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Robotic service isn’t usually a good thing, but it gives these businesses an extra edge.
Here we present innovative international hotels and restaurants where you can be served by a robot, from New York to Dublin.
Ranging from robot waiters to robot check-in staff, these hard-working droids are quirky novelties, but can also make the running of businesses more efficient.
To discover how to lend your next day out or weekend away a sci-fi twist, scroll down…
YOTEL NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE – MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
Check into the Yotel New York Times Square and the hotel’s robotic luggage concierge (above) will look after your bag for you
Enter the lobby of this Midtown Manhattan hotel and you’ll meet a robotic luggage concierge named the ‘Yobot’.
Designed to store luggage for holidaymakers who have spare time before and after checkout, the robot takes guests’ bags and slots them into storage bins.
To use the Yobot, guests key in their last name and a pin number of their choice into a keypad, prompting the Yobot to ‘spring into action’. Guests get a receipt with a barcode that they scan when they’re ready to pick up their bags.
As a bonus for social-media lovers, Yotel says that the robot offers ‘the perfect backdrop for a futuristic selfie’.
HENN NA HOTEL – VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN JAPASome robots at the Henn na Hotel Kyoto branch look like dinosaurs
Japan’s one-of-a-kind Henn na Hotel chain is paving the way in robot hospitality. Guests are greeted by multilingual robots at check-in – they speak Japanese, English, Mandarin Chinese and Korea.
Some robots look like dinosaurs, while others are spookily human-like in appearance.
A ‘robot orchestra’ plays music for guests and baggage is placed in temporary storage by a giant robotic arm.
A facial recognition system gives holidaymakers access to their rooms. If guests are peckish during their stay, they can shop for snacks at the hotel’s unmanned ‘smart’ convenience store.
Evenings are spent at the Henna Bar, where robots serve beers and cocktails. Other hi-tech entertainment options include virtual reality games and a karaoke station called ‘The Zone’.