This is exactly what to say in the response to the bad review: “As a courtesy, a few breakfast items are supplied to get you started.” PERIOD. " Don’t explain, don’t complain" as my dad liked to say --just state the facts I would add.
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I love that ‘don’t explain, don’t complain’
Now that I’m older I’ve begun to realize I don’t have to explain or excuse every little thing - “I’m late” or “I can’t make it”. Maybe an “I’m sorry” but that’s all they need to know!
(A wee bit off-topic…)
AirBnB means “bed & breakfast”. Full stop.
I always offer breakfast to my guests, and I left a negative review to a host I stayed with, last month, because the apartment was self-contained and no breakfast was offered (she didn’t even state the fact in her listing).
I will just keep driving & not bother to stop for this one…
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No it does not. Breakfast is an amenity that you can choose to have or not. The most basic Air that I stay in was a air mattress in London, no breakfast.
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So why do you suppose Airbnb has a box you can tick to say whether or not you offer breakfast? Just wondering…
Well, of course a guest can choose whether he or she wants to have breakfast, or not. In fact, about 90 per cent of the guests staying with me choose not to have (free) breakfast, which is perfectly fine with me, since it saves me a lot of trouble not having to serve breakfast. Some prefer to have a cup of coffee or tea only, which is fine with me, too.
It certainly is NOT fine for an AirBNB host not to allow guests the choice of breakfast if they want one.
I don’t agree with you. I suggest you do a random search of a city such as London and see how many offer breakfast.
I’m with you Kirsty. This is a changed world and the older generation expecting breakfast don’t seem to grasp the concept. I think if guests are going to rate down hosts for not offering breakfast when they haven’t bothered to read the amenities list to see if it’s provided, then that shows a real meanness of spirit. I can’t provide breakfast for free and many people use Airbnb because it’s cheaper than a hotel. And that’s how I keep it cheaper than a hotel!
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So you are saying Airbnb means “air mattress or bed, no breakfast”? Why not change the name to Airnbnl then? “Air mattress no bed no limousine service”?
I can provide breakfast for free. It costs about 5% of the revenue earned by hosting the guest. Big deal!
It is a big deal when you are letting your room out for only £20-25 a night.
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That’s true. My room costs 29 EUR a night which is about £20-25. Cost of breakfast is about £1 which is five per cent of earnings. A cup of coffee, a slice of bread. That’s what the average guest wants.
OH i thought you meant cooked breakfasts!!
So you are a host and left a negative review for a fellow host because you failed to read the listing to see if breakfast was checked as an amenity? Wow. Please correct me if I misunderstood that.
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Sorry having to correct you.
To be precise, I am a host who likes breakfast, and who takes great pains to ensure guests are always served breakfast if they want it, even if I happen not to be around.
I did leave a negative review for a fellow host because she failed to clearly indicate in her listing that she is not serving breakfast. She seemed to think that breakfast was “nice to have” but not mandatory, while I happen to think otherwise.
So you are saying I did not understand you correctly then. So this fellow host you left a negative review for did indeed check the box that says breakfast is included in the stay.
There seems to be a misunderstanding here.
You think that breakfast is never served except when explicitly stated that it is.
I think that breakfast should be served, by default, and it should be mentioned if, and only if, it is not being served.
No misunderstanding. There is a box to check whether breakfast is served. You are saying that because bnb is in the domain name then that means breakfast. Then that would also mean everyone provides Airbeds too. But we know some people provide couches, others airbeds, others real beds.
I do agree that breakfast is a very nice touch and if I lived with my guests then I would most likely purchase items for guests and even cook for them. However my space is self-contained and sleeps up to 6 people. I couldn’t imagine going grocery shopping to make sure a family of 6 has breakfast for an entire week stay. They may eat all organic fruit, gluten-free sprouted Ezekiel bread, cage free eggs, fresh organic squeezed orange juice with lactose free milk, everything must not contain GMOs, only real butter, etc. This type of food is not in my budget.
I might just piss off a family if I took up space in their fridge with foods they would never eat: Pillsbury biscuits with hydrogenated oil, bacon filled with poisonous nitrates, pasteurized milk that came from hormone pumped cows, bagels made with enriched flour, pesticide laden fruit, etc.
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I’m one of these organic eggs and milk, organic sprouted bread families! I would not be thrilled to find a bottle of 99% sugar “juice” in a private apt fridge where my son would beg to drink it all weekend. Although I do appreciate such gestures that hosts are trying to provide.
I just supply coffee to my guests and it’s amazing how much variation there is in just trying to supply creamer. Some people are fine with the standard half&half, while others request 2% or skim. Those who don’t do dairy request almond or soy milk. Amongst these who want almond or soy, they will often request unsweetened and some want unsweetened vanilla while others want unsweetened plain. I’ve supplied guests with organic vanilla soy (which they requested) but i couldn’t find unsweetened and when they left, they didn’t even open the container. People have very particular tastes and a one breakfast (or creamer) fits all approach just doesn’t work for some markets.
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