francophile03

Hi, I'm interested in this motel in Salina, KS. There's no more rooms available in Lindsborg. Can anyone let me know if this Fairfield Inn is a safe, clean motel? I cannot find any comments about it anywhere.

I also am looking at Holiday Inn Express-would this one be better than the Fairfield Inn? It seems to have gotten a few good comments a couple years back.

Thanks.

travelisfun

By and large, both Fairfield and Holiday Inn Express should be clean, simple hotels. As for location, the Holiday Inn Express is right off of I-70, the interstate. It is in an area with a few restaurants (mostly fast food), but should be safe. The Fairfield Inn is also just off of a highway, but the area is also safe. I'd say either one would be fine. Go with the better deal. And have fun in beautiful Central Kansas! Lindsborg is a cute little town.

francophile03

Hi travelisfun, Salina, KS is not really where I want to stay for 6 nights but my son's got an event that happens to be in Lindsborg, KS. We're not thrilled to stay at a motel off a highway either. But anyway, I'm at least glad to know that the HI Express is clean and safe because that's the one I booked! Fairfield Inn has higher rates.

Do you know anything about Lindsborg itself as to restaurants? Hopefully not all are fast food types.

Thanks very much.

travelisfun

Well, I don't know much about specific restaurants, but there might be a Swedish place there--the town is known for it's Swedish heritage, so I'm sure there's a small Mom/Pop place there. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants in this area are fast food or moderate chains (Applebee's, etc.) However, I highly recommend you take time one night or on Sunday morning to drive to Abilene (about 20 minutes East of Salina) and eat a GREAT Fried Chicken dinner at the Brookville Hotel. It's great! Make reservations, especially if you go on Sunday. Here's the website: www.brookvillehotel.com

I can't say that there is too much excitement in this part of the state, but if you can appreciate small town hospitality and charm, you'll have a decent time.

Keith

The only place I hace stayed in Salina is the Best Western, which I do not recomend.

For a unique taste of Salina, try Cozy Inn 108 N 7th. The tiny burgers are prepared on a 80 year old grill that is only used to cook these burgers. The tiny restaurant is open 24 hours. The tiny restaurant has only 5 seats at the old counter so most folks get a bag of burgers to go.

If you have the time, Rolling Hills Refuge (Kansas' newest zoo) is worth a visit. The zoo is off I-70, 6 miles west of I-135 and 2 miles south of Exit 244 on a paved road. http://www.rhrwildlife.com/

If you make the trip to Abeline, I think it is a toss up between the Kirby House Restaurant and Brookville Hotel. Though Brookville Hotel is open longer hours.

Keith

francophile03

Thanks to you both for the suggestions. I'm not sure if we'll make it to the fried chicken place but it sounds good. We've never stayed in such a small town but I guess it'll be different for sure.

krisz

You might want to try the Swedish Crown Resturant in Lindsborg. I have friends who celebrate their anniversary there most every year. They say it's good. The downtown area is cute
with a toy store that struck me as unique although I can't recall why.
If you have time to spend in Lindsborg, you might enjoy the Birger Sanzen Art Gallery. If you'd like a view of Lindsborg and the surrounding wheat fields, go up Coronado Heights.
krisz

francophile03

Thanks krisz. Besides that one Swedish restaurant are there any other restaurants in Lindsborg that you recall?

krisz

francophile03, I know there are other restaurants but couldn't remember names so tried this website www.lindsborg.org
which lists a few. The Cookery serves dinner, and the Courtyard Bakery and Cafe serves lunch. Both claim to have Swedish specialties although you may not want Swdedish. When is your trip? Are you looking for a certain type of food or just something that isn't fast food or chain resturants?
krisz

francophile03

Krisz, we're to be there next month. I'll check that website-thanks. I heard from someone whose relatives live there that Salina is pretty boring.

krisz

francophile, yesterday I stopped in Lindsborg on my way back from a meeting. I picked up some tourist information, and will look up stuff if you have questions. We also ate at the Swedish Crown and while it wasn't bad, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say it was good. The place was full at 6:30pm though. It has a few Swedish options and also midwestern standards. The Cookery was down the street and had a similar menu. Is your son in the chess tournaments? I've been to Salina a few times for meetings and only have lunch in the town. I'd rather hang out in Lindsborg though. It's a cute little place. We went to a bakery to buy Swedish rye bread and then stopped off in the grocery store. That was fun. They have lots of unusual items. Are you flying into Salina, Wichita, or driving to Kansas?
krisz

francophile03

krisz, my son will be in one of the chess tournaments there. And we're flying in to Wichita and staying in Salina. Then we'll drive to Lindsborg for the tournaments.

By the way, please don't take this the wrong way, we are coming from a very large, cosmopolitan city with many nationalities. Is Lindsborg and Salina pretty friendly and open towards out of state visitors?

krisz

francophile, I think you will find the people of Kansas friendly and pleasant.
There are lots of good resturants in Wichita, if you want to hit one on your way in or out. Let me know if I might be of help.
krisz

Keith

If your son is interested in space or aviation, you might swing through Hutchinson while coming or going from Wichita.

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center has the world's second largest U.S. space artifact collection and the largest collection of Russian space artifacts found outside of Moscow.

http://www.cosmo.org/

Keith

francophile03

Again thanks for the good suggestions; unfortunately, I doubt we will have any time to explore because each game lasts a few hours. However, if we do get a chance somehow, I will definitely keep them in mind.

francophile03

Hi, just wanted to say that I ended up staying in Lindsborg after all at the Swedish Country Inn. This motel is okay-it's certainly alot better than the Coronado Motel nearby. But the girls who "clean" the rooms don't do a very good job-they only vaccum if the room has wall-to-wall carpets! Bare floors they don't vaccum (??). We had to ask them one day to vaccum our floors as dustballs were collecting. And I won't mention the toilets...

Sorry about being honest but I must admit that Lindsborg has got to be the most boring place I've visited. You can see the whole town in 5 minutes as there's nothing interesting to see and do there.

The Swedish Crown restaurant has closed down fyi. So actually there are about three restaurants remaining in town: The Cookery, Irene's Teas, and this BBQ restaurant, the name I forgot.

The town-being so tiny-doesn't have too many visitors so freshly prepared dishes are sometimes unheard of. At Irene's the food (overpriced) was microwaved so it was not freshly cooked. On the menu it says "maybe" for some dishes offered meaning that they may or may not be available for you. At The Cookery no microwaving is usually done but sometimes the menu items aren't available as they sometimes run out of them.

We and a couple of others who had no cars were so bored we were happy to visit the one bar in town, The Old Stuger, every chance we could get.

We kept hearing that Salina has alot of restaurants, bars, cinemas, and shopping centers.

BTW, most townspeople were friendly but others not so like any other place.