GF Travel Musings and the JW Marriott

Our first time flying with littles (+ celiac)

Recently, our family flew for the first time since welcoming children (and getting a celiac diagnosis). I wanted to share some preparation that helped us, and lessons learned. I also want to take the time to spotlight how unbelievable the JW Marriott was in handling our GF orders. The celiac disease knowledge of all staff and attention to detail was above and beyond at every single dining establishment on site. This particular JW Marriott was in southwest Florida, however I would now seek out booking at their hotels knowing how seriously they take celiac disease. I’ll share more on why they make such a great choice below.

Here are my thoughts and tips for travel:

-I brought a ton of snacks for the plane and car rides, as well as during our time there. I brought only known favorites, as well as some special treats like lollipops.

-We really lucked out at the JW, but I wish I had taken much more time to reach out to the hotel to discuss GF needs, and also research local dining and grocery options. Luckily this wasn’t necessary, but had we stayed elsewhere, our options would have been limited without this preparation.

-Scoping out menus ahead of time. Generally I always try to order all GF food, but since we were dining with so many people, our kiddo saw a lot of food she couldn’t have. This was tough since we’ve made her restaurant experiences highly accessible until this point. A conversation with your child ahead of time about how they might see their favorite food but can’t have it today (french fries) could be helpful. If these instances are unavoidable, I’d come equipped with a special treat or two and maybe a screen.

-Necessary for all small kids, but tons of wipes! I carry antibacterial ones with me too. I felt better having these with me if I had to toggle between handling gluten and GF foods to keep hers safe.

-I keep coming back to millions of snacks. I’ll link my favorite snack pouches here, which come in handy for travel and school. I had three or four of these in rotation.

-It was helpful to order sides like fruit salad, rice, hummus and avocado when I needed to round out a meal.

-I saved some special treats (cookies), as well as some new toys for the return trip so there would be some new exciting stuff to keep her happy.

Back to the hotel.

The JW Marriott. Where do I begin! I had steeled myself that this would be a challenging few days in the food department, and it was such a weight off my shoulders that there were so - many - options! I had assumed the breakfast buffet would be totally off limits. I even considered packing small GF muffins for a quick, safe breakfast. However, an incredible server walked me around to every station and showed me exactly what my daughter could and could not have, as well as pointing out an area of individually wrapped gluten free toast pieces, GF muffins and bagels (pictured below). One morning our daughter wanted waffles, and the server not only repeated to me she knew my daughter had celiac, she assured me the pans and everything had been cleaned before preparing her meal.

In other areas of the hotel, we ordered a gluten free pizza and it was promptly explained to us that it was cooked separately from the rest of the pizzas, and was completely celiac safe. The same was true for the beloved GF french fries (not at the initial restaurant due to kitchen renovations and only one frialator) but were otherwise widely available. There were many GF alternatives such as GF burger buns and cauliflower based tortillas for quesadillas. Toddler pickiness aside, it was just a tremendous relief to know we had so many safe options for our daughter. Additionally, even the lobby and coffee shop had a ton of GF snack options including fruit, chips, cookies and popcorn.

Generally speaking, it’s somewhat easy for a parent to sense if the person they’re speaking to understands the seriousness of celiac disease and whether the preparation they describe is free from cross contamination.  Every single staff member I encountered was knowledgeable, reassuring and incredibly helpful. I can only hope our future family trips resemble this one, and we will certainly be back to the JW Marriott!

What are some of your favorite GF travel trips and positive experiences? Share below!