If you stay in a B&B, what breakfast options would you expect?

[BreakfastClubs]

Specifically a small B&B as opposed to a hotel.

Which/how many options would you expect?

Asking for a friend.

[BarbaraofSeville]

I think anyone unsatisfied with freshly baked, good quality pre-prepared pastries has unrealistic expectations and is going to be hard to please. Even chefs recommend buying flaky pastry and breakfast pastries are just flaky pastry folded up nicely with a filling. Who makes their own pan au chocolat/croissants FFS?

I don't eat pastries often, because it seems to be a good way of consuming a lot of unsatisfying calories but when I do indulge, as long as they are baked fresh, I wouldn't complain and, as I don't enjoy pastry that's not freshly cooked, I'd just avoid them if they don't look how I want them to be. If I was buying them for guests, I'd get frozen raw ones to bake to order/have a small number ready each day. Something like this:

https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-ready-to-bake-pain-au-chocolat-frozen-505054011

[SummerSimmer]

Sounds like some guests want a champagne with a lemonade budget.
I would expect a full English breakfast (probably plated up), toast, cereal, a choice of two juices and tea or coffee.

[fancyfrogs]

I think what your friend is offering is absolutely fine for a b&b. I'd expect cereals, toast, croissants/pastries are nice but certainly wouldn't expect huge selection (and definitely not expect them all made on site!), then full English and therefore probably bacon/sausage sandwiches. Veggie option for the cooked breakfast too

[Candleabra]

@BreakfastClubs

Thanks all. So it seems that most people(so far) are happy with her selection. Would anyone prefer to be given a voucher for the cafe opposite and have breakfast there so that they have a wider selection of items?

No I wouldn’t prefer that. It would actually put me off.
But I’d be happy with a very limited breakfast choice (as long as it was clear when I booked). Mainly I’d want fruit juice and tea in the morning!

[2bazookas]

We used to run a BB. I offered a wide breakfast menu and guests ticked their choices the night before.

Cooked fresh to order at time requested;

Full British menu
boiled/poached /scrambled eggs/omelette
Cereals/porridge/ yoghurt
Fresh fruit
toast/ marmalade/jam
Tea or coffee

[Fandabedodgy]

Full Scottish plus toast, cereal, fruit juice, coffee at the very least.

[Fandabedodgy]

@Fandabedodgy

Full Scottish plus toast, cereal, fruit juice, coffee at the very least.

And a veggie breakfast for DH.

[Maddy70]

Small b&b. I would expect a full English

[NowItsSpring]

Stayed at a lovely little B&B earlier in the year. One particularly hard to please guest who was there at the same time complained because there was no pillow menu!

[jannier]

@BreakfastClubs

Why? Have you never been to a B&B?

Yes I have been to a B&B though I don't eat breakfast(whether in a B&B or at home)

I'm asking on behalf of a friend who has just started running a B&B because she's being expected to offer numerous options rather than just a few and we wondered what most people expect.

Is she going for a grading or is it her guests asking? I'd put menu on the website .....some don't even offer a breakfast teaming up with local cafes others do an in your room continental

[Maddy70]

@BreakfastClubs

She offers a cooked breakfast and a mini continental. Cereal and various forms of eggs are available plus yoghurt and pastry. Fruit juice and various toppings for toast.

What she's being asked/demanded in some cases for are things like pancakes, waffles, Eggs benedict, smoked salmon etc which might be perfectly normal breakfast options but it's only her and a small B&B and she can't offer a selection to match Wetherspoon's as one guest told her that they have a better selection.

No that's not expected in a small b&b.
It's not even always offered on massive hotels

[Ellmau]

It depends how she's pricing and marketing her offering.

She should have a look at the websites of her local rivals and see what they offer and charge compared to her.

Better a limited selection done well, than things she can't cook well/can't reliably get hold of the ingredients.

No to the cafe voucher. That's not B&B.

[jannier]

@BreakfastClubs

She offers a cooked breakfast and a mini continental. Cereal and various forms of eggs are available plus yoghurt and pastry. Fruit juice and various toppings for toast.

What she's being asked/demanded in some cases for are things like pancakes, waffles, Eggs benedict, smoked salmon etc which might be perfectly normal breakfast options but it's only her and a small B&B and she can't offer a selection to match Wetherspoon's as one guest told her that they have a better selection.

What she offers are fine her guests are being dicks .....unless she's 5 star

[thismeansnothing]

Fruit, cereal, full English, eggs/beans on toast. Tea, coffee and orange juice

[knittingaddict]

@BreakfastClubs

I think it also depends on how much she's charging. My SIL has a B&B and charges more than a Premier Inn would.

She's cheaper than the local Premier Inn.

Speaking of those, I recently booked a B&B in the Lake District. I looked at the price of a Premier Inn and was amazed at how expensive it was. I got 3 nights in a B&B(Very nice one judging by the very positive reviews) for 3 nights and it was £100 cheaper than the cost of a Premier Inn for 2 nights!

We have just booked an airbnb for a couple of nights. We usually book a Premier Inn, but I have had it with staying in boiling hot, airless rooms.

For the same price as a Premier Inn without breakfast we are getting a whole 1 bed annex with bathroom, full kitchen, lovely living space, a patio and garden in a peaceful location and a simple breakfast of toast, butter, jam/marmalade, tea/coffee and eggs.

Bye, bye Premier Inn.

[FlamingoQueen]

I would expect a cooked breakfast (doesn’t have to be huge, but with local ingredients) and or a small selection of cereals. I stayed at a B&Q in Cornwall once and their breakfast was divine. There wasn’t an excess of food, but it was so tasty. If people want something fancy, then they go elsewhere. Her trademark could be local produce.

[reluctantbrit]

As standard:
cereals and yoghurt
fruit juice
toast with honey and jams (a selection)
something cooked

Tea, coffee and ideally hot chocolate made with milk or cold chocolate milk for a child.

I know the full English is a favourite but I personally hate anything savoury in the morning. I love when a B&B also offers hot porridge, pancakes or french toast. Happy to order the night before.
Definitely a vegetarian option.

Food offered should be available on the website.

[lieselotte]

This is the sort of thing I would expect: https://www.dipperswestdorset.co.uk/_files/ugd/f6c93f_5d929725382b49c895fb317d22efa355.pdf

[lieselotte]

For me the key is a good alternative to the standard cooked breakfast, as I don't like it. A fruit platter or pancakes or something like that.

[lieselotte]

We have just booked an airbnb for a couple of nights. We usually book a Premier Inn, but I have had it with staying in boiling hot, airless rooms

But hello to having to clean the room, take litter to the tip and deal with potentially capricious owners, if some of the threads on MN are anything to go by.

I prefer ordinary B&Bs.

[mondaytosunday]

Option for full English (including a veggie version), scrambled eggs etc. then a variety of cold foods: cereal, bread/toast and croissants, variety of jams and spreads, fresh fruit and yogurt, coffee, tea, juices, as a minimum.
Nice would be to have smoked salmon, more pastries, some cheeses and more variety of bread, and salad things tomatoes etc.
My friend runs a 15 room b&b, her breakfasts are legendary (Polish, so does a big buffet with variety of cold meats and cheeses, homemade jams from her own fruit, Polish bread, plus the usual fry up).
I stayed at a four room one last year in Bath and we didn't have a buffet but we ordered the night before a cooked breakfast, or we could have had porridge, cereals and toast/croissants and fruit, yogurt.

[BreakfastClubs]

Thanks all. You've all been so helpful and my friend feels reassured that her offerings are fine.

Sympathies to Rapidtango and anyone else who has suffered terrible B&B guests. I don't know how you do it.