Whether your establishment offers a free continental breakfast, or a more hearty breakfast dining experience, the tips in this article will help you to:
- Improve the current flow of foot traffic
- Consider special diets and challenges your customers face
- Get creative with your space and offerings
- Save money
Learn how to take your breakfast offerings up a notch as we dig into the challenges often associated with this morning ritual.
GUEST PERSPECTIVES
- Awareness - Do guests know what your breakfast offerings are? In an age of many food allergies and dietary restrictions, it is helpful for guests to be able to plan ahead before they arrive in the breakfast line. A guest who knows ahead of time what to expect can make proper arrangements and avoid disappointment.
- Variety - Take special diets into consideration. Do you have healthful options? Vegan and vegetarian choices? Anything for gluten free patrons? While you don't have to hit on every special diet, offering a variety that can meet many peoples' needs can go a long way when it comes to customer satisfaction.
- Efficiency - Whether guests are traveling for business or pleasure, there is likely somewhere they need to be in the morning. And when the breakfast area is clogged with lines, it makes this morning meal more of a hassle than an enjoyable experience.
CHALLENGES OWNER-OPERATORS FACE
Offering breakfast is expensive, and often exceeds the cost per occupied room. And despite the spend, it doesn't usually lead to customer happiness.
As noted in a recent article from Lodging Magazine, the breakfast bar is typically one of the lowest scoring departments on guest surveys. So what can owner-operators do to fix this conundrum?
CONSIDER THESE SOLUTIONS
- Instead of forming a line for breakfast, consider buffet stations instead. Stations cut down on wait times because guests only need to visit their areas of interest.
- Implement a produce station displayed separately from other foods. Even guests with very strict diets or severe allergies will be able to enjoy this area worry-free.
- Create a separate space for breakfast beverages. While you might offer coffee and tea throughout the day, create a separate space for the special breakfast offerings, including coffee, tea, juice and miniature smoothies. Likely guests will visit this area more than once during breakfast, and keeping this well-trafficked area away from the food will mitigate a clogged dining area.
Switching to buffet stations will not only save your guests time and frustration, it will also build your bank account. When guests are funneled through a single line, they load up their plate to avoid a second trip. The problem with filling plates? It creates waste. Whether guests get too full, the food gets too cold, or guests don't enjoy a particular menu item, large amounts of food will get thrown away, which means your dollars end up down the drain and in the trash.
With separate serving stations, guests can take small portions without feeling rushed or anxious. This keeps their food hot and allows guests time to decide what they actually want to eat, rather than stocking up for fear of missing out altogether. When guests can return quickly and easily to the breakfast area, the result is less food waste and less frustration for both parties.
Breakfast buffet service stations solve a variety of dining challenges for hotels.
Discover how innovation and design can elevate your hotel's breakfast experience when you read the Guide to Buffet Service Stations from Mogogo. You'll get a first hand look at how the right buffet serving solutions can help eliminate some of the challenges associated with full and continental breakfast.
