Breakfast for Lunch

I offer a small continental breakfast to my guests since we are way out in the country and I know they’re going to be hungry when we first get up. It consists of coffee and fruit and English muffins or some other bread type thing. Every once in a while I get guests who eat the breakfast and then ask if they can grab some more fruit and a muffin and fill their thermos as they head out for the day. In other words, I’m providing lunch as well as breakfast. I’m not working on a large enough profit margin that I can easily do this. Does anyone have any diplomatic way I can handle this?

Raise your price a £ or two per night to cover the cost. Also remember that (surely) some guests don’t take any breakfast.

Let it go because the worry it costs you isn’t worth it. Enjoy the fact that they like your offering enough to ask for more. Be glad you’ve survived the pandemic and stayed in business.

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I agree with KKC. If you say “no” they will not be pleased and will write you an awful review. Either charge more, like suggested by KKC, or offer yucky muffins so they don’t want seconds LOL

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Now there’s an idea I never thought of.:rofl:

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I agree that these folks average out with those who never eat anything. In my case it is a blessing when they take a little extra because I tend to eat the leftovers!

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I’m not particularly upset by this. I just wanted to have some kind of diplomatic way of dealing with it in case it was ever a big issue. I did once have a guest ask to take the remainder of a bag of pastries that I needed for other guests and for the next day. I thought that was a bit cheeky.

Maybe that’s the trick. Don’t let them see all the goodies. Just put out a few items and hide the rest. If they see a basket of 12 muffins and and a bowl of fruit, they think you have extras.

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I like that idea. A friend had suggested that I could just offer to pack up one or two instead of handing over the whole box or bag or whatever it is.

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You can just set a place setting for them with a glass of juice, a muffin and fruit or yogurt. It’s a shame that they’re taking extras and it might be going to waste. A muffin in a backpack surely will be crushed and they might decide to toss it.

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I think it is ok to respond with " I could pack up a few extra items for you to take along but I do charge a fee for that.

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I do try to put a reasonable amount of food on the table. I guess to ask for the whole bag of pastries just saw it on the counter. That’s why I really like the idea of “hiding” it.

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It could also be an optional for a fee add-on for hosts who live in areas where guests might commonly go for day hikes or to the beach. Especially if a homeshare host doesn’t offer full kitchen use. A picnic lunch, filled with all sorts of yummy stuff, (you could have a list of options they could choose from, for instance, depending on whether they were meat eaters or veggies).

I could see a lot of guests appreciating an offering like that.

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I like the idea except that if they don’t want it, then I have a lot of food left over. I only rent out two bedrooms and it’s not an every day kind of thing. But I will keep that in mind. I might be able to have non-perishables like Vermont juices and energy bars and foods I’ll eat if nobody wants them.

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It could be something the guests would have to let you know at least a few days before they arrive and pay for through the resolution center ahead of time. That way you wouldn’t have to be buying food that might go to waste, which I agree is not a good thing.

One thing guests seem to like is food items which are unique to the area, or made locally. When I go to Canada in the summer, one of the grocery items I enjoy is a really delicious red pepper veggie pate they make on one of the local islands. It’s something I can’t get anywhere else. And when some friends of mine came to visit me in Mexico, they were so enamoured of the canned olives stuffed with salmon that you can buy in any big grocery store here, they bought three cans to bring home with them.

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Yes, I only serve Vermont coffee beans and Vermont donuts and milk products. But I love your idea of having lunch orders ahead of time to save on waste.

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I like the idea, too, of a picnic lunch. Also the idea of putting out one muffin, one piece of fruit, one yogurt and brewing two cups of coffee per person. So there’s little left over and they’re tempted by the lunch, which I’d offer ahead of time so you can plan and avoid waste.

OR whatever, from that specific offering, they don’t eat at breakfast they’re either free to take or you can say 'Oh my! I usually bring any leftovers to the children at the orphanage. Oh well, they’re used to rejection."

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BTW, everyone should check their local food regulations before they get all excited about upselling their sack lunches.

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I’m reluctant to limit coffee or anything else while they’re at the table. But I’m more than happy to drop a guilt trip. What a great idea!:wink::joy:

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Liquor laws, too. It might be really nice to include a bottle of champagne in a picnic basket for a honeymooning or anniversary couple, or a couple of local craft beers, but if one is upselling the service, that would constitute selling liquor without a license. Which is different from gifting a guest with a bottle of booze.

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I don’t know that there are Dickensian orphanages in the U.S. any more, so I think it is a kind of joke.

On limiting the food while they’re at the table, my concern would be the waste potential in having a surplus of food both in quantity and type.

With some people on a keto diet, others gluten-free or dairy free, many concerned about the evils of fructose, some vegan, I wouldn’t know what to provide.

There’s another thread somewhere here where someone says you can provide some kind of Google document that would have options that the guests could select. I like that in theory because they get what they really want and hopefully there is less waste. But whether guests would use that and whether that would complicate or simplify your hosting is another question.

Here, it’s simple as people can just go to a nearby grocery store. To save them from that chore I offer (no charge) to take in groceries they order from a service like Instacart. I understand that Instacart might not be an available option where you’re located.

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