Eat and Drink Co. Cherwell Valley Service Station in Cherwell

Absolutely filthy, deeply stained fabric seats. Every table inside and outside was sticky and dirty. Litter everywhere. Dead rat outside of main entrance near to Cornish pasty concession. Two sandwiches and two drinks from Pret a Manger at £13, absolute rip off. Bloody disgrace.

Avoid if possible! We stopped as it boasts a play area - I wouldn’t let my kids play in the outdoor or indoor areas they were disgusting. Food all over the slide and the ground area. Inside bit was tiny and just as dirty. Grans couple of coffees at Pret. When I sat down they’d given me the wrong coffee so I took it back. No apology offered and when they handed me the correct one it was flung in the counter as if it was my issue they’d put milk in my black Americano! I’ve used many services as I travel a lot and these are the worst I’ve come across.

Although we visited at a very quiet time on the day. not one of the vacant tables was clean. Disgusting lack of standards.

The centre was very clean and tidy catering for most needs. There was Burger King, M&S and Asian food outlets inside then Greggs and Cornwall Pasty Company outside. There was Costa for drinks with various other shops. Another food outlet was KFC where we went for lunch. It wasn’t the hottest food but still tasty. Later my Granddaughter had a growling stomach and I had stomach ache. It went from bad to worse. We both had hot flushes followed by a hasty bolt to the WC on numerous occasions.

Hello Everyone, Popped into Cherwell Valley services whilst on route to Derby. There are WH Smith and M&S for snacks and drinks. The other usual suspects are available for something hot. The toilets were clean and quiet a lot for busy times. The car park is flat so good for us oldies and there are a few shady areas to park in on hot days. For the petrol head the fuel is supplied by ESSO. There is easy access to and from the M40 and or the A43. That’s about it, I hope the review was helpful. Stay happy, strong, and healthy. Paul,,

M40 pitstop and plenty of choice. Don't remember the toilets being particularly unkempt, some poor reviews on here, maybe when it gets very busy? M&S butty and a Costa, bit of a wait for the coffee as guy training. I'm sure attrition is high in these places, he was polite and trying his best. We found somewhere to sit, again it was clean, no issues, maybe we were lucky mid afternoon on a Wednesday, it was fairly quiet.

The public areas were dirty with uncleared tables & debris on the floor. Many of the chairs were so filthy they looked as though they’d been rescued from a skip. Add to that lukewarm coffee from Costa and it all adds up to a pretty unacceptable service area.

Very nice service station,plenty of brands including kfc,Burger King,wh smiths,pret,greggs,chow and Marks and Spencer.Also I can see some 6 star reviews comming along for Costa lovers as it is absoloutley paradise,you have got a takeaway Costa by the toilets and eat in one by the entrance,another takeaway one by the main seating area,an express by Marks and Spencer’s,a drive thru and an express in WH Smith’s.Also they have an Asda on the move petrol station with a rollover hotdog and a Starbucks express machine.They even had arcade games by the toilets too.In WH Smith’s they have a corral and tango ice blast machine.However the toilets were good glad to have them,but 1/2 of it was out of order,it was dirty with loads of toilet paper and unopened straws all over the place.Need to give it an urgent clean.Also taps were filthy too with only one tap as an exception which actually was immaculate.Also hard to work out where flush was too,some cubicles had posters,others did not.However went shopping in Marks and Spencer’s,very good and very clean had a lot in stock at a very chilled temperature.Also colleague was really helpful when we ran into a rather odd issue.Also free tap water is provided on request in Costa.

Fabulous service from Costa drive through! Always friendly and very efficient, nothing is too much trouble! The best Costa drive through by far!!!!! Anna and Anna go above and beyond with their friendly, efficient can do approach!

For the size of the services and the amount of shopping and food outlets on offer, the amount of toilets available is woefully inadequate. When we visited on a Friday afternoon, there were queues for the gents and by my reckoning, only about 7-8 cubicles available. Other than that, the usual motorway service station rip-off prices along with queues in WHSmith due to lack of staff.

Disgusting place. Filthy tables. Filthy stained chairs and floor covered in mess. Does no one ever clean this place? Health and safety need to pay this place a visit soon

Time after time after time, I have experienced long queues and slow service at this "service" station, not to mention toilet facilities that are not always pristine. COSTA is particularly infuriating, and I have given up waiting and walked out sans coffee on several occasions. The only thing that I would recommend is the Cornish Pasty stall outside the entrance. I certainly don't bother with KFC or Burger King anymore.

