LiaGarry,
What kind of milk do you provide? And what is the size/quantity? - 2%, soy milk, regular milk, rice milk, fat free milk, etc.?
And what kind of yogurt do you provide? Brand names/flavors?
I provide 2% milk because that is what I drink, so if there is left-over it doesnāt go to waste 
I did have one guest who asked for soy milk and I got that for her. I like Chobani Greek 100 yogurt, so thatās what I get ā but occasionally I will buy whatever is on sale. I try to give a good quality and something that I will eat if it is not used by the guests.
It is hard to know what the guests will like. Some eat cereal daily and ignore the pastries and others just the opposite. I try to get the minimum and then see how to restock. Since I rent rooms in my own home, not in a separate unite, I can keep an eye on what guests like.
I love having the separate fridge for the guests. They no longer eat my food or leave me with a bunch of left over containers.
Hope that helps ā Lia
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I love to hear the detailsā¦thank you - I donāt live with my guests but find it very helpful from those who stay in the same place.
Your post made me smile but twitch a little bit. I have friends on Airbnb who have the same questions about breakfast and itās driving them nuts too!
I rent two rooms on Airbnb in the Highlands of Scotland and Iāve been fully booked whole of July and August. Most have been foreigners touring, Europeans and a lot of Americans, Canadians and Aussies. But Iām now tearing my hair out over what to serve for breakfast. I think Iāve tried everythingā¦full continental with cheeses, hams, tortilla omelettes, fruit cocktails etc to full cookedā¦bangers, eggs haggis etc. Wellā¦ The Germans LOVE the original continental but the French look at it like Iām from Mars (apparently they would NEVER eat cheese in the morning) Brits expect a full Scottish ohā¦and kids want pancakes and syrup! Then there the gluten intolerant ones, vegetarians and just down right fussy ones. I have a huge dining room set up like a proper B&B with spectacular views over the mountains so I wish to continue using this room as its a lovely start to their day. Iām now trying a āself serveā breakfastā¦basically put a kettle, toaster, coffee maker on a large table and offer cereals, yoghurt, fruit salad, different breads to toast and pastries. However the first morning I ātriedā my new breakfast out I had three Aussies booked in. I showed them the dining room where breakfast would be served and the son asked if his elderly mum could have a cooked breakfast (Sausages, eggs etc) as she was on a high protein diet!!! I smiled sweetly, gritted my teeth and said āof courseā ( gotta keep the guest happy right?) and served her a lovely cooked breakfast next morningā¦actually the son too whilst his little girl asked for pancakes and syrup. They ate the cereals and yoghurt etc that were on the table first, devoured the cooked breakfast and mum ate loads of toast??? I rest my case.
Breakfast or no breakfast??? Getting to the point guests or no guests!!!
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We donāt offer breakfast as neither my wifeās or my own schedule allows it to be possible!
When we are around, we may offer a breakfast on the house.
Will see how it goes as we progress in this hosting business!
I would just say no, your mom can not have cooked breakfast, because I donāt offer it.
Donāt do what you donāt want to do, lesson that I learned , itās not good for anyone, you or your guests. Then you start building resentment and a being burned out feeling.
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Youāre right Yanaā¦gotta say ānoā more from now on. I could go on and onā¦like family a week ago checked in for 4 nights and āexpectedā to use my kitchen to prepare their evening meal as it was cheaper for themā¦they came in at 9.30pm after a day touring to do so.
She was a Doctor and he was a Russian translator for the BBCā¦they would buy the food with orange stickersā¦just out of date and half priceā¦Geeze
Got a glowing review but I resented them by the time they leftā¦my fault
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Alba be sure you put no kitchen rule in your house rules, even if guest donāt read it and start cooking you can stop them by pointing to your rules.
After I had a cooking chaos on my kitchen when people cooked many hours a day, I put light cooking only.
Such a helpful discussion. NO, I do not serve breakfast. I have two school-age kids and donāt want to share the kitchen or bother with making it. I do not allow kitchen privileges, either. That doesnāt mean people donāt want to warm up their takeout occasionally. One day when my husband was home and I wasnāt, a young couple from China made themselves breakfast while he was right there. Not much for confrontation, he did not say anything. 
