do i need to provide breakfast

[Jan13]

I am planning a holiday and wanting to stay at Airbnb places.

I am a host myself and this is a new adventure for me, being a guest.

I have just looked at a place however, breakfast is NOT provided. Nothing provided so I cna make my own. 

I thought bnb meant bed and breakfast.

How come a host can be on this site and not provide breakfast? That's the point of staying at a bnb surely.

Interested in Airbnb thoughts. 

[Punam0]

I think its still up to the host to provide breakfast or not. A lot of hosts are working full time as well and rent their rooms on Airbnb for extra money (just the co-founders did). The Co-founders of Airbnb initially used air beds! So to me 'Airbnb' does not mean Bed and Breakfast. I work full time, so there is no way I would have time to cook for guests. I am also not their travel guide.  I only charge about $24USD per night, and no breakfast AND I am a superhost and I get regular bookings.

But this is the uniqueness of Airbnb - hosts can run their house how they want. It should NOT be a requirement to provide breakfast - hot or cold.

[Graham-And-Michelle0]

Indeed it is the strength and the unique feature of Airbnb that hosts provide different experiences at different levels for different prices.

We offer entire home and apartment so are not resident and able to cook a full breakfast.

Although we have been known to provide a delicious Kiwi barbeque when appropriate.

We leave a “Starter” breakfast selection and full instructions on where to find the nearest 

supermarket. 

So far nothing but great comments from grateful guests.

[Mandi-S-Just-Business-Ro0]

Everybody's different, and some of us as Hosts don't have a choice.

If I advertised breakfast as part of my service, I am now accountable to the local municipality for maintaining restaurant standards. This is also true if I provide pre-packaged meals.

If I allow guests to cook, my Airbnb-specific homeowner's insurance would be null and void. I can't allow access to my stove or oven.

What I do is to provide prepackaged meals and snacks on arrival, in the fridge I've provided in their room. I also have a microwave in each room, plus a kettle, liquids heater, coffee pot, rice cooker, etc. 

I can't provide food, but what I CAN do is offer up muffins, a meal, etc. as a gesture of goodwill if I happen to be cooking, which is at least twice a week. That's one of the ways I got a 92% approval rating over 50 trips.

[Jesse101]

As a guest I can offer the following two cents.  Please DONT say “Breakfast Included” if your actions shout that you could care less. The last two homes I stayed in said “Breakfast Included” but in my eyes failed miserably.  The first left a small container of OJ and some granola bars.  The second had a tiny single serving of OJ and when I asked the host about it said “there’s some instant oatmeal in the cupboard, you’re welcome to it.”   Well then DONT SAY YOU INCLUDE BREAKFAST WHEN YOU CLEARLY DO NOT.  Actually I wd have been ok with the oatmeal but it was the Kroger brand and it sucks.  To me, at least show that you tried.  How difficult is it to get at least a medium size oj and milk, a dozen eggs, a couple of yogurts, some nice looking muffins, a small bowl of fruit, and a box of pancake mix?  I can understand not supplying meat because it would go bad quick or even offend some people.  But a continental breakfast isn’t all that hard to put together.  I didn’t mention it in the reviews I left but I didn’t leave 5 stars either.  

[Patricia703]

I agree.  Airbnb means bed and breakfast.  I am a host and do serve them breakfast or a bowl of fruit if they want, but something.

[Sarah977]

@Patricia703   No, Airbnb does not mean bed and breakfast, anymore than the Air part means guests have to sleep on an air mattress. If breakfast were required of hosts, that would be one of the required amenities, and it isn't. The day they require that I provide breakfast for my guests is the day I remove my listing.

[Patricia703]

OK thanks

[Punam0]

@Patricia703 do you provide an Air bed like the name 'Airbnb' suggests?

[Linda848]

I began hosting 6 months ago as a way to supplement social security income for my husband and me.  I began cooking a hot breakfast every morning consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, buttered toast, 2 kinds of jelly and a keurig coffeemaker with assorted coffee pods, flavored creamer, regular creamer and half and half, sugar, and sweeteners and bananas.  We offer 2 private bedrooms and a bed in the loft area in hour home, where there is a large open kitchen/dining area, back deck and front porch with rockers.  We offer a low per night rate for our area  (near the Great Smoky Mountains) to entice people to book with us.  We have found that offering the hot breakfast is expensive and eats into the small profit margin we seek to supplement our income.  I changed our listing to continental breakfast, but have found that we have thrown away muffins, cookies, cakes, bread, poptarts and fruit and cereal because guests seem very disappointed to find that there is no hot breakfast. Both my husband and I are diabetic and cannot eat those things, so it gets tossed away.  My previous reviews all guests seemed to comment on the hot breakfast.  It is hard to not offer it now because they do not read the listing where it says only continental breakfast, they are reading the reviews that say breakfast was great.  I would welcome any advice as to how to transition to not being tied to the kitchen until 11:00am each day as I have hurt my knee and find it hard to stand or get around now.  Also, we are losing money instead of supplementing our monthly income from social security.  

[Matthew285]

@Linda848 I can't imagine it is easy to provide a hot breakfast when you have no idea when people are going to be getting up in the morning.

One suggestion might be to communicate with the guests as they book and ask them what their plans are for breakfast. Tell them you are doing so because you want to make sure your offerings meet their needs. (Perhaps they have dietary restrictions, or don't even plan to eat breakfast with you.) Nobody wants you to waste food (and money).

Really you are using the process of discussing breakfast with them ahead of time so that you can make sure their expectations are in line with what you are able to provide. Customer satisfaction is all about managing and meeting expectations, and that can only happen with good communication.

Perhaps you can set up a system of notes (like the door hangers in hotesl) where they tell you the night before what time they hope to eat, and what they want.

[Patricia703]

I used to offer continental breakfast but now offer nothing as seldom people wanted anything.  I would stick to the small breakfast of toast & coffee or tea, keeping the bread in the freezer until needed.  If anyone comments about reading about the breakfast just explain you were losing $ and throwing most of it away.

[Christine1]

@Patricia703, as you have described, hosts learn from experience and experimentation.

If we discover that our original listing details no longer apply, then its best to edit and update the website asap, to better manage guest expectations.

A regularly updated listing is a more secure and relaxing way to host. It saves a lot of embarassment, and inconvenience for both parties. Good chatting. Thanks for your positive contribution.

Regards, Christine from Wombats. 

[David126]

I have had similar issues, I used to have a small Restaurant and still have people asking if the Restaurant will be open, I have not had it open for 5 years.

I have been on AirBnB for 3 years so they are getting it elsewhere.

What I do apart from making sure my listing is clear is when I conform the booking I say there is nowhere to eat here, where the nearest places are and I am happy to provide 

I may go back to being a Bed and Breakfast, if I do then I will add at least $20 a 2 person room and will need help, also I will have set hours, probably 7am to 9am.

Difficult to do it if you have limited accomodation. I will eventually have 8 rooms so more doable.

I do leave bits and pieces out, cereal, whatever pastries I have got but I do not advertise that I do so.

Certainly where I am you need a license to do a cooked breakfast.

And yes people do not read what they have paid for, or perhaps the booker does and has not told the others.

[Sydney50]

I totally agree! I always expect atleast something offered for breakfast, even just cold cereal. I never leave bad reviews when they do not offer breakfast but I am always bummed out! I wish there was an easy way to search for places that do provide breakfast! That would be the best filter ever!!!

[Mika8]

@Sydney50 .. there is a filter: Breakfast