In The News - Japan's Robot Hotel

You've got to hand it to Japan. For a country that's already brought us the strangest fetishes (eyeball licking), the worryingly edible odd flavored snack foods (garlic and anchovy Doritos) and some of the most confusing inventions of all time (seriously, look up face slimmer), it still has plenty of interesting surprises left to wow the world.

For instance, how about a hotel manned by a robot dinosaur.

The aptly named Henn na or "Weird Hotel" is located in Japan's Sasebo, Nagasaki. This week it has opened its doors to the public, and everything, from check-in to check-out, is handled entirely by a robot staff. On arrival, guests are greeted by either a Japanese-speaking female humanoid that some say is a bit creepy or, inexplicably, an English-speaking Velociraptor in a bowtie.

Unfortunately, the two robot receptionists aren't quite sophisticated enough to hold a conversation, so guests are required to tap in their information via a touch-screen panel and then have their photo taken for use as a facial recognition room key. After all, It would be hard for robots to find keys if people lose them. Luggage is handled by an automated bell hop, which guides itself to the correct room.

Once there, guests might be surprised to find there are no light switches, they instead have to speak to the hotel's tulip-shaped concierge robot Tuly in order to switch the lights on or off, as well as to ask for the time or the weather forecast. 

A giant robotic arm, the kind you would usually find in manufacturing plants, handles the remaining luggage. Guests put their luggage through a window into a box, after which the robot arm grabs it and places it into a stack in a room. It's arguably a bit extravagant for what could just as easily be handled through a coin-operated locker, but Hideo Sawada, who runs the hotel as part of an amusement park, argues that it's as much about innovation as it is about gimmickry.

A room in the Henn na Hotel starts at $73 (¥9,000), a bargain compared to other hotels in Japan that can easily cost three times as much. Naturally, not having to pay staff saves on costs, although the hotel still uses human staff to man the security team and ensure no one runs off with a robot.

Sawada hopes to expand his robot hotel concept by opening another in Japan soon, and he later has ambitions of opening abroad (after all robots don't demand to be paid $15 an hour). He's also working on adding more robots to the existing hotel, including a "block-shaped" one to deliver room service and drones to fly in small jars filled with snacks.

Nagasaki’s Henn-na Hotel will feature ten robotic, but startlingly human-like, members of staff. Now scientists are working on them being able to sweat and have goose-bumps.

Thank you Japan.

Call Rawhide Travel and Tours and start planning that special vacation or event today. 602-843-5100 or visit our website rawhidetravel.com. 

Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc
6008 West Bell Rd # F105
Glendale, Arizona  85308-3793
(602) 843-5100
rawhidetravel.com