The Essential Guide to Allergic Travel
Travelling is one of life’s great pleasures, whether it means exploring a city’s lively streetscapes and shops or delving into historic sites and museums. But for people with allergies, the prospect of leaving one’s controlled home environment can be challenging. Those with environmental allergies and asthma fear dust-mite-filled carpets in hotels, bed linens that can cause skin irritation or the possibility of wheeze-inspiring mould. The food allergic, meanwhile, are wary of venturing into unknown restaurants where cross-contamination of their meals with allergens could be a life-threatening risk.
But increasing awareness, especially in urban centres, means the allergic need not miss out on enjoyable and safe escapes. As you’ll find in this guide to 12 great North American destinations, there are a growing number of hotels and restaurants where the welcome mat is out for allergic patrons.
CANADA
Vancouver
With its relaxed vibe and stunning natural beauty, it’s no wonder that Condé Nast Traveler lists Canada’s west coast city as “best city” in the Americas.
WHERE TO STAY
Listel Vancouver Hotel
1-800-663-5491
www.listel-vancouver.com
Those allergic to smoke will sleep easy at this artfully decorated boutique hotel, which became Vancouver’s first 100 per cent smoke-free, full-service hotel in January 2003. It has 129 rooms and is located in the heart of trendy Robson Street.
Wedgewood Hotel
1-800-663-0666
www.wedgewoodhotel.com
Ranked fifth in the world and best in Canada for value and service by Travel + Leisure magazine, this upscale hotel gets high marks for allergy friendliness. Guests can request hypo-allergenic sheets, pillows, duvets and robes.
The Fairmont Vancouver Airport
1-800-441-1414
www.fairmont.com/vancouverairport
This luxury property is the first hotel in North America to devote an entire floor to those with environmental allergies. It offers 42 rooms that have special filtration systems to purify air and water, as well as a central vacuum system to reduce dust allergens. One room has hardwood-only floors, there is no smoking and no pets are allowed. Don’t miss a visit to the nut-free bar.
WHERE TO EAT
Raincity Grill
604-685 7337
www.raincitygrill.com
Buy locally, eat seasonally is the mantra at this award-winning restaurant, named the hottest in Vancouver by The New York Times. The menu features fresh seafood and organic vegetables from British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. Or choose from a wide array of delectable gluten-free items. Servers are knowledgeable about menu ingredients, and the kitchen will accommodate requests for allergy-friendly meals.
Diva at the Met (in the Metropolitan Hotel)
www.metropolitan.com/diva
604-602-7788
Executive Chef Ray Henry will happily accommodate food allergy menu requests. Servers identify their customers’ specific allergies, then verify all components of the dishes with the kitchen staff. Separate pans can be used in all preparation stages.
Calgary
Calgary is synonymous with oil tycoons, stampedes and equestrian shows. But it’s also a recreational playground. Head to the Badlands and learn about the Albertosaurus at the Royal Tyrrell Museum or enter Kananaskis Country, west of Calgary, to see the majestic Rockies and pristine wilderness.
WHERE TO STAY
Calgary Historic Bed and Breakfast at Twin Gables
1-866-271-7754
www.twingables.ca
At this quaint bed and breakfast, there are two carpet-free rooms and it’s all hardwood (with area rugs) throughout the rest of the house.
Best Western Suites Downtown
403-228-6900
www.bestwesternsuitescalgary.com
This location has a no-pets policy, as well as full kitchenettes for preparing your own meals.
WHERE TO EAT
The Mount Royal Keg Steakhouse & Bar
403-266-1036
This popular chain boasts four Calgary locations, all of which follow a strict set of guidelines developed to ensure the needs of customers with allergies are met. Grills are specially cleaned, if necessary, labels are checked, and if an item cannot be prepared without the allergen, a substitution is recommended.
Cilantro
403-229-1177
www.crmr.com/cilantro
This stylish bôite offers up contemporary California cuisine in an upscale but casual atmosphere. A “kitchen bible” of all recipes keeps ingredient lists at hand, and the staff effortlessly accommodates several allergy related requests a week, most commonly for peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and gluten.
Montreal
The Canadian epi-centre for the boutique hotel offers a wide variety stylish accommodations suited to allergic needs. Rooms with hardwood and tiled floors instead of broadloom, for instance, are easy to find.
WHERE TO STAY
Auberge Bonaparte
514-844-1448
www.bonaparte.com
All 30 rooms at this luxurious property have hardwood floors, and all rooms are smoke-free, making it a perfect spot for those with environmental allergies or asthma.
Auberge du Vieux-Port
514-876-0081
www.aubergeduvieuxport.com
Wrought-iron beds, exposed brick and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the St. Lawrence River are some of the accoutrements of this boutique hotel located in Old Montreal. The rooms have hardwood floors and hypoallergenic pillows and comforters.