Visited KFC time was approximately 8pm. We ordered two boneless banquet boxes. Only two side orders to choose from. Asked for hot drinks, told we have no hot drinks and haven’t for about three months. Shocking! So had to have a cold fizzy drink. No vinegar. Can not understand why you don’t have vinegar. We commented we are not doing well today and said thank you to the man serving. He ignored us, so I said thank you again. He still ignored us and proceeded to serve the next person. Whilst waiting for our order I could hear him Saying sorry don’t have that, sorry ran out of that. Etc. when we got our meals we were very disappointed, haven’t had KFC for a while but the chicken pieces were a third of the size and about three times the price. We paid over £20. Shocking!!! All the bins were overflowing with rubbish at least four of them around us, no where to put anymore rubbish. I know it is Summer but get more staff. What happened to normal hygiene levels. We will not be stopping here again.

KFC... Long Queues, Team more interested in discussing their night out, than actually serving food. Food on the pass for extended periods of time, little co-ordination between staff.. Certainly not 'Fast Food'..

We stopped here on a Sunday in August. It was moderately busy for a lunchtime as you would expect. My partner and I opted to get a Burger King. We ordered on the screens with minimal waiting time. The staff were polite and processed the order as expected. The food was freshly made. However from this point on, this is where things went downhill. The seated area is shared across all the restaurants so you can sit wherever you like. But it became quickly apparent that a lot of the empty tables were empty for a reason. This was because the tables were filthy and either had food or drink or both on and under them. After almost 5 minutes of walking around, with our food going cold, checking 8 tables in the hopeful search for a clean one, we managed to find one with little mess on it AND non stained seats. We managed to locate some D10, grabbed a couple of napkins from Burger King and cleaned our own table. It wasn’t quite as easy as a simple “spray and wipe”, but it appeared the stains had been there for some time, if cleaned at all that day. Other members of the public were also using the same method of napkins with D10. The bottle of D10 stayed on our table for remainder of our visit, highlighting it was not needed by the staff, which is ridiculous given the state of the tables we saw. We are by no means “clean freaks”, but to have that many empty tables because of the low cleaning standards adopted by the cleaning staff was actually rather shocking. During our visit, we saw one member of cleaning staff, which isn’t fair for the size of the seating area. In addition to this, the bins both indoors and outdoors were full. The ladies toilets had a weird system were you have to lift the lid, to then use the toilet, and then put the lid back down to flush. If you are travelling with children, make sure you assist them - as there were some very confused faces in the bathroom area.

Stopped to charge electric car and have food and toilet stop. One needed GLUTEN FREE, forget it sandwich at M & S or flapjack at Costa or a bag of crisps. Catering for people with Coeliac disease or allergies is diabolical. We appreciate it is not easy but when you ask if there is anything GLUTEN Free and you just get a don't know is no use to anyone. Training is all that is needed but it needs to be drummed into people that these foods can make people seriously ill or in some cases cause death. The toilets were disgusting, some full to the brim with waste, doors that didn't close ,filth everywhere. I spoke to the gentleman cleaning the floor with a mechanized cleaner and he told me it was not him to blame but the public. I firmly believe that if you go into clean toilets you are much more likely to leave them as you found them. Apparently the Gent's was in a similar state. This was between 2 and 3.30 pm on 2nd August 2023.

This is a very good service area close to the M40, lots of shops and fast food restaurants. and a good travelodge

Filthy both outside and inside. Car park not swept, litter everywhere. Inside the upholstery on the chairs is badly stained - so dirty we wouldn't sit on it. Windows dirty with finger marks all over them This was at 11 am so not as though it had become dirty throughout the day. The management should be ashamed of itself.

Just got bk home to kent from bromsgrove and hubby went to kfc for a family 10 piece variety bucket costing £25 with gravy.. absolutely disgusting.. 7 chicken drumsticks and 3 pieces of chicken.. I would say that I would check the bucket next time before we leave but...100% guarantee we won't be going there again we shall go to Beaconsfield or Oxford services in future.. absolute disgrace

Nothing wrong with the toilets, clean & tidy. Food choice is varied but typically fast food which is what you expect. Teh only issue was that part of the car park was blocked off which was very busy at 5pm even though the indoor food court was quiet.

