Anyone for a nice allergy-friendly resort experience?

[This AllergyEats Blog post features content from guest writer Jasmine]

We received a wonderful note from AllergyEats Friend Jasmine earlier this month that read: 

We just wanted to thank you for your site. It has helped us greatly over the last year and half. It is a wonderful knowledge to read the experiences and tips of other food allergy sufferers.

We have benefited from the reviews of others and will be submitting a review of the Hyatt Hill Country Resort restaurants (Springhouse Cafe) as well as our experience at Seaworld/Aquatica. The resort is heavily marketed as a family friendly resort, so I think it will help other parents planning their vacations.

Thank you again for all of your efforts on our behalf.

Since the core AllergyEats site generally does not list resort restaurants for review, Jasmine was nice enough to write a full blog entry for the benefit of all of us!  Thank you Jasmine!

Hyatt Hill Country Resort

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The Hyatt Hill Country Resort and Spa is a “Must Stay” place if you or your child has food allergies! We were discouraged at first when researching as many online reviews [not from AllergyEats] were negative, stating that food-allergic dining options were limited. We experienced exactly the opposite!!

Our 6yr old daughter is allergic to eggs, dairy, and tree nuts. I know what you are thinking….what the heck did she eat? I am a very happy Mom whose daughter had a blast enjoying her vacation eating So Delicious yogurt, cereal with soy milk, fresh oven warmed bagels, baguettes and flat breads with Earth Balance butter or Tofutti cream cheese and tasty fruit preserves, nitrate free turkey hot dogs, pizza with soy cheese and pepperoni, pasta, grilled chicken, fresh organic fruits and veggies, dairy free chocolate ice cream and the list goes on and on….. It was a great balance of fun kid foods with the mom approved healthy seal!

Tips:

1. Let the hotel know that you have a special dietary need at the time of reservation. Thank you Torie (Reservations Manager). She was wonderful at helping us connect with Chef Troy and Chef Brenden. Thank you again for answering all our questions.

2. Email the Chefs at the restaurant you will be eating at (Springhouse Café in our case) before your trip. Ask questions about types of foods available so that you are not surprised or disappointed when you get there or feel limited because of food allergies. The chefs personally made all our little girl’s entrees to ensure that was no cross contamination.

3. Relax and enjoy your vacation because you and the culinary team did prep work ahead of time!

The culinary team is awesome! Thank you especially to Chef Brenden who went above and beyond in answering our questions and personally making sure that were all kinds of treats and meals that were Allergy Safe. Words are not enough. Thanks to Brenden, we actually got to relax and enjoy our vacation instead of worrying about what and where Hannah would eat at every meal. The Hyatt is very lucky to have Chef Brenden on staff. Chef Troy, Chef Brenden, and Torie did an awesome job in communicating our special dietary needs. Everyone at the Springhouse Café and Regency Club was genuinely sincere in ensuring there was a variety of foods and that there was no cross contamination. Thank you also to Chef Nicole and Abraham! The Culinary Team is first class! 

We had to stay active since the breakfasts, appetizers, and desserts in the Regency Club are awesome! Well worth the upgrade. Thank you Kathryn, Hailey, and Vanessa from Regency Club. You will never find kinder, sweeter or hardworking hostesses. They do a tremendous job at the Club. These ladies had a warm baguette or flat bread with Tofutti cream cheese or Earth Balance butter, So Delicious yogurt, and a soy milk waiting for Hannah each morning for breakfast. They were so genuine in making sure Hannah was well provided for in the good eats department. As the parent of a child with severe multiple food allergies, all I kept thinking was “Wow…these guys are awesome!”. Thank you to the young lady at the Ice Cream shoppe. You were so patient while we checked ingredients in the waffle cone (btw, they are egg, dairy free – yeah!). Chef Brendan brought the So Delicious chocolate ice cream up to the ice cream shop himself and instructed the attendant on making sure everything was clean and kept separate to avoid cross contamination.

Everyone was so friendly. You could tell they wanted to make sure guests were taken care of! We certainly felt that way. Before we left, we decided to make this our place to return and reconnect as a family. Looking forward to seeing the hotel after the renovations next summer! The best thing is that I know we can relax knowing we have another vacation spot (other than my beloved Disney) that is a safe zone for our Food Allergy needs.

Thank you so much Jasmine for this wonderful review!  I had never heard of this resort before, but it is certainly on the list now if I find my family and I making a trip down to San Antonio!

And what say the rest of you?  Has anyone been to the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and, if so, what was your experience?  Are others here encouraged to learn more about the resort after reading Jasmine’s review?  Do you have a similarly “special place” you feel comfortable relaxing with your food allergic child?  Please share your thoughts by clicking Reply or Comments below.

Also, please remember that the value of AllergyEats to our community comes from YOUR restaurant ratings on our core site at www.allergyeats.com.  Your commitment to taking just a minute after each restaurant visit for a review has made AllergyEats the largest and fastest-growing guide to allergy-friendly restaurants in the U.S… by a long shot!  So if there are any restaurants you’ve visited lately that you haven’t yet rated, please do so at www.allergyeats.com (or on our mobile app for iPhone and Android).  Each new rating makes AllergyEats an even more valuable resource for our entire food allergy and intolerance community.