Hôtel Godin
1-866-744-6346
www.hotelgodin.com
Designed by avant-garde architect Joseph Arthur Godin, this elegant hotel became the first poured-concrete structure in North America. Today, people with allergies can notify the hotel before arrival, and their rooms will be cleaned with a powerful ozone machine that minimizes dust allergens. The hotel also offers hypoallergenic pillows, towels and sheetws. A nut-free mini-bar is available.
WHERE TO EAT
Brontë
514-934-1801
Voted “best new restaurant” by enRoute magazine in 2004, this hip eatery is housed in a sleek, modern space with hardwood-only floors. The first question a server asks concerns the specific allergies of their customers. Menu items can be customized, and servers are knowledgeable about all ingredients.
Bouchée de Pain
514-523-6922
This quaint bakery and café specializes in nut-free, gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian fare.
UNITED STATES
Chicago
With the unveiling in April of the Hilton’s new “Enviro-rooms,” the Windy City is home not only to cleanest hotel air on the continent, but a revolution on the allergy-friendly front.
WHERE TO STAY
Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport
773-686-8000
www.hilton.com
Those with environmental allergies and asthma can enjoy one of two new “Enviro-rooms” designed especially for them. The rooms feature hardwood floors, filtered air ducts and purifiers that remove up to 99 per cent of dust and other airborne allergens. Walls are covered in a special wallpaper, which has thousands of tiny pinpricks that release moisture into the air, and prevent mould. If the suites prove popular, Hilton has plans to roll out the initiative in more of its hotels.
Ritz-Carlton Chicago
312-266-1000
www.fourseasons.com/chicagorc
Like it sister hotels, the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Chicago provides special rooms for its allergy-sensitive patrons. Guests can request rooms with hypoallergenic fabrics and vent guards, which reduce exposure to airborne dust.
WHERE TO EAT
Adobo Grill
312-266-7999; 773-252-9990
www.adobogrill.com
Both locations of this upscale Mexican restaurant offer a comprehensive gluten-free menu. Try the tantalizing chicken enchiladas in mole sauce, topped with red onion, radishes, cheese and sour cream. The kitchen is happy to accommodate special requests.
Charlie’s on Leavitt
773-279-1600
www.opentable.com/rest_profile.aspx?rid=3361
Top chef Charlie Socher’s second restaurant is a delight of seasonal ingredients, with a menu that blends his French training with Thai and Mexican influences. Since most reservations are made online through Open Table, the restaurant has a head’s-up about a food allergy long before a patron walks through the door. Wait staff is alerted to an allergic individual, and make informed recommendations.
New York City
You can find anything and everything in the city that never sleeps, so where else would you find a caterer who caters to food allergies? Allergy Free Delites (www.allergyfreedelites.com) is the brainchild of chef Kathleen Gallo. She will ship customized meals to hotels across the U.S. and Canada.
WHERE TO STAY
The Blakely New York
212-245-1800
www.blakelynewyork.com
This 118-room hotel offers a no-pet policy and plenty of wooden floors with little carpeting. Each room features a fully equipped kitchenette, and down duvets and pillows (which can be replaced with hypoallergenic bedding).
Comfort Inn Midtown
1-800-567-7720
www.applecorehotels.com
Designated as the city’s first completely smoke-free hotel back in 2001, the Comfort Inn underwent a major deep cleaning. Carpets, curtains and bed spreads were thoroughly and repeatedly washed, and phones, coffee makers and hair dryers were disinfected.
Le Perigord
212-755-6244
www.leperigord.com
At Le Perigord, the 41-year-old dining institution, the professional service staff know all the ingredients of the menu’s dishes, and happily share them with those who inquire. If a diner has a problem with a specific ingredient, it is either eliminated from the meal, or the chefs vamp with a substitution that maintains the flavour integrity of the dish. Le Perigord’s menu is peanut-free.
City Crab & Seafood Company
212-529-3800
www.citycrabnyc.com
Located in the bustling Gramercy Park/Flat Iron district, City Crab provides an amazing dining experience and is sensitive to those with food allergies. In fact, one of the owners takes the issue so seriously, he’s active on the board of the N.Y.-based Food Allergy Initiative. The chef is flexible, accommodating special requests and openly sharing ingredients. All dishes are peanut-free.
Excerpted from Allergic Living’s Summer 2005 issue. For full listings, purchase of copy of that issue.
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Related Reading:
- Food Allergy Flying Tips
- Scott McKenzie's Rules for travelling with food allergies
- Travel Guide Pt 1 - Traveling the globe with life-threatening allergies
- Travel Guide Pt 2 - To Europe
- Airlines and Allergies: Flying Allergic
