Breakfast Delivery - Awkward Feels

I do… only because it only helps ME if they want to clean it during their stay, LOL. We can get the cheap bleach spray bottles here for $1.

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Lol good reasoning !

I did both: breakfast and no beakfast. To have breakfast for guests was too much work for me. I didn’t want to start talking to people I’m a morning. I like slow mornings.

Plus I have 3 rooms and if there is too much activity on a kitchen I wake up still sleeping guest’s. Also always keep replenishing grosseries was a hassle.

I could see though that guest’s always appreciate hot drinks in a mornings but they never make it themselves since they don’t know where everything is and appliances are not familiar to them.

I got coffeemaker with timer. Set it up at 7 am. So at 7 am coffee is always ready. I put a little tray out with sugar, creamer, assortment of teas, and almond milk.
Sometimes if there is a good sale at publix I get a bunch of cereal bars. Once I got 20 boxes of 6 organic cereal bars for 1.50$. I even checked expiration date to be sure they are still good. It lasted me 2 months. Many guests never touched them. At times I buy too much fruits and this is when I can use extra mouth to feed.

But other than that I don’t bother myself .
Now I have long term guest’s who reserves for one month but going now on 4th now. I originally offered coffee but they helped themselves whole day with it. Sugar, creamer and coffee was disappearing with speed of light.
I stopped it and told them I don’t offer feee hot drinks to long term guests.

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I love your posts and so glad you are back! :heart:️:heart:️

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That’s a great idea. A coffee maker with timer. I know I would appreciate that myself as a guest :wink:

I would not serve them breakfast. Just be aware that if you do, and if you live in the United States, you will be considered to be providing the sorts of services a hotel provides and you will have to file your taxes under a Schedule C, and this means you then are required to pay social security and Medicare tax to the tune of 15.3%.

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I agree in theory. But I sleep badly enough that an further disturbance from random texts and calls (possibly junk/wrong calls) isn’t something I want to deal with. I often have a hard time getting back to sleep after being woken up.

On the plus side, I rarely sleep for very long at a time, so I can deal with urgent incoming mail when I wake up. It’s true that if a guest had a first class emergency, there would be a problem, but fortunately that hasn’t happened yet.

I used to never have trouble falling back to sleep. It’s ironic. One would think being awoken in the middle of the night when having to get up and go to work the next morning would be a bigger problem than waking when one is “retired.”

A week ago I had a couple who couldn’t get in using the code. I slept though their text and then they called. I went out, opened the door and then couldn’t sleep for another 3 hours. Last night I was awakend twice. Once by my guest asking if I had a fork and a bowl she could borrow. I saw the text and ignored it because if I’d gotten up I’d probably have trouble going back to sleep. Two hours later it was by an air guest saying they were changing their travel day and could they change their reservation to a day earlier. I knew I had to answer because it would get in my head if I didn’t. I told her no, I was booked and she’d have to cancel. It’s been about 15 hours and she still hasn’t cancelled.

Unfortuately for me I find a lot of nocturnal young people are making travel arrangements in the middle of the night.

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After much ado and reflecting on everyone’s feedback we’ve decided to uncheck the “Breakfast” box as an amenity. It’s just a bit too much for us right now, and the ends aren’t justifying the means since we are in our newbie phase and our prices are still very low. Maybe we will try it again when we have a bit more experience! As for now, I’m planning on providing a small welcome basket with some cute cans of Perrier and granola bars. It ends up being about $1 per guest. Phew! Still offering complimentary coffee, tea, and cocoa.

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I have a separated downstairs apartment and advertise it as a continental breakfast provided including milk, bread for toast, cereal, spreads, rice, and eggs from my chickens etc. Because there is a kitchenette with a microwave, fridge, kettle, toaster, coffee pod machine and rice cooker there is no need to go down. I’ve never had a complaint about that arrangement. I also have a bench oven and hotplate for cooking dinner as well as pots and pans and S/P, sauces, oil etc.

So I would guess if, as a bare minimum, you have a kettle, toaster and fridge (in which you can leave milk, OJ or a fruit platter in) I’d give up delivering breakfast.

Good call, I think! Less stress for you guys and, importantly, you are now following the Golden Rule of Under-promise and Over-deliver. Guests aren’t expecting breakfast so the welcome basket, tea & coffee etc. will seems like a nice bonus. Also it’s a weird - but true - fact that the more you offer, the more guests will complain.

Btw, don’t forget that you still need to offer breakfast to those who booked when it was a listed amenity. Keep a note of the date you unchecked ‘breakfast’. There is no automatic record-keeping on Air for when you change things.

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Many hosts are also unaware that if the average guest stay is under 7 days they must file a schedule C - even when not providing ‘substantial services’. There has been more than one case of hosts filing Schedule E, then being audited, and having to refile under Schedule C.

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I’m doing an E. Better for the refinance police. You don’t want to be caught by your mortgage holders doing a commercial business with a residential mortgage. I remember someone posted here once that they went to refinance and not,only were they not able to refi, they were reclassified as a commercial mortgage and reset at more than double the rate. (When you refi, you have to show your tax returns.)

I have a long term rental and my ABB business which is all short term so two different categories.

Not according to my CPA. She insists I do schedule E for this. She knows what Airbnb is… and said I need to be serving breakfast daily or have daily maid service to qualify. Tax wise it would be better for me to do a C, but my CPA says E.

Yes, there’s pros and cons to both, and your point about the mortgage is a
good one. CPAs are still arguing about how to classify an Airbnb and what
Schedule to use. When part of a large property is one’s personal residence,
and part of it is a self contained Airbnb with it’s own private entrances,
how might the IRS classify this, in your opinion?

No clue… that is why I pay $375 for a CPA! :rofl::rofl:

And my CPA said absolutely file a Schedule C - ARGH!! :persevere:

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I do provide a daily service, drinks in the morning, well a Keurig and Kettle, put out a few pastries, fresh towels clean bathrooms. Obviously do none of the above with my long term rental. I know a lot of hosts are not on site and may never see their Guests.

So it depends on what you do.

7:30 is so early, I would just leave juice and fruit in their apartment part, personally would feel weird wi a host waking me that early and as a guests you wouldn’t want to be rude and would eat it.