Home for 2 hours

Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum

Help Support Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Morticia

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
17,771
Reaction score
685
So, I got home last night at 7 PM after a 6 hour drive (that should have been 5 hours) to find there was still one room not accounted for. They arrived at 9 PM. This morning I dragged myself out of bed for breakfast for 3 rooms only to find that no one was eating breakfast. (NO, they are not together.) So, in less than 12 hours, my somewhat relaxed self is wound up tighter than the proverbial 8 day clock all over again.
And, a new 'policy'...'Will you be joining us for breakfast tomorrow?' as part of the check-in procedure. I could have slept in!
 
Not quite as bad as your experience, but....
We were up ready for breakfast at our usual 8.30, no-one came down until 9.15 and then they all came down at once (No, they are not together) so then it's panic in the kitchen for me trying to cook 6 breakfasts all at once, and they all want something different, so I've got every pan out trying to scramble, poached, fry eggs at once.
 
Not quite as bad as your experience, but....
We were up ready for breakfast at our usual 8.30, no-one came down until 9.15 and then they all came down at once (No, they are not together) so then it's panic in the kitchen for me trying to cook 6 breakfasts all at once, and they all want something different, so I've got every pan out trying to scramble, poached, fry eggs at once..
We get that, too, except it generally happens when we've got all 7 rooms! So we know we'll still be cooking and serving at 10, which really peeves me. But, we say 'until 9:30' and guests like to sleep in.
 
We solve that -we have ONE menu for everyone and ask what time they would like breakfast when they check in and they have the menu that will be served the days that they are here-if they really don't like whats on the menu (which is really rare) then we change it, but if not we don't.
We have this on our menu: We don't serve breakfast before 7AM or after 9AM
This is of course at our discretion. so it eliminates all the wait time and the different things that they "may" want for breakfast, we do alot of single serving stuff if we have a bunch that have different breakfast times-this way its hot when they arrive.
Trust me less headaches and less cooking. We pretty much have it down pack with the breakfast thing.
 
Oh so sorry. I think you are smart to call attention specifically to eating breakfast at check in. Don't count on them telling you later.
 
poor thing ... can you take a nap?? i sure do hope you are sleeping ... RIGHT NOW!
 
I ask the guests the night before what time they would like breakfast. If two rooms want breakfast at the same time I ask one of them to come either 15-30 minutes earlier or later so I am not going crazy trying to serve everyone at once. I really don't know how you do it with 7 rooms eating all at once!
Sorry you missed sleeping in
sad_smile.gif
.
 
Honey one day we did 19 breakfasts to order in 35 minutes that is my all time best! when we have a full house max is 25 now that is bedlam but doesn't happen very often thank goodness.
 
I would have had Gomez handle it and slept in. I used to handle the whole she-bang at breakfast for 5 rooms by myself all the time. :)
I hope you can catch up on your rest. It's hard to though when you get behind. :-(
 
I would have had Gomez handle it and slept in. I used to handle the whole she-bang at breakfast for 5 rooms by myself all the time. :)
I hope you can catch up on your rest. It's hard to though when you get behind. :-(.
Gomez has been on his own for 3 days, the guilt was catching up with me...
Plus, I didn't know they were skipping until I was already up. And, of course, we both forgot to ask the new arrivals today if they were having breakfast. Plus, the guests who have been here a few days, we never see them to even ask.
 
I would have had Gomez handle it and slept in. I used to handle the whole she-bang at breakfast for 5 rooms by myself all the time. :)
I hope you can catch up on your rest. It's hard to though when you get behind. :-(.
Gomez has been on his own for 3 days, the guilt was catching up with me...
Plus, I didn't know they were skipping until I was already up. And, of course, we both forgot to ask the new arrivals today if they were having breakfast. Plus, the guests who have been here a few days, we never see them to even ask.
.
This is so interesting to me. Do you have a lot of people who don't want breakfast?? For me, it's only usually young folks who maybe got married the night before, and I'm hanging around wondering if they're ever coming down. And I'm getting MUCH better at saying "oh, I assumed you didn't want breakfast...but here, I kept you a fruit plate and here's a cup of coffee." But you talked about several rooms on one day skipping breakfast without telling you. What are they doing? Leaving early to do tours, or what? I find this fascinating. And I"m sure very frustrating when you're waiting for them!
 
