A phone charging station in your hotel lobby

Hotel guests spend much of the day out and about: seeing the city, going to meetings, looking for restaurants and sights. Almost all of it runs through their phone. And almost every receptionist has heard the question "Do you have a charger?".

A phone charging station in the lobby or by reception answers that question before it is asked. Below you will find why hotels add one, what guests and staff gain and how placement with HUBO works.

Why hotel guests need to charge

A traveller relies on their phone more than anyone. In an unfamiliar city it is a map, a ticket, a translator and a wallet at once:

• navigation through streets the guest is seeing for the first time;
• tickets and boarding passes for planes, trains and buses;
• translation apps, menus and signs in a foreign language;
• bookings, payments, taxis and keeping in touch with people back home.

Add the hunt for signal in unfamiliar places and the dozens of photos everyone takes on holiday. Business guests, for their part, need the phone to last through a full day of meetings, calls and emails. It is no surprise the battery often does not last until evening. On top of that, guests quite often forget their charger at home, and visitors from abroad sometimes bring a charger whose plug does not fit the sockets.

The most sensitive moments are between the room and the road. The guest has checked out, and the flight is still hours away. Or they arrived early and the room is not ready yet. That is exactly when they sit in the lobby with their luggage and watch the percentage drop.

Convenience that leaves with the guest

With a HUBO station, the guest does not depend on reception. They open the HUBO app, scan the station's QR code, see the price and terms and confirm. Signing up takes about a minute and is done only once. The station releases a charged 8,000 mAh power bank, which is at least one full charge for most smartphones.

Every power bank has three built-in cables: USB-C, Lightning and micro-USB. That way it works for both iPhone and Android, and the guest does not have to look for an adapter or the right cable.

The biggest advantage for a traveller is that the power bank leaves with them. They are not tied to a socket in the lobby: they can head into the city, go to a meeting or catch a train and return the power bank to any HUBO station, not necessarily at the hotel. The rental ends automatically.

A rental costs €2 per 24 hours, with no start fee. The guest pays by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay and gets the receipt in the app and by email. Reception does not deal with rental payments.

Relief for reception

Reception is the heart of a hotel, but also the place where small requests pile up. Charging phones behind the desk means:

• hunting for cables and adapters for different phones;
• minding other people's devices, often full of personal data;
• keeping track of who left what and when they will pick it up;
• awkward situations if a phone gets mixed up or damaged.

All of this happens at the busiest hours, at check-in and check-out, when the queue at reception is already at its longest.

With a station, staff only point the guest to it. Training takes two minutes at launch, and from then on guests serve themselves. The fewer small requests there are, the more time is left for real hospitality.

No risk for the hotel

A power bank is released only against a bank card registered in the HUBO app. So unreturned power banks are not the hotel's risk. Responsibility for the equipment lies with HUBO; the hotel is only the place where the station stands.

Where the station goes in a hotel

A small station by reception

The small station is roughly the size of an A4 sheet. It sits on the reception counter, on a shelf or on the bar in the lobby. Guests see it as soon as they check in, and staff can point it out with a single gesture.

A large station in the lobby

The large station stands on the floor and has a vertical advertising screen. It suits more spacious lobbies and waiting areas, where guests sit with their luggage before a transfer or after checking out.

Other spots in the hotel

Depending on the hotel, the station can also go in the restaurant, the breakfast area, the conference wing or the spa. What matters is that the spot is visible, easy for guests to reach and close to a socket.

We choose the spot together during the visit. We look at where guests pass, where they wait and where the station will not get in the way of reception. If the hotel has public areas on several floors, we also discuss which spot makes most sense for guests.

How placement with HUBO works

The hotel starts with a trial and can buy the station at any time:

• Trial: 6 months free with no commitment. HUBO installs, maintains and services the station. It remains HUBO's property, and the rental revenue is HUBO's.
• Your own station: the hotel buys the station and gets 70 % of the rental revenue, after payment fees, with no monthly fees. The price is agreed at a meeting.

The hotel provides only space and a 220 V socket. Stations have a built-in 4G modem, so they do not connect to the hotel's network and need no passwords or set-up from your IT team. Power use is comparable to an LED TV or a laptop.

The steps are simple:

1. Get in touch through the "Contact" page and we arrange a visit.
2. Visit. We come to the hotel with the station, explain how the service works and present the terms.
3. Installation. If the terms suit you, we install the station right away – in a spot that works for the hotel and for your guests.
4. Live within an hour. Within an hour of installation guests can take power banks. We leave stickers and cards with a QR code for reception and the tables, and take two minutes to show your staff how it all works.

A small detail guests notice

Guests remember a hotel not only for the room and the breakfast, but also for the small things that spared them a worry. A charged power bank at the moment the phone hits 5 % and the airport is still a long way off is exactly that kind of thing.

For the hotel, the station is an extra service that runs on its own: no staff time, no cables behind reception and, during the trial, no cost. If you would like to see how a station would look in your hotel, write to us through the "Contact" page and we will come over.