Japan has world's first hotel staffed by robots

The world’s first hotel almost exclusively staffed by robots has opened in Japan. 

Guests checking into Henn-na Hotel, or ‘Weird Hotel’, will be greeted by three friendly robots including a female humanoid and a robotic dinosaur wearing a bow tie.

Located on the grounds of Huis Ten Bosch amusement park in Sasebo, the bizarre hotel is the latest project to demonstrate that robots could one day rule the world. 

A robotic arm runs the cloakroom, lifting baggage and storing it in an appropriate space, while porter robots take guests’ belongings and guides them to their rooms. 

Rather than swiping into a room using a card key – which is still available on request – guests can open the rooms by scanning their faces with face-recognition technology.

Inside, lights switch on and off automatically by motion sensor and can also be manually controlled with a tablet device. 

A doll-shaped room concierge robot sits on the bedside table in each of the 72 rooms. Guests can ask it to turn the lights on and off, inquire about the weather forecast and time and set an alarm using voice command. 

An automatic payment machine at the front desk manages the check-out process. 

Though robots make up the main staff, there are humans on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In an emergency, the hotel staff will attend to the guests.

According to the company, the use of robots aim to cut down labour costs and maximise efficiency. 

Accommodation costs are set by an auction system on the Henn-na Hotel website, starting at 9000 yen ($99) per night.