I tell people where to go for breakfast, within walking distance, and have tea in the room and a pot. Also I give everyone a KIND bar upon arrival, which I get in bulk at Costco, not for them really but for my sons. I give them my sonsā least favorite flavor, which the guests need not know.
I try to be as firm as possible, but if someone has takeout I do let them use the fridge because itās hard to say no. Inevitably, they forget and leave it in there. I used to offer coffee, but I would make extra and they would forget to get it. So I stopped.
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My problems with Heavy cooking have proven to be Chinese and Indian guests. It seems all of these bring their own foods, fill my fridge, and cook very heavily morning and evening. I say two hours of cooking for each meal. Americans do not cook, and if they do happen to, it is very light. I myself am getting tired of the heavy cooking people, who tend to mess up the stove, chip the table, and ruin my very expensive white sinks with pot scrapings. I put a very large plastic liner in one sink for washing pots, but they use the other unprotected side! I now think I will make a restriction to Light Cooking only. But to Chinese and Indians, two hours is Light Cooking! Or so it seems.
I cannot believe hosts let guests into their kitchen to cook their own breakfast! My kitchen is sacred territory and Iād go mental if they walked in to use the fridge, stove etc. I have a dinning room set out, they know where to come in the morning and go in there to start with fruits, yoghurt, cereals etc I put out ( and just enough for the number guests) then IF I do a cooked breakfast it is a small oneā¦couple small sausages, one rasher bacon, one fried egg and little cooked buttered mushrooms and stewed tomatoes. Itās all done in one pan ( I have amazing cookware that doesnāt require oil or fat) and really simple. They eat then leave! I try not to do cooked breakfasts unless requested ( never offered) and Iāve put my prices up now as many do want one, I still get the bookings. I have never had Indian or Chinese guests but have heard they are the worst! If I did they would be given more fruits than usual and Iād stick to continental style ( Indians would never eat pork sausages or bacon anyway) Ive got to the stage take it or leave it Iām afraidā¦ Reviews re breakfast have been brilliantā¦something to consider as breakfast IS part of the B&B deal ( if thatās what youāre offering) and an important part of the stay and feed back. Most love to be pampered and be ā servedā
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I sound a bit contradictory reading back my previous postsā¦but last couple of days Ive figured out the breakfast thing. but itās taken three months of frustration and hard slog to get it rightā¦guests want the āB&B experienceā and nice breakfast but they get what I serve nowā¦no special requests any more. Iāve set my dining room up more like a restaurant with two dining tables and a sideboard to put cereals etc on as self serve. Kitchen is totally out of bounds!
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Good for you that you figured it out. I guess we all figure out eventually. When I just started, my friend who has been doing it for a long time warned me about breakfast. She said, itās extra that I donāt need . Her thoughts were that for the price there is noway we should offer breakfast. And after only first week I cancelled it.
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Yanaā¦Iām DREADING writing this next post as I was sure Iād figured the breakfast thing out. As I sat here writing my last post I had two guests in chomping their way through breakfastā¦well, so I thought. They arrived yesterday about 6.30pm to attend a wedding reception so went out for the night shortly after checking in AND one asking specifically for a cooked breakfast and the other would just have what would be out ( cereals, yoghurt a, fruit etc) After they left this morning I went to clear the breakfast table. To my horror the cooked breakfast had not been touched apart from some cooked tomatoes that were on the plate. Two (small) sausages, one rasher of bacon, one fried egg and cooked buttered mushroomsā¦and a slice of buttered toast on the sideā¦ALL left!!! And itās not that Iām a bad cook, in fact the contrary even if I say so myself and love cooking, otherwise I wouldnāt be doing cooked anything! After writing my last post here I could have cried. Then I tried to console myself, they did look a little rough I thought and the one who didnāt eat was very quiet in fact never spoke at all leaving her partner to chat. Could they have been hungover I asked myselfā¦could they have had a lovers tiff? As I slammed the dishes into the dishwasher muttering and scraping the remains into the dogās bowl I suddenly thoughtā¦sod this for a joke!!..that does it, no more bloody cooked breakfasts againā¦EVER!!
Again Iām left bewildered. So back to the original questionā¦āBreakfast, do you serve it or notā
Oh and Yanaā¦your friend is absolutely right!!!
