They hadn't been on the road for long that night, but it had been a wearying day and the street lights, reflected strobing in the water, where lulling them into a drowsy state. With two children in the back seat having almost immediately drifted into slumber, the sat-nav ticked down the miles as they headed towards their destination.

The road had been long and straight, however, and the signs hadn't offered any signs of a turn-off in the near future as the miles turned into mile, then into decimals.

"Are you sure this is right", asked the wife as she peered into the night, scanning for that lost piece of information.

"That's what the website said...and the email..." replied the husband, splitting his attention between the car's display, his phone and the roadside as his wife focussed on driving in the sparse, dim streetlight.

"There are hardly any cars here and no signs for towns or services and we're still on the dual carriageway." The sound of deep concern was in her voice as another tenth of a mile ticked off the sat-nav.

"I know, I know. I haven't seen anything either... but the details are right."

Tick.

"Can you phone the hotel and check? this doesn't feel right?"

"I checked, it's a central number with a queue... by the time I get an answer we could be twenty miles down the road."

Tick.

"There's nothing here... No sign of a town or anything."

"The... the road lights change up ahead, maybe there's something there. A town or..."

Tick.

They rode in silence as the last few decimals ticked away.

"You have arrived at your destination!"

"No we haven't" the husband responded with exasperation. He'd made the booking and knew if there was a problem, the chances of earache would be high.

The pdistribution of the road lights did change however and suddenly, a small sign was glimpsed at the side of the road. He called out to his wife;"Here"!

"Where?"

"This exit up ahead," he pointed "see?"

She glimpsed and flicked on the indicator and eased the car off the main road and onto the incline to be greeted by a sign announcing that they had arrived at Travelodge Halkyn...

*****

Yes, after a long day, the sparse signage did create a little bit of nerves. We'd spent an afternoon at Cheshire Oaks and booked a hotel nearby (ish) so we could squeeze a little extra out of the day. the route took us a little into North Wales where this Travelodge sits by the side of the road, partnered with a Greggs and a Burger King. The Postcode given was right, of course, but the turn-off for the hotel came a little later.

The drama (such as it was) evaporated when we checked in. Courteous and polite, we were furnished with our keys and the rooms were easy enough to find, clean, comfortable and providing of a good night's sleep.

Everything was exactly as we have come to expect from Travelodge and the staff couldn't have been more helpful.

A brief, one-night stopver was simplicity itself and full credits must go to the staff.

Found Halkyn Travelodge to be very good.Clean tidy and very comfortable with great shower.Receptionist very helpful. Road noise minimal .Great having Greggs and Burger King adjacent .There are several pubs in the area,but avoid Red LIon in Northop/