Guide
15 Questions to Ask a Hotel Before You Book When You Have Coeliac Disease
Every hotel says “yes” when you ask if they do gluten-free. These 15 questions get you the answers that actually keep you safe.
Anyone with coeliac disease who has looked for a hotel has heard the same line over and over: “Of course, we have gluten-free options.” It is well meant, but it tells you almost nothing. Having gluten-free bread in the building is one thing; getting that bread to your plate still gluten-free is quite another. The right questions are what reveal the difference.
We suggest sending the questions below by email before you book. Written answers make it easier to compare hotels, and if something goes wrong during your stay you will have a record of what was promised.
The kitchen and food preparation
- Are gluten-free meals prepared in a separate area? The ideal answer: a dedicated counter or a separate room. An acceptable answer: in a cleaned area, before any gluten-containing food is prepared.
- Do you have separate chopping boards, knives and containers for gluten-free food? Many professional kitchens use purple colour-coding for allergens. “We wash them” is not a good enough answer; wooden boards and scratched plastic hold on to crumbs.
- Is there a separate fryer for gluten-free food? This is the point most often overlooked. Chips cooked in the same oil as battered calamari are no longer gluten-free.
- Where is the gluten-free bread warmed or toasted? A shared toaster or a shared grill is the most common route for crumb contamination.
- Is gluten-free pasta cooked in its own pan, in fresh water?
The buffet and service
- Is there a separate gluten-free section on the buffet, and is the food covered? At an open buffet, guests move serving tongs from dish to dish. A separate, covered section greatly reduces that risk.
- Does every gluten-free item have its own serving tongs?
- Are buffet dishes labelled to show whether they contain gluten? Without labels, there is no way to know whether a soup has been thickened with flour or whether the köfte (meatballs) contain breadcrumbs.
- If I ask, can my plate be prepared separately in the kitchen and brought to me covered? In busy hotels this is the safest approach.
- Are there gluten-free options in the à la carte restaurants, from room service and at the snack bar? Not every meal on holiday is eaten in the main restaurant.
People and procedures
- Have staff been trained on coeliac disease and cross-contamination? Don’t be shy about asking when the training took place and what it covered.
- Is there a named person responsible for gluten-free service? Knowing who to speak to when you arrive makes everything much easier.
- Can I meet the chef when I arrive?
- Which suppliers do you buy your gluten-free products from? The products used should be labelled “gluten-free” on the packaging.
- Have you been independently inspected? A hotel’s own claim and an on-site inspection are not the same thing. Ask for the certificate number and check it.
How to judge the answers
The gap between vague answers (“we are careful”, “it won’t be a problem”) and specific ones (“we use separate purple colour-coded equipment and have a dedicated fryer for gluten-free frying”) tells you a great deal. A hotel that answers specifically is treating the issue as a process.
If you get no reply, or a “yes” to every question, send a second email asking for an example: “How is gluten-free bread served at breakfast?” The answer will quickly show whether the hotel has a real system in place.
Finally, when you get home, tell us about your experience. Every report helps the next coeliac guest enjoy a safer holiday.
