Poll - Do you provide breakfast?

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Poll - Do you provide breakfast?

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Hi all,

 

To continue our series of polls which started last week with this poll about the cleaning fee, this week's topic is breakfast!

 

There are three options in this poll so choose the one that fits best. In answer to the question 'Do you provide breakfast for your guests', select either 'Yes - I cook them breakfast' or 'Yes - I give them food that I have bought (e.g. cereal, bread etc.)' or 'No - I do not provide breakfast' and then click 'submit'. If you cook and provide bought food as well, select the first option. 

 

Then write a comment below in the thread telling us more about your choice and why - e.g. I don't provide breakfast as I don't live in the listing etc. The answers will be interesting and useful for new as well as more experienced hosts!

 

 

You can see the current results of the poll here!

 

Please give any suggestions about topics of polls that you would like to see in the future! We welcome your ideas 🙂

 

Happy polling!

 

Kirstie

 

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Current polls:

 

Poll - Do you charge a cleaning fee?

 

72 Replies 72

@Gina101, I've had the opposite experience - people specifically mention the breakfast items (and other things I provide) and how welcome they were.  I often get overseas guests who use the breakfast items when they arrive in the middle of the night.  Different strokes, I guess!

That's roughly my experience in Hobart too @Gina101.

 

I think with these polls you've got to separate the types of accommodation. In ones own house, it's far easier to stock a fridge with fresh items and keep an eye on people's use of eggs, bread and milk etc, as they're happier to share communal containers.

In a self-contained apartment, I would not feel comfortable spreading from the same butter as a previous stranger (as opposed to knowing only the host used it). In this case, I feel the only solution is as per hotels/motels, to get portion controlled items maintaining hygeine. But then, when people use them, you couldn't know whether it's been a convenience to their holiday, or if they've just taken the jams/shampoos etc to use back home rather than while in your place. It gets expensive and at some point you've got to consider the business model. When I holiday I like to go out for brunch. A box of cereal would be convenient if you've got an early flight or long drive, but that's about it.

 

I used to provide lots of Tasmanian gifts, soaps, chocolate, apples etc. But I noticed two things: 1) I'm surprised how few people actually take them, and 2) While I'm sure the ones who used them appreciated them, extremely few mentioned them to me, and none at all put them in their reviews. So, from a business point of view I don't advertise the goodies so I can't demand a higher price, and nor do guests spread the word so I don't get any more bookings as a result. The sole reward I get from providing this stuff is a warm fuzzy feeling that people were pleasantly surprised, and hopefully the generally lifted result on how they rated the value of staying at a "premium" listing. But there's little direct reward, that's for sure.

 

As a compromise, so that I'm not charging people who don't want to pay extra for things they're not interested in, but also not to penalise those who really do rate getting a "premium" service (despite not mentioning it in their review), I've come to sticking with giving goodies which:

-Are a nice little individual surprise on your holiday which you wouldn't have bought yourself, but which costs me less than $2

-Doesn't spoil if I keep re-giving it until guests take them

-When it comes to stocking the pantry, only the stuff that would be annoying if you were cooking breakfast and had to buy a whole bottle of it (e.g. olive oil or sauce, etc). The main items they can walk 5 minutes to Coles for.

 

Oh, P.S. ... I know a lot of Aussie hosts compromise in this respect by providing breakfast for first day only. I never saw the point in that, because as a guest you've still got to buy breakfast for the other days, and if you're there for a while it then becomes economical to buy a whole loaf of bread etc., so you don't need even the first day provided.

Catherine516
Level 2
Birmingham, MI

We're newbies trying to figure out what's expected of us as hosts. We listed our room and private bath suite on july 17 and are already booked through August. Our first guest arrives tomorrow. I don't plan to attempt to offer breakfast. We used airbnb's 'smart' pricing so our bookings went for a really low price. The math doesn't work. I want to make at least as much as if I had a 12 month renter.

 

What I'm really worried about is the guy who booked 3 weeks for his cataract surgery.

Hi Catherine,

 

You have made a big mistake by allowing AirBnB to fix your price , you MUST set a minimum price which reflects your requirements. AirBnB will be happy to fill you up for the next year at $10 per night!

