HELP! THE GUESTS ARE STILL SLEEPING...

[Deborah614]

When guests want to snooze the morning away, I feel this is a really good thing.    They come here to relax and recharge their batteries, and sleeping in is a sign that they are comfy in their beds.   But...  I forgot to ask the guests what time they wanted their breakfast last night.   I did ask the guest to let me know these things in our Airbnb messaging, but I hadn't got a reply. 

Breakfast has been on the table since 7.30am (I thought I'd just get it all ready).    The spicy fruit buns are warm in the oven, the ground coffee ready to go.   

My millennials are still slumbering,  and it's almost 10am, bless them!    They need their beauty sleep.   The work hard and they play hard.   No doubt after the Eminem concert tonight, they'll be staggering home in the wee hours.  

But it does pay to have a TO DO list, of things to talk to your guest about before they retire on the night of arrival.   Now that I have 2 rooms on offer, I'm getting groups of friends, rather than couples, and as a result, the range of preferances is far wider.  

How many hosts offer breakfast included in the room rate, what does it consist of, and do you ask your guests to help themselves or do you set a table and wait on them when they are seated?   

[Susie111]

@Deborah614 

I would love too come and stay with you!

You are such a generous host 🙂

Why don't you just kindly mention that if you want some

homemade breakfast help yourself until (whatever time works for you)

10 am .... maybe.

And then it's up to them 😉

[Deborah614]

I have done that before, with the ladies night last week.  They all came and stood on the other side of the kitchen counter, and consumed coffee, toast, cereal, yogurt, fruit, all very deftly, standing up.   

I think I'll do that in future.   They can help themselves and take it into the dining room.  

B&B I stayed at whilst away on business, (I so despise hotels), sat me down at a beautifully set table and waited on me hand and foot.    I love the homely, personal touch.  

[Lawrene0]

Hi, @Deborah614 . I do offer breakfast when I am home, and it is included in the room rate. It is homemade waffles and fruit, unless they are allergic to some part of that. (I can do vegan, gluten-free, whatever is needed.) If I am not home, I leave a basket with really basic, boring things like instant oatmeal.

If they want breakfast, we settle on a time for that - that works for both of us - when they arrive. Sometimes they don't make it at the time they say, but agreeing the night before really cuts down on them being hours late. 

There are loads of threads about breakfast - some with recipes! - here in the forum. Do a search. I think you will find it interesting. 

Are you willing to share your recipe for spicy fruit buns? 🙂

[Deborah614]

@Lawren0 Waffles!  Yum, you are so good to make waffles from scratch for the room breakfast.   I charge for cooked breakfasts - bacon, tomatoes, omelettes, scrambled eggs, eggs benedict, corn fritters, etc. 

My spicy fruit buns recipe?    Hot Cross Easter Buns from my supermarket bakery section!   

[Ben551]

@Deborah614  @Lawrene0  My wife's Nana had a recipe for spiced breakfast buns.  We adapted it for the bread maker etc.  It's a very lazy, easy recipe if you fancy some baking.

[Deborah614]

Wow, @Ben551   thanks for that recipe.  I don't have a bread maker, and given I'm trying to avoid carbs and baked goods, I don't see one on the horizon any time soon.   I'm happy to run out a batch of scones which I'm good at, and they take no time at all.   Plus I can put cinnamon and fruit in those if I want.     It's all lovely but I've had to be pragmatic -  in my experience, there is no such thing as 'repeat business' with Airbnb guests.   All my guests have been one-timers.   If a guest ever came back, then I'd be baking them special treats.   

Given the "review fatigue" syndrome where guests are finding less time to fill out incrreasingly complex review reports, then what's the point of giving your guest those little extras in the hope that their review will win you more bookings?  

Airbnb's policies are really just commoditising an inventory of a million beds.    "Book, sleep, check out and never look back" is our guest of the future.    I even notice that a lot of the Airbnb lets are contrived to look like mini-me hotel suites - all white on white and standard fittings and fixtures.   The quirkiness is still there, thank goodness.   But the property 2 doors down has been purchased by people to do up and launch as an Airbnb.   It's a business to them.   

I digress.   

Blessings!  

🙂 Debs

[Ben551]

Oh I completely agree @Deborah614 all these things are extra work.

