As we’ve all heard many times, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s also the meal that many of us most look forward to as it gets us out of bed, tastes delicious and sets us up for the rest of the day. In fact, one of the best things about travelling and staying in a hotel is often the hotel breakfast.
Eating breakfast at your hotel saves you the hassle of having to search for and travel to a nearby restaurant. You can simply get up and amble over to the breakfast area at your leisure (within the set breakfast times, of course) and enjoy a great meal while planning your itinerary for the day. More than the convenience, it’s also cost-effective as many hotels include breakfast in the room price.
As the owner of a hotel, you may be wondering – how can I create the perfect hotel breakfast experience? Your hotel breakfast is a key opportunity for you to leave a lasting impression on your guests and show off your cooking and customer service skills. However, it’s also an area where many hotels tend to go wrong. Avoid being one of them by reading on for some top tips to help you create a breakfast that leaves your guests coming back for more:
Create clear labels to make it easy for your guests to work out what they’re eating
If you’re serving a hotel breakfast buffet, do everything that you can to make it easy for the guests to navigate. A common error that many hotel owners make is that they don’t label all the different dishes they’re serving. Not only does this make it difficult for guests to work out if they actually want what’s in front of them, but it also makes it tougher for those guests with food intolerances and allergies to work out if they can actually eat it.
We’d recommend getting creative with the labels to make more of an impression. For instance, instead of just putting ‘scrambled eggs’, you could write ‘Edna’s famous cheesy scrambled eggs’ (or whatever the chef’s name is). Try and make the labels as personal and descriptive as possible, including interesting information about the ingredients and where they’re from.
Another perk of adding food labels? It’ll save your staff a lot of time spent answering questions on what everything is!
Provide your guests with guidance
Many hoteliers serve breakfast buffets, which offers guests a huge amount of choice and variety for their meal. However, having a lot of choice also has its downsides. It can be confusing for guests to decide what to pick and they may end up making some odd combinations that don’t work together taste-wise.
Help out your guests by guiding and helping them to choose the best things and the best combination. You could include a menu filled with ideas of how to combine the different items and what goes best with what. Your staff could also provide guidance by answering any questions about the menu, even if it is a self-serve buffet.
Buy breakfast items in bulk
Make sure you don’t go ‘out of stock’ by buying commonly used breakfast items such as butter in bulk. Look for great local wholesale food suppliers and see whether you can stock up on items that you know you’re likely to run out of on a regular basis. By buying items such as bulk juice and bulk butter, you’ll also be able to save money by negotiating on a better wholesale price.
Supply colouring sheets to keep children occupied
Many of your hotel guests will be travelling with their family, so keep the needs of your younger guests in mind. As many great family restaurants do, we’d recommend supplying a couple of colouring sheets and crayons to keep the little ones occupied so their parents can relax and enjoy their breakfast. We’d also recommend providing children’s menus if you get a lot of young guests and options that they can enjoy.
Little touches such as this turn breakfast time into a family experience and guests are sure to remember how you’ve kept the needs of everyone in mind.
Remember, service plays a huge part in the breakfast experience
Hotel breakfasts aren’t just about the food, they’re also about the service and the ambience – and much of the ambience is created by how friendly the staff are. Train your staff to be impeccable service providers and always be welcoming and patient. A rude or dismissive attitude is sure to leave your guests unhappy, no matter how great your food is or how beautifully it is presented.
Provide a range of fresh and healthy options
As people are now more health-conscious than ever, make sure that you provide enough healthy options to keep all your guests satisfied. This could include everything from fresh and organic fruit and yoghurt to a smoothie station and low-calorie cereals.
Add some local items to the menu
Travellers want to learn more about the place they are visiting. Source local food items from wholesale food suppliers and add these to the menu so your guests can get a taste of local cuisine in the comfort of their hotel. These are sure to get visitors that are new to the area excited as they’ll also learn something new about the locality. Try and find fruit and vegetables that are locally grown at nearby farms.
Introduce freshly baked goods to the mix
Who doesn’t love fresh croissants? Get freshly baked goods from a local bakery, or better yet, get these baked in-house so your guests can come down to the delicious aroma of fresh bread.
Create an inviting breakfast space
Try and choose a room that is filled with natural light to serve your breakfast in. Create ambience with music and make sure that all your food is beautifully presented. Work with an interior designer to create a space that is filled with comfortable fabrics and light colours. You want your guests to enjoy the first meal of the day in a peaceful and serene space.
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Looking for high-quality dairy products in London?
At Freshways, we’re committed to providing all of our clients across the UK with the very best and freshest milk and dairy products (butter included!). We’re a friendly, independent and family-run wholesale business and always endeavour to provide the best service as well as the best products.
To find out more, please contact us today. You can find us at 16 Eastman Road, Acton, London, W3 7YG, call us on 0208 746 2046 or email us at info@freshways.co.uk.