European plan
A hotel rate that includes accommodation, but not meals.
European plan: room-only hotel pricing, no meals included
The European plan is a hotel pricing structure in which the guest pays only for the room itself. No meals, no breakfast service, no dining credit appears in the bill. The hotel quotes a single nightly rate, and the guest arranges food independently, whether by eating at outside restaurants, purchasing from vendors, or preparing meals in-room if facilities permit.
This differs from the American plan (room plus all meals) and the modified American plan (room plus breakfast and dinner, or breakfast and lunch). Some hotels also offer bed and breakfast rates, which fall between European and full American service. The terminology reflects historical practice rather than geography; European hotels have long used room-only pricing as the default, while some North American properties bundled meals as standard.
Use in logistics and group transport
In transport and logistics, the European plan appears most often in contracted accommodation for driver rest periods and multi-day freight movements. A logistics company booking accommodation for drivers may specify European plan rates to avoid the overhead of meal vouchers, per diem calculations, or negotiated dining contracts. The lower headline rate also simplifies cost tracking in fleet operations: one line item covers lodging, separate subsistence allowances or meal cards cover food.
When negotiating volume contracts for transportation crews, European plan pricing allows both the hotel and the operator to control variable costs. The hotel avoids kitchen load and staffing uncertainty; the operator avoids being locked into a meal package it may not fully use. For operations in regions where restaurants are plentiful and accessible near truck stops or distribution hubs, European plan accommodation is often the standard offer.
Rate transparency matters in logistics procurement. A European plan quote of 85 euros per room per night is straightforward to compare across suppliers and to allocate to job costing. An American plan quote of 110 euros that includes two meals requires line-item breakdown to assess true accommodation cost versus food cost, complicating contract analysis.