Away from Home
Steve and Nikki have had 25 Christmases together and have hosted at least 20 of them. Sometimes you just need a change!
We tried a Christmas in a hotel a few years ago and it was an absolutely disaster. Between Nikki being unwell, a hotel that seemed to have little idea on creating a quality experience, and a location without any other attractions, we ended up quitting our 3-day package a day early.
With what we had learned, a Christmas in the Cotswolds seemed to be an ideal way to reset our impressions of a Christmas away. What an amazing success it proved to be!
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Lygon Arms, Broadway
We chose to stay at the Lygon Arms, situated in the North Cotswols town of Broadway.
Often described as the “Gateway to the Cotswolds”, Broadway sits high on the hills, where Worcestershire and Gloucestershire blur into one another. With its wide High Street lined by honey-coloured stone buildings, independent shops, galleries and cosy tearooms, Broadway is an absolute delight.
One of the iconic landmarks on the High Street is the Lygon Arms, a Grade II listed coaching inn that dates to at least the 14th Century. Once inside, the heritage envelopes you, with low beams, anciant stonework, cosy lounges and roaring fireplaces.
It was only after we booked our Christmas package that we discovered that James Martin, of Saturday morning TV fame, is the exceutive chef. What sort of a treat would that provide?
We also decided to add an extra day to our package so that we could travel on the 23rd December, leaving us a clear day on Christmas Eve. An expensive add on, but with the 3-hour drive, it made the day before Christmas so much more relaxing.
Christmas Eve
We started the day with a good breakfast, and the Lygon Arms does a great breakfast – just right to set us up for a wander around Broadway. This also afforded us a first proper ‘look’ at our fellow residents, well those that didn’t have dogs in tow (or even on toe) who were banished to another part of the hotel, and were happy to discover a really good mixture of young, not so young (i.e. us) and old.
Once attired appropriately for the weather (Nikki more so than Steve) we headed out. The high street is full of quaint shops, selling everything you might expect, including quite a few items from Diddly Squat Farm and we half expected to bump into Jeremy or Kaleb, but alas not.
Among other purchases, Steve treated himself to a bread saw, it could definitely not be described as a knife, and Nikki a hat, it was rather chilly. We also bought some cheese and buscuits from the Broadway Deli to put in our fridge in case we felt peckish on Chriastmas day in the evening. Broadway was buzzy and packed with visitors, many with brummy accents given our close proximity to Birmingham which was only an hour away.
We also noticed a distinctive ‘Cotswold’ dress code. LOTs of Le Chameau wellies which clearly had never seen a field, and most people seemed to have purchased their clothing in ‘Landmark’, with orange, green and checks everywhere.
’Shopped out’ we headed to our first refreshment stop at the Broadway Hotel, where the stars aligned and we got a seat (or was it because it was barely midday), and then proceeded on a mini pub crawl visiting The Swan and then The Tavern (at Lygon Arms) where Steve discovered Hawkstone Black, Steve does love a Stout.
With refreshments over, we headed back to our comfy bed for a nap before dinner.
A cocktail before dinner, and Steve had a Negroni. Steve does love a Negroni. Then off to dinner and Beef Wellington, it was very yummy, and we finished the evening in the lounge with a nightcap before heading to bed fairly early well ahead of Santa visiting.
Christmas Day
We awoke early, well Steve is always awake early, Nikki not usually, so it must have been the excitement of seeing what Santa had bought her.
Another lovely breakfast, Steve had Smoked Salmon and Scrambled eggs, Nikki poached eggs on toast, and then we got onto the main business of the day unwrapping the pressies (yay), with both of us spoilt as usual, by ourselves and our family.
We were booked in for lunch at 3pm, so after a chilled couple of hours we headed out to a local hostelry for the traditional ‘Christmas day pint’, stopping at the Crown & Trumpet, a proper English pub, where once again we got a seat, and right in front of their roaring log fire. Lovely. Steve also enjoyed his first Whisky Mac of the season. Steve does love a Whisky Mac.
A quick change into our finery and off to lunch.
It was a stupendous feast, turkey and all the trimmings with little room for desert, in fact Nikki got the Cheese Board and after lunch we took it to the lounge to nibble on through the evening. Needless to say we never did get to the cheese that we had bought the day before which we ended taking home to join the mountain of cheese we already had from our pre-Christmas family dinner !
Nikki then persuaded Steve to play some ‘games’ (he doesn’t usually participate in such madness) and proceeded to thrash him at Gin Rummy. A couple of excellent Bloody Mary’s helped the evening along. Steve does love a Bloody Mary.
It was a brilliant, and chilled Christmas day, without a roasting pan or pair of rubber gloves in sight. Plus, we met James Martin. Maybe not.
Perfect.
Boxing Day
We were really looking forward to Boxing day, mainly because the North Cotswold Hunt was due to pass by the front door of the hotel on their ‘way out’ on a ’trail’, no foxes involved. They were scheduled to arrive around 10.30 so we quickly finished breakfast and headed outside to get a ring side seat.
They were late, but we were patient, and finally we heard the ‘horn’ and they arrived just after 11. It was quite a sight, with the dogs running loose, and accompanied by all shapes and sizes of horses (and riders). All brilliantly turned out though and it reminded Nikki of the Thellwell wallpaper she used to have in her bedroom when she was a child.
Afterwards, we had another wander around the shops (where Nikki bought a bag – of course she did) before popping into the Horse and Hounds for a livener, and a return to The Tavern at the Lygon Arms for a quick half (in Nikki’s case).
With tummies grumbling we then headed to the Boxing Day buffet. We have to say it was a bit dissapointing, perhaps because we didn’t get in until around 3pm so we were some of the last ones there, and we were gutted that they had ‘run out’ of gammon ham, we shall be writing to James Martin about that ! Still there was still ample to eat, and we were not that hungry after our Christmas day feast, so all was well.
Back to the lounge and a relaxing evening including a game of scrabble which Nikki won – she was on a roll.
Time to go ....
Our break was over Saturday, and after a final breakfast it was time to check-out and settle up – didn’t mind the former, could have done without the latter – flipping expensive date is that Nikki!
We decided on a relaxed departure, so had one more stroll around the High Street, where thoughts of Christmas 2026 must have emerged as we bought some decorations and glasses for next years festivities. Assuming we plan to host again ….
Broadway and the Lygon Arms were an amazing way to celebrate Christmas, and certainly renewed our enthusiasm for Christmas away after our previous Norfolk disaster. We just hope the pension pot keeps performing so we can afford to do so again at some time in the future.
Happy New Year everyone, love Steve & Nikki xx
