hosting and breakfast

mille100piedi · 07-05-2017 7:23pm

The_Conductor wrote: »

Do these people have a reasonable expectation that you are offering a B&B service? That appears to be the knux of the issue. From what you've described to me- I probably would expect at very least a continental breakfast type setup. Its not unusual to have facilities to make a cup of tea or have a snack in your room- however, this wouldn't normally be instead of a formal breakfast (unless specifically stated as such).

It really depends on how your room is being advertised- if the site you're using is normally used for bed-and-breakfast- then, yes, the guest would have a reasonable expectation that this is what they were getting- if not- well, its as specified.

It may be the case that you simply have to list on a different site- or be 100% overt that you are letting the room, and what exactly it entails.

Personally- it wouldn't bother me either way- if I had access to a breakfast elsewhere.

guests are not expecting breakfast, we had only problem with the last one. He wanted to use the kitchen when in our listing is written in capital letter that guests can't use the kitchen. But I understand that this particular web site can be confusing. they request hosts to serve breakfast. It is not a service that we really want to provide because 99% of our guests are ok with no breakfast but we might offer some kind of breakfast to the guests of that website if we understand what we can offer. They told us we can serve bread and butter, but
what happen if one of our guest got sick for the food? can they sue us?

Scraggs · 07-05-2017 7:40pm

There will always be people who are not happy and look for refunds in every business. Sometimes complaints are justified and sometimes these people can be total chancers. If you've never had complaints before and are sure that your advert isn't misleading then just write it off and forget about it.

Spanish Eyes · 07-05-2017 7:44pm

Just throw a few croissants and jam into the room in the morning. They can make their own coffee/tea and you will of course put a bit of butter and some milk in the tiny fridge. Add a plate, cup spoon and knife and you will be sorted, and your kitchen will be untouched by your guests.

I don't see the problem here. Unless I was a fully fledged B and B I wouldn't provide a cooked breakfast at all.

mille100piedi · 08-05-2017 12:53pm

I have got the response from Food Safety Authority of Ireland:

You do not need a licence to serve breakfast/food but you do need to register as a food business operator with your local office of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Contact details are listed here: https://www.fsai.ie/make_a_complaint/contact_details_for_hse.html
Regards,

Information Assistant
Food Safety Authority of Ireland
Abbey Court
Lower Abbey Street
Dublin 1
DO1 W2H4

www.fsai.ie  

From a food safety point of view you just need to register regardless of how you are selling the food.
Best wishes,

---- Original Text ----
Thank you very much, do we need to register as a food business operator also if we sell food in single sealed bag?

mille100piedi · 08-05-2017 1:02pm

to be a business operator you have to follow the rules in the link:

https://www.fsai.ie/food_businesses/starting_business.html

no idea how that website is asking hosts to serve breakfast, when serving food it is a complex matter, I guess nothing very bad happened to any guest yet

08-05-2017 2:01pm

I would very much doubt that you have to register in the business type you describe.

If you were keeping a student all term (digs) you would also be serving them meals but they are just a guest in your home so you aren't really running a business, I don't see much of a difference between what you are doing and this.

Lux23 · 08-05-2017 2:06pm

I don't think you will have any legal problems by offering cereals, bread for toasting etc.

mille100piedi · 08-05-2017 2:09pm

Did Food Safety Authority of Ireland give me wrong information?
my question to them was:
Hi, we rent a room trough XXX.com, the company is requesting us to serve breakfast. We thought you need a licence but they told us that we can serve some bread and cereal and we don't need any licence. Is this true? We don't want to risk the health of our guests. Thanks

08-05-2017 2:13pm

I'd really like to know how you are risking the health of your guests by providing breakfast now and not if you provide the same breakfast after filling out a form to say you serve breakfast.

If all you have to do is register then sure why not just do it if that's all that needs to be done.

mille100piedi · 08-05-2017 2:19pm

Ezekiel Gray Cheese wrote: »

I'd really like to know how you are risking the health of your guests by providing breakfast now and not if you provide the same breakfast after filling out a form to say you serve breakfast.

If all you have to do is register then sure why not just do it if that's all that needs to be done.

I guess you didn't open the link I posted

Lumen · 08-05-2017 2:21pm

mille100piedi wrote: »

to be a business operator you have to follow the rules in the link:

https://www.fsai.ie/food_businesses/starting_business.html

no idea how that website is asking hosts to serve breakfast, when serving food it is a complex matter, I guess nothing very bad happened to any guest yet

Those rules don't look onerous. From my reading you only need to register with environmental health so that they can do inspections if they want.

If you think that's unnecessary, consider that even breakfast cereals might be stored in an area infested with mould and mice, and your fridge might be broken and turning the milk off.

For the traceability aspect, just keep receipts. That's just common sense - if your guests find a dead animal in a box of frosties and decide to to sue you for emotional distress, you know who to hold liable.

If you don't like any of this, just withdraw from whichever company is marketing your service and insisting that you serve food.

mille100piedi · 08-05-2017 2:32pm

I do think it is necessary follow the rules and you are right and this is the main reason I wrote this post. You are right the rules are not onerous,
we don't think we will use this website for hosting, but the company should write in their T&C's that to serve food hosts should comply to the rules of the country where their are hosting.

TSQ · 01-10-2018 7:52pm

The_Conductor wrote: »

mille100piedi - ....

Also- there are some rules and regulations regarding operating a B&B type arrangement- however, many of the rules are waived- if you operate 4 or fewer bedrooms- it was brought in to encourage 'On-Farm enterprises' i.e. to encourgage people to make some money from empty bedrooms (up to 4 bedrooms) without needlessly tying them up in regulations/legislation.

Once you go over 4 bedrooms- you need formal certification from a local authority- alongside planning for a change-of-use for the property (as it would no longer qualify for a residential waiver).

Link to a reasonably well researched article here

If anyone monitoring this thread: where do I find more information regarding the waiver for planning permission for B&B of less than 4 bedrooms? I contacted my planning office and was told I would need to apply for change of use to commercial.:rolleyes:

dennyk · 01-10-2018 8:19pm

mille100piedi wrote: »

we don't think we will use this website for hosting, but the company should write in their T&C's that to serve food hosts should comply to the rules of the country where their are hosting.

I'll lay odds that somewhere in their T&Cs they do have some sort of general disclaimer to that effect. Even if they don't, though, it's not the listing company's job to tell hosts that they have to obey the law; the duty would fall on a host to ensure they are fully in compliance with whatever local laws govern the services they are providing.

hosting and breakfast

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