I would have had Gomez handle it and slept in. I used to handle the whole she-bang at breakfast for 5 rooms by myself all the time. :)
I hope you can catch up on your rest. It's hard to though when you get behind. :-(.
Gomez has been on his own for 3 days, the guilt was catching up with me...
Plus, I didn't know they were skipping until I was already up. And, of course, we both forgot to ask the new arrivals today if they were having breakfast. Plus, the guests who have been here a few days, we never see them to even ask.
.
This is so interesting to me. Do you have a lot of people who don't want breakfast?? For me, it's only usually young folks who maybe got married the night before, and I'm hanging around wondering if they're ever coming down. And I'm getting MUCH better at saying "oh, I assumed you didn't want breakfast...but here, I kept you a fruit plate and here's a cup of coffee." But you talked about several rooms on one day skipping breakfast without telling you. What are they doing? Leaving early to do tours, or what? I find this fascinating. And I"m sure very frustrating when you're waiting for them!
.
One room I have no idea, they just put their key on the table and walked out. I had to go to the door and ask if they were coming back in for breakfast (assumed they were bringing luggage to the car). 'Oh, no, we're leaving, Bye.' And they were gone.
Another sat down at the table and I brought the first course (this after they walked in the door from Starbucks, carrying coffee and a bag). 'We're not eating, my wife is sick.' She hauled the luggage out to the car and they left. (Yeah, YOU think that one over, too. She's sick, they both have Starbucks, he's sitting in the dining room reading the paper and she's hauling the bags.)
The other one went out for a run and didn't come back in time. Altho, she just left now and said she would be back.
It doesn't happen that often, but I do know innkeepers with a 12 room place who do not make enough breakfast for all 12 rooms. They do about 80% and then if you show up late(r) you get scrambled eggs and told to get up earlier next day.
 
I would have had Gomez handle it and slept in. I used to handle the whole she-bang at breakfast for 5 rooms by myself all the time. :)
I hope you can catch up on your rest. It's hard to though when you get behind. :-(.
Gomez has been on his own for 3 days, the guilt was catching up with me...
Plus, I didn't know they were skipping until I was already up. And, of course, we both forgot to ask the new arrivals today if they were having breakfast. Plus, the guests who have been here a few days, we never see them to even ask.
.
This is so interesting to me. Do you have a lot of people who don't want breakfast?? For me, it's only usually young folks who maybe got married the night before, and I'm hanging around wondering if they're ever coming down. And I'm getting MUCH better at saying "oh, I assumed you didn't want breakfast...but here, I kept you a fruit plate and here's a cup of coffee." But you talked about several rooms on one day skipping breakfast without telling you. What are they doing? Leaving early to do tours, or what? I find this fascinating. And I"m sure very frustrating when you're waiting for them!
.
One room I have no idea, they just put their key on the table and walked out. I had to go to the door and ask if they were coming back in for breakfast (assumed they were bringing luggage to the car). 'Oh, no, we're leaving, Bye.' And they were gone.
Another sat down at the table and I brought the first course (this after they walked in the door from Starbucks, carrying coffee and a bag). 'We're not eating, my wife is sick.' She hauled the luggage out to the car and they left. (Yeah, YOU think that one over, too. She's sick, they both have Starbucks, he's sitting in the dining room reading the paper and she's hauling the bags.)
The other one went out for a run and didn't come back in time. Altho, she just left now and said she would be back.
It doesn't happen that often, but I do know innkeepers with a 12 room place who do not make enough breakfast for all 12 rooms. They do about 80% and then if you show up late(r) you get scrambled eggs and told to get up earlier next day.
.
I could never deal with this kind of thing. I want to know exactly how many I need to serve for breakfast. When they checked in..that was one of the first things we discussed...time of breakfast, showed them the menu for the next day and agreed on the time it was going to be served.
 