My philosophy is: I will do the extra things that I myself get pleasure out of doing. It’s not all about the guest experience, it’s about mine too. I enjoy baking and I like to alternate, based on whatever market special is happening or whatever thing I dig out of my garden. It makes me happy to do it, so whether my guests benefit is a fortunate coincidence.

I bake fresh bread every day because my wife enjoys it. I make her breakfast in bed everyday, have done for 10 years. If I make spiced buns (like her Nana used to make) it makes her smile. 

Frankly, the the sodding guests can get whatever I feel like sharing haha.

But sometimes it’s nice to have some different options. My guests tomorrow are staying for over 2 weeks, so the same bread every other day will be as boring for them to eat as it will be for me to make it. I’ll mix up a few different thing just to keep myself entertained 🙂

[Deborah614]

Yes I enjoy baking too, @Ben551 .     And also presenting home made jams and jellies - like plum jelly and quince jelly (which I've had fun flavouring with star anise, or chilli, or rosemary, even lavendar blossom has gone into it.)      

A 2-week booking, how wonderful.   that's when you can get into sync with what makes your guest's eyes light up.    

My thing is playing around with eggs because my hens are laying very faithfully every day and I have a few dozen.   So when I make a Bacon & Egg pie, as I did for a picnic basket last weekend, I used 12 eggs in it.   To make 4 big squares.   Which totally defeated the guests who came back home with some left.   And I make a beautiful Roulade which can ring the changes - chopped spinach in the roulade, and bacon and mushroom filling.   Or a chive & caper  roulade with salmon & asparagus filling.  

With your beautiful baked goods, do you find that your guests come back for a repeat visit?  

[Ben551]

Oh that all sounds amazing @Deborah614  you definitely have more skill than I do. I’m fine with simple things and do all the cooking in our house. For guests I stick to basic things like bread, rolls, scones, cookies, brownies... oh and a lovely banana bread made without sugar (golden syrup instead). None of it is fancy, but what I do make is done well. My wife recently made congee and I helped, so I think I could manage it next time.

I haven’t been hosting long enough to know if return guests are “real”, but we’ve had guests leave reviews saying they will be back. I must say, it’s not really the purpose of my baking, so if it happens it’s a bonus.

[Deborah614]

Well @Ben551 , I love to cook but hate the cleanup afterwards.   After completing a range of lesser improvements and renovations, I have a big change coming up.   I'm finally getting around to getting a new kitchen installed with a dishwasher, which will really help to free me up to enjoy cooking without the big cleanup.   Having psoriasis on the palms of your hands means that everything you get dirty means your hands have to go through dishwashing hell.  

[Lawrene0]

Thanks, @Ben551! No bread machine here, so I'll be kneading Nana-style. 

As to the repeat guest discussion, I would say breakfast makes little difference with that. I do get repeats, as many breakfasters as non-breakfasters, I think.

And perhaps this should be a different thread, but I am starting not to be so excited about the repeaters. Most are awesome, but some do get a little proprietorial. There will be no nice fruit buns for them. 🙂

[Ben551]

@Deborah614  You may want to leave a breakfast card in their room to ask what time they want your lovely breakfast ready 🙂 There is something about ticking that box that feels like a “commitment” to be ready for breakfast at that time.

PS: if it was check out day, I would have started up the lawnmower already by now 🙂

[Deborah614]

thank you, I've done a tick-box thing before, I must get some written up and run off.      I'm still in the experimenting stage / learning curve I think.  

[Sarah977]

@Deborah614  I don't make or offer breakfast, just coffee or tea, but I have an inexpensive listing, am not an early riser myself, and don't enjoy cooking. Also I live in a beach town with a choice of about 250 restaurants, in all price ranges, taco stands, etc, in an area of about 4 square blocks (no joke) and most of my guests are interested in getting up and out to town and the beach- they didn't come here on vacation to sit around the house. 

I think it's lovely that you enjoy providing a nice breakfast and very understanding that you're willing to accommodate various wake-up times (I'd be one who would sleep past a 10 AM breakfast cut-off). As far as serving them like a waiter, I'd say if you feel like it, do, if not, don't. Or play it by ear according to what you feel they'd appreciate- like you said, the young group was happy to stand around eating at the counter, an older couple might just love being served.  Some laid-back, casual people might feel somewhat uncomfortable being served and just prefer to help themselves. I don't think you can go wrong no matter what, almost everyone likes a good meal set out for them.