---
title: "Hotel e-bike rental in Spain: Cityflow, Bicelo, buying your own fleet or public bike-sharing"
description: "Cityflow, Bicelo, buying a fleet or Bicing and BiciMAD: the bike, how it unlocks and locks, who runs it and who pays. Facts from each official website."
url: "https://cityflow.app/en/blog/hotel-e-bike-rental-spain-cityflow-vs-bicelo"
language: "en"
author: "Vincent Wille-Baumkauff"
published: "2026-10-29"
source: "Cityflow (cityflow.app)"
generated: "2026-10-29"
---

# Hotel e-bike rental in Spain: Cityflow, Bicelo, buying your own fleet or public bike-sharing

**Direct answer:** Cityflow puts electric bikes carrying the hotel's brand in 150+ hotels across 9 Spanish provinces. They are bikes built for shared use: guests unlock them with their room key card, they lock themselves if a guest forgets, and Cityflow runs everything else. It has completed over 500,000 rides and holds a [4.9 rating on Google from 370 reviews](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=16611797331340907143) (29 October 2026). The alternatives: Bicelo, buying your own fleet, or public bike-sharing.

This article is written by Cityflow, which is an interested party. That is why every fact about another company comes from its official website or its manufacturer's, all linked at the end, and anything a company does not publish is marked "not published". Checked on 29 October 2026.

## What are a hotel's options for offering e-bikes to guests in Spain?

There are four, and they are not the same thing: two services built for hotels, buying the bikes, and the city's public bike-sharing.

- **Cityflow.** An operator of electric bikes for hotels, student residences and flex-living buildings, headquartered in Girona and operating from Barcelona. It puts shared-use bikes carrying the hotel's brand at the door and runs them end to end.
- **Bicelo.** A premium e-bike service for hotels, "fully managed by Bicelo", according to its website. It uses a city e-bike made for private owners, and guests unlock and lock it with the Bicelo app.
- **Buying your own fleet.** The hotel buys the bikes and looks after them.
- **Public bike-sharing.** Bicing in Barcelona, BiciMAD in Madrid and similar schemes in other cities. Guests use it on their own, between docking stations across the city.

## Cityflow or Bicelo: what changes for the guest?

| | Cityflow | Bicelo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **The bike** | A shared-use model, built to be ridden by many different guests and to stay outdoors overnight | Kalkhoff Image C+ Advance: a city e-bike made for private owners, sold through bike shops |
| **How it unlocks** | With the NFC room key card: no app, no QR code, no sign-up | With the Bicelo app: sign up, choose how to pay and scan the bike's QR code |
| **How it locks** | If the guest forgets to lock it, it locks itself | AXA iN Bluetooth lock: closed by hand following the app, with the phone nearby, and the bike should be chained to a post or a fence |
| **What the guest needs** | Their room key card | A phone with the app, Bluetooth, mobile data and a payment method |
| **Who decides what the guest pays** | The hotel: it can be free | The guest pays for each ride in the app |

## How do the four options compare?

| Option | Who runs it | Who pays | Hotel's brand | Maintenance and insurance | Presence in Spain | Published price |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Cityflow** | Cityflow, end to end | The hotel, a monthly fee per bike; the guest, whatever the hotel decides | Yes: its colours and logo on every bike | Included, with GPS, roadside assistance and 7-day support | 150+ hotels in 9 provinces | Not published: fee on request, no upfront investment, no minimum term |
| **Bicelo** | Bicelo | The guest, per ride in the app; for the hotel, its website lists a "transparent monthly cost" and "revenue from every ride" | Its website lists "hotel branding"; the app is Bicelo's | Maintenance and roadside assistance included; insurance: not published | Its website mentions 100+ partner hotels, with no breakdown by country | Not published |
| **Buying your own fleet** | The hotel | The hotel, everything on day one; the guest, whatever the hotel decides | Yes | Down to the hotel: repairs, theft and insurance | Not applicable | Cityflow's reference: about €9,000 for 6 e-bikes with locks and a stand |
| **Public bike-sharing** (Bicing, BiciMAD) | The city's service (Bicing in Barcelona; BiciMAD, run by Madrid's EMT) | The user, by subscription or per ride; the hotel, nothing | No | The city's service | City by city; Bicing is not for tourists | Yes: Bicing, €35 or €50 a year plus rides; BiciMAD, €0.50 for the first half hour |

Bicelo's details come from bicelo.com, its FAQ and its App Store listing; its bike's, from Kalkhoff; and its lock's, from AXA.

