Rownhams services
M27 between J3 and J4
Signposted from the road.
SO16 8AP
map and directions
Two sites located between junctions, connected by pedestrian subway..
The only substantial services on the entire south coast route, recent refurbishments have breathed life back in to what was becoming a forgotten place.
Facilities
Catering: on both sides: Costa Coffee, McDonald's, Costa Express, Krispy Kreme, Costa Drive Thru
plus north-eastbound only: Template:New York Bakery Company
and south-westbound only: Chozen Noodle, Fresh Food Café, McDonald's Drive Thru, LEON, Skwishee Iced Drinks
Shops: on both sides: WHSmith
and south-westbound only: Phone Tech, SPAR
Amenities: on both sides: Jackpot £500, Showers,
and south-westbound only: Days Inn
Charging Points: GRIDSERVE Electric Highway 50kW CCS, 50kW CHAdeMO & 22kW Type 2
Forecourt: BP, Shop, Wild Bean Café, Air1 AdBlue
Parking Prices
First 2 hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £13 and HGVs, caravans and coaches £31, or £33 to include a £10 food voucher.
Prices are paid using NexusPay or in the shop. The location code is 2206 (westbound) and 2066 (eastbound).
The fees are strictly enforced by GroupNexus.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Motor Way Service Station
Rownhams Lane
Rownhams
Southampton
Hampshire
SO16 8AP
- Amenity buildings and hotel operated by Roadchef
- Forecourts operated by BP Express
- Foursquare Page
- 📞 Telephone number: 023 8073 4480
Trivia and Design
See also: History:Rownhams
Two distinctly different designs make up the services. The westbound has always been the bigger of the two, and as of 2019 it boasts Roadchef's flagship brands including Leon and SPAR. Eastbound looks tiny in comparison, but there is a plan to add a new restaurant.
The westbound services forms one of five bases for Boarhunt, a local recovery service. If there are significant delays at Southampton's docks most lorries are told to wait at the services.
Despite the location, the westbound service area is regularly referred to by Roadchef as being on the "M27 northbound".
In July 2016 the first motorway Costa drive thru unit opened at the eastbound services, which required the access road to be re-aligned. This tiny unit offers no internal seating at all. A second one opened in May 2017, along with a significant extension moving the toilets to the old entrance to make room for the new SPAR store.
In Spring 2017, Transport Focus calculated a 75% satisfaction score for the westbound services and 76% for the eastbound services. This means the pair were the third and fourth worst-performing respectively. By 2018 things were much better, with 87% and 93%, and in 2019 westbound rose to 96%. The previous poor performance may explain why it has a turn-in rate of around only 4%.
Roadchef currently hold planning permission to build one of their first stand-alone, two-storey McDonald's drive thrus in the eastbound car park. As part of this rearrangement, 8 GRIDSERVE charging points, 12 Tesla Superchargers and 4 forecourt chargers would be built, which would be covered by a canopy. As part of that work, 43 new car parking spaces would be provided by the building, and a further 97 new car parking spaces would be built by the forecourt.
Meanwhile, in Spring 2022, two drive thru lanes were added to the McDonald's restaurant on the westbound side alongside the amenity building to connect with the existing McDonald's restaurant. To achieve this, the flow within the car park was reversed, and some spaces were removed from the HGV parking area. The drive-thru lane opened on 23 June 2022, with an official opening ceremony attended by Roadchef's CEO Mark Fox and Rich AKA 'The Services King' the following day.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| West Wellow (A36, 4 miles) Stoney Cross (A31 westbound, 9 miles) Picket Post (A31, 15 miles) | Services on the M27 | none on M27 Winchester (M3, 15 miles) Farlington (A27, 22 miles) Sutton Scotney (A34, 18 miles) |
| none | Roadchef services | Sutton Scotney (A34, 18 miles) |
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