My in-laws have recently moved from Hemel Hempstead, all the way up to Swineshead in Lincolnshire, just outside of Boston. After a relaxed Christmas at home, we spent a few days up there to check out their new house and see what the area was like.
We didn’t get many photos as we didn’t actually do all that much but I thought I’d share with you what we got up to and what we thought of the area.
Day 1
We decided to head up on the Friday after Christmas, having pre-booked our room and breakfasts at the nearest Premier Inn before the festive season. The drive was ok, although there was some traffic and we arrived in the area about 3pm, checking in at our Premier Inn just after.
We chose to stay at the Premier Inn in Boston, located on the Wainfleet Road. Upon arrival, the staff were very polite and knowledgeable, interacting with the kids and making them feel involved. Check in was quick and we were soon heading down the corridor into our room.
We always choose a family room when staying at Premier Inns – they are fantastic quality and always affordable. As with the family room at the other Premier Inns we have stayed at, the room had a double bed and twin beds. I will admit that the room did seem a little smaller than other family rooms we have stayed in – there was less room between the beds and I usually have a table on my side but this wasn’t the case this time. However, the room was clean and well presented and completely at the standard we expect from the chain.
After dropping off our luggage, we decided to drive to Swineshead and check out the new house for the first time, the kids having dressed up ready to go out later in the evening. Swineshead is a lovely little area with a massive church and one pub. We will definitely be checking it out in more detail the next time we visit. We had some lunch – made from meat from Swaledale.
We had a table booked at the Chainbridge in Boston for 5.30pm so headed back into Boston for our meal. I wish I could say we had a fab time – and I suppose we did in the sense that we caught up as a family – but my oh my, was the meal shocking. The Pizza Kitchen was closed – on a Friday night!? – which meant Jack couldn’t have pizza and other members of the family couldn’t have doughballs. Not only that but nearly all of the desserts were unavailable and my mother in laws steak was the complete opposite of what she asked for.
Now we go to a lot of restaurants – and we understand that availability can sometimes be a problem – but you’d think that if you had so many different things unavailable, you’d let customers know before they order! When this was mentioned to a member of staff, she seemed completely disinterested and it was another male member of staff and also the manager who apologised for the oversight and did their best to make it right. The desserts were given to us for free and my mother in law was given vouchers for January to use (as she lives in the area) and the manager was very apologetic but the whole experience did leave a bit of a sour taste in the mouth, especially the attitude from that one member of the staff, as if it was somehow our fault they didn’t have the stuff we wanted. I do want to shout out a young boy who was working there though, clearing tables and setting them up for new customers – he could only have been about 16 or 17 but he was really hard working and very polite.
After that experience, we decided to head back to our room and chill out for the night.
Day 2
We were heading to the in laws for dinner later on that evening but knew we had a long day ahead so took advantage of our Premier Inn breakfast. Steve and I always book this when booking our room – going for the Full English and the Continental, and the kids get theirs free which I think is a fantastic deal.
I always like to fill up for the day ahead and I enjoyed plenty of hot food and juice. We weren’t sure what we were going to do for the day – after all, there is plenty to do in the area but we will also be visiting again in the future – so we discussed this over breakfast before deciding to head into the town centre.
Boston town centre is full of shops and we had a look around plenty of them, even buying some items such as Olivia’s above earmuffs and plenty of clothes for Jack. There are some interesting shops that I’ve never seen before as well as plenty of chain brands such as Wilko, Poundland and Peacocks.
Parking was fairly easy although I was quite shocked to find that the multi-storey car park was cash only. We finally parked closer to the centre, paying over text as we didn’t have enough cash on us.
We didn’t do too much exploring of the town as we know we will be back soon to explore more but we saw a beautiful church that was very impressive which was located next to the Town Hall and the local library. Olivia and Jack were also interested in the statues we came across so we had to stop and read about the people the statues are commemorating.
I’d definitely love the chance to explore Boston more – is there anything I should specifically go and see?
Day 3
We booked breakfast for my in laws too so they could join us before we headed home. We were thinking of stopping on the Norfolk coast on the way home, just to have a look around, but everyone was a little tired and grumpy so we decided to just head straight home.
We had a good time in Boston with family and hope to do more next time although we hope our experiences with restaurants fares a little better next time!
Where would you suggest visiting in Boston?
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