Hey, fancy meeting up at a motel somewhere along the A420 on a cold dark night? Yeah, sure, doesn’t sound murdery at all. If there’s one thing that will tempt me to attend such an odd invitation, it’s this.

Mollie’s Motel & Diner is a new – and seemingly unusual – project by Nick Jones, founder of Soho House. The Soho House of A-list celebrity clientele fame and private members clubs. A roadside diner and motel that’s far from private is quite the opposite of its super high-end siblings, at least on the surface.

Take another look, and you’ll find Egyptian cotton, king size beds, future hotel tech, gorgeous styling by the Soho team, and Cowshed bathroom products. Oh, there you are Soho House!

Mollie’s launched last week to a fanfare of champagne bottles popping and celebrities posing – Jeremy Clarkson, Paloma Faith, Richard Bacon, Jason Plato, Declan Donnelly to name a few! But, as much as we enjoy fangirling over our fave celebs, here at Bitten we’re all about the food.

The Food!

The diner is styled on traditional 1950’s American diners, with soft leather booths and vintage detailing, and the food follows suit. Drive through, take away and eat in are all available, with menus offering all-day breakfasts, rotisserie chicken, comforting mac ‘n’ cheese, burgers and shakes.

The restaurant menu also offers a grill selection of steaks, chicken, salmon and aubergine, plus they have an alcohol licence – so wine, beer and cocktails are all available. There’s a kids ‘Mini Mollie’s’ menu too – with colouring in and activities on (winner) – listing burger, cod goujons, chicken bites, mac ‘n’ cheese, egg and beans or avocado and sweetcorn salad, att £5/6 each.

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi – dans un motel?

Sounds sexier in French, and even Christina might be up for staying here. Think high-quality minimalism, but cooler. The 79 bedrooms are a perfect example of simplicity and style, with big squidgy soft beds, lovely linens, rainforest showers and keyless entry – available through an app.

The motel has a rather splendid communal lounge area too, with the 50’s styling continuing in a space offering both comfort and convenience. There’s a small store selling useful things you may need for your stay and a large table at the centre of the space, perfect for some laptop working.

Checking in is minimised too – with check in and check out available through the app, as well as table bookings and takeout orders, you barely have to speak to anyone!

We’ll be back soon to give it a thorough test run, but we won’t be at all surprised if we see it in music videos or on The Grand Tour soon, it’s rather pretty!

Mollie’s Motel & Diner
Shrivenham Road, A420, Buckland, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 8PY
01367 707777
molliesmotel.com