This is the motorway service located at the junction of the M1 and A42, which brings traffic up…read morefrom the M42. It's a busy place in high summer as it's on the route from Yorkshire to the south Midlands and South West. It's located off the motorway itself, on a roundabout, close to East Midlands airport and the junction with A50. Overall , it's your typical services with catering, a Travelodge hotel, and a large BP petrol station. The latter has a car wash and a small shop. The services are all in large single building, with shops and eateries situated around a cavernous central seating area. These include Greggs, Costa, Harvester, Burger King, West Cornwall Pasty Co, Krispy Kreme and M&S Food. The hotel is built into the main building, and overlooks the central eating area. So there's nothing out of the ordinary in terms of food options, but the gents toilets had weird circular sinks like giant water fountains and no shelf or other place to put down gloves or your crash helmet. That said, it was pretty clean. It has a compact internal road layout which seems to be quite confusing, given the number of cars I saw going the wrong way down a one-way section of road. So be warned.

Coming back from a festival and having had more of a liquid diet we decided to stop for breakfast…read moreat the MOTO services. Veggie breakfast just under £7 each. For that we got 2 overcooked hash browns, a piece of greasy fried bread, one egg, 2 soggy tomato halves and a few baked beans. Totally naff and uninteresting and way overpriced. Add to that 2 tasteless lattes at £2.75 each. It really is not worth visiting these places uness you are really desparate..we wished we had gone for a burger king beanburger and a coffee..would have been much cheaper and probably tastier though not really breakfast food. The breakfasts with meat were a lot more expensive but you got a slice of toast as well. I wish I had just had toast and coffee but who knows how much that would have cost? My advice..unless you have more money than sense then don't bother..use the free loos and go off the motorway and find decent food.

Perfect dishes which was a perfect size and enough to have a perfect pudding and a final coffeeread more

We discovered The Apiary by chance whilst driving through Castle Donington and were glad that we…read moredecided to stop. They serve a range of drinks, snacks and bigger meals. I had a tasty panini which came with a generous portion of salad. I mention the salad as it was varied and had a tasty dressing which is important as no one wants to see a pile of limp iceberg lettuce. My companion had a bison burger which they enjoyed. However, the stars of the meal were the chips. They were amazing! I didn't order any but I ate most of them on the plate. I was too full to eat dessert but they looked good. The Apiary also has an extremely large bathroom so if you like a good stretch whilst powdering your nose then this is the place for you.

Always has exactly what we are looking for taking a good cheap alternative and for household itemsread more

The Co-op is a large supermarket on the main road through Castle Donington and has it's own…read morecarpark, which also has a good recycling point. As well as the supermarket there is the adjacent Co-op travelshop and a small cafe. There are toilets on site which a well maintained. The Co-op has been extended in recent years so now as well as the usual grocery items there is small selection of electricals, homewares, toys etc. They also have one corner of the store dedicated to seasonal items. The choice is good and the store clean. The staff are very friendly and helpful, especially the older 'regulars'. There is a kiosk till for tobacco & lottery sales. The prices are very reasonable, especially given it is the only shop of that size in the village and has a somewhat captive audience. If you are a regular shopper it is worth getting a Dividend card for 5% back on all co-op branded items you buy - this is sent out in voucher form twice a year. Being located in Donington close to the track when there are busy events on such as motor racing or the Download Festival the shop becomes very busy. They handle it quite well but even so it puts a strain on their facilities and it's not unusual to find essentials sold old over busy weekends.