Different than a hotel breakfast

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

What do you do differently to a hotel breakfast?
Example:
We stayed at the Radisson two nights, breakfast was not included in the the $125+tax per night, they had on offer an icky buffet for $12.99 per person if we wanted it. It was nothing more than a hot continental. We went to Denny's and another place and paid nearly that with coffee and water - no juice. Do your guests have any idea what a deal they get when they are treated to such a nice breakfast at your B&B?
Do we expect guests to assume we offer a great breakfast or should we be promoting our other "B" more on our website? I never did, I just figured they knew it would not be standard fare, but maybe we need to do a bit more in that department. Speak of the homecooked meals they receive?

 

[Morticia]

Promote, promote, promote. It's almost the same mantra as 'location, location, location.' YOU'VE said it yourself...if it's not on the website, you move on to a website that tells you everything. Show pix, talk about it, describe it in loving detail (with bullet points, of course).

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Howz this....
ALL RATES INCLUDE A COMPLIMENTARY HEARTY HOME COOKED BREAKFAST - Continental is not spoken here

 

[Morticia]

Howz this....
ALL RATES INCLUDE A COMPLIMENTARY HEARTY HOME COOKED BREAKFAST - Continental is not spoken here.

I like that. I would "quote" the "continental" so you don't calls asking if you speak English. (Seriously.)

 

[Mini]

And to drum up more business in December, perhaps we could serve breakfast dressed in our elf costume. Serious. I have been thinking about it.
So we would then advertise like
ALL DECEMBER RATES INCLUDE A COMPLIMENTARY HEARTY HOME COOKED VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS STYLE BREAKFAST SERVED BY ELVES

 

[YellowSocks]

And to drum up more business in December, perhaps we could serve breakfast dressed in our elf costume. Serious. I have been thinking about it.
So we would then advertise like
ALL DECEMBER RATES INCLUDE A COMPLIMENTARY HEARTY HOME COOKED VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS STYLE BREAKFAST SERVED BY ELVES.

And to drum up more business in December, perhaps we could serve breakfast dressed in our elf costume. Serious. I have been thinking about it.
So we would then advertise like
ALL DECEMBER RATES INCLUDE A COMPLIMENTARY HEARTY HOME COOKED VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS STYLE BREAKFAST SERVED BY ELVES

I've got the short people, but not the elf costumes...
But my mil just sent them cool aprons for them to wear.... plain white canvas. They look disgustingly cute in them!
=)
Kk.

 

[Copperhead]

Getting back to the original topic, I agree with Junie WE don't advertise our breakfast enough. As we redo our website, we will be promoting the breakfast more.
One thing I am worried about is making sure it definitely gets across that the pixs are sample breakfasts - 'what you see may not be what you get'! Sometimes people get too hung up on the pics that they over look the words - leading to misscommunications.
And descriptive words must be chosen carefully. When we first opened, my DH mentioned somewhere on our site the descriptive words 'country breakfast', which had one guest completely upset when I did not serve grits during their stay.

 

[The Tipsy Butler]

This is, for me, a really interesting topic. I am an AMATUER cook and when we opened fully expected DH (who is beyond fabulous in the kitchen) to be the breakfast chef. Things didn't work out and it became my demesne.
Here's the rub - we had 4 last minute bookings for last week and each person mentioned we'd been recommended by friends / colleagues and were particularly looking forward to the breakfasts. I'm comfortable with my rooms, the service and most other "stuff". I'd even got to the point where I was comfortable with breakfast. Guests seem to enjoy what I produce and that made me VERY happy. Now it seems to be one of the primary draws and that makes me really nervous. The good thing is that it's going to keep me on my toes and whereas I kinda hoped I'd reached a point I could relax a little in the kitchen, I'm going to be living with my insecurities for a while longer (OK - probably forever).
To answer the question - what do we offer that hotels don't?
PERSONALIZATION. You need it how early? No problem. Dietary restrictions in advance? I'll make you something that works.
We offer "short order" in addition to the special and I've come to realize that eggs done exactly as people want them is a big deal. It's a comfort food and even the easiest going of folks tend to have a decided preference as to how their eggs are done.
On the lighter side. I have a few repeats that like their eggs scrambled HARD HARD HARD. I call it committing ritual eggicide. The real problem is that I also call them "dead eggs" and spend the rest of the day singing those words to the Pink Panther theme song. Try it:
"dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs ......

 

[Morticia]

This is, for me, a really interesting topic. I am an AMATUER cook and when we opened fully expected DH (who is beyond fabulous in the kitchen) to be the breakfast chef. Things didn't work out and it became my demesne.
Here's the rub - we had 4 last minute bookings for last week and each person mentioned we'd been recommended by friends / colleagues and were particularly looking forward to the breakfasts. I'm comfortable with my rooms, the service and most other "stuff". I'd even got to the point where I was comfortable with breakfast. Guests seem to enjoy what I produce and that made me VERY happy. Now it seems to be one of the primary draws and that makes me really nervous. The good thing is that it's going to keep me on my toes and whereas I kinda hoped I'd reached a point I could relax a little in the kitchen, I'm going to be living with my insecurities for a while longer (OK - probably forever).
To answer the question - what do we offer that hotels don't?
PERSONALIZATION. You need it how early? No problem. Dietary restrictions in advance? I'll make you something that works.
We offer "short order" in addition to the special and I've come to realize that eggs done exactly as people want them is a big deal. It's a comfort food and even the easiest going of folks tend to have a decided preference as to how their eggs are done.
On the lighter side. I have a few repeats that like their eggs scrambled HARD HARD HARD. I call it committing ritual eggicide. The real problem is that I also call them "dead eggs" and spend the rest of the day singing those words to the Pink Panther theme song. Try it:
"dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs, dead eggs .......

I'm the cook for the next 3 days. Luckily, no one here tonight and regulars here T & W. I'm making omelets, which we never serve. With sauted leeks. Then I'm making maple apple FT. Basically, I make it my project to not have to go to the grocery store but once when I'm the cook.

 

[Samster]

They love the breakfasts here but I'm convinced that they're clueless about the value that they're getting.