How do you provide bagels and breads for breakfast?

Very few international guests, maybe 10%. When I have eggs and guests here at the same time I will hard boil a few. Very few people eat them, in fact I’d say only about half have anything at all. The butter and cream cheese is whatever is open. Again, I’m going for “staying with a friend/relative”, not a “staying at a hotel” vibe. Also, I don’t advertise it as an amenity. No one better DARE criticize my generosity. And at under $40 for a private ensuite room, they don’t.

1 Like

A lot of what I do is based on price and clientele. If I had a cabin that provided breakfast I’d just raise my price to cover the cost on average, provide something that I wouldn’t embarrass myself with and be done with it. I board dogs here so people probably aren’t too cleanliness obssessed. Although their room is spotless, the common areas might have dog hair floating around. If someone is going to be turned off by an opened package of bagels or carton of milk this is not the place for them.

1 Like

Totally agree! I suspect the efficiency is going to draw a different clientele than the cabin. I just had an anniversary couple leave the cabin today. It is an upper scale cabin and when I see what my guests leave behind…often it is organic this and that - stuff I can’t afford. I was surprised this couple actually opened two packets of my Sam’s club coffee…ha! But they didn’t use the mini moo creamers :slight_smile: - Maybe the dreadly hydrogenated coffee mate was good enough :slight_smile:

Even when I used to leave a container of pre - packaged fruit/granola bars just as a gesture thing in the coffee station - many wouldn’t touch it. But do you know what 98% always take - no matter if they consume themselves or not? - It’s the box candy for the movie theater room. I leave a $1 box of movie size candy (you can get at Walmart and some Dollar tree stores) for each guest and that is one thing they all mostly take. So I know they really enjoy that as the ambience, or use them as stocking stuffers to give away to their friends. It’s so interesting to see patterns in consumer behavior.

The cabin sleeps a max of six - so no way I will provide breakfast items, as many may be offended in it taking up the fridge. Once in a while I will provide some store bought muffins, or if holiday season a loaf of Sam’s Club awesome “Oregon Trail” cinnamon raisin bread. But I stopped with even the muffin stuff for now. I don’t offer that stuff if it is justs couples. But families of 6 - usually one person will eat the bad for you food.

The efficiency will only sleep two people, and I will not enter it until they leave. So I only plan to provide “processed” foods. No belgium waffle maker here to make gluten free waffles…hello “Eggo” in the freezer.

That discount grocery I have access to is a gold mine. So they even sometimes provide frozen organic Amy’s brand burritos and such at a discount. So yes, I def. will not be catering to the organic clientele that comes to the cabin, if they happen to get organic things that were on discount,…then lucky them.

But I will jack up my rate to cover the cost of food. But more than cover the cost since people will assume I am paying regular price, and I’m not. And I think it will also depend on presentation.

1 Like

@cabinhost - for the bread I just use a modern, square, airtight container (Tupperware style) which holds a maximum 6 slices of thinly sliced bread, it fits the bread perfectly so looks like it’s designed for the purpose. Milk - I have been supplying semi-skimmed (so not full fat and not ‘skinny’ 99% fat free milk) but when I see that guests buy their own, extra milk, it’s usually full fat so I’m switching over to that. I’m in New Zealand and we are known for our dairy produce so I’m figuring…the creamier, the better!

1 Like

Cabin,

My studio might be the equivalent of your efficiency except they will have a full kitchen, as well as a full BBQ outdoors. So I provide just about every cooking item under the sun. Many of these items weren’t new originally but we’re cooking items I put into retirement. While I do supply cookware, I don’t offer perishable supplies. No breakfast items, nothing. That’s on them. Often there are leftover condiments, but not much. The only thing I do offer is coffee but I don’t promise it just in case I run out before a guest arrival. No one has ever complained about no breakfast. Well one of my bad guests did but he complained about every other thing he could think of in a review.

1 Like

@Yana_Agapova

When did this happen?!

When we were a “proper” B&B we provided breakfast with all the trimmings and that was the most work of the whole business, so I am delighted that with our garden apartment with kitchen I don’t have to do that any more, although I do provide it optionally (and paid!) for the upstairs suite, which gets fewer bookings.

