They have only copied other successful business models and tweaked to suit UK it's a NO from me .
Britstops
- Thread starter Nigel L
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GirlyVanGirly
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We re getting the book as a Christmas present. I have been planning a trip away for early summer (here's hoping) and phoned a pub which had a huge car park, (I said we wanted to eat there) and they said no because they were not insured 
We went to a wedding reception at a pub with a huge flat carpark; anyone who has held a wedding reception pre-Covid will appreciate how much money that brings in!
"Can I sleep in my MH on your carpark overnight please?"
"No: you could have rented one of my rooms but they're already fully let out."
"If I can sleep I will spend more because I will have a few pints of beer."
"No!"
So please don't rely on pubs agreeing to you staying just because you're bringing them some custom.
We have stayed in some super Britstops, usually avoiding pubs because we're not "eating out" type people: farm shops are a favourite including one where staff have moved their cars so that we would get a better view of red squirrels.
Well worth the money IMO, knowing that we can arrive somewhere before closing time (or even after if you ring ahead) to be welcome and safe.
Gordon
"Can I sleep in my MH on your carpark overnight please?"
"No: you could have rented one of my rooms but they're already fully let out."
"If I can sleep I will spend more because I will have a few pints of beer."
"No!"
So please don't rely on pubs agreeing to you staying just because you're bringing them some custom.
We have stayed in some super Britstops, usually avoiding pubs because we're not "eating out" type people: farm shops are a favourite including one where staff have moved their cars so that we would get a better view of red squirrels.
Well worth the money IMO, knowing that we can arrive somewhere before closing time (or even after if you ring ahead) to be welcome and safe.
Gordon
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This is a fair point. I have found that a lot of the Pubs on Searchforsites are closed/new owners (who don't allow). It relies on reviews to update. I have emailed SGS a few times with information about sites being shut but they are still on there. I guess with the Britstops being a book it can be caught out too.
Maybe the moral is, that if you use regularly pub stops you need to use all the resources available. We regularly use Pub stops (well we used to) but we always ring ahead and that is because its surprising how many times we get
1) No we don't allow that anymore because folks stay, have half a shandy then leave
2) We are new here and not heard of this..but hey.....why not
3) Number unobtainable (Shut)
I am not knocking Brit stops, had it a couple of years, but found it can turn out very expensive if you use the facilities as you really should, we useally have meals in the van , maybe even down to beans on toast or a cheese sandwich, but have found we can't park without having a meal in the pub, only right, and can cost anything up to 50 quid which is a dear stop.
The wedding post above doesn't really hold up either as you wouldn't have been able to park there if you were in britstops or not.
The wedding post above doesn't really hold up either as you wouldn't have been able to park there if you were in britstops or not.
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Nanniemate
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I'm getting it this year living in hope
We re getting the book as a Christmas present. I have been planning a trip away for early summer (here's hoping) and phoned a pub which had a huge car park, (I said we wanted to eat there) and they said no because they were not insured
Did you speak to the person named in the book?
Did you make it clear that you were a Britstops member?
The instructions in the book, understandably, suggest that you ask for the named person when you phone up and/or when you introduce yourself on arrival.
Often paid staff aren’t aware of the establishment’s membership of the scheme.
Ian
CutThroatJake
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Just ordered a copy as I'm sure it will be very useful in due course.
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Is it available as an app or just as a book?
glenn2926
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Just as a hard copy book.
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GirlyVanGirly
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Sorry if I did not make myself clear, we are getting the book, as a Christmas present, but we still have to wait for it. I believe it comes out early next month? We get our van (hopefully) about the same time.
I suppose I should have quoted stealaways comment about 'just phoning any pub'. I do apologise.
They did not want to know, even though I said we wanted to have a meal there, huge car park too! It was the comment that they are not insured that I thought was odd. What happens if one of their customers has one too many and can't drive home?
Mr porky
LIFE MEMBER
We like a drink especially real ale and sometimes it’s nice to let someone else cook and the nature of britstops means it’s not a requirement to eat or drink or buy anything. However at the least we will buy a couple of pints each.
I use search for sites it shows pub stopovers but shades britstops so then look up the pub and phone direct never been refused in 20 years.
It’s all about choice. We used to really like the Municipal campsites in France when we first started motorhoming, Nick is more of a worrier than me and didn’t like using Aires so they were an ideal compromise. I might buy him the Britstops book this year as he’d rather turn up at a pub where he was sure of a welcome than spend the journey wondering if it would be OK and if it wasn’t having to find somewhere else. Things like that don’t bother me at all. I doubt we will be going abroad until the end of the year at the earliest so it sounds interesting.
Mind you if it’s to do with the children then I have gold medals plus the Nobel prize in worrying of course!
Mind you if it’s to do with the children then I have gold medals plus the Nobel prize in worrying of course!
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We will also buy it. Not much use last year but in the past we've used it for lots of stopovers. There's no requirement to buy anything, but if it's a pub we usually buy a drink at least, but only if we want one. There are many other types of establishments listed, such as a craft shop in Northumberland, farm shop in Somerset etc. For people concerned that the book goes out of date, there are monthly emails listing any changes such as closure, size requirements, change of telephone number etc.
Imo good value for money.
Imo good value for money.
