HEADING off on a staycay?
Don’t miss Mollie’s for a chic sleepover, or check into a chilled country manor, says Lifestyle Editor Catherine Bennion-Pedley.
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Mollie’s motel
Oxfordshire
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WHEN I was small, the red and white Little Chef sign and the promise of their Jubilee Pancakes with cherry sauce was the highlight of any long car journey.
Now, I’ll plan a route around a new red sign instead.
Mollie’s motel and diner from celeb-fave Soho House has transformed road trips in the south.
And now, they’re about to hit Manchester, too.
We check into their Oxfordshire base en route to Wales and find a chic, light-oak panelled interconnecting room with velvet armchairs, smart TVs, curated Spotify playlists and Mollie’s own-blend coffee.
With views of neighbouring fields, our kids Poppy, six, and Raffy, four, excitedly spot birds from the floor-to-ceiling window.
Stomachs rumbling, we hit the diner.
It’s a buzzing space filled with cadillac booths and classic tomato-shaped ketchup bottles.
Mouth-watering dishes like hot-honey cheese croquettes, £5.50, and New Yorker double cheeseburgers with chimichurri mayo, relish, steak sauce and pickles slide down as the kids ravish mac ‘n’ cheese and chicken tenders with beans and fries, £7.75 each.
The cookie dough pud, £7.50, ends our feast nicely.
Husband Andy and I are a tad tipsy after excellent bourbon, peach and mint juleps, £9.70, watermelon prosecco spritzes, £8.20, and chocolate Oreo hard shakes, £9.50 – so we’re glad rooms are just across the car park, via the stylish reception with its mid-century decor.
Beds are extra comfy and a rain shower complete with Cowshed toiletries revives us the next day, while the in-room Dyson hair tools sort my barnet.
Poppy delights in collecting hot water from the communal tap in the corridor for my caffeine fix, then, following the scent of bacon, we tuck into granola with berries, £6.50, buttermilk pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, £8.75, and steak and Burford eggs, £18.50, readying us for our journey ahead.
Bottomless filter coffee, £3, and fresh carrot juice with ginger and turmeric, £6, help with the effects of the bourbon, too.
This sure is a cracking start to any staycation.
Mollie’s has locations in Bristol and Oxfordshire, and will open in Manchester later this year.
Rooms cost from £70 a night (Mollies.com).
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Legoland SOS Royal Berkshire, Ascot, Berkshire
After a place to rest and get over the sensory overload of a day at Legoland Windsor? The Royal Berkshire is it.
Ten minutes’ drive from the land of plastic bricks and the joy of rides such as Minifigure Speedway and Flight of the Sky Lion, this country manor is a serene spot.
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Manicured lawns, a walled garden and suites with huge tubs get us back to zen, helped by chilled-out tunes on the Ruark Audio music system.
Fork restaurant serves tasty smoked duck breast with pickled fennel, £12, and pork belly with miso-spiced squash, pak choi, spring onion and carrots, £24.
A Cherry Bloom cocktail of gin, cherry, pomegranate, rosemary and lime, £13, hits the spot while the kids enjoy the smoked salmon and buttered brown bread, £5.50, and lemon sole with chips, £8.
The next morning, the breakfast buffet offers treats of coconut granola and plum and damson yoghurt, alongside a Full English spread.
Lawn games tempt us outside before we steel ourselves for another day of thrills and spills down the road. . .
Double rooms cost from £141 B&B (Exclusive.co.uk/royal-berkshire).
