What should I include in the continental breakfast for my Days Inn franchise?

The biggest item for most people is coffee that is not old and creamer.

I personally would look into a coffee machine. It uses a coffee concentrate. The reason for this is you don't have to mess with brewing, storing etc.

Royal cup, parks brothers, Edward don, you can also purchase your own.

Royal cup juice machine uses shelf stable juices so no need for a fridge/freezer to store them in.

Also offer a plain Creamer and you can use bulk flavored one like french vanilla. You can rotate the flavor every quarter.

Also any type of mini muffin, Danish will work. Again rotate them.

Cereal and milk. You can use cold pitcher and bulk milk. Maybe only do those on busy days like weekends.

These are some of the items that most people like or look for. No one is going to a days inn expecting a hot breakfast.

Also use the term cold Continental breakfast. I have found so many people don't understand what Continental means.

simple breakfasts like this lead to disappointed customers and negative reviews.

Seriously though. People just don't understand what a continental or light breakfast is. Drives me up the wall. We have two types of bread, waffle makers, two types of fruit, three types of cereal, granola bars, coffee and two types of juice and people still complain about the breakfast.

If you're really feeling generous, you can keep the coffee station out in the lobby and have 24 hour coffee.

No matter what you make it's not going to be enough for people. Everyone wants Ritz-Carlton service at Days Inn prices

Bagels and cream cheese

Donuts

This is what we serve at our continental breakfast:

Cold, boiled eggs Yogurt Oatmeal Croissants Toast Bagels Waffles Muffins Fresh fruit Cereal (gluten-free cereal as well) Coffee Tea Fruit juice

Be prepared that some guests will absolutely love what you offer for continental breakfast, and some people will complain that you don't serve hashbrowns or bacon...even though you only advertise that it's a continental.

Just make sure it is fresh and not reused products from day to day, mixed in with out of date items.

Those packaged breakfast sandwiches that you nuke. Muffins. Bananas.

If you could swing it, I would put baked goods from Costco or Sam's Club if you have one nearby. Really could make a difference. I also second the coffee suggestions from other people on this post. Good coffee goes a long way.

I really love the Folgers automatic coffee machine at this best western I’m sitting in. It barfs out pretty credible lattes and such.

Get yourself a waffle maker. That is the single most cost-effective breakfast item you'll ever have. Some ten or so years ago, a waffle cost the hotel about $0.25. Add on a little bit of syrup and butter, and it's a filling breakfast item that will help you keep your food costs down.

Here’s what I have learned working in the hotel industry for a long time. If you had Gordon Ramsay on a made to order omelette station, guests are still going to gripe about breakfast offerings.

Access to hot water with tea bags and instant oatmeal
Coffee that is kept fresh with creamer and a "real" cold optoin like half & half or milk
cereal last forever and goes well with milk from above. Some Danish or muffins is basically all you need food-wise.
Bananas, oranges, and maybe apples all are a ncie, really make it look good, and are at the sweet intersection of cheap and popular.

On weekends, if you want to get fancy add Bread and a toaster with shelf-stable butter and jam packets bulk-purchased off amazon, and/or hard boiled eggs. Bread freezes well for loooong times so you can catch it on sale, and eggs have a shelf life long enough to get 3 weekends out of them kept cold.

I would honestly set out fruit (apples, bananas, oranges or cuties) and maybe individually packaged pastries, that way you can set them out again. An assortment of instant oatmeals where they could just use a hot water tap used for tea or coffee.

Coming from a Wyndham property to an independent, I can say this. Stick with the brand standards they’ve laid out in the book. Those VP of Development get pissy and will “write you up”. The brand standards book will give you the supplier options that they’ve negotiated with for the best pricing. Guest Supply, Sysco, Farmer Brothers are pretty much the go to’s.

Cereal cups are good. Small cartons of fruit.

Fresh fruit. Containers of yogurt.

Our hotel offers a hot breakfast bar with oatmeal (toppings), scrambled eggs, potatoes, meat (changes daily). Boiled eggs, sliced cheese. It rotates on a daily basis.

If you want to make a breakfast sandwich you can. There is a toaster and selections of bread.

What is your budget for breakfasts? Per person in a sold out scenario.

Who will prepare, set up, clean and tear down the whole thing?

I use the term Lite Continental breakfast. What is your target audience?

I like to have fresh coffee at 5am- people of the working class find it hard to sleep in, so coffee at this hour is a bonus.

I would steer clear of toasters and griddles, liability.

Small yogurts, cottage cheese cups

Banana, apples, oranges

Tray of pastries cut and placed for self serve with use of tongs. Can control cost instead of prepackaged items.

Lastly, kids love Pop Tarts- brand. They don’t care about toasting them. They may have Pop Tarts that come one in a package.

Make sure you offer an option or options that are gluten-free, even if it is as basic as yogurt and fruit. I can't tell you how many times I've walked away empty-handed from a continental breakfast because the only options were pastries or boxed cereal.

I went and checked, we have 6 kinds of cereal, 5 flavors of instant oatmeal, 3 types of mini muffins, 2 breads, 2 bagels, 4 yogurts, waffles. Regular and decaf coffee, hot water for tea and hot chocolate. 3 flavors of juice. And we have two types of hot foods every day, usually turkey bacon or sausage, scrambled eggs with or without cheese, rosemary potatoes, pancakes, or biscuits and gravy. They have a set hot selection for each day of the week. The only thing we are missing is granola to mix in the yogurt.

There is a Days Inn that I stay at several days yearly - only hotel within 25 miles of the business I serve - and the offerings are not worth stopping in for. Packaged high sugar stuff, dry cereal, terrible coffee. If I was inclined to complain that would be my complaint. We usually go to the local Waffle House or another local breakfast restaurant. It's sad. I hope you do better.

Hard boiled eggs, toast, juice, coffee, fresh fruit if possible.

Belgium frozen waffles instead of danishes...

I pick hotels based on free breakfast. Almost everyone had these things.

coffee and tea.

apple and orange juice. In one of those machines.

They had cereal, individual oatmeal packets, milk in mini cartons and small yogurts in a mini fridge. Usually blueberry and strawberry yogurt.

Bagels, bread , mini muffins, danish with butter, cream cheese, jelly and peanut butter (in individual packets).

Apple, bananas and oranges.

Those items have always covered everyone’s breakfast needs.

Make your own waffles. Contact either carbons golden malted or Heartland and they'll provide you free equipment as long as you order from them.

Maybe biscuits and sausage gravy. And maybe scrambled eggs and sausages.

You should contact US Foods or Sysco and see what their prices are for you. If not, you could always get a membership at some place like restaurant depot.

Please provide fresh milk for the coffee. Bagels and cream cheese and yogurt.

I would appreciate a healthy sugar substitute like stevia...the green packets. And if possible, a non dairy healthy milk for creamer (like oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, etc). Thanks!!

Half-n-half as opposed to fake creamer, and I’m yours for life. We proudly offer L of L creamers, real, in our Airbnb. For the non-purists, a variety of those mini fake-flavored ones.

Coffee, orange juice, milk, and at least one other beverage option whether it's a juice or whatever.

If yall do hot breakfast.. Pancakes or waffles. Toast, bagels, eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes or hash browns, fruit. Biscuits and gravy is always good if you're someplace that eats that. A couple of cereal options maybe. Places I've stayed always have had oatmeal but I've never once seen someone eat it. 😂

As far as cold options go, cereal, fruit, and granola are good options. Muffins, donuts, or danishes are nice as well.

Go visit some other hotels that offer a basic continental breakfast to get ideas. So simple to do.