Musselburgh Services

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Gav
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Musselburgh Services

Post by Gav »

These services have to be classed as pretty dire and in need of being done up.

Carpark rough surfaces both sides of service block. Inside a disgrace and needing to be revamped BK is closed down resturant still working but in dire need of refurbishment.

Grounds - overgrown dirty and totally unwelcoming. ill take some pictures and you can see just how depressing a place it is.
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Johnathan404
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Post by Johnathan404 »

So do many of these ex-Granada a-road services I'm afraid, but there's no-one to look after them. Oxford Peartree is one of the worst offenders.
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Gav
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Post by Gav »

Its a case of multiple owners with this one I think - the site has moto who run the forecourt then who ever runs the main resturant site and then the motel chain.

Its a damn shame and well with all those community workers Im sure the council could do something to get it tidied up.
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Johnathan404
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Post by Johnathan404 »

Gav wrote:Its a case of multiple owners with this one I think - the site has moto who run the forecourt then who ever runs the main resturant site and then the motel chain.
Do Moto still own it? I thought Granada had sold them all off, it says nothing about it on their website.
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Truvelo
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Post by Truvelo »

I can see why those services are decaying when Fort Kinnaird is only just up the road, maybe BK should relocate there to compete with McDonalds. Anyway when I'm in that area I use the services at Dreghorn, it's much smarter looking.
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MatthewB6323
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Post by MatthewB6323 »

MSAJohnny wrote:So do many of these ex-Granada a-road services I'm afraid, but there's no-one to look after them. Oxford Peartree is one of the worst offenders.
Oxford Peartree may be run down, particularly the toilets, but at least it has a solid car park and a (when I've been there over the last year) a committed if stretched Little Chef staff. Oxford Peartree was one of the non-motorway SAs to be sold by Compass with Travelodge and Little Chef to Permira, and so the site - planned by Granada as an integrated one - is now owned by three companies, Holiday Inn, Travelodge and Little Chef; I think the latter controls the petrol forecourt.

I've never been to Musselburgh, but it sounds appalling - there are plenty of car parks needing attention around, such as that at Little Chef on the A1 at Rainton.
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Post by Truvelo »

So why are there two hotels competing with each other at Peartree? Surely one is enough. I've never been inside Little Chef but the shop in the Shell garage is very spartan inside. Normally they are full of shelves but this one has masses of empty floorspace.
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Post by MatthewB6323 »

Truvelo wrote:So why are there two hotels competing with each other at Peartree? Surely one is enough. I've never been inside Little Chef but the shop in the Shell garage is very spartan inside. Normally they are full of shelves but this one has masses of empty floorspace.
Compass began work on the site before the demergers; the old Excelsior Motor Hotel - latterly a Welcome Lodge in the final years of Forte ownership, and then 'Oxford Lodge' under Granada - was demolished (except for the entrance) with the intention that it be replaced by a Post House and a Travelodge, aiming at different sectors of the market, so the two were not in direct competition. A change of corporate policy led to the sale of the hotel businesses and Little Chef, with the result that the Post House opened as a Holiday Inn.
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Post by Johnathan404 »

MatthewB6323 wrote:Oxford Peartree may be run down, particularly the toilets, but at least it has a solid car park and a (when I've been there over the last year) a committed if stretched Little Chef staff.
The problem with the car park is that the signs haven't been replaced, half of them are missing and the others are useless.
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Post by kit »

MSAJohnny wrote:
MatthewB6323 wrote:Oxford Peartree may be run down, particularly the toilets, but at least it has a solid car park and a (when I've been there over the last year) a committed if stretched Little Chef staff.
The problem with the car park is that the signs haven't been replaced, half of them are missing and the others are useless.
A few have been replaced now but to the poor "Moto corporate" standard (directions in red circles etc) - that combined with the poor road layout caused by the site being chopped and changed so many times makes it quite confusing to navigate.

I think the toilets/Little Chef have recently been refurbished and look a lot better for it now, though.
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Post by novaecosse »

Gav wrote:Its a case of multiple owners with this one I think - the site has moto who run the forecourt then who ever runs the main resturant site and then the motel chain.

Its a damn shame and well with all those community workers Im sure the council could do something to get it tidied up.
I popped in there on Sat for the first time in years.