## Why does a shared-use bike matter?

A hotel bike has no owner: hundreds of guests ride it, none of them treat it as their own, it sits in the sun and the rain, and it gets parked in a hurry. A shared-use bike is designed for exactly that. A bike made for private owners, however good, is designed for one person who looks after it and keeps it indoors.

It is not about quality: Bicelo's Kalkhoff is a high-end bike, with a Bosch motor and a belt drive. It is about what the bike is built for. Before signing with any supplier, ask which model they use and whether it is designed for shared use.

## Why does the way it locks matter?

Everyone manages to unlock a bike. Locking it properly is another matter: guests are in a hurry, run out of mobile data or phone battery, or don't bother with the chain.

- **With Cityflow**, if a guest forgets, the bike locks itself so nobody can ride off with it. Unlocking only takes the room key card: no phone, no connection.
- **With Bicelo**, locking depends on the guest. Its FAQ asks guests to follow the animation in the app to close the lock's shackle and to chain the bike to a post or a fence. AXA, the lock's manufacturer, explains that the lock pairs with the user's phone over Bluetooth and that locking is always done by hand. If the bike is stolen when it was not correctly locked with the chain, Bicelo's FAQ sets a maximum charge of €1,000 for the guest.

## What does Cityflow offer a hotel?

Cityflow puts electric bikes in the hotel's colours and logo at the door and runs them end to end: maintenance, charging, insurance, GPS tracking, roadside assistance and support for guests in their own language, seven days a week. Reception does not hand out keys, take payments or store batteries.

What sets it apart, in facts you can check:

- **Shared-use bikes.** Built to be ridden by many guests and to stay outdoors overnight, at the door or on the street. About 40 km of range on a full battery, with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h.
- **The bike unlocks with the room key card.** Guests tap the same NFC key card that opens their room: no app, no QR code, no sign-up and no code from reception. Before installing, Cityflow checks that it works with the hotel's lock.
- **It locks itself.** If a guest forgets to lock the bike, it locks itself. Guests don't need their phone to unlock or to lock it.
- **The hotel decides what the guest pays.** The hotel pays Cityflow a monthly fee per bike, on request, with no upfront investment and no minimum term. Cityflow's suggested model: free for guests who booked on the hotel's own website, and a daily price for guests who came through an online travel agency (OTA) such as Booking.com or Expedia, for example €10. The hotel sets that price.
- **Scale.** 150+ hotels, over 500,000 rides completed across the company, and service in 9 Spanish provinces: Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Málaga, the Balearic Islands, Biscay, Navarre and Salamanca, covering the whole province, not just the capital.
- **Real usage.** Across Cityflow's accommodation programmes, the median rental lasts 8.3 hours, each booking takes 1.2 bikes on average and 38.8% of guests rent more than once. Figures and method in [Cityflow's operational data](https://cityflow.app/datos).
- **Public rating.** 4.9 out of 5 on Google from 370 reviews as of 29 October 2026, on [its Google Business Profile](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=16611797331340907143).
- **Its own software.** Cityflow wrote the room-key unlock, the payment flow and the reception dashboard itself.

Hotels working with Cityflow include properties from Wyndham, Petit Palace, Room Mate, Ona Hotels, Hoteles Gargallo and Sunotel, and the Catalan business outlet [Viaempresa covered its model](https://www.viaempresa.cat/es/empresa/bicicletas-hoteles-modelo-catalan-city-flow-conquista-turistas_2234269_102.html) in May 2026.

What Cityflow doesn't offer: it does not publish its fee, and it only operates in those 9 provinces of Spain. There is no service outside them, including the province of Girona, where it is headquartered.

