Breakfast In-room

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cherry64

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I was wondering how many inns serve directly to the room? I think I saw NW Inn does it everytime and an inn that I am very interested in owning does this as well. I had never really thought about it as an option and had always planned on doing a full seated breakfast. What type of things could be done to make this type of breakfast memorable? I shadowed an inn the other weekend that offers a delux continantial that is packed into the in-room refriderator, before the guest even arrives, that looked quite good.
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Thanks for any ideas.
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We occasionally (2 times a year so far) receive a request for breakfast in the room. We have some nice folding TV tables and tray up the regular breakfast. I am looking into finding the restaurant tops for my dishes to keep the food warm.
Riki
 
We had in-room breakfast at what is now a hotel, but was an 'inn' when we stayed there. They delivered muffins, juice, milk, cereal, fruit and the newspaper in a cute, cloth-covered basket. I thought it was really neat.
 
We've been considering this, so an associated question. Would you ever charge add'l for this as an extra "service"?
 
We've been considering this, so an associated question. Would you ever charge add'l for this as an extra "service"?.
The Tipsy Butler said:
We've been considering this, so an associated question. Would you ever charge add'l for this as an extra "service"?
Yes. And especially you because you will go over the top to make that in-room breakfast special. (JBJ charges, gets it and she does the specialty touches as well.)
 
We served breakfast in the room with advance request for it. We loved doing it and folks loved having it. Never had a problem with food spillage ever.
The nice thing was at 9 am we took it up, knocked on the door and left. The rest was up to them. Saved us lots of time waiting for guests to come down to the table and we didn't have to spend hours chatting with work to do. Worked well for us.
 
We occasionally (2 times a year so far) receive a request for breakfast in the room. We have some nice folding TV tables and tray up the regular breakfast. I am looking into finding the restaurant tops for my dishes to keep the food warm.
Riki.
I got mine at a restaurant supply store. Sorry I have given mine away to another innkeeper or I would have given them to you:-(
 
CHARGE FOR IT.
We have only TWO rooms we offer breakfast delivered to the room - out of 6. (The most expensive rooms). We don't have the man power or equipment or time to serve every room, and typically we will have ONE ROOM order it on a weekend - and usually BOTH DAYS.
Mostly the cottage - as we market it as a very private getaway. So we deliver coffee/tea first, then come back at 9am with the brekkie. I charge $10 for this and PEOPLE LOVE IT! I made more on this than any gift shop or add on package this past year. We just started it last year!
PLUS if it is on a weekend then DH is here and I can shoot him out there with the tray table with tray of food. When I was at Grey Swan Inn this year I went to their little antique mall and searched for small antique salt and pepper shakers. So I put those on the tray as well. I try...to put a bud vase - if I have a mixed bouquet in here I can pull from. I won't buy it specifically for the tray tho. MANY TIMES the brekkie delivery goes to a room who already had ordered an add on of flowers. Anniversaries, romantic getaways, shy guests. :)
 
i did this. for a fee.
at first i would do coffee/tea/juice/muffins in room at no additional $. but then folks started to ask for the eggs or waffles as well.
it takes some coordination - depends on the number of rooms you have and where they can eat in the room. once other guests saw the covered tray or basket outside someone's door, they started asking for it. a lot of time, one person in a couple would come down, wanting to take things up to their room. i ended up buying trays - with high sides and handles - so that each room would have a tray.
and i always asked for a TIME .... told them i would deliver breakfast to their door within a 15 minute window. guests feel so pampered when you do this.
 
We do breakfast delivery for all rooms. This is a HUGE draw for us. We are a romantic getaway b&b, so people are here for special occasions and we get a lot of honeymooners.
An hour before breakfast, we deliver their beverage tray outside their door. We do not knock. We do a 4 course hot breakfast delivered at either 9:00 or 9:30, again outside their door, knock and then leave. I know it sounds like a late breakfast, but remember, they are here to relax and since we are located in the country we don't get those folks who want an early breakfast to get up and out. For those folks who need an earlier breakfast, we place a continental (yogurt, homemade granola, muffins, fruit) in their in-room fridge the night before when they are out for dinner.
Depending on their rooms location, we use either a breakfast tray or a basket to pack up all the food. Upstairs and our separate cottage get a basket since it's easier to handle and can be transported with one hand.
Even though it's delivered, we still use beautiful china (Royal Doulton Old Country Rose), beautiful silverware, linen napkins, etc. Their beverage tray is a beautiful silver tray and when I check them in they give me their hot beverage of choice. Their beverage is in a caraffe which stays hot, and there is also cream, sugar, juice, etc all without our beautiful china cups.
We don't charge for delivery because it's part of who we are. There is no choice for a communal breakfast. Now, if I were doing both types of breakfast (communal & delivery) and in the middle of serving guests in a dining room I would probably consider charging for delivery service. At that point, it would make it a lot more work.
Because we deliver breakfast our demographics seem to be different than most b&bs
  • More 1st time b&b guests. You draw from the population who were "afraid" to try a b&b.
  • Younger - our average age is probably early 30s. They will return over and over for more years than older guests
  • Women can talk their partners into coming because they don't have to interact with others.
  • Gay/Lesbian couples. Again because of the privacy. They don't have to worry about any discrimation or looks from other guests.
Delivery is not for every inn. The room needs to be set up to eat. We have good sized tables and have put glass tops on them over the tablecloth. That way, you just need to wash the glass top. There are more crumbs in the rooms. Robes will get more stained, especially from coffee. We don't buy the really expensive robes because we go through them more quickly than most places. We use the waffle weave cotton kimono spa robe.
We also do a personalized menu for each tray. At the bottom of the menu, it asks them to please have their tray back outside their door by 10:30am.
It works great for us. I will try to find a picture of how we pack it up.
 