I would have had Gomez handle it and slept in. I used to handle the whole she-bang at breakfast for 5 rooms by myself all the time. :)
I hope you can catch up on your rest. It's hard to though when you get behind. :-(.
Gomez has been on his own for 3 days, the guilt was catching up with me...
Plus, I didn't know they were skipping until I was already up. And, of course, we both forgot to ask the new arrivals today if they were having breakfast. Plus, the guests who have been here a few days, we never see them to even ask.
.
This is so interesting to me. Do you have a lot of people who don't want breakfast?? For me, it's only usually young folks who maybe got married the night before, and I'm hanging around wondering if they're ever coming down. And I'm getting MUCH better at saying "oh, I assumed you didn't want breakfast...but here, I kept you a fruit plate and here's a cup of coffee." But you talked about several rooms on one day skipping breakfast without telling you. What are they doing? Leaving early to do tours, or what? I find this fascinating. And I"m sure very frustrating when you're waiting for them!
.
One room I have no idea, they just put their key on the table and walked out. I had to go to the door and ask if they were coming back in for breakfast (assumed they were bringing luggage to the car). 'Oh, no, we're leaving, Bye.' And they were gone.
Another sat down at the table and I brought the first course (this after they walked in the door from Starbucks, carrying coffee and a bag). 'We're not eating, my wife is sick.' She hauled the luggage out to the car and they left. (Yeah, YOU think that one over, too. She's sick, they both have Starbucks, he's sitting in the dining room reading the paper and she's hauling the bags.)
The other one went out for a run and didn't come back in time. Altho, she just left now and said she would be back.
It doesn't happen that often, but I do know innkeepers with a 12 room place who do not make enough breakfast for all 12 rooms. They do about 80% and then if you show up late(r) you get scrambled eggs and told to get up earlier next day.
.
I could never deal with this kind of thing. I want to know exactly how many I need to serve for breakfast. When they checked in..that was one of the first things we discussed...time of breakfast, showed them the menu for the next day and agreed on the time it was going to be served.
.
catlady said:
I could never deal with this kind of thing. I want to know exactly how many I need to serve for breakfast. When they checked in..that was one of the first things we discussed...time of breakfast, showed them the menu for the next day and agreed on the time it was going to be served.
How did you handle the folks staying for multiple nights? Ask them if they wanted brekkie at the same time everyday? Everyone showed up this morning and had a wonderful time.
It wasn't that long ago that I learned how to make peach upside down cake because I had 8 or so peach fruit courses leftover at the end of brekkie. Yesterday it was melon and not a lot I can do with that other than serve it tomorrow.
 
I would have had Gomez handle it and slept in. I used to handle the whole she-bang at breakfast for 5 rooms by myself all the time. :)
I hope you can catch up on your rest. It's hard to though when you get behind. :-(.
Gomez has been on his own for 3 days, the guilt was catching up with me...
Plus, I didn't know they were skipping until I was already up. And, of course, we both forgot to ask the new arrivals today if they were having breakfast. Plus, the guests who have been here a few days, we never see them to even ask.
.
This is so interesting to me. Do you have a lot of people who don't want breakfast?? For me, it's only usually young folks who maybe got married the night before, and I'm hanging around wondering if they're ever coming down. And I'm getting MUCH better at saying "oh, I assumed you didn't want breakfast...but here, I kept you a fruit plate and here's a cup of coffee." But you talked about several rooms on one day skipping breakfast without telling you. What are they doing? Leaving early to do tours, or what? I find this fascinating. And I"m sure very frustrating when you're waiting for them!
.
One room I have no idea, they just put their key on the table and walked out. I had to go to the door and ask if they were coming back in for breakfast (assumed they were bringing luggage to the car). 'Oh, no, we're leaving, Bye.' And they were gone.
Another sat down at the table and I brought the first course (this after they walked in the door from Starbucks, carrying coffee and a bag). 'We're not eating, my wife is sick.' She hauled the luggage out to the car and they left. (Yeah, YOU think that one over, too. She's sick, they both have Starbucks, he's sitting in the dining room reading the paper and she's hauling the bags.)
The other one went out for a run and didn't come back in time. Altho, she just left now and said she would be back.
It doesn't happen that often, but I do know innkeepers with a 12 room place who do not make enough breakfast for all 12 rooms. They do about 80% and then if you show up late(r) you get scrambled eggs and told to get up earlier next day.
.
I could never deal with this kind of thing. I want to know exactly how many I need to serve for breakfast. When they checked in..that was one of the first things we discussed...time of breakfast, showed them the menu for the next day and agreed on the time it was going to be served.
.
catlady said:
I could never deal with this kind of thing. I want to know exactly how many I need to serve for breakfast. When they checked in..that was one of the first things we discussed...time of breakfast, showed them the menu for the next day and agreed on the time it was going to be served.
How did you handle the folks staying for multiple nights? Ask them if they wanted brekkie at the same time everyday? Everyone showed up this morning and had a wonderful time.
It wasn't that long ago that I learned how to make peach upside down cake because I had 8 or so peach fruit courses leftover at the end of brekkie. Yesterday it was melon and not a lot I can do with that other than serve it tomorrow.
.
It wasn't that long ago that I learned how to make peach upside down cake because I had 8 or so peach fruit courses leftover at the end of brekkie. Yesterday it was melon and not a lot I can do with that other than serve it tomorrow.
Smoothies for the melon........
As for breakfast time, it is in my confirmation letter to tell us each evening what time you want breakfast. I also ask them to tell me "before you turn in for the night, please tell me what time you want breakfast" - BUT I do not have 7 rooms of cats to herd either. 3 is a lot easier to deal with for this old woman!
 