Three simple words: breakfast not included. Will save you so many headaches.
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Could be Hangover:).
You have quite a bit of guests asking you for cooked breakfast, itās strange.
I would never even dream of asking my host to cook for me if I was not offered. In my culture is such a bad manner to do it.
I have an idea, Alba, why donāt you charge them for it. If they want cooked its 5$. And we will see how many still want it.
Then you will feel better about it, and make some extra money.
Or put: breakfast is available for additional 10$ . Otherwise no breakfast at all.
Are there restaurants in the area that guests can go to for breakfast?
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Thanks for the tips Yana. More and more people on here are saying scrap the breakfasts! I was out walking my dogs afterwards thinking about exactly what you have said. A very good friend of mine is doing Airbnb closeby and we meet weekly for coffee to discuss things, she has āproblemā guests too but sheās very strict and her layout is quite different from mine and her guests can see from the start they are coming into her home rather than a B&B lookalike (she rents only one en suite spare room) She offers a simple cold breakfast in her dining room, each guest gets a croissant, brioche roll, small individual fruit salad, orange juice and tea or coffee, and thatās it and she doesnāt sway if asked for anything else, just says sorry I donāt have it. She charges Ā£55 per room per night, same as I do but weāre upping our prices for next year (with our cartel!) My house however (large old Victorian) is like a proper B&B from the minute you walk in. I have a large reception hall with tourist brochures etc on a table and the dining room is set out like a small restaurant, there are stunning mountain views from the window where they sit and I really want to continue using that room otherwise itās dead space as I live alone here and would never use it as I have my own space on same floor. I like it this way and the house is perfect for taking guests, their rooms and bathroom are all on the top floor private from the rest of the house. I have more guests (4) who arrived an hour ago so I will stick to cold self serve breakfast with them, NO swaying if asked for more choice ( so far they havenāt!) I have thought about what you suggest, charging extra for breakfast but here that really wouldnāt work, and I donāt like the faffing about with cash and changeā¦or them perhaps saying they have no cash and need to go to the bank then disappearing etc. Or worse, arguing the breakfast wasnāt worth Ā£5 per head (8 bucks) and trying to get out of paying. Perhaps I could try putting a couple of croissants/ pastries in their rooms ( they already have kettle, coffee etc) so they can do their own and offering evening meals instead, as I love cookingā¦thereās profit in that and I have done that for 2 Italians once who didnāt want to go out in the rain! I charged them Ā£20 (about $35) but know I could charge more, theyād pay at least Ā£40 if they went out to eat. There are plenty eating places close by and guests normally go out for dinner but many have arrived late on, tired and not really wanting to change and go out in bad weather to search for a pub or restaurant. This is all another entity thoughā¦I just want to make more profit with all this malarkey, itās been a lot of stressful work and I feel Airbnb push us to lower prices all the time to undercut other hosts. Time we all set realistic prices and stick to them!
Alba, that is ridiculous. Donāt do breakfast at all. However, if I were visiting Scotland Iād love to try the traditional fare!
I know koacocontz, so many are saying donāt do breakfast at all but it depends what your offering. Iām offering tourists ( and they are all mostly tourists) an experience in my country. Iām not doing just lodgings or back packer deals or student digs. Iām offering a lovely house and rooms, pretty much 4 star ( had reviews saying 5 star accommodation which Iām thrilled about) and I like to take care of my guestsā¦thatās what Iām good at and thatās what I enjoy. Iām upping my prices definitely for next spring and summer now I know I get back to back bookings in high season, that much Iāve found out. I just need to stick to what I originally offer for breakfast and stop ābendingā for specific guests, Iāve been too concerned about pleasing people but have the reviews now which have been fantastic and all my guests have been the nicest people ( average age 40-70) but Iāve slogged to get them! Iām on a couple of other sites and as they charge a higher commission so Iāve charged more and still had a few bookings through them so now Iāve tested the market I think Iām in a position to charge more than my competitorsā¦because I go that extra mile, and it seems thatās what my guests in particular want. I can almost hear you now sayingā¦āwell stop moaning about themā! This forum has been very helpful and interesting and made me realise Im not aloneā¦some of the stories have been horrendous so I should count my blessings!