We do breakfast delivery for all rooms. This is a HUGE draw for us. We are a romantic getaway b&b, so people are here for special occasions and we get a lot of honeymooners.
An hour before breakfast, we deliver their beverage tray outside their door. We do not knock. We do a 4 course hot breakfast delivered at either 9:00 or 9:30, again outside their door, knock and then leave. I know it sounds like a late breakfast, but remember, they are here to relax and since we are located in the country we don't get those folks who want an early breakfast to get up and out. For those folks who need an earlier breakfast, we place a continental (yogurt, homemade granola, muffins, fruit) in their in-room fridge the night before when they are out for dinner.
Depending on their rooms location, we use either a breakfast tray or a basket to pack up all the food. Upstairs and our separate cottage get a basket since it's easier to handle and can be transported with one hand.
Even though it's delivered, we still use beautiful china (Royal Doulton Old Country Rose), beautiful silverware, linen napkins, etc. Their beverage tray is a beautiful silver tray and when I check them in they give me their hot beverage of choice. Their beverage is in a caraffe which stays hot, and there is also cream, sugar, juice, etc all without our beautiful china cups.
We don't charge for delivery because it's part of who we are. There is no choice for a communal breakfast. Now, if I were doing both types of breakfast (communal & delivery) and in the middle of serving guests in a dining room I would probably consider charging for delivery service. At that point, it would make it a lot more work.
Because we deliver breakfast our demographics seem to be different than most b&bs
  • More 1st time b&b guests. You draw from the population who were "afraid" to try a b&b.
  • Younger - our average age is probably early 30s. They will return over and over for more years than older guests
  • Women can talk their partners into coming because they don't have to interact with others.
  • Gay/Lesbian couples. Again because of the privacy. They don't have to worry about any discrimation or looks from other guests.
Delivery is not for every inn. The room needs to be set up to eat. We have good sized tables and have put glass tops on them over the tablecloth. That way, you just need to wash the glass top. There are more crumbs in the rooms. Robes will get more stained, especially from coffee. We don't buy the really expensive robes because we go through them more quickly than most places. We use the waffle weave cotton kimono spa robe.
We also do a personalized menu for each tray. At the bottom of the menu, it asks them to please have their tray back outside their door by 10:30am.
It works great for us. I will try to find a picture of how we pack it up..
Thanks! It wouldn't have to be packed, I was just saying that particular inn did it that way. What do you serve for your 4 course hot breakfast?
 
We would offer it & weren't charging for it...I just starting charging $10/room for en-suite breakfast.
For two, I have a huge tray where we can fit it all on, including a coffee carafe or teapot. I always garnish the plates, plus I try to put a little vase of some sort. I also have several small photo holders and have put place cards in them that say, "Happy Anniversary", "Happy Birthday", "Congratulations". Now, that I'm charging for it and it's on my add-ons list, I'm actually getting more requests. Go figure! Usually, it's just one morning - our average stays are 2-3 days. Only one room doesn't have an actual table. I would recommend that you have a table in the room. We leave the tray on the stand & the rest is up to the guests. A few have grabbed the tray at the door and set it up themselves. haha! I couldn't find the metal covers & use the plastic microwave covers. If something really loses heat quickly and needs to be HOT (like grits), I cover with a piece of aluminum foil.
If it seems like someone would really like this service and it would help them out, I have been known to offer it as a complimentary amenity. (Like a single biz traveler who is working around the clock.) I have a smaller tray & stand that works for one.
If we were strictly a romantic getaway like NW BB, this would be a HUGE plus for the guests and I would just offer it included in their rate.
 
Just remember folks - if you stay at a Hotel and order room service they add an auto gratuity. You do not make a gratuity on it in a B&B, so charge for it!
If at all possible, I think every room should have a little table to eat or drink a snack there. Most of us can't fit them in the rooms tho. I WISH!
 
Cottage-breakfast2-sm.jpg

I can't find a picture of the breakfast in the basket, but here it is after the guest has unpacked it out on their deck. We use small sheets of aluminum to cover the hot dishes and plastic wrap to cover the fruit and cold dish
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Cottage-breakfast2-sm.jpg

I can't find a picture of the breakfast in the basket, but here it is after the guest has unpacked it out on their deck. We use small sheets of aluminum to cover the hot dishes and plastic wrap to cover the fruit and cold dish
med_Cottage%202006%20194.jpg
.
Looks lovely!
 
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