions. They have up to date info which is very useful. 

Save your money. 

I've had membership for about the last five years, but I decided not to renew this year - I'd not really used it much, because it was mostly pubs and if I'm setting off after work I couldn't often get to the stop before the kitchen had closed and so wasn't able to support the pub stop, but was happy to support the scheme as a small family owned business run by motorhomers.

Since it was sold to Harvest Hosts, it's completely changed - the price has increased, it's totally reliant on an app, which isn't ideal if you've got a poor phone signal, and the people running it just don't seem to be bothered any more - they don't respond to customer queries and concentrate on social media telling all their previously loyal customers that what we really want is what they're now offering, rather than what we'd signed up to and were previously happy with.

I'd save your money and go with one of the cheaper apps - or if you just see a pub you like the look of, ask them if you can stay and you'll not often be refused.

It just seems to me that the idea behind Britstops is now considered "old fashioned" when there are so many "free" resources online which perhaps didn't exist when Britstops was founded? Some might prefer the idea of having a book to thumb through but I even wonder how many actually now look at the CMC Site Directory rather than looking online? 

David

Micky, our experiences of Britstops mirror those of Shivasdad and Princesst. We joined a few years ago, paid our fees for the book and App, but it was sold on after those two years and isn’t half as good for double the price. We never had to show membership in the places we stopped, and found ourselves using search4sites and Google Earth to check out locations and reviews before we made a decision anyway, so now we simply use search4sites, and don’t pay anything above what it says on S4S.

We still have our Britstops handbook, but there are so many pubs that have gone out of business since COVID, so we always check. Experience of using the venues has been 5* positive for us. We have either stayed one, two nights for free, but purchasing from the business, or have paid a small fee for a stop in some good Aire type places. Many options do take larger MHs, but you just need to do your own personal research. If it’s a pub stopover, best to turn up early teatime, as things are quieter then. We have found Scotland the best organised place for stopovers, Wales is having a crack at it, England is more about someone trying to extract cash and locals not wanting it to happen. It is easier with a small MH/camper van. Best recommend from me, Aire at Kircudbright swimming pool, £10 for HS, hook up and all services, or free on the adjacent public open space. Very friendly, very well organised. They are not al pubs, another great one we used was a cycle shop and cafe. Free overnight, we had a delicious breakfast in the cafe, and bought some cycling stuff we needed. That was Maglia Rosso in Suffolk.