I'm planning on starting a hostel in China and free breakfast is still rare. For Y25-40 (Around US$4-6), the choice is very limited.
Here's what my friend told me when he offered free breakfast last year:
"Avoid these shit. It didn't work at all. We provided them with free coffee, free toast with jams last year. Most people found it very basic and wouldn't give a better rating because of this, 5% of them even complained it. 3 people terribly posted negative reviews (~60%-70%) against us because of the free breakfast. When we didn't give offer breakfast, everything was fine, but these free but basic breakfast finally drew some negative reviews to us. They don't know they're paying Y30 and what it can feasibly bring to them.
They may think everything in China is cheap but didn't know that a Western lifestyle in China could be even more expensive than Europe. Cheese, bacon, coffee, cereal, and butter, cream in China are probably even more expensive than in Europe because they're imported with tariff, but the guests would expect everything in China should be 10% of the European price."
Have anyone got an experience by providing free breakfast for a cheap bed? Is it a feasible option?
To make Chinese breakfast, it's usually cheaper and affordable because nothing is needed to be imported, but many western travelers seem to enjoy a western breakfast more.
13 years
I think you could skip free breakfast without a problem. Off the top of my head I can think of 6 top-quality hostels in Europe I've been to that charge for breakfast and it's not a problem.
My personal preference as a traveler is to pay for a good breakfast than to eat toast and jam, whether it's at the hostel or a restaurant...
13 years
Hello zomac. I recommend using your local fruit,it's not imported and it fits western breakfast profile. I think if you add this to your free breakfast you will see a jump in your reviews. Nothing beats fresh and local!
11 years
Zomac, I agree with you. We are one the very few hostels in Sao Paulo (and Brazil) that does not offer breakfast at all... Its really expensive, and no matter how hard you try, people will complain about it. Solution? No breakfast!
11 years
Then people complain about having no breakfast....
I recently got two complaints from my guests on hostelworld about no breakfast. Their ratings were 91~94% so I think it's not really a big issue.
Anyway, since yesterday we don't say "no breakfast is provided here". Instead, we say "please support our local community and eat at local restaurants." Meanwhile we also help them order delivery. They're also encouraged to cook by themselves.
Do you have any suggestions on better wording for us?
11 years
That can work especially well if you work out a deal with some of the local restaurants. Maybe they would be willing to offer exclusive discounts for your guests, like buy a meal and get a free dessert. Deals could be especially interesting for the restaurant if they encourage repeat business. For example, buy a meal today and get a voucher for 50% off your meal tomorrow. (with a “valid from” date on the voucher, so they have to come back another day)
As far as wording goes, maybe something like this would work for you: “The hostel doesn’t provide breakfast, but we will be happy to help you find amazing local food at a price you can’t beat. You won’t find these deals in any travel guide, so ask us for recommendations!”
11 years
It depends were you are located if you are downtown next to resturants their is no need to offer more than coffee toast and jam but if located in farm hostel they expect to have toast milk juice coffee and oatmeal to offer more becomes too expensive unless you have a group that requests and books (pays) for with bed as you have too much food not eaten and staff costs for a small number of people to use it
11 years
Being on a farm, do people expect to get fresh eggs?
Courtney mentioned Jack in the Green in her blog. They set out an egg basket and sell them for 50 cents each through an honor system. This could be a way to supplement breakfast, assuming of course that you have chickens.
11 years
They expect us to have eggs in the fridge but we only cook them on weekends(upon request) we buy the eggs from a local farm at $2. per dozen. I make it clear that if they want they can cook eggs anytime of day. It is easy as the farmer that has the chickens drops in when ever i need them has i help to crop his land Chickens are not a good mix with a hostel because of smells from the chickens and time it takes to look after them.WE run short staff as the hostel manager also does the books answers the phone for the repair shop and trucking co.
9 years
HW has recently announced that they will be labeling properties with a new “Free Breakfast and Wifi” icon.
Their data indicate that those are the two most important things for travelers when choosing a hostel, so they’re going to promote all the properties that offer both of those things to differentiate them from the ones who don't.
Personally I prefer not to advertise breakfast, but to offer guests something to eat anyway. Doing this has actually improved the way our breakfast is received.
Literally as soon as we switched from advertising “free breakfast” to “no breakfast” our rating improved and our reviews changed from condemning us for a crappy breakfast to praising us for being generous. The cereal we offered was exactly the same in both cases.
We don’t do it, but offering a paid breakfast is also a good idea. The act of paying adds a perception of value to the food. Things that come for free are all too often unappreciated.
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