My thought is that since the services are primarily for the A1/A720 trunk roads, then maybe they should be brought in by Transport Scotland, and the management / maintenance of the site added to the Trunk Road contract.
It's in such a strategic point on the network that its an absolute disgrace.

Looking at the state of the place, our guys and contractors would have a field day!
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by Alan »

Well Little Chef have now pulled out of Musselburgh. I popped in on the 19th of September and what a state it was in. the signage poles are still there but the signs have just been ripped off them and the restaurant/ toilet building is all boarded up with those silver weatherproof shutters. The lodge and forecourt are still going but the access roads have become really overgrown and the car park is a real mess with rubbish and bins overflowing. The tourist info closed in 2005 and so the whole place just has an air of decay.

All facilities, tourist info included, are still signed from the A720 and A1 so it's a nasty surprise for anyone expecting facilities. When i called some people were having lunch on benches while a dad was changing his son's nappy outside, obviously having trouble finding a loo.

Such a shame. It's a decent site, with a decent location and solid buildings built by Granada as a proper TRSA. I suppose for Little Chef it was a no-brainer though. Keep the Dreghorn site which is probably easier to run, upgrade and probably doesn't have the complexity of multiple owners and operators.

Still if someone actually spent a bit of time tidying it up it would make it so much more inviting. If first impressions count for as much as we are led to believe it's a wonder anyone actually stopped there at all and didn't just drive out when it was still open. This could possibly suggest why it closed!
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by wrinkly »

Surely you can't have a lodge without anywhere to have meals? Are there catering facilities within the lodge?
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by Alan »

They probably do that continental breakfast thing which is all bought in, but it's not ideal. Mind you, given the state of the place I'd say that's probably a larger concern.
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by PeterA5145 »

wrinkly wrote:Surely you can't have a lodge without anywhere to have meals? Are there catering facilities within the lodge?
I get the impression that many Travelodges don't have any kind of on-site café or restaurant - another reason for preferring Premier Inns.
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Alan
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by Alan »

There is a definite gulf starting to open up between the two. premier Inn are trying to be a budget hotel while travelodge are just trying to be, well, budget IMHO.

I still think Musselburgh has potential. Even sending someone out with some powertolls and black bags on the grounds would make such a difference.
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by Jeni »

PeterA5145 wrote:I get the impression that many Travelodges don't have any kind of on-site café or restaurant - another reason for preferring Premier Inns.
Most of the new ones now come with bar-cafe's :)
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by djw1981 »

I suspect the problem stems from the growth of fort Kinnaird, and the ASDA at Jewel. Theese are less than 2 miles further into Edinburgh and offer better quality and range of eating places and lower priced petrol; then as you go round the bypass for long distance travellers you have Sainsbury's at Straiton (24hr) with IKEA and McDponalds for food; then Dreghorn services.
Trebeck
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by Trebeck »

Traffic for the Ikea turnoff on a weekend used to be crazy, effectively putting another 20 mins on a journey to Peebles. Belfast Ikea has never caused as many queues on the A2 as were present on the Edinburgh Bypass up to this junction.
I also had bad experiences with the cashier staff at the Newbridge Esso.
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Gav
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Re: Musselburgh Services

Post by Gav »

This site is now totally run down and in dire need for redevelopment. Last time I was in the toilets were totally filthy - cracked tiles and all sorts of things wrong that would have been picked up and highlighted as unacceptable. The whole site was until recently being run by several interests and no one was really giving a stuff about the maintenance other than taking care of thier own little part. Its a disgrace but it looks like someone has finally seen sense and decided to do the honerable thing and close it. The garage is still open and it does a good trade it is in an excellent position and it also has reasonably cheap fuel being compared to the asda prices. I would say that there are plans for this site - probably involving a drive through of some sort and an overall modernisation of the buildings and removal of parts that are no longer required. I know that this site a while back was a good earner and regularly made good profits - by letting it fall into disrepair and a lack of decent management at site looking after business interests in a proper manner was what let it down. If they had maintained and given this site the right management team Im pretty sure that it would be still be doing well.
As for the Ikea angle the Ikea in Edinburgh used to be the only ikea in scotland so it was a huge draw in customers. The nearest one being in Newcastle. When they opened the one in Glasgow it calmed things down a fair bit but it is still a busy store.
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