Robots to serve guests in hotels across the U.S. in future

Hotels across the United States will have robots providing room service to their guests in future. A Santa Clara start-up has come up with an innovative idea to develop an army of “autonomous robot helpers”. The start-up, which is named Savioke, has also received a new funding of $15 million in this regard. The company has said it currently owns a stable of 12 robots, and plans to develop more and put a large number in hotels throughout the country. One such robot has already been deployed at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport.

Tessa Lau, co-founder of Savioke, was quoted by media persons as saying that lots of robots have been readied and ready to be deployed in hotels whenever need be. According to Lau, the 3-foot tall, 100-pound robot named ‘Relay’ has been primarily developed for delivering toothpaste, extra towels or other essentials to guest rooms. The robot’s mode of delivery is simple. A room number is punched by the hotel staff on the robot’s touch screen and the robot instantly rolls into the elevator and reaches the assigned room. The robot though doesn’t have arms but is able to communicate with the guests through typed messages only appearing on its display screen. The robot uses 3-D cameras and Wi-Fi for navigating around the hotel.

The hospitality industry in the United States and elsewhere in the world is trying to up its automation game and bring as much technological innovations as possible. Wally World Hotel is using the services of a robot named ‘Wally’ for delivering goods to the guests. The 3-foot tall, 100-pound weighing robot has become great favorites with the guests now. The young visitors are particularly enthused and constantly approach the front desk for ordering things so that they are able to post Wally’s pictures on social media.

The innovations in the hospitality industry are varied. Temperature control systems have been installed by many new hotels so that the cooling and heating are immediately shut off when the rooms are empty. You will also find computer tables put in the rooms in few hotels for enabling the guests to order room service, closing the blinds or requesting a taxi. Marriott International has in fact created smartphone apps for allowing the guests to check in with the help of their mobile devices.