When Erin Smith starts planning a trip, she doesn’t begin with flights or hotel rates—she starts by building a food-safety strategy. As the founder of Gluten-Free Globetrotter, a website dedicated to gluten-free travel, and a person living with celiac disease, Smith integrates that research into the earliest stages of her destination selection.
“As soon as I start researching a city, I start looking for gluten-free places to eat,” Smith says, adding that she pins everything into a custom Google Map, alongside the nearest U.S. consulate and local hospitals, precautions that underscore how high the stakes can be.
It’s a level of planning that many travelers never have to consider—approximately 1 percent of the population is affected by celiac disease, according to The New England Journal of Medicine—and one that a hotel in Louisiana is attempting to make obsolete.
Hotel Monroe, which opened in 2025 in Monroe, Louisiana, has officially become the first full-service hotel in the United States to be certified 100 percent gluten-free, a designation granted through the Gluten-Free Food Program (GFFP) administered by the National Celiac Association—a process that has been underway since late 2025.
Monroe, about 100 miles east of Shreveport in northeastern Louisiana, is known as the birthplace of Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola. While in town, you can visit the Biedenharn Museum & Gardens, where Coca-Cola was first bottled in 1894. It houses a Coca-Cola Museum, gardens, and the historic home of the original Cola bottler himself, Joseph Biedenharn.
For a bit of nature, head to the Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, a 5,300-acre swampland area with a large lake and boardwalks, and an ideal place for bird-watching.
Hotel Monroe, part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton, is in downtown Monroe, along the Ouachita River. The hotel’s two buildings date back to 1891 and formerly served as an opera house and a grocery store. Today the 69-room boutique hotel is steeped in history with modern enhancements. Rooms have exposed brick walls and plush bedding, and the hotel’s public spaces showcase local art.
The property’s four dining and retail establishments include the main restaurant, Heirloom, with a focus on Southern cuisine; the rooftop Star Bar; Sugar Brothers Provisions, a gift shop where guests can grab local goods; and the Lobby Bar, which serves up coffee in the morning and cocktails in the evening.
In addition to the strides it has made as a gluten-free haven, the hotel sees its opening as part of a larger cultural revival in northeastern Louisiana. It aims to highlight both the region’s history and Monroe’s current arts scene through its preservation effort.
A zero-tolerance approach to gluten
The philosophy at Hotel Monroe is not to simply forego certain dishes, but rather to approach them differently, arguably even ending up with something better.
Photo by Hannah Finley Photography
Unlike hotels that offer gluten-free menu items alongside standard fare, Hotel Monroe has taken a stricter approach: Gluten simply doesn’t exist on-site.
For travelers with celiac disease, that level of control isn’t a preference—it’s a necessity. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine and is triggered by gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. It can cause symptoms like painful stomach cramps, diarrhea, bloating, and headaches.
“In a hotel, gluten‑free certification must cover an entire ecosystem, not just one kitchen,” says Andrew Batten, executive director of GFFP, a third-party certification program endorsed by the National Celiac Association that ensures restaurants, manufacturers, and food services meet a strict 5 parts per million (ppm) gluten limit, which is much safer than the standard 20 ppm.
That “ecosystem” approach is what makes a hotel certification particularly complex. GFFP investigates how the property sources and stores ingredients, prepares food, trains staff, and serves guests across every certified outlet—which, in the case of Hotel Monroe, means everything from the in-room dining and minibars to its on-site restaurant Heirloom, Star Bar, and the event spaces—to ensure meals meet its strict standard.
A stand-alone restaurant follows the same core rules but applies them in a single space, with a single team and a single menu, which is operationally much simpler than aligning multiple venues under a single standard.
“We’ve had wedding guests come to tears upon learning that they can eat everything served at the reception,” says Christie Echols, who co-owns Hotel Monroe with her husband, Michael, and has celiac disease herself. “The opportunity to include people that have become accustomed to doing without is very meaningful to our team.”
Michael added that when deciding on menu items—which include typically gluten-heavy Southern favorites like fried green tomatoes, catfish atchafalaya (fried catfish smothered in crawfish étouffé), and bread pudding—they focused not on forgoing certain dishes, but rather on cooking them differently.
“Certain traditional preparations required a complete rework, especially breads, batters, and roux-based dishes,” Michael says. “The goal was not to replicate, but to elevate. In many cases, the final result exceeded what people typically expect from those dishes.”
That dedication to finding gluten-free ingredients is what sets the property apart, says Chris Rich, CEO of the National Celiac Association, who also worked with Hotel Monroe as it was going through the certification process.
“A gluten-free hotel is a positive development for the community, but what I feel is more important is that this facility has taken the steps to become certified by the Gluten-Free Food Program,” says Rich. “It shows that they have taken an extra step for the safety of their guests and that they have invested their efforts in staff training and protocol to ensure that their customers have a good experience.”
Why this matters for travelers
For those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivities, travel has long come with a layer of uncertainty. Even restaurants that advertise gluten-free menus or menu items can’t always guarantee safe preparation, particularly in shared kitchens.
“Gluten is like glitter—it’s small, it gets everywhere, and it’s hard to fully clean up,” says Bailey Arman, associate director of communications at Beyond Celiac, a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating research for the treatment and cure of celiac disease. “Even a crumb of gluten could set off the immune system, which then attacks the small intestine. We have to be wary of every bite we take from morning to night.”
Adds Arman, “With a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, you don’t have to worry about whether the equipment has been cleaned well enough. You can simply relax and eat without fear.”
That fear persists even for the most prepared travelers. “Someone with celiac disease can perform their due diligence by researching destinations, vetting restaurants, viewing ingredient lists, speaking with restaurant and hotel staff, etc., but there is always a risk for error,” adds Rich of the National Celiac Association.
That’s the gap Hotel Monroe is trying to close in order to provide guests with peace of mind.
Will more hotels follow?
Hotel Monroe also looks to attract those hosting events, such as weddings, where nobody has to worry about gluten.
Photos by Hannah Finley Photography
For now, Hotel Monroe stands alone in the U.S. as a fully certified gluten-free property. However, other properties, such as The Inn Berlin in Maryland and Inn on Randolph in Napa, California, have also adopted fully gluten-free models.
Matt Bzdel, a gluten-free travel blogger and influencer, says he expects Hotel Monroe to draw significant interest from travelers with celiac disease.
“We are a market demographic who will regularly go hours out of our way for a safe restaurant or viral gluten-free pastry. I imagine the typical gluten-free consumer will travel farther for a safe hotel,” Bzdel says. He points to his own travel habits: He’s in the midst of planning a trip to Italy and has already chosen Hotel Villa Madonna in Alpe di Siusi specifically because it has a certification from the Italian Celiac Association.
Whether the model scales is still an open question. “It’s a significant commitment,” Rich says, noting that consistent food-handling protocols, ongoing staff training, and strict compliance are required to maintain certification.
Still, Michael Echols argues it’s not a niche concept.
“Hotel Monroe was built on the idea that you can raise the standard without limiting the experience,” he says. “It is a full-service hotel with a complete food and beverage program where every guest is considered, and every detail matters. The result is an experience that is genuinely welcoming to everyone at the table.”
The rising rate of celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (GFFP estimates 8 percent of the general population is seeking gluten-free options) is expanding the pool of travelers actively seeking safe dining environments and, increasingly, accommodations that can guarantee them.
For hotels willing to invest in eliminating gluten, Rich says, “it could open their doors to a whole group of new customers.”
