For a routine stop, there is a group of hotels just off the motorway at Dijon. All the usual suspects, such as Formula 1, Etap, Mercure, Campanile etc.

But why Burgundy ... the simplest way to Garda from Calais is via Rheims, Strasbourg and either Switzerland and Milan (Gotthard Pass and Italian A4) or Germany and Austria (Brenner Pass)?

cheers for the reply,yeah i was planning on going that way just because ive been that way before,so is the way you have said quicker

Why not put your details into http://www.viamichelin.fr and see what they suggest. The site is simple to use, and I would suggest that you are gentle on your first day's drive - after all you lose an hour when you arrive in France (we are one hour ahead) and with an early start, and the excitement of the trip, you might get tired quicker than you think! Not too many service stations on the A26 with reasonable food ... three hours' drive will bring you to Rheims, and a further three to Strasbourg on the A4. Just south of Strasbourg on the A35, there is an area called GEISPOLSHEIM/FEGERSHEIM with a whole cluster of hotels - BB motel, Campanile, Novotel, Formula 1, Mercure ... the lot, and the chocolate museum to tempt you the next morning!

cheers for the info matey,as for the driving im ok with do it for a living and used to drive down to bari amd sicily(via monc blanc)when i was in the raf hence the original route and also on the way back we have a 3 night stop of on a camp site in bergundy staying in a caravan on our return so it might be a good idea to head down to garda via another route anyway to take in different sites.