Hi, it’s Karen here from Bed and Breakfast Academy.
And today, we’re diving into something a bit more fun — the seven things B&B owners will never agree on.
From the great toast debate to whether you should leave cake in the guest room, I’ll be sharing some of the quirks and strong opinions that make running a B&B so interesting — and why none of us seem to agree on the “right” way to do things.
And actually whilst there are some things that do need to be done a certain way across all B&Bs - the legal stuff, changing sheets between guests etc. there are far more things that B&B owners need to decide on which make their own B&B unique
But first — if this is your first time listening, welcome!
I’m the founder of Bed and Breakfast Academy, where I help aspiring and existing B&B owners create a lifestyle and business they genuinely enjoy — one that attracts guests who keep coming back.
I started my working life as an IT graduate for British Airways where I worked for 16 years before giving it all up to move to the country. I ran my own award-winning B&B in the Shropshire countryside for 17 years. And since 2006, I’ve trained hundreds of people to set up and run successful bed and breakfasts of their own.
Before we get stuck in, a quick reminder that I’ve got two online courses available.
A short, practical mini course — ideal if you’re still in the decision-making stage.
And my full online B&B course — packed with practical tips and real-world advice from 17 years of running a B&B myself. I’ve just updated the course notes, which gave me the inspiration for this podcast with the accompanying blog post and I’m reminded how much is included in the course.
You’ll find all the details of the courses at bandbacademy.co.uk.
Right — let’s get into today’s episode.
So, should guests make their own toast or be served?
Ah, toast. The cornerstone of many a B&B breakfast argument.
Some owners swear by putting a toaster out in the dining room so guests can help themselves. The toast is hot, the guests get it exactly when and how they like it — lightly warmed or completely cremated — and it’s one less thing for you to juggle when the orders start rolling in.
On the downside of letting guests make their own toast is the inevitable toaster traffic jam, the waft of burnt crumbs in the air, and the guest who loudly announces, “If I wanted to make my own breakfast, I’d have booked self-catering.”
Other B&B owners prefer to make toast in the kitchen and serve it on a rack or in a basket. It looks more polished, you avoid the chaos, and the dining room stays calm and tidy. But the downside?
you're already juggling six breakfast specials on your own, and then a guest says they’d like their toast served exactly five minutes after they finish their cooked breakfast — and, ideally, matching a specific Pantone shade of golden brown...and the exact temperature they’d liek it served… But still Someone will say, “It’s gone a bit cold.” Always.
There’s no winning with toast. Just decide what works best for you and your business.
My solution? I used to bring out the cooked breakfast and offer to pop their toast in the toaster as I passed it on my way back to the kitchen. Guests invariably said, “No, we’ll do it,” but it felt like I’d done my bit.
Next up, the question of whether to use one large shared table or individual tables at breakfast.
This one really divides opinion — and it always came up in discussion on the courses.
A big communal table can create a lovely sociable atmosphere, especially in smaller B&Bs where it's all about the farmhouse communal feel. Guests chat, swap travel tips, and sometimes even become friends.
But not everyone wants to make small talk at 8am. Especially not with strangers. My husband hates communal tables with a passion.
When I first started running the B&B, I had one large table — mainly because the dining room was too small for three individual ones. It worked, but it came with challenges. I had repeat guests asking, “Can you find out what time the others want breakfast so we can come down before — or after — them?”
And then there were the mismatched personalities. One couple wants to chat, the other clearly doesn’t. More than once I found myself playing the role of cabaret act or breakfast facilitator — while also juggling six different specials and perfectly timed toast...
Individual tables offer guests more privacy and flexibility. They’re especially appreciated by solo travellers or couples who want a quiet start to the day. And in smaller dining rooms, they’re usually close enough that guests can chat if they want to — without it feeling rude if they don’t.
The downside? They take up more space, and you’ll need to be more organised with your service.
Now let’s get into the sauce situation — bottles or ramekins?
Red or brown? That’s one argument. But then there’s the bigger question: sauce or no sauce? Bottle or ramekin?
Some B&B owners won’t serve sauce at all. You’ve spent time crafting a beautiful breakfast — only for it to be smothered in ketchup or drowned in brown sauce.
Personally, I don’t eat eggs, so a full English can feel a bit dry without something to dip my sausages in. I really can't eat brown sauce, and I don’t like ketchup touching the rest of my breakfast. And sauce with bacon — who are you??
That said, even I cried a little inside when a guest once asked for ketchup to pour over the hollandaise I’d just made from scratch.
Some B&Bs keep it simple and put the bottle straight on the table. It’s what guests are used to, saves on washing up, and avoids confusion. But there’s a hygiene side to it — bottles should be stored in the fridge and wiped down regularly.
Others decant sauces into ramekins. It looks smarter, feels a bit more polished, and stops guests covering their entire plate. But it’s not perfect — you can end up with a lot of wasted sauce. Plus, you’re left with yet another thing to top up, clean, and keep track of.
As always, it comes down to what fits your B&B. A ramekin might feel over the top in a rustic setting, but a sticky bottle on a linen tablecloth might not go down well with your boutique-loving crowd.
Let’s move on to the atmosphere in the dining room — background music or silence?
Some B&Bs like to have gentle music playing in the background at breakfast. A bit of light jazz or acoustic guitar can make the room feel warm and welcoming. It helps break awkward silences, especially if only a couple of guests are in.
But not everyone wants music in the morning. For some, it’s distracting, annoying, or just not what they were expecting from a peaceful countryside break. And if you play music in public areas, you may need a music licence, which adds cost and admin.
