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Date: 12/19/2022
AMHERST – The Inn On Boltwood will host its annual holiday traditions, beginning with its Christmas festivities. These consist of a Christmas Eve dinner, a Christmas Day breakfast, and a Christmas Day dinner.
The Inn’s General Manager Deborah Hermance said that the Christmas Eve specials have yet to be announced, but that the Christmas Day breakfast is mostly available.
“On Christmas Eve we’ll run our regular restaurant menu with Christmas Eve specials, but I don’t have what those are going to be yet…For Christmas Day breakfast, I know they’re going to do our usual fare which is some eggs Benedict, pancakes, French toast, that kind of stuff. They will also probably have some Christmas-themed breakfast specials on it,” Hermance said.
Christmas Day Dinner is a fixed price menu, with more options for the different courses. The food is sourced and made from scratch.
“The Christmas Dinner is a pre-fixed, so it’s a choice of your starter your entrée and your desert. That one is $65 per person. For starters, you’ve got things like lobster bisque…the full menu is actually on 30Boltwood.com. He’s doing a pierogi with farmer’s cheese, pickled beet and some crème fraiche,” Hermance said. “The restaurant itself is very farm-to-table, so everything is from scratch, fresh and natural, and organic wherever possible.”
Hermance said that it would be “hard to say” what the restaurant’s capacity will be due to the event’s all-day running time. However, Director of Sales Robin Brown said that at any given time they can accommodate over 126 guests.
“We can probably fit 100 in there…plus we have a beautiful Greenhouse Room that will hold 18, so that can also be divided in two. So you got the 100 in the main dining room, then you have the Greenhouse Room, and then there’s a small wine room that can hold another eight. And then we also have infrared heating on our covered patio, so for people that are still not wanting to sit inside of a restaurant, we do have activated outdoor seating with infrared heating,” Brown said.
Those who would like to take part in the Christmas celebrations are encouraged to book a table in advance.
“On those special events and holidays, making a reservation is definitely recommended. That’s not to say if someone wanted to walk in they couldn’t find a seat at the bar possibly, which is first come, first served, but for any of the tables we definitely would recommend a reservation,” Hermance said. “Just call ahead and book a reservation with our Restaurant, Food and Beverage Department.”
Hermance added that despite the need for dining reservations, those interested in staying at the hotel over Christmas still have an opportunity to do so, saying “around Christmas we’ve got a little more [rooms] available [than on New Year’s Eve and other holidays].”
Other than Christmas meals, the Inn is also offering a Bright Nights Overnight package, wherein guests can book a room and receive a ticket to the Bright Nights festival included. Hermance explained Bright Nights for those unfamiliar with it.
“Bright Nights is in Springfield in Forest Park…It’s basically a huge celebration of Christmas lights. They have all different vendors and displays set up and you drive through with your car and just enjoy the holiday season and all the creative light displays that they’ve put up. It’s an annual tradition around this area. If you look on brighnights.org you’ll see what it’s all about. And people come from miles to see it, it’s kind of crazy. You would think us being 45 minutes away in Amherst we wouldn’t be much of a draw, but I am always surprised on how many bookings we get on that one,” Hermance said. “The overnight package includes one ticket for a car to go through the Bright Nights and one overnight room package. That starts at $259.”