Best Western Plus Offers Superior Guest Experience with ChargePoint Smart EV Charging
Best Western Plus Villa Del Lago Inn is one of the 4,000 hotels that belong to Best Western International, a renowned brand of hospitality businesses spread across 100 countries. Villa Del Lago Inn is owned and operated by Dominic Speno, who is an avid believer in sustainability and an EV driver himself. Dominic oversees all operations for the sprawling property, conveniently located off Highway 5 in Central California. The hotel offers guests access to a variety of nearby attractions like the Central Valley golf courses, Field of Dreams, Yosemite National Park, and Mount Shasta. Villa Del Lago Inn prides itself on providing its guests with luxury amenities, which have won rave reviews and high ratings from customers. It is the first hotel on Highway 5 to offer EV charging stations for green-minded travelers.
The EV Trend
As EVs began to enter the market, green-minded and technology-savvy early adopters created the first burst of EVs on the road. For Dominic Speno, owner of the Best Western Plus Villa Del Lago Inn, this perfectly aligned with his belief in sustainability and green living. Along with becoming an EV driver himself, he also wanted to support the sustainability choices of the increasing number of EV drivers among his guests. Dominic predicted that EV drivers would increase multifold in the next few years and decided to make his property EV-friendly. The effort would also advance the hotel’s ongoing quest to stay ahead of the competition, attract more guests, and improve customer satisfaction. Offering EV charging at a strategic highway location connecting major cities and tourist destinations also enabled guests to use their EVs for long-distance commuting. Offering EV charging as a guest service was motivated by several goals:
- Attracting EV drivers to the hotel
- Offering a luxury experience with superior amenities
- Differentiating the inn from the competition
- Establishing sustainability leadership
- Driving both new and repeat business
Installing ChargePoint smart EV charging stations not only attracts new customers, but also helps us achieve our own sustainability goals in addition to supporting those of our guests. ChargePoint smart chargers have made my hotel a more attractive destination for EV drivers, boosted our brand as a leader in green initiatives and helped us achieve excellent reviews on reputed portals like TripAdvisor.com.
Dominic Speno
Owner
Best Western Plus Villa Del Lago Inn
The ChargePoint Solution
Villa Del Lago purchased and rolled out smart networked commercial EV charging from ChargePoint, which included 6 ChargePoint Commercial Level 2 EV Charging Stations, ChargePoint Network Management Cloud Software, and ChargePoint Support. Putting in 6 stations enabled Villa Del Lago to satisfy peak demands for EV charging, assuring all guests of access to the amenity. Using the Network Management Cloud Software, the stations were provisioned for free use by guests and for paid use by the general public. It also made the stations immediately visible to all EV drivers in the ChargePoint network, thereby driving new traffic to the hotel. Thus, Villa Del Lago became the first hotel on Highway 5 to offer EV charging stations.
Results
The response from the community was phenomenal. The EV driver mobile app has driven a steady stream of road travelers to stop by the inn’s restaurant, as well as attracted overnight guests. Villa Del Lago Inn has seen the following results:
- Excellent user reviews and top ratings on TripAdvisor.com
- Recognition as a TripAdvisor GreenLeader
- Instant visibility to EV drivers via the ChargePoint mobile app, leading to new and repeat guests and, ultimately, higher occupancy and F&B revenues
- Flexibility to offer EV charging as a free amenity to guests while charging the general public for the service
- Ability to track greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings, usage, costs, revenue, etc.
- Environmental analytics and reports
At ChargePoint, we believe stories have the power to change the world.
Our customers share their stories because they’re passionate about the often-unforeseen ways the electrification of transportation has impacted their organizations. Like many companies around the globe, they’ve discovered that what’s good for the planet can also be good for business.
E-mobility is here to stay. Perhaps it’s time to tell your own story. Reach out to us at sales@chargepoint.com and let us know. We’d love to hear it.
