Running a bed and breakfast is hard work. Long hours, early starts, a lengthy list of cleaning jobs, and potential disruption to your evening or even nights if your guests are less than considerate. The shorter the duration of a guest’s stay, the more work there is for you to do. Since ‘breakfast’ is one of the defining factors of your work, you know how important it is to get it right. Although, having stayed in a few B&Bs which don’t quite live up to expectations ourselves, not everyone does… These days, a coffee to kick-start the day is absolutely standard for millions of people. The coffee you serve at breakfast matters – and that means your coffee machine matters. Are you still using a percolator or a drip brew? Is black or white – with some UHT milk or cream – the only variety on offer? Just that little detail could be letting your B&B down, harming the prospects of repeat business.
Choosing the best coffee machine for a B&B is, in one way, pretty straightforward. You don’t get a huge number of people passing through your dining room, after all. So, you want a high-quality coffee machine that doesn’t need to handle high volumes.
But then you have a choice between two types of coffee machine. Do you want – or have time – to run a proper espresso machine? We give introductory training when we lease espresso machines, so you don’t need to worry if you don’t know your baristas from your barristers. But espresso machines aren’t self-service, so you are giving yourself another job to do. The results – in customer perception and added value – are impressive, however.
Your other option is a small bean-to-cup machine. These machines automatically dispense coffee with the press of a button. All you need to do is make sure there’s water available, coffee beans in the hopper, and milk. The cleaning pretty much takes care of itself, too, as the machines have built-in cleaning cycles.
The advantages of bean-to-cup coffee machines for bed and breakfast owners are clear: minimal maintenance, cost-effective leases with no up-front capital costs, a selection of coffee drinks for guests, no need for barista skills and as much availability as you want your guests to have. You could even dispense with the sachets of tea bags and instant coffee and pots of long-life milk you put out in each room daily.
For guidance as to the best budget bean-to-cup machine for your business, and a quote to meet your budget, contact our team for a no-obligation, no-pressure chat on 0800 840 9023 or email info@nationwidecoffee.co.uk today.