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From:
Dina Moreth <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 8 Apr 2001 13:35:36 -0500
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I did not get many replies when I asked about people's experiences in St.
Thomas, but now that I've gone myself, I wanted to post this summary anyway
so that it would be in the archives for future reference.

Let me start out with the hotel.  We stayed at the Renaissance Grand Beach
Resort on the island's east end.  Before we left I emailed the resort and
asked for the name of the Executive Chef there so that I could discuss with
him some dietary restrictions for my daughter.  This put me in touch with
an absolutely wonderful woman named Joyce Smith who responded to my email
and asked me what kind of concerns I had.  I explained the whole celiac
thing and the challenges of travelling, etc.  Over the next two weeks she
worked with the Kitchen and primarily the Executive Sous Chef, Wes Muncy to
check on items and their gf status.  Wes invited me to bring in Brianna's
own pancake mix and Cream of Rice for some breakfasts.  He made sure to
have Jello on hand and Hagen Daaz ice cream for desserts, as well as
offering to make her a creme brulee.  He said they'd be more than happy to
make her french fries from scratch since the ones they normally used are
coated.  They even contacted their sister hotel (Marriott's Frenchman's
Reef Resort) on my behalf to let them know we might be coming there too.

But wait, the story gets better!  One day, while down at the pool, my
husband asks one of the attendents at the grill if he knows what brand of
hot dog they use.  Immediately, the man said "Oh, you must be the people in
room 1524.  We had meetings on this last week that there'd be a little five-
year old girl coming that we may need to make special accomodations for."
My husband was floored.  Can you believe the extent that these people went
to?  Not even in Disney World did we receive such comprehensive and
empathetic treatment.

We met Joyce and Wes personally while we were down there and told them how
much their efforts were appreciated, but truly I can't thank them enough.

A couple of other restaurants we had good expeiences at and I would
recommend are the Agave Terrace, the Blue Moon Cafe and the Old Stone
Farmhouse.  We did not do any food shopping, so I don't know about that.  I
packed a small suitcase full of pretzels, chips, some muffins, bagels, dry
cereal, breadsticks, crackers and cookies.

All in all we did absolutely fine and it was a great vacation.

Dina, Illinois

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