The Hen-na Hotel in Japan Has Robotic Dinosaurs to Greet You

If you’re ever planning a trip to Tokyo’s Disneyland then you might consider staying in the Hen-Na Hotel.  In Japanese “Hen-na” literally means “strange.”   If there’s one thing hotel is not short on, it’s strange.  From the moment you walk in you are greeted by a robotic dinosaur.   While there’s been a huge increase in robotic technology in hotels and it’s just a matter of time before robots replace nearly every staffer in the hotel industry, these dinosaurs are meant purely for show and not to replace any human staff.   According to Geek:

The hotel has 100 rooms in all, and each room has a special little egg-shaped robot meant to help turn on the TV, offer the weather, and help guests with other little interactions meant to make their trip feel like home. There’s even a little talking garbage can in the lobby that can pick up litter while chatting with guests. It speaks Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean as well.

The hotel features keyless rooms with doors that open up with face recognition too, so pretty much every single part of the experience is futuristic and engaging in its approach. It’s all about thinking outside the box and letting fun little robots automate guests’ time at the Hen-na.

This particular robot hotel is the second one that’s opened in Japan, with the first one opening its doors back in July 2015 near a Nagasaki theme park. The owner and designer, H.I.S. Co., is looking to open up 100 additional hotels within the next five years, that will feature at least seven human employees and charging from $123 to $265 nightly. This particular hotel is just about booked for the rest of the month at present, but that doesn’t mean you’re totally out of luck if you’re looking to go to Tokyo Disneyland.

I supposed I should have put this article under the “Rise of the Machines” category that I’ve created.  Did you read that last part?  100 more hotels in the next five years?  Here’s the creepiest part of the sentence:  that will feature at least seven human employees.   Think about that for a second.  We’re at the point in technology where a developmental announcement for a hotel is practically saying that humans will be a bonus.  It’s like we’re the minority in this situation.  Scary stuff.