AirBnB - Bed no breakfast?!

[Teapleasemilknosugar]

Not sure whether IABU but I'm miffed! Stayed in an AirBnB last week and there was only B, no B! First time I've stayed in an AirBnB where this has happened.

We arrived 5pm too (unavoidable delays) so we're too late to head out and forage for breakfast foods, but thankfully I had packed a box of cereal from our kitchen at home so at least kids were happy. We were left 1pt of milk in the fridge. We were staying a whole 6 nights.

Is this the norm? It's literally in the name; I book an AirBnB and expect BnB. Or did I misunderstand?!

I haven't written a review or feedback yet

@Teapleasemilknosugar If you take the company name at its initial meaning it actual means air bed and breakfast, as in you sleep on an air bed in someone’s living room, the initial concept was for sofa surfing in which case you would probably have breakfast with the people hosting. If you want to be pedantic were you also expecting to sleep on the floor? It’s now (in most cases) just like all other holiday rental sites.

I’ve had some that leave a few items of food or a welcome basket but they’re the minority and definitely not enough supplies to last more than a day or two. It would be unfair to leave a negative review due to your preconceived ideas unless the listing specifically noted breakfast included and wasn’t.

I almost exclusively use Airbnb for trips away and holidays and have only ever had breakfast provided once. I've stayed in cottages, lodges, shepherd huts, flats, treehouses, glamping yurts and many other places. The place that provided breakfast was a treehouse in France. The owner baked croissants and pain au chocolat, made fresh hot chocolate and coffee, added in jam and butter and then put it in a basket which we winched up to the treehouse using a pulley system. It was great.

It's well documented in their history.

Can you share what it explicitly said in the listing?
(Or do you just mean it explicitly says it in the name of the website?)

Yep, it's them whose being ridiculous. 😂 😂 😂

So that proves the point. It's a tick box thing. If you don't have to display a cert how do your guests know you've passed the 'test'?
It's a risk eating food anywhere, but I'd prefer not to eat food made by owners of cottages. I've never ever seen it labelled and how do I know their cat or dog hasn't had its tongue in the bowl?

Please link to that.

Lots of businesses have potentially misleading names, if you're going to be literal about it. Boots don't sell boots, which might prove a disappointment to a foreign visitor in dire need of winter footwear...

I’m always just happy if there’s toilet roll!

Over the last 10 years I've had a few breakfasts provided for first day eg a baguette or toast.

I stayed on a farm that gave a few freshly baked bread and fresh dug potatoes a few times in 5 days. Stayed in another that left a Box of packet croissants and fruit for us. But the majority now have a few bits for cooking- oil salt and pepper but no breakfast. I view it as an added bonus now

See this thread has brought out the hygiene obsessives again who are all ewwww, home made.

Am I the only person would would dig into a home made cake with joyful abandon, not pausing to think for one second about hygiene?

AirBnB have corrupted the B&B acronym and are gaslighting anyone who thinks their name implies that they offer breakfast.

Sad for real B&Bs who maybe now need a new name to differentiate.

A true B&B is a wonderful place.

What was listed? Did they say breakfast was provided? You have a case if so.
Otherwise, everyone here is right: Airbnb places range from providing an empty fridge to a pint of milk and some fruit to a breakfast or welcome hamper.

also, was there nowhere nearby to buy food? 5pm isn’t exactly the middle of the night.

Well you could Google, but since I'm feeling generous...
https://www.igms.com/airbnb-history/#:~:text=Airbnb%20was%20founded%20by%20Joe,design%20conference%20in%20San%20Francisco.

This is also interesting because it mentions how they branched out from B and B in 2009, changing their name from Airbed & Breakfast to Airbnb to show the change.
https://news.airbnb.com/about-us/

I thought it was pretty common knowledge that AirBnB is basically self catering houses/flats/rooms/apartments/glamping etc

The majority of the places I have booked do not (or it is extra on arrival) and I wouldn't expect it unless it explicitly said in the listing 'includes breakfast'. You sometimes get a welcome basket of bread, jam, biscuits, tea, coffee, milk etc but that is a nice added extra not what I expect.

This made me think that in the UK at least this could be a minefield now, with changes to the law about food allergies.

That would just be a waste of resources for me, I don’t eat bread and jam, and I bring my own milk for coffee because I’m lactose intolerant.

The reason they mention the kitchen facilities is so that you know what you have to cook with 😂

Not like I cook when I’m on holiday, but each to their own.

You can also book an online supermarket food delivery and have it arrive when you do.

As OP has noted, she arrived later than expected. Also, this Airbnb may well be abroad so supermarket delivery not an option

Or maybe it was on Mars.

Was a provision of breakfast listed in the ad? Or are you still going on about your misunderstanding of the ‘b’ in the name of the booking platform?

If anything wasn’t provided that was listed in the description, then I’d mention it to the host and perhaps include it in my review.

AirBnB is the name of the agency through which you book places to stay. This does not mean the places are traditional BnBs. I also book through cottages.com but that doesn’t mean the places are all cottages (quite often they are luxury apartments or even just a standard terraced house).

I’ve never had more than a pint of milk, some teabags and some instant coffee when I’ve booked through AirBnB but I’ve generally had a better “welcome pack” with cottages.com often including some bread for toast.

I'm still trying to work this out! Original post said "it's literally in the name; I book an AirBnB and expect BnB" so I assume the latter...

If breakfast was expressly listed as being provided, and wasn't, that's obviously not right and there's really no need for a long debate about it, just contact the host.

What WAS listed in the advert? Was any food mentioned? You don’t actually say. All you seem to have done is assume they’ll be some breakfast included.

I have stayed in several airbnb's and they were all self catering.

You say you expected what was in the listing, so in the listing, what food did it say was provided?

It is nice if a welcome pack is provided, but not all of them do that. Our last one only provided milk. The one before that was milk and cake.