Gluten Free Travel Site

Here is an update about a great Gluten Free Travel Site to which I've submitted reviews, and also use when planning my trips:

GlutenFreeTravelSite is a website containing THOUSANDS of user-submitted gluten-free dining and travel REVIEWS. Unlike other “directory-style” sites or apps, GlutenFreeTravelSite is a true REVIEW site...not a single gluten-free business will appear on the site unless it is REVIEWED by someone following a GF diet. GlutenFreeTravelSite is the original — and most robust — online collection of user-submitted GF dining and travel reviews.

There are reviews of restaurants, bakeries, markets, hotels/resorts, B&Bs, cruises and more — not just within the U.S., but from all around the world. Users can search by state or country -- or narrow their search to the town/zip code level ( http://glutenfreetravelsite.com/search.php ).

Updated Site Features Include:

• 10-Day Blog Hop in May: ( http://www.glutenfreetravelblog.typepad.com ) -- GF Blogger Karen Broussard regularly posts about all things related to GF dining and travel (new restaurants with GF menus, GF Getaways, top travel destinations). If you sign up for the Blog feed at the top of her Blog, you’ll get emails of all her future posts — including a 10-day “Blog Hop” that she'll be participating in during May, in honor of Celiac Awareness Month. It’s a great way to hear all her thoughts on GF dining and travel — and learn of other new Blogs.
• Mobile Technology: GlutenFreeTravelSite’s MOBILE version allows anyone with a smart phone (iPhone, Android, or Blackberry) to access the features of the site while on-the-go. It’s so easy - enter the URL ( http://glutenfreetravelsite.com ) into your phone’s browser, and you’ll be automatically routed to the MOBILE version of the site. No need for downloading or paying for an “app.” The mobile version lets you search for GF-friendly businesses by entering a town/zip code, and a map will show you businesses that have been reviewed. Click on any business from the listing below the map, and it will be highlighted on the map, where you can link to the user-submitted review for detailed feedback. The Mobile version also allows you to access other site features, including a list of chain restaurants offering GF menus -- with direct links to their GF menu and restaurant locations.
• Near2there: This handy reminder feature is incorporated into all of GlutenFreeTravelSite’s reviews. When you click on the “Remind Me” link in any review, you can download the FREE software which then alerts you on your mobile phone when you are close to any GF-friendly establishment saved to your list. No more trying to remember new businesses you want to try when visiting your favorite city — just click on the “Remind Me” button on any review, and the software will take care of the rest! For more info: http://bit.ly/iQQZl1
• GF Colleges: GlutenFreeTravelSite encourages all GF college students to submit dining reviews of their COLLEGES — to help prospective college students who are gluten-free ( http://glutenfreetravelsite.com/glutenfreecollegereviews.php ). Please help spread the word. GlutenFreeTravelSite wants to get all colleges and universities reviewed so that students beginning the college search process will receive valuable first-hand feedback from other GF students already in attendance.
• Featured Review contest: Each month, GlutenFreeTravelSite selects an exceptionally helpful and/or unique restaurant or travel review and showcases it as the month’s Featured Review - (http://glutenfreetravelsite.com/featured.php ). They award a set of Triumph Dining restaurant cards or a gift card to a GF-friendly restaurant to the winner.  Many Bloggers also use the site for their GF dining and travel reviews, because it allows them to have their own “page” of consolidated reviews — with a customized GFTS “badge” they put on their own Blog, linking to their personal review page on GlutenFreeTravelSite. I was the featured blogger in May 2011 for my restaurant review of Amici Miei.
• Church News: GlutenFreeTravel site recently began accepting reviews of CHURCHES offering GF communion. Reviewers submit a “review” for a church the same way they’d submit a review for a restaurant or anything else ( http://glutenfreetravelsite.com/submit.php ).

*Thanks to Karen Broussard for providing the content for this entry.