Direct answer: with Cityflow, the hotel pays a monthly fee per bike and decides how much the guest pays. What we suggest: free for guests who book on your website and a daily price for those who arrive through an OTA. The bikes carry your brand, unlock with the room key and your front desk has nothing to do.
Cityflow takes care of maintenance, charging, insurance, GPS and support. Below are the questions that come up in every meeting with a hotel manager, with short answers. If you'd rather see it at a glance, it's on electric bikes for hotels.
How does a guest pick up a bike?
If your hotel has NFC keys, the guest taps the bike with the same card that opens their room and it unlocks. No app, no QR code, no sign-up. Not every lock is the same: we test yours before installing anything.
From there, the rental works like this:
- The rental screen and the help appear in the language of their phone.
- They can take several bikes on the same rental, for a family or a group.
- During the ride, they can lock the bike without ending the rental and unlock it again when they come back to it.
- When they're done, they leave it at the hotel, close the lock and tap “End rental”.
The bikes are only for your guests: they're picked up and returned at your hotel.
What does reception need to do?
Nothing. No handing out keys, no taking payments, no paperwork, no storing batteries. If a guest has a problem, the Help button opens a chat with Cityflow, not with your front desk. If the bike breaks down mid-ride, they let us know and we go out, not your receptionist.
What the hotel does decide is three things:
- Where the bikes are parked. They're built to sleep outdoors: at the door or on the street.
- How much guests who arrive through an OTA pay.
- What time the bikes are returned.
Who pays, and how much?
There are two separate payments, and it's worth keeping them apart.
What the hotel pays. A monthly fee per bike. It's on request: we quote it based on your hotel's numbers, not from a price list.
What the guest pays. You decide. Our suggestion is to make it free for guests who booked on the hotel's website and to charge a daily price to those who came through Booking, Expedia or another OTA; for example, €10 a day. The price shows on screen before they confirm.
The logic works two ways. What OTA guests pay goes towards covering the fee. And since the free bike only exists on your website, you give guests a reason to book direct that isn't yet another discount.
A real example: Petit Palace, a hotel chain that works with Cityflow, puts it like this in its FAQ: the bikes are free for guests who book their stay directly on its website.
| Guest model | Booked on your website | Came through an OTA | What the hotel gets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed (what we suggest) | Free | A daily price (for example, €10) | Covers the fee and drives direct bookings |
| All-inclusive | Free | Free | An amenity for everyone; the hotel covers the fee |
| Everyone pays | A daily price | A daily price | Covers the fee, but loses the direct-booking argument |
Is it better to buy the bikes, lease them or go for a revenue share?
There are four common ways to have bikes at a hotel. What changes between them isn't so much the bike as who carries the work when something goes wrong.
| Buy | Leasing | Revenue share | Cityflow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What the hotel pays | The bikes, the locks and the repairs | A fee | Nothing: it takes a cut of each rental | A fee per bike, with no upfront investment |
| What the guest pays | Whatever the hotel decides | Whatever the hotel decides | Always pays | Whatever the hotel decides |
| Maintenance and breakdowns | Your team or a workshop | Depends on the contract | The operator | Cityflow, included |
| Theft | Your problem | Depends on the contract | Depends on the operator | Cityflow: GPS, smart lock and insurance |
| Work for reception | Keys, payments and batteries | Handovers and returns | Depends on the operator | None |
| Brand on the bike | Yours | Depends on the provider | The operator's | Yours |
| If it stops making sense | The bikes end up in the basement | Depends on the contract | Depends on the contract | We take them away, no minimum term |
What if a bike breaks, runs out of battery or gets stolen?
That's our problem, not yours. The bikes have GPS and a smart lock, and they're insured. Maintenance and repairs are included: you won't get an invoice for a flat tyre or for a bike that doesn't come back.
The lock doesn't depend on the guest. If they forget, the bike stays locked anyway, which is exactly where bikes go missing with other systems. And on a full battery the bike covers about 40 km, with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h, the legal limit in Spain.
How many bikes does my hotel need?
It depends on your rooms and your occupancy, not on a table. Tell us how many rooms you have and we'll tell you how many to start with. If they fall short, we add more.
To give you an idea of how they're used, across our accommodation operation:
- Each booking takes 1.2 bikes on average.
- The median rental lasts 8.3 hours.
- Most returns happen between 7 pm and 9 pm.
- 38.8% of guests rent again.
It's not a one-hour ride: it's how the guest gets around during the day. You'll find these figures, with their methodology, in our operating data.
Is there a minimum term?
No. If the service stops making sense for your hotel, we take the bikes away and that's it. You don't end up with idle bikes in the basement, which is what happens when a hotel buys them and stops using them.
What should you ask any provider?
Before signing with anyone, these six questions will save you surprises:
- Who maintains the bikes, and where do they spend the night?
- What happens if a bike breaks down several kilometres from the hotel?
- Who pays for a stolen bike or a flat tyre?
- What does reception have to do for each rental?
- Does the bike carry my hotel's brand or the provider's?
- Can I walk away without a penalty if it doesn't work?
Who already uses it?
Cityflow operates in 9 Spanish provinces, with a page of its own for each capital (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao, Pamplona and Salamanca) and has logged more than 500,000 rides across the company. In 2026, accommodation bookings are 6.1 times higher than in the same period of 2025. The hotels we work with include properties from Wyndham, Petit Palace, Room Mate, Ona Hotels, Hoteles Gargallo and Sunotel, and Viaempresa covered the model in May 2026.
How do you get started?
- Tell us how many rooms you have and whether your keys are NFC.
- We test your lock.
- We suggest how many bikes to start with, the fee and a price for OTA guests, which you then decide.
- We put your branded bikes at the door. From then on, the operation is ours.
If you want the numbers for your hotel, talk to sales.
Frequently asked questions
What does reception need to do with the bikes?
Nothing. No handing out keys, no taking payments, no paperwork, no storing batteries. Guests unlock the bike themselves and, if they have a problem, they message Cityflow from the Help button.
How much does the guest pay for the bike?
The hotel decides. Cityflow suggests making it free for guests who booked on the hotel's website and charging a daily price to those who came through an OTA (for example, €10 a day). The price shows on screen before they confirm.
How much does it cost the hotel?
A monthly fee per bike, on request. What OTA guests pay goes towards covering it. Maintenance, insurance, GPS and support are included.
Does it work with my hotel's keys?
If your cards are NFC, yes: the guest taps the bike with the same card that opens their room. We test it on your lock before installing.
Is there a minimum term?
No. If the service stops making sense for your hotel, we take the bikes away.
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