Bit of a long shot but, here goes …

We're driving to the Dolomites this summer for some climbing (- no MTB unfortunately :(). We'll need a stop-off about half-way and this is roughly the Stuttgart area or just north of it. Just wondering if there is a German equivalent of Travel Lodge, and if not, can anyone recommend anything around there and near the motorway (A5/A8 area – will have satnav)?

May resort to tent / service station if necessary, but would rather avoid this if possible!

The big chains have no-frills hotels across Europe. We stayed in one round there but I can't remember which one. Etap, Novotel, ibis, formule1. Despite the no-limits autobahns we found driving through Germany really slow. Not a patch on heading south through France.

Etap hotel maybe? I tend to use Ibis, which is the next level up from the same group.

accorhotels.com

Cheers 8) – am checking out Etap and Ibis now – looks like it all starts at about £40 per room which is great. I'll also look at the French option, as I have friends in Lyon, but we went to Chamonix last year and the French tolls cost as much as the fuel 🙁