I would have had Gomez handle it and slept in. I used to handle the whole she-bang at breakfast for 5 rooms by myself all the time. :)
I hope you can catch up on your rest. It's hard to though when you get behind. :-(.
Gomez has been on his own for 3 days, the guilt was catching up with me...
Plus, I didn't know they were skipping until I was already up. And, of course, we both forgot to ask the new arrivals today if they were having breakfast. Plus, the guests who have been here a few days, we never see them to even ask.
.
This is so interesting to me. Do you have a lot of people who don't want breakfast?? For me, it's only usually young folks who maybe got married the night before, and I'm hanging around wondering if they're ever coming down. And I'm getting MUCH better at saying "oh, I assumed you didn't want breakfast...but here, I kept you a fruit plate and here's a cup of coffee." But you talked about several rooms on one day skipping breakfast without telling you. What are they doing? Leaving early to do tours, or what? I find this fascinating. And I"m sure very frustrating when you're waiting for them!
.
One room I have no idea, they just put their key on the table and walked out. I had to go to the door and ask if they were coming back in for breakfast (assumed they were bringing luggage to the car). 'Oh, no, we're leaving, Bye.' And they were gone.
Another sat down at the table and I brought the first course (this after they walked in the door from Starbucks, carrying coffee and a bag). 'We're not eating, my wife is sick.' She hauled the luggage out to the car and they left. (Yeah, YOU think that one over, too. She's sick, they both have Starbucks, he's sitting in the dining room reading the paper and she's hauling the bags.)
The other one went out for a run and didn't come back in time. Altho, she just left now and said she would be back.
It doesn't happen that often, but I do know innkeepers with a 12 room place who do not make enough breakfast for all 12 rooms. They do about 80% and then if you show up late(r) you get scrambled eggs and told to get up earlier next day.
.
I could never deal with this kind of thing. I want to know exactly how many I need to serve for breakfast. When they checked in..that was one of the first things we discussed...time of breakfast, showed them the menu for the next day and agreed on the time it was going to be served.
.
catlady said:
I could never deal with this kind of thing. I want to know exactly how many I need to serve for breakfast. When they checked in..that was one of the first things we discussed...time of breakfast, showed them the menu for the next day and agreed on the time it was going to be served.
How did you handle the folks staying for multiple nights? Ask them if they wanted brekkie at the same time everyday? Everyone showed up this morning and had a wonderful time.
It wasn't that long ago that I learned how to make peach upside down cake because I had 8 or so peach fruit courses leftover at the end of brekkie. Yesterday it was melon and not a lot I can do with that other than serve it tomorrow.
.
We always served breakfast at the same time 9 AM unless there was a specific reason to have it earlier. And, having only 3 rooms, didn't have the hassle you do with so many rooms. If we only had one couple staying, then we were pretty flexible. We asked them before they left the table if the next day at 9 would still be ok for them.
 
The guests missing breakfast thread is timely. For the first time ever, on a recent weekend, we had guests who with no notice simply didn't show up for breakfast. We had 8 people total so that is plenty of food. Menu was posted as usual the day before, and four of the 8 were carryovers so had taken part in breakfast at our posted time...which we include in rez confirmations, on the menu board, and in our meet/greet/tours with every guest. Only ONE single solitary person showed up for breakfast, a new guest...and he seemed awkward trying to enjoy breakfast in a dining room set up for 8. He apologized that his wife would not be joining him for breakfast. Two of the couples although not related to each other were both in town for the same special event and had been at breakfast the day before. I don't mind a guest skipping breakfast (which has rarely happened in our 6 years) but it would really be helpful if we knew ahead of time. So we had lots of food ready, for ONE person! The next day, the no shows showed up with extra people from the special event, "Since we didn't have breakfast yesterday, we thought we could bring friends today to make up for it." The extras, non guests, were really happy to be here - they said the others had been telling them about our wonderful breakfasts. So we are adding the question, "Will you be joining us for breakfast each day you are here?"
We overcame any temptation to offer all the leftovers from the day before and the guests and their friends will never know that there was ever any issue with their noshows the day before. If it was a regular occurrence, we would probably handle it differently. One of the couples is a returning pair, so when and if they are guests again, we will remember and make certain to ask them each day! We were concerned that the one new guest to our bed and breakfast had such an awkward experience.
 
