We spread our travel wings a bit to celebrate our 15 years together and hopped on a (much quicker than Hawaii) jet plane to the Bahamas! Here’s my top 5 ways to stay gluten-free at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar on Nassau, Bahamas.
- Contact the Executive Chef on property. This goes for every Hyatt vacation property you visit. I was so thrilled to sit down and meet with Chef Sutti, executive chef of the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar during our stay. He discussed at length with us the ways someone with food allergies or intolerances can stay safe at their property during their stay. THE most important thing was to make sure the head chef at your property knows your coming. Chef Sutti has a board in his office where he tracks all guests with dietary needs, when they are coming and where they are eating! Outline what your dietary restrictions are so they can prepare for you. Can’t stress this key point enough.
Executive Chef Suttichai Sripolpa of Grand Hyatt Baha Mar - Do restaurant research. The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar is comprised of 3 hotels and 22 restaurants on property. When I sat down with Chef Sutti, he clarified that only 7 of these restaurants are directly overseen by Hyatt. The others are controlled by SLS and Rosewood hotel properties. I did not realize this! Our first night we dined at CLEO, an SLS restaurant. Whoops. Here I was thinking I was being taken care of by Hyatt staff and that was not the case. Read menus, ask the chef questions and be specific about what items you think you want to enjoy during your stay.
So many quick service options by the pool/beach. NOT gluten-free. - Make all your dining reservations in advance. Chef Sutti has 9 chefs that manage the restaurants on property at Baha Mar. If he knows you are dining at 3 Tides on Wednesday he will make sure there is a chef there to oversee your meal preparation. I know this is hard. It’s really hard to know what you are going to feel like eating! Unfortunately impromptu fish tacos at the DRIFT pool bar WILL compromise the attention level your meal will get. It pays to make a plan, for yourself and your health.
My ‘light’ dinner at the Hyatt’s Grand Club. Yum! - Consider the Hyatt Grand Club. This upgrade, which cost us 12,000 Hyatt points, was a HUGE money saver for us. Dining and drinks at Baha Mar are not cheap. Two poolside drinks will run $40 and a nice meal for 2 with drinks will cost $200+. The Hyatt Grand Club had breakfast, an afternoon snack and non-alcoholic beverages, cocktail hour with a spread of crudités, cheese, salad and several hot dishes, and dessert to cap off the night. It was well worth the points. There were many families at the grand club which makes a lot of sense also. Feeding your whole family here and getting by with a light lunch is totally doable. We ate a late breakfast, and stopped for cocktail hour and ate a lighter late supper. It worked out great and the staff was very considerate of my needs and prepared special meal.
- Pack options. I brought along tortillas, chicken, guacamole cups and plantain chips. I didn’t use it all but it just makes sense to have some portable lunch options if you get in a pinch or aren’t trusting the situation.
