Before you decide, consider these comments -- both pro and con -- from professional innkeepers who posted their comments in our bed and breakfast discussion forum.
Why You Should Provide a Microwave for Guests
"We have a microwave for guest use. I used to keep microwave popcorn for guests but all I needed was for one person to burn a bag and smell up the whole house and I did away with that. Mostly folks use [the microwave] to heat up water for tea or hot chocolate, even though I have a hot pot there as well. Sometimes, however, if we have guests who are on a budget, they use it to heat up leftovers from a previous night's dinner or to heat up, say, a sub sandwich. I haven't had any problems with that. I just have to make sure to remember to open it up occasionally to see if it needs cleaned."
"We have someone who is coming for two weeks that wanted to be able to have access to a microwave. Since we don't want them wandering in the kitchen to use our microwave, we think that we are going to get a small one and put it in one of the common rooms, probably the sunroom so that the smells do not wander up to the guestrooms."
"We [have] a small $30 microwave in the common room/office. I had one guest burn popcorn. She was the only guest. From that time on (maybe I already had one), [we posted] a sign stating 'popcorn, 3 minutes; beverages, 1 minute.' We actually have three microwaves: our basic one on the counter, a GE Profile 110 convection oven, and a guest microwave."
Why You Should Not Provide a Microwave for Guests
"No microwave for my guests! I don't want food smells on the guest room floor. Personally, I can't stand the smell of microwave popcorn and I don't like smelling food when I sleep. I (offer) beverage-making facilities and provide cookies and have a guest fridge."
"...like when someone dares microwave fish! In Seattle, people would catch salmon and bring them in to work for everyone to share... (It) used to smell for weeks! Grossed me out."
"We really haven't had anyone even want to use the microwave, except a couple who popped some popcorn one night and sat out on the porch and had it. But then we don't advertise our rooms like a hotel, so people know they won't be bringing in their own food."
"Bed and breakfasts in our community are not allowed to provide cooking facilities of any kind for guests. ... I do provide a guest fridge (and it's saved me untold aggrevation) for guests who bring picnic stuff, etc."
"I don't allow guests the use of our kitchen and that includes the microwave. I (only provide) a guest refrigerator with bottled water and juices and the in-room hotpots with a tray of teas,cocoa and coffee singles, etc. In all of these years, only two guests have asked to have something warmed up (leftovers from dinner), so I heated them in our microwave."
Making Your Decision
As you can see, professional innkeepers disagree on this issue. So you will need to consider the pros and cons and make up your own mind. But do check your local and state regulations -- as one innkeeper pointed out, some areas prohibit providing any cooking facilities at all to your guests.
