It’s true!! Just offer a traditional Scottish breakfast and people will be thrilled. Maybe with a vegetarian option, but don’t kill yourself over trying to please them all. Say this is what it is. (You are not a short order cook!) If they don’t like it then so be it.
Haha…vegetarian haggis? Never understood that, it’s meat or nothing. We go out in the hills at dawn in our kilts and shoot the wee bastards just to serve for our guests, there’s no veggie option here!
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Hey!!! Haha! Say it just like that to them… !! I love it!
If they want vegetarian, let them go to Malibu or Marin County!
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I would not like to hear that😃but then I would never ask for special treatment.
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it’s meat or nothing. We go out in the hills at dawn in our kilts and shoot the wee bastards just to serve for our guests, there’s no veggie option here!
I love the way it’s stated there. Don’t hold back. Plus it gives guests a taste of the real Scotland!
alba - I know what you mean - I loved serving my guests breakfast. I always looked for little things to surprise them - a nice bowl of dried cherries, walnuts, maybe pickles (I experimented). It couldn’t have cost me a lot and it delighted me to do it, and they loved it too - this was in additional to eggs, sausage, green beans - fried onions, maybe - I wanted them stuffed when they headed out for sightseeing because I always hate staying somewhere that includes ‘breakfast’ and it’s a lousy frozen scone from the toaster, and I’m starved by the time we get anywhere.
Here my health code won’t allow me to continue what I’ve done so I’ll have to come up with other ideas - but I also have school aged kids (and I educated them at home) so won’t have the luxury of the time I had this past summer.
I just want to say - I think I understand - serving the breakfast is in your heart - you gotta be the B&B you are!!
BUT!! WOOHOOO I can never ever imagine approaching a host who has served me a fine array of cold things and ask them to cook me eggs and sausage - that is over the line and then some!!
SO figure out what is right for you, then stand firm, and advertise accordingly.
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Well dcmooney, 4 guests just left this morning, couldn’t have been nicer (Scots, the tourists have all gone home now!) and I put out an array of cold things for them to help themselves, toast the bread when they wanted it and pour the coffee. They want to come back as have family here they visit frequently and there’s always too many of them. We’ll do it off Airbnb of course (probably not in their T’s & C’s) and I’ve done this before with returning guests. Guest happy, host happy and win win situation.
But this is how I’m doing breakfast form now on…if anyone asks for a full cooked after what I put out already I’ll slap them with a haggis!
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I have a double ensuite room. My guests rave about my breakfasts and I don’t even cook for them! I do set a nice table with candles and flowers. I serve them. They get fresh fruit salad with yoghurt, toast, juice, tea and coffee. It’s my time and opportunity to get to know them and connect. They love it and so do I.
I also leave chocolates on their bed for when they arrive. These touches cost nothing but make your guests feel special.
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My first Airbnbers arrive this weekend and feeling a bit of the pressure. There’s some great breakfast options here, some of which I will take to heart. I like the idea of a nice setting and having fresh muffins. Whether I’ll make this much effort in the next while we’ll see! Thanks for all your ideas!
Dcmooney if it gives you joy I’d say go right ahead and do it!
I think you were made for this - really!
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Hi Glad,
Care to expand on the fresh fruit salad, yogurt - what type?, toast - served with what? Is it an assortment of breads, jellies, butters, etc.? What type of bread? Teas and coffees - an assortment? I am just an information junkie that absorbs info - not questioning but love to learn all the different ways we do business.
Aquatic - that is so helpful. When we started it was on a whim and I had no idea that we’d be booked all summer. I really do feel like I was made for this - so odd, right? I’m 53, a mother of 3 kids, one who has some little special issues, I home school full time, teach a class 1x a week, and work part time. Like I needed another hobby? LOL! Bookings are way down right now, I think because of the season (and I’m booked with a long-term guest until the end of October) so we’ll see how it goes once spring break/cherry blossom season hits. I’m thinking of restructuring our school year so we’ll do school in the summer when we’re home changing sheets and giving directions to the metro, and take off during the off-season, which, sadly, has the most fantastic weather here in the mid-Atlantic!!
Hi Cabinhost Infojunkie!
Fresh fruit salad - whatever is local and in season, usually a mix of at least 3 (different colours) so bananas, rock melon and strawberries. Chopped up and placed in a bowl with maybe some sultanas, nuts, flaked coconut, flaxseeds, raw honey on top - whatever I happen to have. Greek natural yogurt, non sweetened, put a few dollops in a small bowl so they can serve themselves. I usually have a couple of different types of breads in the freezer - sourdough rye and sourdough white for example which I toast for them when they’ve finished fruit (all the time we’re nattering). Real butter in a small dish with a couple of different types of jams and spreads. They can choose real or instant coffee (they usually choose the former) and I have two jars of assorted tea bags - one herb and the other black so they can choose their own. Juice - fresh pre bought when possible. Voila! I also make my own Bircher museli and always have that in cupboard so offer them that at times too. Hope that helps.