On the other hand, no music can make the room feel a bit cold or formal, particularly if everyone’s whispering.
If you do go down the music route, keep it low and non-offensive. No ‘80s power ballads before 9am. Unless that’s your niche — in which case, go for it.
Now for one of the most surprisingly controversial topics — baked beans.
A few years ago I posted — very tongue in cheek — on Instagram asking whether baked beans really belonged on a cooked breakfast. I was amazed by the sheer number of comments, and even more amazed at how angry some people got.
Just goes to show: you take your life in your hands when you mess with a British person's idea of what a proper cooked breakfast should — or shouldn't — include.
For many guests, it’s not a proper breakfast without baked beans. They’re cheap, easy to serve, and expected. Portioning them into ramekins keeps the plate looking tidy and avoids bean juice leaking into the mushrooms (which, for some guests, is a crime). Of course, others hate ramekins and want their beans exactly where they belong — right on the plate.
There was one memorable morning when I realised, just before breakfast, that I only had a single-portion pot of beans left — and six full breakfasts to serve. I brazenly split it between the plates: about seven beans each, and gave my guests a firm “don’t ask” glare as I served them.
Not everyone wants them though. Some guests push the ramekin to one side untouched. And some owners drop them from the menu completely, especially if they’re aiming for a more modern or minimalist take on breakfast.
At one point I announced to my husband that I was removing beans altogether because they made the plates look messy. He told me it was a terrible idea. He was staying in a hotel at the time and said half the guests were asking for baked beans — even though they weren’t listed anywhere.
So if you’re offering a traditional cooked breakfast, it’s probably best to at least give guests the option — whatever your personal feelings are about bean juice on a mushroom.
Now let’s talk about cake in the guest room.
Cake in the guest room feels like a lovely touch — a little welcome treat after a long journey. It’s also a great way to stand out from the crowd, and guests often mention it in reviews. It was really popular at my B&B and almost always got a mention.
But it’s not always practical. Cakes go stale, create crumbs, and add another task to your already-long to-do list. Then there’s the growing number of dietary requirements — gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free — and suddenly your homemade lemon drizzle is causing more stress than it’s worth.
Some owners get round this by offering cake in a communal area, or by giving it as an afternoon treat instead. Others skip it altogether and focus on a warm welcome and a good night’s sleep.
Do what feels sustainable for you. And remember — guests don’t expect cake (unless they're regulars who expect it or you advertise it), they just really like it when it’s there.
And finally, afternoon tea on arrival — is it a lovely touch or just too much?
When I first started, I used to offer afternoon tea and cake to guests on arrival. It sounded like the perfect welcome — and it was lovely in theory. But in reality, it often meant I’d end up chatting for hours, just when I was exhausted from a full day of cooking, cleaning, and prepping for the next morning.
I was still new to B&Bing at the time and hadn’t yet mastered the all-important skill of politely extracting myself from a conversation. So I’d end up stuck in the dining room, nodding along, while my to-do list sat untouched in the kitchen and my daughter waited for her after-school chat — one of the reasons I wanted to work from home in the first place.
Back when I first started, the quality assessor more or less insisted on certain things if you wanted a five star rating. Afternoon tea on arrival was one of them. Another was having a couple of sofas in the guest lounge — even though mine were rarely, if ever, used.
My B&B was rated Five Star Gold through the Visit England scheme, which I was really proud of. But over time, I realised that some of the requirements didn’t really suit me, or the kind of B&B I wanted to run.
I felt I knew my guests pretty well by then. I knew what they valued and what they didn’t. And I was confident I could continue offering the level of service they appreciated — without ticking every single box on the checklist.
So I made the decision to leave the scheme. And honestly, the number of repeat guests I had was all the proof I needed that I’d made the right choice.
But that’s probably a topic for another podcast!
And honestly, a lot of guests don’t arrive expecting a full afternoon tea. They’re usually tired, ready to flop into a chair, have a wee, and unwind after their journey — not a full-on cream tea with conversation on tap.
If you do offer it, I’d suggest putting a time limit on it — for example, only for guests arriving between 4 and 5.30pm. Otherwise, it can eat into your evening. I once had someone ask if they should be serving it to guests due to arrive after 10pm. That’s a very firm no from me.
This might make me sound like an anti-social cow, but guests got my full attention after breakfast, when we were all a bit more relaxed — and I wasn’t worrying about whether the scones were drying out or whether I’d missed yet another moment with my daughter.
So to wrap up...
You can serve toast in a basket, ramekins of sauce, music or silence, cake or no cake — and someone will still think you’re doing it wrong.
That’s OK.
What matters most is knowing the kind of B&B you want to run and the kind of guests you want to attract.
Which is why I go into so much detail in the first 2 modules of the B&B course helping you to get really clear on that for your own B&B.
Aim to get it right for most of your guests, most of the time. And don’t let one review about lukewarm toast send you into a spiral.
There's no one perfect way to run a B&B — despite what that grumpy guest on Tripadvisor says.
________________
So that's the end of the podcast. For many more blogs and also a growing library of podcast episodes, head over to my website, bnbacademy. co. uk. And as I said, there, you can find my main online BNB course, how to set up, run and market a BNB, and also the mini workshop, which is the first step.
That's of running a bed and breakfast, which comes with a few extra bonuses. And that is for those of you who aren't sure whether running a B& B is for you yet or not, or you're still at those very early stages. If you are listening to my podcast on Spotify or Apple, please do go ahead and hit the subscribe button.
That really does help me. The more people that subscribe, the more people get to hear my podcast and the more content I can produce. Thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of your week or weekend whenever you're listening and bye for now.
