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How many of you hosts provide guests with SNACKS and coffee during their stay ???. Have a keurig with coffee and tea , hot chocolate and instant oatmeal,and on the kitchen table i proved a bowl filled with miscellaneous snacks.
Do your guests appreciate it ?? And how do you inform them that they are available for their consumption
PS I don’t provide breakfast and don’t put it on my listing…this is just a Bonus i provide for my guests …because I would appreciate it as a guest
coffee and tea always yes, but snacks only as a gift to longer term guests who paid full rate.
Yes, snacks. Cheap and some guests seem to like it.
I provide coffee, tea, and snacks. I made colorful little signs that say “For Guest Use” and place them near the items. I also mark the shelves in the fridge that have milk, half and half and juice for guest use. I show them these during check-in.
Café and decaf coffee and teas of several kinds. half & half and powdered creamer. A small candy dish with a handful of wrapped hard candies and a couple wrapped chocolates. Two bottles of water and a bottle of “Three Buck Chuck” inexpensive wine.
Like KenH, we have a dish of wrapped candies out (more sanitary) along with a bowl fresh fruit (also looks nice), bottled water in their rooms (mini-fridge in each room) and we also serve a full hot breakfast every morning. I know many don’t do this but I work from home anyway and I’m here so why not. There’s nothing like food and a full belly to make folks happy. Even the most difficult guests get much nicer after a good breakfast. Sometimes, we’ll offer guests a glass of wine or beer. Like in most businesses, if people get more than they are expecting, they are much happier. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but it’s bnb,a bed and breakfast. I know that wouldn’t work for most hosts but if you can do it, it pays off.
Won’t serve breakfast, would be illegal in my location. Need a bed and breakfast license and Inspected by health dept.
I serve full prepared breakfasts too. I’m a certified Personal Chef. Where are you Brandt, that you need that sort of licensing and inspection? No in the US, I’ll wager.
Doing the full breakfast thing certainly isn’t for everyone. Lots of people hate to cook, or don’t cook well. But if you have the training and experience, and live where you can do this without a lot of extra hassle/expense, then it certainly can be a good addition to your AirBnb offering.
It costs me very little in materials and time to offer full breakfasts, and it puts me 'way ahead of those who don’t offer the service. There’s a listing a couple blocks from here in the same neighborhood that has trouble getting guests to stay for $40 a night. We get $65 per night in summer and $95 per night during snowbird Season, and have no trouble getting bookings.
AFAIK, with nearly 20 years experience, all 50 states in the US allow Personal Chefs to operate without special licensing or health inspections.
I leave a decorative box on the counter that has organic popcorn for the vegans, two gluten free granola bars, a small bag of cheese-its, a small bag of fudge stripes and a bag of assorted nuts. We just tell them when they arrive there is cold water in the fridge for you and snacks on the counter. Many people do not use them at all but a hand full have stated it was nice to have something to snack on before going shopping straight off a flight or long drive.
I work mornings so we do not provide breakfast but do have a Keurig with an assortment of coffee, teas, cider and hot chocolate.
We leave coffee, an assortment of tea, apple cider packages, hot chocolate for drinks. We also leave a biscotti per person, which can be an elegant snack with your coffee, dessert or just something to put in your tummy in the morning until they can go grocery shopping - great for later arrivals when stores are closed and you just want “a little something”.
As well, we leave enough waffle mix (syrup) and oats (in canisters) for a meal for the group. Few people use the oats, but we regularly refill the waffle mix.
Every listing is different; every host is different; every guest is different. Our listing is a separate-entrance apartment in our home with a small kitchen. Guests can cook meals in the apartment if they wish. We provide both a small Keurig and a larger coffee pot in the apartment. We’ve had 2-week & 1-month guests say they really appreciate the larger coffee pot. And the short-term guests just use the Keurig and like it. Our goal as hosts is to provide a comfortable and relaxing stay for guests. When we started hosting 8 months ago, we debated providing just coffee/tea items (K-pods, tea bags, sugar/Splenda, hot chocolate, individual creamers) or both coffee/tea items and snacks. We opted to also provide light breakfast items/snacks. Our policy is to provide most, but not all, of the following items & we do not re-stock: small packets of cold cereal, milk, instant oatmeal, bagels or bread, cream cheese, butter, jam, yogurt, fruit, pop, bottled water and microwave popcorn, sometimes a few cookies, and always a few Andes mint chocolates. Although this costs us a bit of money up front, it has paid off for us with great reviews (both written and verbal–often mentioning the many light breakfast items/snacks we provide) as well as 3 repeat guests (one guest is coming back for 2 weeks, 3 times this winter & another has booked a 2-week stay next spring). We feel it’s paid off over the long run to provide a generous supply of snacks & light breakfast items in addition to the coffee/tea items. We did have one “impossible-to-please” guest (out of our 26 so far) who demanded we fix him a hot breakfast every day (“well, it is named Air Bed & Breakfast, so that means you need to fix me a hot breakfast every day!”–“well, no, sorry, Mr. Guest, not really, that’s not what’s in our House Manual.”) But all other guests have really appreciated the generous coffee/tea and snack items we provide. It’s really helped convert short-term guests into long-term, repeat guests and will pay off over the long haul.
I’m sure the wine is appreciated, even the two buck chuck (three but last time I was at traders) 
but did you know it invalidates the host guarantee? You can’t give your guests alcohol, then later try to make a claim that they damaged something. I lucked out the one time I did a stoooopid thing, which was to leave vodka in the freezer when the nasty party animals stayed.
We provide all of the above. The snacks are a basket of a couple small bags of chips, nuts, cookies, crackers, and a few instant oatmeal packets too. It looks good on the counter, and it’s a nominal expense–some people eat one or two, many don’t eat any at all, and a few dump the entire contents of the basket into their carry-on. It all works out.
Thanks for the heads up…
I used to provide breakfast and it seemed that people just expected and wanted more. I started to cut down on that and, funnily enough my reviews became all 4 or 5 star from then on. I have some spices and instant coffee and tea in a cupboard that I show to guests, but other than that, toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, body wash, dish soap, they’re responsible for buying their own groceries etc. Not a single person has complained or mentioned it (to me or in a review). There’s a convenience store less than 2 mins away and 3 large grocery stores less than 10 min walk away (and lots and lots of restaurants and cafes). All of this is made clear in my listing.
I simply provide a great, clean, comfortable room in a clean and friendly house located in a great area in a big city. I have a binder full of tips/shops/restaurants/local businesses. I am happy to answer their questions, help plan out routes and make suggestions of things to see and do (this is not to say that I wouldn’t love to stay somewhere where I’d get treats/food provided by the hosts, but honestly I’d rather pay less and buy my own). : 0 )
Host guarantee is garbage, will get denied a claim for an additional 1000 reasons airbnb determines alongside providing alcohol.
Why do you say that? Have you ever tried making a claim? My claims have always been accepted. You have to have proper documentation.
Can you point me to where in the Host Guarantee it states that serving alcohol voids it. I couldn’t find it. Thanks much.
It used to be there! I wonder if they changed it?
I hope they did. I stock beer for my guests. Trader Joe’s house brand costs less than $1.00 per beer and guests really like it.