We passed through Cherwell Valley Services on our way down south, stopped to use the loos and get some lunch. The women’s toilets were the dirtiest public toilets I’ve seen in a long time- it’s a good job the taps were touch-free as I don’t...

Stopped here, what a waste of time and money. Flat white £3.95, slow service and simply dirty restaurant.

Absolutely filthy, rubbish everywhere. Toilets awful. Nappy changing area was diabolical - dirty nappies and poo covered wipes falling out the bins, and over the floor. Having stopped with two children who both needed nappy changes I was horrified. Everything just felt dirty. I will...

Every bin full to overflowing, rubbish on tables, rubbish everywhere in the car park. Completely disgusting. A complete disgrace. Whoever claim to mange this needs to be relieved of their duties ASAP

Waiting for ages for a coffee as a team of five staff fussed. They changed bins without washing their hands. One pretty much pushed me out of the way as I waited for my (tasteless) coffee and another just plain rude.

It's very covid safe and clean tolites and shops are good and safe and nice big carparks space and happy New year and see you in 2022

Called in today at the petrol station for diesel - both male and female toilets out of action, only disabled one available - doors are battered and far beyond need for replacement or repainting - stinking of urine, dirty walls floors, plumbing and underside of...

I was blown away by how smart and clean everything was. The gents was immaculate and smelt fresh. The guy doing the cleaning said he liked to treat it as if it was his home! A young man (Johnny) cleaning tables took such great care...

This is in no way a criticism of the staff who are doing the job they have been given However, there is no option at all of a cash desk - no staff are allocated this way - so it is impossible to pay this...

Busy services, we had to park a distance away due to the amount of cars there. Toilets were a little smelly in the cubicles, to be expected due to the volume of footfall, but were tidy enough. Good choice of shops, including Costa Coffee, KFC,...

Costa serve burned drinks and are rude and unhelpful. Would not accept voucher and put free biscuit IN drink. Stop at Warwick services, much nicer

Pit stop on our way home today, as the kids were hungry. Patiently queued for 5mins whilst a group of lads were served before me, upon my turn I was asked by the gentleman to use the self serve unit (not an issue, though not...

Good parking and a good choice of food options. Pies and cakes from Greggs, eaten outside on socially distanced tables in the sun. Excellent toilets with self cleaning toilet seats, not at all smelly.

No straw, no salt and nothing to wipe your hands with! Had to go back and ask as there's nothing to hand. Come on guys, it's really not that hard!

clean and bright, with disabled parking close to the entrance. However, the toilets are at the opposite end of the services defeating the point of disabled parking! My mother in law (with heart failure) was really breathless and very unwell after having to walk so...

Absolutely disgusting experience , visited the takeaway restaurant at about 7 pm Tuesday 13th April 2021. It was quite busy and the manager was in a complete panick shouting at the younger staff. After waiting for about 10 minutes to place my order for a ten piece bargain bucket I finally got served . Within this time I experienced 3 different people coming back to the counter to complain . I noticed the young staff were very worried about dealing with the complaints due to the older managers attitude towards them . I finally got served and was given our food . Unfortunately as I took the food from the counter the bottom of the bag containing it fell through and the contents fell all over the floor in the waiting area. I asked for a refund and again the manager spoke to the younger staff with what I can only describe as a bullying attitude. The poor young girl serving me was ordered to refund me . I felt so Srry for her that I asked how long it would take to replace my food . She said about 3 minutes , so I smiled and said , “ that will be fine please” , I watched her go back to the manager and ask her for a new bargain bucket to which I clearly heard the reply of , give him back the food from the floor. I really couldn’t believe my eyes as I was given the food which had been swept up from the floor with a dustpan and brush and placed back in the bargain bucket and placed on the counter behind the service area . I really didn’t know what to say, of course I placed the bargain bucket in the bin! It really was a disgusting experience, and also the manager breathing all over everyone’s food as her mask was only covering the lower part of her mouth and chin and not her nose. What a disgusting , scary and dangerous experience . Never again !!!

Very clean and well Organised have to say it was very well managed. Quite busy and a good flow maintained throughout building well done !