## What is Bicelo and how does it work?

Bicelo is a premium e-bike service for hotels. According to its website, the bikes are "fully managed by Bicelo": the hotel "makes one decision" and Bicelo takes care of the rest. This is what it publishes:

- **The bike.** A Kalkhoff Image C+ Advance, with a Bosch Performance Line motor, a belt drive and hydraulic disc brakes. Kalkhoff sells it through specialist dealers as a city e-bike for an owner's everyday riding; it is not a shared-use model.
- **How guests ride.** With the Bicelo app, published by Majestic Mobility AB: guests sign up, scan the bike's QR code, choose how to pay (Apple Pay or Google Pay) and return it to their hotel. One account can rent up to four bikes.
- **How guests lock it.** With an AXA iN Bluetooth lock, following the app's animation to close the shackle, and with the chain around a post or a fence to pause or park.
- **Who pays.** The guest, per ride, in the app. For the hotel, bicelo.com lists a "transparent monthly cost", "complimentary VIP rides" and "revenue from every ride". Rates are not published.
- **What's included.** Hotel branding, service and maintenance, guest support and roadside assistance, with 24/7 support in the app. Insurance is not mentioned on its website.
- **Where.** Bicelo's website mentions 100+ partner hotels, with no breakdown by country, across groups such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Meliá and H10.
- **Rating.** 4.9 on the App Store, according to bicelo.com.

Its published strengths: a well-known high-end bike, routes and audio guides inside the app, and a broad list of hotel groups. The core differences from Cityflow: the bike is made for private owners, not for shared use; guests unlock and lock it with their phone, not with their room key; and they pay for each ride in the app, whereas with Cityflow the hotel decides.

## What if the hotel buys its own bikes?

It is the option with the most control and the most work. The bikes belong to the hotel, carry its brand, and the hotel sets the guest price. In return, the hotel pays everything up front and takes on maintenance, insurance, theft and breakdowns.

Cityflow's reference figure: about €9,000 for 6 e-bikes with locks and a stand. After that, someone at the hotel has to charge them, repair them, hand them out, collect them and go and fetch the one that breaks down across town. The full calculation is in [how much a bike fleet costs a hotel](https://cityflow.app/blog/cuanto-cuesta-flota-bicis-hotel-roi).

If you buy, make sure they are pedal-assisted bikes: a motor of 250 W at most, with assistance that cuts out at 25 km/h. That is how Spain's [General Vehicle Regulations](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1999-1826) (Reglamento General de Vehículos) define them, and it keeps them out of the motor-vehicle category. And make sure they are shared-use models, for the reasons above.

## Can hotel guests use Bicing or BiciMAD?

It depends on the city, and often not. Public bike-sharing is designed for people who live in the city and make short trips between stations, not for a guest who wants a bike for the whole day.

- **Bicing (Barcelona).** Its website says it "is not a public bicycle rental system for tourist or recreational use" (no es un sistema público de alquiler de bicicletas para uso turístico o recreativo), and sign-up requires a valid DNI or NIE, Spanish identity numbers. The subscription costs €35 or €50 a year, plus each ride. For a tourist, it is not an option.
- **BiciMAD (Madrid).** Run by Madrid's municipal transport company, EMT. It works through the app after registering with MPass, with a phone from the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, the US, Argentina, Mexico or Brazil. Basic fare: €0.50 for the first half hour, €0.50 for the second and €3 for each half hour after that.

For the hotel, the cost is zero, and so is its role: no brand on the bikes and no say in anything, and the guest deals with the city's service. The time-based fare is built for short trips: three hours in a row on BiciMAD's basic fare cost €13.

## When does each option make sense?

- **Cityflow**, if your hotel is in one of its 9 provinces, has NFC room keys, and you want shared-use bikes carrying your brand without your team touching them, with you deciding what guests pay (for example, free for direct bookings).
- **Bicelo**, if you are happy for guests to pay for each ride and to unlock and lock the bike with its app, or you want its specific bike, the Kalkhoff with a Bosch motor, and audio-guided routes in the app.
- **Buying**, if you want to own the bikes and have the staff and workshop to look after them.
- **Public bike-sharing**, if you don't want to spend anything and are happy just to point guests to it. In Madrid, BiciMAD takes visitors; in Barcelona, Bicing doesn't.

### When is Cityflow not the right choice?

- Your hotel is outside its 9 provinces, or outside Spain.
- Your room keys are not NFC: you lose the room-key unlock, which is its main strength. Cityflow checks this against your lock before installing.
- You want to own the bikes.
- You want a fixed price before talking to anyone: Cityflow does not publish its fee and quotes it from each hotel's numbers.
- There is no space for the bikes near the entrance: they stay outdoors overnight, at the door or on the street.
- Your guests hardly go out during the day: a bike nobody takes is a fee with no return.

