We used to offer a continental breakfast in the farm suite’s fridge but many of our guests did not take it and I had to throw it out. (Thank goodness we have pigs - they love muffins) Now we offer a breakfast bag that the guest has to order before their arrival and it is in the suite when they arrive. The bag contains, yogurt, fruit, granola, quiche or hard boiled egg and muffin or pastry, juice and milk. There is a coffee and tea station in the suite for all guests. The bag is $12 per guests. Most of our guests order it.
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First you said they were taking 1 muffin and then you said they were talking a whole bag, which is it.
If my host set out a table with a few muffins and I ate one and took one with me and you made a comment I’d give you a $20 bill to save the your from poverty I caused and then a 3 star review.
You either want to be accomodating or you don’t, you sound like the idea of being an accomodating gratious host but it is actually a very difficult situation for you to actually be one.
Raise your price by $5.00 so you can remove this stressful situation you have yourself in.
My issue is not so much one of waste as it is of a guest walking away with the rest of the breakfast food that I might need for another guest. I do like the idea of offering food that can be take away.
As hosts, we all have to find our own overriding principle to sharing our homes with guests. I go for generosity. I lavish guests with continental breakfast treats, ice cream, soft drinks, cookies, salty snacks, fresh fruit, etc. Most guests take very little, but they feel welcomed with this sense of generosity. Rarely does a guest consume a lot. My rates are highly competitive, and I have nothing but over-the-top rave reviews—a solid 5 stars by hundreds of guests—and that drives traffic. I’m almost fully booked for the coming six months.
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My market does not allow me to charge the kind of money I’d have to charge to be able to lavish lots of foods on my guests. I provide a lovely breakfast that they all seem to really enjoy and appreciate. I consistently get all five ratings and I’m a super host as a result of my reviews. The question was really a simple one. What do I do if a guest wants to go off with the rest of what I intend to provide for other guests. Guests know they can bring food and store it in my fridge and can cook in my kitchen. But for a very good price for the room, I don’t think it’s right to expect to get a lunch out of the deal. That’s all.
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There’s a Spanish saying, roughly translates to “you give a hand and they grab your elbow.” Basically, that’s what some of your guests are doing by asking for seconds for lunch.
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At my price point, I wouldn’t be able to lavish food on guests either. Nor am I an early riser, a breakfast person, or someone who enjoys cooking. So I will never offer breakfast.
I do offer good quality, fresh ground coffee and a selection of teas, guests are welcome to use my oil and spices when cooking, and I always ask guests when they arrive, especially if they have come off a long flight, if they are hungry and if so, I make them a snack.
I will often offer them a glass of wine or a cocktail in the evening if they are the sociable types.
And I have found my guests to also be generous. If we share a bottle of my wine one evening, they’ll show up with a bottle the next night.
One thing I do that guests have really appreciated, although I don’t mention it in my listing, is offer to pick them up at the bus station, as that is how the majority of my guests arrive. They fly to
the airport an hour from here, then take the bus.
The bus station is only a 5 minute drive from my house, and it saves guests a 20 minute walk down dusty dirt roads that rolly suitcases don’t roll on, or a cab fare. And it saves me stressing about whether the guest will find my hard to find house.
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That’s great. Do you know it in the original Spanish? I’d love to see it. I should add that I often offer extras based on whether I have any more guests coming for that weekend or if I feel I couldn’t possibly finish the food myself before it goes bad. But it feels weird when someone wants to take a lot away.
In Spanish it’s “das la mano y te agarran el codo.”
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The English equivalent would be “Give them and inch, they take a yard.” But the Spanish is more personal.
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Your generosity sounds wonderful!
Given that you say your guests take very little, how do you avoid waste?
