Fears of robots replacing human services are becoming a reality, as Japan plans to open its first hotel entirely staffed by androids.
The two-story hotel named ‘Henn na’ (Japanese for strange hotel) is scheduled to open on 17 July at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo, Japan.
Owners say the property will entirely be managed and operated by a company that licenses Japan’s favourite cartoon character, Hello Kitty.
Image: Huis Ten Bosch as seen on the Daily Mail
So how does it work?
It all starts in reception where robots will check guests in and deliver luggage to the rooms. Instead of keys or keycards, face recognition technology will be used to open the door to rooms.
Androids will clean the room when guests leave and they may even be responsible for delivering room service.
Image: Huis Ten Bosch as seen on the Daily Mail
The hotel’s president, Hideo Sawada told the Japan Times the company is making the ‘most efficient hotel in the world’.
“In the future, we’d like to have more than 90 percent of hotel services operated by robots.”
Hideo Sawada
And what’s the cost of staying at a robot operated property?
Not as expensive as you’d think. A single room will cost around $76 (7,000 Japanese yen). A twin room will be sold from $98 (9,000 Japanese yen).
As well as regular booking payments, the hotel will also invite guests to ‘bid’ for a spot at the venue.
This is expected to be particularly popular during peak season. But bidding will be capped at $152 (14,000 Japanese yen) for a single room.
Image: Osaka University as seen on Live Science
This isn’t the first time the hospitality industry has shown interest in moving away from human services.
South Korea is also reportedly planning to open the world’s first theme park devoted entirely to robotics and artificial intelligence. The theme park will be called Robot Land and is scheduled to open in 2016.
Last year, one of Starwood’s US properties rolled out two robotic ‘Botlers’ named A.L.O.
Operating at the Californian Aloft Hotel, the two ‘Botlers’ are capable of performing tasks at the front desk as well as maneuvering their way around the hotel to bring guests their room service.
Hotel operators said A.L.O frees up staff’s time to create a more personalised experience for guests.