The guests missing breakfast thread is timely. For the first time ever, on a recent weekend, we had guests who with no notice simply didn't show up for breakfast. We had 8 people total so that is plenty of food. Menu was posted as usual the day before, and four of the 8 were carryovers so had taken part in breakfast at our posted time...which we include in rez confirmations, on the menu board, and in our meet/greet/tours with every guest. Only ONE single solitary person showed up for breakfast, a new guest...and he seemed awkward trying to enjoy breakfast in a dining room set up for 8. He apologized that his wife would not be joining him for breakfast. Two of the couples although not related to each other were both in town for the same special event and had been at breakfast the day before. I don't mind a guest skipping breakfast (which has rarely happened in our 6 years) but it would really be helpful if we knew ahead of time. So we had lots of food ready, for ONE person! The next day, the no shows showed up with extra people from the special event, "Since we didn't have breakfast yesterday, we thought we could bring friends today to make up for it." The extras, non guests, were really happy to be here - they said the others had been telling them about our wonderful breakfasts. So we are adding the question, "Will you be joining us for breakfast each day you are here?"
We overcame any temptation to offer all the leftovers from the day before and the guests and their friends will never know that there was ever any issue with their noshows the day before. If it was a regular occurrence, we would probably handle it differently. One of the couples is a returning pair, so when and if they are guests again, we will remember and make certain to ask them each day! We were concerned that the one new guest to our bed and breakfast had such an awkward experience..
Holy cow! They had the nerve to bring EXTRA people in and expect that because you 'didn't have to cook' the day before it was ok?
I'm trying really hard not to just explode!
We never serve leftovers (unless it is the fruit course) so it would be a LOT of waste for us if all of those folks didn't show up.
And, yes, as many say, 'It's paid for, what do you care if they ate it or you threw it out.' I just can't throw out good food.
Even Gomez said yesterday, 'It's almost like I made a quiche!' It was a fabulous french toast, but cooked to order so he just put everything back in the fridge. But, berries do NOT stay fresh for days on end so those will more than likely be in the trash tomorrow.
I give you credit for being gracious. I keep thinking of what I read once somewhere...that a gracious hostess/host never lets the guest be embarrassed. (Altho, there are times...)
 
The guests missing breakfast thread is timely. For the first time ever, on a recent weekend, we had guests who with no notice simply didn't show up for breakfast. We had 8 people total so that is plenty of food. Menu was posted as usual the day before, and four of the 8 were carryovers so had taken part in breakfast at our posted time...which we include in rez confirmations, on the menu board, and in our meet/greet/tours with every guest. Only ONE single solitary person showed up for breakfast, a new guest...and he seemed awkward trying to enjoy breakfast in a dining room set up for 8. He apologized that his wife would not be joining him for breakfast. Two of the couples although not related to each other were both in town for the same special event and had been at breakfast the day before. I don't mind a guest skipping breakfast (which has rarely happened in our 6 years) but it would really be helpful if we knew ahead of time. So we had lots of food ready, for ONE person! The next day, the no shows showed up with extra people from the special event, "Since we didn't have breakfast yesterday, we thought we could bring friends today to make up for it." The extras, non guests, were really happy to be here - they said the others had been telling them about our wonderful breakfasts. So we are adding the question, "Will you be joining us for breakfast each day you are here?"
We overcame any temptation to offer all the leftovers from the day before and the guests and their friends will never know that there was ever any issue with their noshows the day before. If it was a regular occurrence, we would probably handle it differently. One of the couples is a returning pair, so when and if they are guests again, we will remember and make certain to ask them each day! We were concerned that the one new guest to our bed and breakfast had such an awkward experience..
Holy cow! They had the nerve to bring EXTRA people in and expect that because you 'didn't have to cook' the day before it was ok?
I'm trying really hard not to just explode!
We never serve leftovers (unless it is the fruit course) so it would be a LOT of waste for us if all of those folks didn't show up.
And, yes, as many say, 'It's paid for, what do you care if they ate it or you threw it out.' I just can't throw out good food.
Even Gomez said yesterday, 'It's almost like I made a quiche!' It was a fabulous french toast, but cooked to order so he just put everything back in the fridge. But, berries do NOT stay fresh for days on end so those will more than likely be in the trash tomorrow.
I give you credit for being gracious. I keep thinking of what I read once somewhere...that a gracious hostess/host never lets the guest be embarrassed. (Altho, there are times...)
.
Hold on, I'm even more annoyed the longer I think about this! They assumed that they could bring extra people for FREE, didn't they? Because they didn't eat the day before, that meant you still had all of that food on hand or you ate it yourself so they were just 'getting their money's worth'.
Oh, yeah, I'm more annoyed now.
 
Back
Top