The advertising genius David Olgilvy said, “The most powerful word in advertising is ‘free.’” That drives my Airbnb marketing strategy for my hosted listing: “Free breakfast. Free snacks. Free washer/dryer.” My writeup: “I offer a complimentary make-your-own breakfast: coffee, tea, a selection of cereals, yogurt, excellent bakery bread, butter, jam, peanut butter. Free ice cream, sweet and salty snacks, cookies, soft drinks.”
You ask how do I avoid waste? Primarily by offering food that I enjoy myself. Cereal lasts weeks after the box is open. Purchase yogurt with a two- to-three week “use by” date. I buy one or two whole loaves of the best bakery bread in town, slice it, label it “Walnut Cranberry loaf,” store it in the freezer, then tell guests to put it in the toaster and press the defrost button. Ice cream keeps forever. Butter, jam, peanut butter, cookies, popcorn, and soft drinks—these are all things I love to eat myself. About half my guests have breakfast (cereal or toast),and maybe a couple of cookies and cans of soft drink a day. Almost none touch the ice cream, popcorn, or Dorito chips.
Keep in mind that I’m in the hippest neighborhood of San Francisco. Travelers want to explore the hundreds of restaurants within walking distance, and my guests are out of the house most of the day. My “free” strategy is certainly not right for most hosts. But I encourage other hosts to consider how you might welcome guests in a spirit of generosity. It’s a very pleasant way to live. And at least in my experience, people don’t take advantage of that.
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I like what you’re saying and doing.
I was thinking of getting jams and peanut butter but I was concerned guests might be reluctant to use an open bottle of jars where for all they know a previous guest ate it from a spoon. Same concern for ice cream cartons, where the risk of ‘double dipping’ is greater. I’m supposing that has not been a problem for you. I wonder what others here think because I’m happy to supply those kinds of things.
I like your idea of freezing the bread.
I’m going to consider doing this!
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My booking sounds exactly like yours except for the free treats. Thank you for your advice on how I can be a better house and live better.
I get giant containers of jam from Costco. I spoon a bit of it into pretty dishes. That way there is no concern for contamination. I only use Vermont products when possible. Guests love that.
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Providing open containers of food would be perceived quite differently in a entiire home listing than in a home share. In an entire home, indeed there is no way of knowing if the previous guests licked off the jam knife and stuck it back in the jar.
Just as an entire home guest would not expect to find a half full kitchen garbage can on arrival, they would likely find half-eaten food to be a turn-off. Whereas in a homeshare, the kitchen garbage can might naturally be half full.
It’s totally different for a homeshare host to say help yourself to the butter, jam, peanut butter in the host’s fridge, than for entire place guests to find half-eaten food in the fridge, which just looks like a thorough cleaning wasn’t done.
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I assume people use a spoon or knife to get peanut butter and jam out of the jar to put it on their toast. Double-dipping never occurred to me (not that I’m necessarily right). My guests don’t seem to mind, or at least no one has ever said anything. Once a carton of ice cream has been opened, I move it to the back part of the freezer where other guests won’t see it. I guess I’m not too picky because I always end up eating the ice cream myself. I usually keep three pints of high quality ice cream in the freeze. Usually months go by before a guest opens a carton.
Is this a home share listing? Or an entire place listing?
I agree that this is entirely appropriate in a home share.
I have not provided preserves or peanut butter or such in my entire home listing for the reasons you cited. [I suppose I could find very small single-serving preserves but I wonder if these are of high quality – I’m guessing I couldn’t get Vermont preserves in single-serve jars.
I have just started providing squeeze bottles of ketchup and mustard, thinking that these are not easily contaminated.
I provide shelf-stable individually wrapped snacks.
I could imagine providing small individually packaged yogurts and even frozen bread in two-slice packages. So I think there’s some room for an entire listing to provide snacks. But I’d be reluctant to offer ‘free breakfast’ unless I could provide a complete spread.
What do you think about cereal? I suppose I could find individually packaged one-serving packages. What about full boxes in an entire-place listing?
I’m the one who wrote the original email. Mine is a home share.