Robots in hotels, at your service

Hotels across the country are rushing to introduce robots with the promise of enhancing the guest experience and increasing efficiency. The automated companions can do everything from make and pick up deliveries to help guests find their way around without the need for human intervention.

In 2014, Aloft Cupertino in the Silicon Valley (rates from $150) was the first hotel in the United States to introduce Savioke’s Relay robot. The autonomous robot, nicknamed Botlr, weighs 90 pounds and makes deliveries throughout the hotel using multiple sensors, 3D cameras and Wi-Fi to operate the elevators. Marriott has since begun mobile robot service at four other Aloft properties.

Other hotels are following suit. H Hotel Los Angeles’ Relay robot, named Hannah, made 610 front desk deliveries and 42 room service deliveries, traveling a total of 50 miles, in the first three months since the hotel opened last October (rates from $249). “It’s a great timesaver for our team because no one has to leave their station to make a delivery,” said Tiffany Jassel, a manager.

The Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel Hotel (rates from $149), which is opening this month, will be equipped with eight Tug robots developed by Aethon. One robot will escort guests to destinations on the first floor, while the remaining seven multiuse robots will use the service elevators to deliver items like luggage, room-service meals and fresh linens to guests.

The Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas (rates from $259) employs Pepper, a humanoid robot from SoftBank Robotics. Pepper supports staff by handling repetitive tasks like greeting visitors, providing directions and answering property-specific questions using technology similar to Amazon’s Alexa. The robot has large eyes, lifelike gestures and facial recognition technology that allows it to respond in intuitive ways to entertain guests by telling jokes and posing for selfies.

Royal Sonesta Boston (rates from $189) has a robot from Double Robotics that offers site tours and attends meetings for clients who can’t be there in person by allowing them to log in remotely. They’re able to control the robot’s movements, see through its wide-angle lens cameras and communicate via a tablet screen.

The Westin Buffalo (rates from $189) uses a Relay robot to deliver wellness amenities like running shoes and fresh juice to guests who request them, and the new Luma Hotel in Times Square (rates from $399) introduced Manhattan’s first Relay robot, Alina. “She helps us provide a better guest experience by taking on tedious tasks like in-room deliveries, which frees our staff to focus on more complex needs of the guest,” said Kate Martin, Luma’s general manager.