## What should you ask any supplier?

1. Is the bike a shared-use model or a bike made for private owners?
2. How does the guest unlock it: an app, a QR code, a code from reception or the room key?
3. And how do they lock it? What happens if they forget, or run out of mobile data or phone battery?
4. Who maintains and charges the bikes, and where do they stay overnight?
5. Who pays for a stolen bike, or a breakdown several kilometres from the hotel?
6. Does the bike carry my hotel's brand or the supplier's?
7. Who decides what the guest pays, and who keeps that money?
8. Can I leave without a penalty if it doesn't work?

## How do you get started with Cityflow?

Tell Cityflow which province your hotel is in, how many rooms it has and whether your keys are NFC. Cityflow checks your lock and proposes how many bikes to start with, the fee and an example price for OTA guests; you set the final one. The full service is described in [electric bikes for hotels](https://cityflow.app/hoteles), and if you want the numbers for your hotel, [talk to sales](https://cityflow.app/hoteles#contact).

## Sources

Checked on 29 October 2026.

- [Bicelo, official website](https://www.bicelo.com/)
- [Bicelo: FAQ](https://www.bicelo.com/faq)
- [Bicelo: how to ride](https://www.bicelo.com/how-to-ride)
- [The Bicelo app on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/es/app/bicelo/id1506137943)
- [Kalkhoff: the Image range](https://www.kalkhoff-bikes.com/en_es/e-bikes/image)
- [AXA (Allegion): AXA iN E-Rental lock](https://bike.allegion.com/products-smart-solutions-e-rental/)
- [Bicing: fares (Spanish)](https://www.bicing.barcelona/es/tarifas)
- [Bicing: FAQ and rules (Spanish)](https://www.bicing.barcelona/es/faqs-y-normas)
- [BiciMAD (EMT Madrid): how it works and fares (Spanish)](https://www.bicimad.com/bicimad)
- [General Vehicle Regulations, annex II (BOE-A-1999-1826, Spanish)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1999-1826)
- Cityflow: [electric bikes for hotels](https://cityflow.app/hoteles), [operational data](https://cityflow.app/datos) and [Google Business Profile](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=16611797331340907143)

## Frequently asked questions

### Which companies offer e-bikes for hotel guests in Spain?

Specialist services include Cityflow, with 150+ hotels across 9 Spanish provinces, which puts bikes carrying the hotel's brand at the door and runs them end to end, and Bicelo, which mentions 100+ partner hotels and manages its bikes through its own app. The other routes are buying your own fleet or the city's public bike-sharing.

### What is the difference between Cityflow and Bicelo?

The bike, how it unlocks and locks, and who decides what the guest pays. Cityflow uses bikes built for shared use; Bicelo uses the Kalkhoff Image C+ Advance, a city e-bike made for private owners. With Cityflow, guests unlock the bike with their room key card and, if they forget to lock it, it locks itself. With Bicelo, guests use the app, and the lock is closed by hand with a phone, Bluetooth and mobile data. With Cityflow, the hotel decides what guests pay; with Bicelo, guests pay for each ride in the app.

### What happens if a guest forgets to lock the bike?

With Cityflow, the bike locks itself so nobody can ride off with it. With a lock that is closed by hand, like Bicelo's, the bike stays as the guest left it. According to Bicelo's FAQ, guests are not liable for theft if the bike was paused or parked and correctly locked with the plug-in chain; otherwise the maximum charge is €1,000.

### Can hotel guests use Bicing or BiciMAD?

Not Bicing: its website says it is not a rental system for tourist use, and sign-up requires a Spanish DNI or NIE. BiciMAD in Madrid does accept visitors, who register in the MPass app with a phone from the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, the US, Argentina, Mexico or Brazil. Either way, the hotel has no brand on the bikes and no say.

### How much does each option cost?

Bicing and BiciMAD publish their fares. Bicelo does not publish prices. Nor does Cityflow publish its monthly per-bike fee: it quotes it from each hotel's numbers, with no upfront investment and no minimum term. Buying 6 e-bikes with locks and a stand costs about €9,000, according to Cityflow's reference figure.

### When is Cityflow not the right choice?

If your hotel is outside its 9 provinces, if your room keys are not NFC, if you want to own the bikes, or if you need a fixed price without talking to anyone: Cityflow does not publish its fee.