Stafford Motorway Services

Agree with previous reviewer, these services are a cut above the norm; but a couple of really important additional points to note though:
1) a real Costa Coffee outlet waiting in there to tempt you to part with the extra 45p (as opposed to a normal non-​motorway version) — they’ve got you by the short and curleys there — need that caffeine fix, no where to go apart from running screaming and naked down the fast lane in protest)
2) AND, they have FREE WiFi — easy to set up and log into, so we’ll forgive them that 45p (OK, just, maybe, and that Americano topped with hot milk IS good).
It’s a big place too, feels pleasant and good range of shops.
Recommended watering hole — go feed the ducks.

As motorway services go, this is the best we’ve come across. It’s a great pity you can only access it from the northbound M6 — southbound traffic is denied the opportunity to stop here!
The good points are:
1 it’s a Moto service station, which means that it’s slightly more kid-​friendly than other places, and
2 there’s an M&S Simply Food outlet there, so you know there’s a least one place on site where you can get some decent food. But best of all
3 there’s actually a fairly large pond out the back that you can walk round. Now it’s not very much, I’ll admit, but to have somewhere where you can stretch your legs and feed the ducks — it certainly helps you de-​stress.
The main bad point is that it’s a motorway service station, so (like everywhere else) it still ends up being plastic with tacky tendencies.
But if you can live with that for 30 minutes, then this place is a good bet for a northbound stop.