Hotels staffed by robots in Japan

Dinosaur robots acting as receptionist greet a hotel employee demonstrating how to check-in to the hotel during a press preview for the newly-opening Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay in Urayasu, east of Tokyo, on March 15, 2017. (Reuters photo)

Would you stay at a hotel where the staff members are robots? Japan already has three such hotels and there are plans to build 10 more.

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Would you stay at a hotel where the staff members are robots? Japan already has three such hotels and there are plans to build 10 more.

Here are the details from a story by Kyodo news:.

Japan travel firm to open 10 more robot-staffed hotels

KYODO NEWS

TOKYO: Japanese travel company HIS Co said on Monday it will open 10 more hotels staffed by robots in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka and Kyoto by March 2019.

Henn na Hotel, or "strange hotel," featuring dinosaur or female humanoid robot receptionists and cleaning robots, will be opened in downtown areas of the cities, targetting the booming foreign tourist market in Japan, the company said.

Currently, HIS operates three similar hotels near theme parks in Sasebo, Nagasaki prefecture, Urayasu, Chiba prefecture and Gamagori, Aichi prefecture.

The company plans to open six branded Henn na Hotels in Tokyo between December and September next year, one in Fukuoka and two in Osaka in December 2018, and another in Kyoto in March 2019, with the investment estimated to total approximately 20 to 30 billion yen (6-9 billion baht).