Operating a bed and breakfast takes planning, skills and dedication to get guests to book, but your breakfast can make them want to return.
Here are the best bed and breakfast breakfast ideas to make your property shine.
Welcome to another edition of Hospitality Property School.
I am your instructor, Gerry MacPherson.
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The type of menu you would find at a bed and breakfast depends on a number of factors; location, availability of ingredients, your target market and preferences.
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In many places, you might find many traditional breakfast foods on the menu including, fruit, bread, eggs, and bacon. In the past, your host might offer a sit-down meal with menu choices, where guests are invited to dine together. Or a buffet style that you could enjoy in a common eating area or eat it in your room.
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Up until a couple of years ago, the setup was whatever worked best for your operation. Today, this procedure has to be taken more seriously.
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Many guests will book your property for the first time due to your location, or images on your website but will return because of your breakfast.
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Yes, a safe setup is imperative but your focus cannot stop there.
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You have to take your breakfast seriously, it’s in the name.
Here are the best bed and breakfast, breakfast ideas to consider to make your breakfast POP!
How you serve breakfast
It’s always important to have safe food handling practices, but it is especially important to do so in this COVID era.
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Find and refer to your local food handling guidelines to make sure you are following the correct procedures. You can also check out the CDC food handling guidelines as a reference.
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Ideas to serve breakfast safely
- Offer breakfast in shifts by offering different times to guests. Consider using outdoor seating if you have the space and the weather allows.
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- Let guests choose their breakfast options the night before and have them delivered to their room the next morning.
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- Switch to individual servings if you normally serve family style.
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- Offer individual pastries that you bake in-house or use a local bakery.
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- To reduce exposure to the coffee machine, place single-serve coffee machines in each room. Use single-use sugar packets and creams.
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Create a signature dish
As I had mentioned, breakfast is in the name, so make it memorable.
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Make sure yours stands out!
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Old family or local recipes, using freshly picked vegetables and herbs from your garden or using your own imagination, recreating simple recipes can zing up your breakfast options and create a memory guest will want to relive over and over and over again.
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If you are a member of the Hospitality Property School Group, I’m going to include a list of suggestions for bed and breakfast recipe ideas you can take and personalize to create your own signature dish.
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Invite local businesses to partner with you
You don’t have to do it all yourself.
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Reach out to local bakeries for fresh bread and pastries. Talk with local coffee roasters and tea specialists to carry their products. Work out an arrangement to cross-promote each other.
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Developing relationships with other local businesses can save you time and bring in the best of what your region has to offer.
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The health regulations
Even though most bed and breakfasts don’t often offer evening meals and probably don’t have a professional kitchen, there are still regulations you need to follow.
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In most countries, a bed and breakfast is considered a food business and must register with regional authorities before opening its doors.
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Once you’re registered, you should be inspected by a health officer to ensure your premises are in compliance with the hygiene rules.
Your food storage
Check how you store your food. For example:
- Raw meats should be stored at the bottom of your fridge to prevent cross-contamination.
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- Any food in open tins has to be transferred into suitable lidded containers.
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- High-risk foods such as cooked meat and ready-to-eat foods have to be kept at or below 8ºC.
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- The cooking of foods is very important and you should make sure that all food is cooked thoroughly before serving.
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Other guidelines to consider
More general requirements include:
- not allow any pets into the kitchen
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- if your washing machine is in the kitchen, doing laundry at different times to food preparation.
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- You must not cook food for your guests if you are sick until you are well again.
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- You need to defrost any foods in the fridge, not on the work surface.
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- Your freezer should be defrosted regularly.
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- Store eggs in the fridge.
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- Your kitchen should be designed to prevent access by pests, but if you do see evidence of them you have to react immediately to eliminate them.
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If you are a member of the Hospitality Property School Group, as a bonus, I’m going to share a list of the best bed and breakfast breakfast recipe ideas.
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In conclusion
Do a little research and find out if there are courses you can take to get you up to speed with all the food hygiene requirements. Posting a certificate on your property will help put you in good standing with your guests.
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When considering the best bed and breakfast breakfast ideas for your property, you do need to think about your location, availability of ingredients, your target market and your preferences. Find a signature dish and promote it as part of your marketing campaign.
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Do you offer a signature dish at your bed and breakfast?
What is it?
Let me know in the comments.
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We cover more on organizational structure in “The Guide to Owning & Operating a Hospitality Property – Successfully” book & course. You find more information at KeystoneHPD.com
You will have access to this episode for as long as you would like but if you would like to see all the bonuses you would have access to as a member of the Hospitality Property School Group, check out the short video in this episode post-show notes.
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In our next episode, I will be talking about Breakfast for Your Bed and Breakfast.
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That’s it for today’s episode,
Until next time, have a fun day.
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If you haven’t done so yet, make sure up sign up for the INNsider Tips, say hi on social and join one of our groups. And make sure you get your free copy of the “How to Improve Your Hospitality Properties Success”.
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You can find all the links in the show notes.
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⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:
https://keystonehpd.com/best-bed-and-breakfast-breakfast-ideas-306
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“The Guide to Owning & Operating a Hospitality Property – Successfully” course.
https://KeystoneHPD.com/Course
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Did you get your copy of the “How to Improve Your Hospitality Properties Success” ebook?
KeystoneHPD.com/How-to-Improve-Your-Hospitality-Properties-Success
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Get Your INNsider Tips
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Join one of your private groups
https://keystonehpd.com/private-groups
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Say hi on social
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keystone-hospitality-development
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Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here
keystonehpd.com/hospitality-property-school-podcasts
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