The book is published with updates each year, so is always pretty much up to date,
it lists stops all over the UK, and lists the facilities, water, toilet, hard standing, size of vehicle it is suitable for, address with post code, telephone number etc. have used it for years and no hesitation in recommending, some listings suggest a phone call in advance (not ask for this) but we have always made a courtesy call in advance of arriving, and then know there is room for us, and we are expected, consider it brilliant when touring in an unknown area, and as a result have found first class stops, we would never have come across otherwise, and this for £30, plus in fact if you know of a suitable stopover, and suggest it to Britstops, if it is checks out and accepted, you qualify for next years membership for free , surely a win win result for everyone.
Langtoftlad
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Just a book...
Steve BritStops has frequently said he's not interested in doing an app, nor going online. Mainly to do with unauthorised plagiarism of his database.
I believe he once had such an issue with Search4Sites
.
We use www.searchforsites.co.uk We can use it for free online or for £6 for an app that you can use offline. It can be updated by the users and also has a great review section on every page. If you see or try a pub that has stopped doing it, just review on page and say so. You can also edit the entry to reflect that. It also covers most of Europe too, all for the same price.
Britstops is a book. You have to look it up every time, so if you have to make a detour or something happens that you can't get to your destination, you have to look it up again. With S4S, you open the app and it finds where you are and the local stops. Books, including those from Vicarious are out of date when distributed. They take a while to collate and print. Yes they will send out updates, but you have to sort those out yourself.
Saying you buy it to support a family business is interesting. There are loads of family businesses struggling at the moment, I wonder if you walk in there and by something for five times of the price that you can buy it elsewhere? I don't.
So no, we won't buy it and we have also been told by some landlords when we have stopped that they don't like the "You don't have to buy anything" ethos of Britstops. They agree because they know that a lot will buy. Funny that some will buy a book to support a family business, but not a pub when they have let them stay over.
Britstops is a book. You have to look it up every time, so if you have to make a detour or something happens that you can't get to your destination, you have to look it up again. With S4S, you open the app and it finds where you are and the local stops. Books, including those from Vicarious are out of date when distributed. They take a while to collate and print. Yes they will send out updates, but you have to sort those out yourself.
Saying you buy it to support a family business is interesting. There are loads of family businesses struggling at the moment, I wonder if you walk in there and by something for five times of the price that you can buy it elsewhere? I don't.
So no, we won't buy it and we have also been told by some landlords when we have stopped that they don't like the "You don't have to buy anything" ethos of Britstops. They agree because they know that a lot will buy. Funny that some will buy a book to support a family business, but not a pub when they have let them stay over.
Bigbass
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The only downside is that if pubs reopen with social distancing, the beer gardens have expanded into the carpark area leaving less room for vehicles. We noticed this a lot last summer between lockdowns.
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ceejayt
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I would not be without Britstops - my go to book when setting off to go somewhere and looking for an overnight. Absolute bargain if you use it more than a couple of times.
Sometimes it is nice to eat in the pub but many of the stopovers aren't pubs at all. Mind you, when it is a garden centre that can be more expensive than eating at the pub when SWMBO is on hand.
What's not to like, no need to buy out of pity to keep Steve in business - buy it because you will use it (and if you won't, then don't). Looking forward to mine dropping on the doorstep any day now. UK staycations may be all we can do for the next few months so will be an invaluable extra resource especially as I dislike organise campsites.
Sometimes it is nice to eat in the pub but many of the stopovers aren't pubs at all. Mind you, when it is a garden centre that can be more expensive than eating at the pub when SWMBO is on hand.
What's not to like, no need to buy out of pity to keep Steve in business - buy it because you will use it (and if you won't, then don't). Looking forward to mine dropping on the doorstep any day now. UK staycations may be all we can do for the next few months so will be an invaluable extra resource especially as I dislike organise campsites.
Well I do the simple thing. I know roughly where we are going so I check out all the likely Britstops I will be close to. Use street view to look at access and general location, the same way I would use SoS or park4night.
Would rarely go out of my way for any sort of stopover.
Dont assume a Britstop guarantees it's safe.
You didn’t read what I actually wrote then?
I support causes that, I believe, are in our wider interests; for example, I subscribe to organisations such as CamRA and the British Motorcyclists Federation because they do good work in areas that are of interest to me. Britstops has only been able to increase the number, and diversity, of hosts over the years as a result of the support of his customers; the number of hosts now is fairly significant and it is now relatively easy to find a location anywhere in the country. That was not the case in the early days and it would have been easy to say ‘only a hundred hosts nationally, nah, it’s not worth it’. Bigger picture, long game.
Not sure of your point here; don’t assume campsites are safe, don’t assume schools are safe, etc.
Ian
R
Robert Clark
Deleted User
I think it was France Passion that had their databse 'borrowed' rather than BritstopsI believe he once had such an issue with Search4Sites
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This is very true, probably worse than parking in a secluded flt place, rival pubs or local householders might take offence about motorhomes being parked on a carpark, and you are probably uninsured and not legal.
Silver-Fox
LIFE MEMBER
The NZMCA in N Z has an app for all the sites and it’s brilliant.
That's exactly my point we are talking Britstops not campsitesYou didn’t read what I actually wrote then?
I support causes that, I believe, are in our wider interests; for example, I subscribe to organisations such as CamRA and the British Motorcyclists Federation because they do good work in areas that are of interest to me. Britstops has only been able to increase the number, and diversity, of hosts over the years as a result of the support of his customers; the number of hosts now is fairly significant and it is now relatively easy to find a location anywhere in the country. That was not the case in the early days and it would have been easy to say ‘only a hundred hosts nationally, nah, it’s not worth it’. Bigger picture, long game.
Not sure of your point here; don’t assume campsites are safe, don’t assume schools are safe, etc.
Ian
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