Good social distancing Clear markers Staff member counting people on and out Clean toilets Warm water to wash hands with Warm dryer Most people wearing face masks

All the usuals here including Costa and Burger King - overall good car parking and good facilities - good COVID-19 precautions.

Burger King was really busy, customers were piled into the corner waiting for their order and there was no restriction on the amount of people who can wait there, while it is not their job to control this if they served staff instead of using the machines they could monitor the amount of people waiting. People were most certainly not 2 meters apart. The staff did how ever have face masks on and where using gloves and tongs appropriately. This is as far as customer service goes. Napkin were screwed up in the bottom of your bag. And onion rings were half fresh and yummy, half old and soggy. When I took them back she complained I had eaten one before noticing they were soggy. My partners burger was cold and he did not enjoy it. £20 not well spent.

My overall opinion of this service station (if there wasn't currently a global pandemic) was brilliant. However, if you want to avoid catching the coronavirus I'd strongly advise that you stay away. We arrived at 7pm on September 9th, and the majority of customers walking around were maskless; it would have been reassuring if security or staff members were enforcing the government guidelines, but it appeared as if nobody cared. I was happy to see that a number of staff members were wearing face masks, but unfortunately they refused to cover their noses with them, making them ineffective. The worst thing about this service station, purely due to COVID-19, was KFC. The staff in KFC Moto Cherwell Valley at the time of visiting need to be questioned. They wore no masks, no gloves, and appeared totally oblivious to the risk they were imposing on public health. The current setup of KFC means that if you are paying by card, which is currently the preferred method due to contactless payment, then you have to use the automated machines to order your food. These machines are used before reaching the counter, so you do not see the staff preparing your meal. You are paying for your food with full faith in the company to adhere to regulations; only to walk to the collection point and witness their total disregard for hygiene. Handling customers' food with the same hands they're touching their faces with is disgusting during the current crisis. It certainly brings a new meaning to their "Finger-Lickin' Good" slogan!! I would like to praise Burger King however, for the staff working behind their counter appeared to be the only people in the whole service station who were actually being vigilant against the virus; wearing masks correctly and acting in a brilliant manner.

Who on earth thought up the idea of the toilets ?? You have to tap the lip on toilet seat to get it to lift up then you do your business grab loo roll then you have to shut lid on toilet seat before you can press button to flush toilet..no sanitised in cubicle.so who cleans toilet and lid before next person goes to the loo ??? Absolutely disgusting,no sanitation or hygiene

We stopped on our way from Solihull to Thanet. Toilets clean and presentable,if occasionally a bit smelly. KFC had just opened,had tasty chicke,but a terribly slow card payment machine. Costa Coffee had tasty drinks,but very slow service due to a lack of staff.

Another excellent visit to the Costa Cherwell Valley, very well served by Georgina, who yet again was very polite, courteous and professional about her job. If they were all like Georgina then the world would be a much better place!

We visited Cherwell Valley Services on Friday and would have forgotten the mediocre meal if that had been the only problem. We found the toilets by following our noses, it was disgusting. Very busy and not dirty but the smell from the men's urinals which of course do not flush to save water was very bad, we could smell them on the approach to the toilets.The ladies toilets, half of which were out of order, have a red block under the seat lid which has to pressed before you can lift the lid. After use it has to be closed according to the instructions, which means opening and closing is totally unhygienic as at that stage all who have used the toilet have not had a chance to wash their hands thus hassing bacteria on the the next person to open the lid.

Average services that does the job. Normal type of food outlets, Travelodge. Costa drive through etc

As usual very over priced only thing to eat at 11.30 on Saturday night was sandwiches nice to see costa still open however

I called in at these services 0n the 04/01/2020 on route from the midlands to drop my son off at Heathrow to catch a flight back to Austrailia after a Family funeral .We had some food and stayed for about 30 minutes. On my return trip from Heathrow I called in again to use the restrooms I stayed about 10 minutes, in my two visits that evening I stayed about 40 minutes. One week later I was disgusted ro get a £100 fraudulent parking fine, claiming that I had stayed there over two hours. If I had stayed that long my son would have missed his flight.This is no way to treat honest people who stop here for a break and something to eat.I will not pay this fine from CPS plus and I will never stop here again so they will not get the chance to try to rip me off again.

Stayed for a few nights while we worked night shifts really good hotel and receptionist Nicci was absolutely amazing and always helped us when we needed it. Fantastic customer service would recommend.