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Thanks so much for sharing! I love to hear what hosts offer. I sometimes hear they offer bread and cereal but then I wonder what type of milk…esp. if host doesn’t drink milk. Some guests won’t touch anything so very interesting to see what guests will eat and hopefully hosts will eat the remainder without throwing away. Your spread sounds wonderful!
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Cabin, do you serve breakfast, even though you have a self contained cabin?
By the way, did you see this article in the New York Times about Cabins?
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Long story. My partner was thinking of ziplining a breakfast through the trees from his house to the cabin. That thought has kind of been lost for a long time. But he can also turn his place into an airbnb efficiency above the garage and also serve breakfast. I sometimes leave an apple cake (more like a loaf) from the grocery store - it all depends on number of guests, etc. but hate to leave anything guests would trash. I once in a while leave muffins, etc. - totally depends on so many things but I absolutely do not advertise breakfast. I desire two couples splitting the cost so the little touches that may move them is my end goal. These are the ones with the disposal income before babies start coming.
Since I listed on booking.com, vrbo, flipkey, etc. at one point it just became easier to leave the same things - booking.com i used to leave a stick of butter - no more - but all i do leave coffee packets, herbal teas, and creamer
Thank you so much for the article about little cabins. This means a lot to me right now - personal reasons but means so much
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I buy slightly undercooked croissants from our local bakery (8 for $3.50), and warm them in the oven for ten minutes straight from the freezer. We have anywhere from 24-36 in the freezer at a time :). These get served in a bowl wrapped in an antique French linen tea towel with turkey red hand embroidered initials for a nice bright morning look, with different French jams I put in tiny canning jars with a little spoon to serve. A large bowl of fresh local (if possible) fruit is in the center of the table, huge coffee percolator and dispenser on a side table with a pitcher of OJ, teas, little tea pots, vintage and antique cups and saucers (about half as many as I begun with). Everyone seems happy with this light start to the day (I don’t advertise as having breakfast), and they can still get out and have room to enjoy some of our great local cafes or just fill up on croissants and jam and fruit with coffee! It is very cost effective, and looks fancy enough to suit our large formal dining area with huge round table, massive crystal chandeliers, fireplaces, large bay windows oak paneling Etc.
In fact we even found an awesome way to get our coffee costs down to reasonable limits. To begin with we were using our own favorite brands such as locally roasted coffees and Peets, but one day to my surprise and horror my husband came home with this incredibly cheap coffee from the corner store as we had run out last minute: cafe bustillo. It is around $3-4 a large can. I was waiting to be disgusted. While it is a long shot from our favorites, that weekend, we had a very particular older lady staying from Maine, a doctor’s wife who was showing her horses in a large local show. She couldn’t stop raving about this cheap coffee! We were beyond astounded. From then on, we have mixed our favorite brands with Bustillo half and half so that instead of paying $8 a pound, we are bringing the cost down considerably. And it tastes pretty darn good. We have an awesome old percolator I found at a thrift store for $2 that makes awesome coffee. It can make around 40 cups, but is just as good making 10-12. and believe me, our guests drink a lot of coffee, so it’s been a great thing to have. We have it on a timer so that it comes on early and fills the home with delicious coffee smell.
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Sandy,
Isn’t that great when you find a deal on something that is good? I was laughing at your story. I usually buy Cafe Bustelo if it is the cheapest in the store in the big canister. I am not sure how that began, but I think years ago I may have been looking for something to use an espresso maker or something.
But I know nothing about coffee. I don’t know if I would even be able to tell what a good cup of coffee tastes like. I drink it black and solely for effect. It would be fun to do a blind taste one day and see if Cafe Bustelo comes out on top…ha!
I forgot - I used have a bowl full of instant oatmeal, and instant cheese grits. These were really cheap at the discount grocery store. I read a couple of reviews where guests complained because there was no breakfast. So I just set the bowl out near the coffee maker so no one could knock me in a review when I don’t even offer breakfast. Guess what? The bowl is still there (but now hidden in a cabinet) and I tell them to help themselves to everything in kitchen (as there is no personal use of the home).
Lol. Yes, it is funny Cabinhost. I can’t tell you how surprised we were. The weirdest thing was that we had advertised as selling Peets coffee on our listing, so the guest kept asking ‘is this Peets?’ My husband says ‘well uh, no, it’s’ Italian coffee I buy from a specialty grocery store’ - all entirely true, just a bit misleading! She was obsessed with it, and actually went out to the store! Thankfully they did have a great coffee section also where we buy other kinds of coffee to mix with. But this week it was pure Bustelo, and she thought it was the best coffee she had ever tasted. She kept saying how it wasn’t acidic and just lovely. Lol. I’m not such a fan of it as I like a bit more depth of flavor. It’s a bit thin for me.
Yep, so long as there’s something there right? People feel like they’ve gotten something for free. They love that!
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Cabin! Zip lining breakfast through the trees? Lol
That was funny!
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