I do provide a “breakfast basket” for people’s first morning though (bear in mind that our minimum stay is 3 nights and most of our guests are here for a week or more). I’m afraid I was a bit amused by the idea of “bread in sealed packages” - we leave a bag that says “pan” (bread - Spanish) hanging on the gate and the local baker comes round with our fresh bread order early in the morning and fills it! I don’t like the prepackaged butters and jams, so I put a large pat of butter in a small plastic tub. I have lots of homemade jams and marmalade as jam-making seems to have become a competitive sport among my retired expat friends (especially the men) so decant these into some pretty mini Kilner jars (I think they’re called bail jars in the US) Apart from this, Spanish cured ham and cheese, Greek yoghurt (individual tubs) and a kind of chopped fruit salad of whatever is in season. I decant cornflakes and muesli into the see-through Ikea plastic containers - I think the individual packs of cereals aren’t cost-effective and there are always boxes of coco-pops left over that the grandchildren have to eat … oh, and farm eggs which I get from a friend with chickens with whom I swap them for my handmade soap. This is also the land of cheap citrus fruit, so we leave a bag of juicing oranges and a juicer.

This may all seem a bit excessive, but we often have guests arriving on late flights and we’re not very close to shops, so they really appreciate it. Also we are definitely a vacation area with people usually staying a week or more and we charge comparatively high prices (!) so it doesn’t work out too expensive overall.

2 Likes

@cabinhost - I’m longing to know what an Efficiency is!

Kona,

Oh…I don’t think any guests would be unhappy if I didn’t provide it. I only want to try it out because of the deals I can get at the discount grocery outlet. If guests don’t use really use any of the items and just go out to eat then I’ll just not offer at all. But if guests are saving $20 from dining out instead (by the time they tip the server) at the local restaurants here, and can fill up before hiking then they might see a tremendous value…and they think I spent all this money at the grocery, but really I didn’t. If I didn’t have access to that store, I doubt I would even consider it. That’s the only reason I can provide breakfast meats, etc.

But if they don’t see a value I’ll not bother with it.

Malaga,

I miss being able to stop at the corner store and get fresh bread in Spain. I guess you would find the sealed bread dilemma amusing…ha!

I stayed in Leon, and I loved the cheap wine and cheeses. I never did get a chance to make a spanish tortilla while I was there. I guess youtube will have to teach me!

1 Like

Efficiency is similar to a studio apartment - don’t even know what the difference is. But basically it is one large room with a small kitchen, living area, and bedroom. The bathroom is a separate room. Kind of like a huge hotel room.

1 Like

I provide the following:

English muffins (.85) What ever they don’t use I take back for our breakfast.
1 stick of butter sealed in it’s wrapping. Again of the guests touch it I use it for us and replace .55
Coffee is in it’s container that I fill up from my almost used coffee 4.00 a pint By refilling it about 1.00 cost.
tea individual packs sugar packs and the only jar like item is Jam that I get for 1.25 and only replace when almost 3/4 gone.
Also a clear bag with individual instant oatmeal packets (when I am down to two in a box I leave these for my guests about I figure .65 per packets.
and the mini moo moos about .30 per each.

and bottled water at 1.25 total for 6.

So roughly about 5- 6 dollars total and that is if it is eaten. My guests love that I provide a starter breakfast even though I don’t mention it in the listing .A lot of the time my guests leave granola bars, unopened bags of chips even wine and beer so the next guests get that treat.

I get all of my items at Aldi’s or the discount bread store so the extra 6 dollars is for now factored into my rate but because of the great reviews I have been able to raise my rates.

2 Likes

People posting about water reminds me of a story. I have a hot/cold dispenser that holds the filtered 5 gallon bottles. I re-fill them myself for .25 a gallon. I point it out to guests and welcome them to “refill their bottles” before they check out. One couple really took it to heart and brought their ice chest from the car that must have had 2 or 3 dozen bottles in it!

At first I thought “what the hell do you think you’re doing” but after they were done I realized they had used less than a dollar of water and kept a bunch of plastic out of the landfill. Another fellow asked if he could fill his two 1 gallon jugs. But most people don’t even use it at all they drink from the tap, or the Brita pitcher.

1 Like