Rest rooms clean tidy, not very busy. Used Greggs outside unit to obtain coffee and cake to eat in car. Site was clean and tidy.

Stopped off on the M40. It's just a bit off the motorway. Lovely large area with a range of food outlets and plenty of space to sit and eat. Clean and spacious. Gets my vote as one of the better 'Services'.

Very small portions I had 3 pieces chicken chips & coffee the chip was lukewarm the chicken was so small it’s a joke the coffee was ok I said to the staff about the size of the chicken and I was told that what they send us that’s the last time I give my money to KFC

Just popped in for a quick break on route home. Services whilst standard are pretty well laid out with a few extra choices to the usual

The Cherwell Valley services are better than many - and are a good bet if you're taken short on the M40. Don't expect to find the loos easily, however.

Decent services with some OK food outlets. I had Harry Ramsdens and you cant go wrong with decent fish and chips

Other reviews have focused on specific shops, rather than reviewing the services as a whole.

Came here when I was travelling from London. Very nice service station with clean toilets. We went to KFC and I had a streetwise lunchbox. The food was actually very nice compared to other KFC branches. I also had a krushem and that also was very good. I had a very good experience at this service station and would go again if we are travelling to London or somewhere else.

Not a bad stop this, very clean good choices and friendly staff. A pleasant service area on the M40.

Stopped on our journey back from Birmingham. Parking was a little bit away due to it being busy,but not an unacceptable distance. The toilet facilities for both sexes were good,clean and not full. Good choice of food and shopping outlets.

Called in on a footy away day this weekend and it was very busy at 9.30 am.

Overpriced. Salads don’t include a fork? Pains au chocolat? more like pains NO chocolate. Fukkking fuming. Cheers, sons crying now.

Stopped here for breakfast and there is a lot of places to choose from, we chose Burger King. The breakfast was good (Hash Browns could have been served a bit hotter) and the flat white coffee’s were excellent.

Service station with lots of choice. A wide range of food and drinks. This is a clean and nice place. You can both buy fastfood and more healthy options.

Cherwell Valley is an ideal stopping point between the South Coast and the Midlands and the North.

Hope I’ve got the right service station but stopped here yesterday on the way home from a funeral. Thirsty so grabbed a frostini. Blown away by the excellent service from the 2npeople on duty. So polite and cheerful. Makes such a difference. Thank you to you both!

We attended the services at around 11pm on Saturday 25th May whilst travelling back from London. Walked in to find that WHSmith was one of only a couple of retailers open which was really disappointing as the M&S; store is really good. We didn't want hot food and just some drinks and snacks, so opted for WHSmith, but was really annoyed to find that they had temporarily closed and put stock trolleys in the walkway to stop us walking in! The staff were inside walking around and made us wait until dead on 11pm to let us in, absolutely ridiculous, made no sense whatsoever!!

Went to the kfc and had a young lad called Ben serve me , extremely helpful and helped with directions and excellent and professional service

The Chow Asian food outlet is a refreshing change. Great taste, good value - especially the chicken katsu. A reasonable marked Halal range as well.

Called in to break a journey and use the facilities. Not too bad. Plenty of parking and the service station was clean and tidy. Gents loos were OK.

Cherwell Valley service station toilets, good god I think my local dog kennels are cleaner, there must have been 200 urinal smells in the troff, dairnt even mention the actual toilet, worst toilets in the country, one gentleman walk in and actually reached, bork!!!!

Don’t bother to stop here. Only fast food rubbish sold in throwaway containers.....the worst cup of tea ever sold by a soulless lady! After visiting Gloucester Services in the M5 (what a find) this place has lessons to be learned - get rid of these awful places!

Unfortunately whilst juggling my three month old and my hot chocolate I managed to sell the whole lot across the service area and it was a large one. I was mortified. The staff are very understanding. Cleaned it up quickly. And didn't make me feel bad at all.Lovely service quick good food and lovely staff thank you.

Clean and tidy service station, contains everything needed including well kept toilets, carious outlets including Burger King, costa, starbucks, M&S;, KFC. Can be a little confusing of how to exit so some better signage could be provided.

If driving southbound on the M40 it’s better to drive the 20-odd miles past the previous services (I think it’s welcome break) and stop here as it’s much more modern and airy with plenty of places to eat.

