There is no house rule to copy: hotels do both, and the right choice is the one your numbers support. Decide on four inputs — what a charged car is worth to the stay, what a night of charging costs you to deliver, what it costs to meter and administer, and how you will tell a guest from anyone else.
Key Takeaways
- Free, bundled and charged are all valid positions — the property’s own four inputs decide between them.
- Measure the energy in a night from your own session records and tariff, not from averages.
- Free still needs guest identification and a turnover rule; charged still needs displayed prices and clean records.
- The position is a setting: identified, metered hardware can run any of the three.
The Three Positions a Hotel Can Take
| Position | What the guest sees | What it asks of the hotel |
|---|---|---|
| Free amenity | Plug in and charge, nothing to pay at the post | The energy and running costs sit in the room rate or marketing — and a fair-use rule so one car cannot hold a bay all day |
| Bundled | Charging included in the room, a package or a loyalty tier | The cost is recovered in the price of the stay; sessions still need recording, so use stays visible |
| Charged per session | A price shown before the session starts, paid at the post or added to the bill | Metering, a payment route, displayed prices and records that reconcile at checkout |
The Four Inputs That Decide It
- What the stay is worth against the energy. A guest books a night; the electricity in an overnight charge is a small part of that transaction, which is why free can be rational. But “small” should be measured, not assumed: your session records show the energy a night actually delivers, at your tariff — for orientation, the U.S. average commercial price is 14.53 cents per kWh (EIA), and your bill, not the average, is the input.
- Metering and administration costs. Whichever position you take, somebody runs the platform, handles payment processing on paid sessions, and answers the guest whose session failed. Those cost categories sit on both sides of the decision — free removes the payment line, not the running lines.
- How a guest is identified. With no check on who is a guest, a free offer is a public free charger, and passing drivers will find it. Room-linked credentials — an issued RFID card from reception, an app account tied to the booking — are what keep the offer inside the stay, as our guide to RFID and user management for shared chargers explains.
- How scarce your bays are. With more EV guests than bays, price is also a rationing tool: it shortens sessions and frees the post. With bays standing empty most nights, there is nothing to ration, and the case for charging weakens.
What Each Choice Commits You To
Free commits you to turnover management: a stated fair-use expectation, staff who can ask a finished car to move, and signage that says the bays are for guests. Charged commits you to clarity: the price displayed before a session starts, and a record the front desk can look up when a guest queries the bill. Both commit you to saying which one you are — drivers’ answers to whether hotel charging is free vary precisely because properties choose differently and do not always say so.
Hardware That Runs Any of the Three
The position is a platform setting; the hardware’s job is identification and metering. The EV-ACT3204PE 22 kW wallbox (tethered Type 2 cable, RFID and app, IP66, CE) ties each session to a guest’s card or account — free tonight, paid tomorrow, same unit. For a larger car park, the EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station (two Type 2 connectors, up to 43 kW shared, OCPP 1.6J, RFID, IP54) meters two bays from one unit; its touchscreen is a display, not a payment terminal — payment lives in your platform arrangement. The wider range is on our commercial EV charging page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do guests now expect charging to be free?
There is no settled expectation. Some properties include charging and say so; others bill it like parking. What guests do expect is that the listing tells them which one you are before they arrive — ambiguity, not price, generates the complaints.
If we charge, must it be per kWh?
No. Flat per session, per night or per kWh are all in use; the models are compared in how charging stations price their sessions. Whether per-kWh billing is permitted where you operate is a local rule — confirm it in writing first.
What if only a handful of guests use the chargers?
Then the energy cost of free is close to nothing and the decision can wait. Keep the session records: they tell you when use has grown enough to revisit it.
Related Reading
- Hotel EV Charging: How to Plan Guest Charging That Pays Off
- Is EV Charging at Hotels Free?
- How Much Do EV Charging Stations Charge? Pricing Models Explained
- RFID and User Management for Shared EV Chargers