You can also set a maximum number of nights if you do not want long term guests.

Dont forget to have a cleaning charge, but there it is also important to have a maximum number of nights, otherwise you could have the same charge for one night or 30 nights.

 

As regards the surgery patient you can probably contact AirBnB and say that he will not be able to safel take care of himself, so represents a danger to himself and you and therefore they should allow you to reject him on these grounds.

 

Hope this helps

 

Colm

@Catherine516, well, I'm gonna chime in as well 🙂

Welcome to hosting, it is fun and enjoyable ( when done "right"...)

so, I'd like to make a few suggestions:

1.) Immediately change your pricing, on both  listings. The Airbnb "smart" pricing is actually pretty stupid.

2.) Take off the Instant book, at least at the very beginning. You do want a bit more control over who comes, especially in the home where you will be also. Message back and forth a bit with guests, you then get a  good feel who you'd want in your house and who not. decline the ones you don't want. in instant book, anybody is in.....

 

about Breckenridge:

I see you only have it available for that one week in September, so set your time frame to cover all those days, 7 nights minimum, so that you rent it for that whole week, not increments of 4 people for one nighters. $44 for 4 people per night is totally unacceptable. who would change the linens? it would cost you more than you make! The price should be at least $100 per night for 4.

 

about your home:

so yes, because of the "too cheap"pricing you got all these bookings.

you are starting with a base price of $30. how about $50? and then leave the extra $15 per extra person in place.

You might want to limit the stay to no more than 7 days: if you get difficult people, you'd want them out sooner than later, right?

I limit my place to 4 nights max - gives me a chance to then come in, do the sheets, make sure all is okay, etc.. get people out, get a break.. etc.

hardly anybody offers breakfast these days. Be also very clear with shared space: do you really want people in your living room, sharing kitchen, etc?? careful!  If you don't clearly specify, it all opens you up to problems and isssues. In ther words, refine your listing, protect yurself - tighten up your house rules, and then hosting will be fun!

ps : your cataract guy coming in, bite the bullet, don't cancel, learn the rules, see what penalties you'd get for  cancelling.

anyhow, my two bits. 🙂

 

That sounds like good advise.  Thank you.

 

I think I can cancel the 3 week stay without penalty because he instant booked and I'm a newbie.  

Hi @Catherine516, I would make sure you can cancel without penalty before doing that - cancelling stays on your record for a long while and makes you ineligible for superhost status for a year.  It's a deep hole which is hard to crawl out of! so make sure your understanding is correct first!  

Susie

yes, thank you.  Have you found the customer service competent? If I'm told there's no penalty can I count on that or has airbnb become a large corp with many departments and automated processes  so that what one department condones another suspends your account for? (Ran into this on a large marketplace site)

 

Thank you  for your insights.  I really appreciate it.

Hello,

I do not let Airbnb set my prices. You often "advise" me to lower my prices but I simply ignore it; I am in the best position to know the value of my property. I know my town and area better then them.

Go ahead and set your prices according to what you feel is the best for you. I personally include the cleaning fee in my prices; so I do not have any other charges which helps me get more clients. You are in the best position to decide the best option for your room according to your facilities/area.

 

Chantal (baguio city, Philippines)

Edwin57
Level 10
New York, United States

The guest have access to the whole place and yes I do provide food and drinks and more just look at my reviews 

Beth80
Level 10
State of Roraima, Brazil

I rent rooms in my home and I'm here so I make a nice breakfast from scratch. If there are only one or two guests I serve them in the guest area. If there are more guests then they eat in my dining room. There is always coffee, juice, fruit, an egg( usually an omlet) and a sweet, such as a muffin. We have our own fruit trees and chickens which allows me to do so much for little money.

Vince4
Level 1
Rosseau, Canada

I started out just offering rooms. Then coffee and muffins. Then full breakfasts. And finally optional dinners. Then the BnB in the village reported me to the health department. Which is insane because this is my private home. So now, guests pay for rooms and food is free... 🙂 

John5097
Level 10
Charleston, SC

@Kirstie 

 

Only when previous guest leaves a few cans of cold beer in the fridge.