As with all Costa’s nice service, nice environment and everything you need to eat and drink!! Loving the new Winter Character Roast Coffee too!!

While staying next door at the Travelodge we strolled around the services a few times. Plenty of choices for food, our favourite being Marks & Spencer, they have so much choice, including beers & wine.

Fair few shops and clean environment including the toilets. Nice hot spicy drink available from Costa which had comfortable seats. Good place to break a journey.

Nice selection of shops , if your staying at the Travelodge next door then flash your key and you get 20% off at most shops/ food places! Clean and well kept, parking is plentiful! Good services to stop should you need to!

Honestly it’s a service station so why do you expect fine dining and super clean toilets? I have to type 100 characters efhethtehfagrwgfgafhwthhtwhwrgwrhethwt hopefully that works.

4 visits while staying at the Travelodge next door

Depending on the number of travellers, you can have a long wait. Usual Costa offerings. No table service.

Typical Motorway services offering coffee shops, toilets, book store, drive thru coffee. Could do with some more food options other than MnS food store

Cherwell Valley Is situated on the M40 at MOTO Stoke Wood. It is a drive in off the M40 motorway.

Plenty of outlets for food and a few others - nice open area to sit - reasonable car park Clean toilets We have seen a lot worse

We stopped for coffee at Cherwell Valley services yesterday and left the car for around 30 minutes.

This used to be a lovely stop before it was rebuilt after a fire. Now it’s just another badly designed identikit service station.

This service station is accessible from both directions on the M40 so a good meet up or changeover place.

the location is great - meeting that mix of through traffic on the M40 and those moving to/from the M1.

We were fooled by the modern exterior and menu, but what we received was burnt fries (which were firstly forgotten about), and “boiled” chicken instead of chargrilled as advertised. When asked why it was nothing like the advertised meal, they said that they didn’t have anything to cook it like that. We complained to Arlos Pantry via their website to no reply. Please avoid or you may end up with overpriced bad food.

Visited Sunday afternoon about 5pm. As I approached the counter, turbo in the ice grinder went full blast and I had to shout my order several into the poor girls face. I took my drink to a table to find my skinny latte, extra hot was a soya latte, extra shot! The staff member was very apologetic and replaced it immediately. I regularly use Costa but that wretched machine introduces such chaos and noise into an otherwise pleasant experience.

Firstly some general comments about the service station:-

Ue the M40 as a route between North and High wycome for work far too many times than I would like. Cherwell Valley is my regular stop. Open and airy building, M&S;, Costa WH Smith and usual suspects of the Service station shops. So can get coffee and food and sit at one of the many tables. Can get a bit messy when realy busy as staff just about cope to keep the place clean. (Even though plenty of bins ther are many people who wont clear up after themselves.)

Stopped here on the way to the coast. Very busy but managed to park. Plenty of toilets and a nice outside seating area to eat sandwiches. Not bad as these things go.

We used to use the facilities at these services regularly until they introduced new, "environmentally friendly flush" toilets in the Ladies'. These require the user to touch the toilet lid both before and after use in order to open and close it which, I'm sorry, but I am not prepared to do in a public convenience.

There for a pit stop on a long journey. Been before. Fairly busy but managed to get everything done. As per usual we go to a Costa as you know what to expect with food and drink. Staff were fine, found a clean table. Job done and on our way.

Beyond annoying that the toilets for this motorway services requires you to literally walk through all the crowds all the way past all the shops and restaurants. Top tip: put the loos at the front. Families with small children seriously do not need the aggravation of walking the children through your money traps. Wouldn’t stop to eat there if my life depended on it.

Stopped at Cherwell Valley Services on the M40 on the way back from Evesham disappointed that the seating area is fenced of so you can only gain access from inside.

These services were a good all rounder. There was plenty of food outlets to choose from, toilets were clean and downloading the Moto app gave us some good discounts on food.

Stopped for a quick bite to eat, decided on KFC, not going to write a long review as the photos speak for themselves. When pointing out the difference between he advised and delivered “yeah sorry” was grunted response.

Popped in here for a break en route to London. Nice and modern services with good conveniences. Though the Costa at the end by KFC was staffed with the most abrupt and unhelpful staff I have had with this chain. I think some further training is required. Coffee was good though.