If you think that technology at home is improving, the evolution of hotel tech is just as quickly rising. While we are seeing amazing things like smart bed technology, incredible ways to seamlessly control your room with products like Wi-Fi thermostats as well as smart apps that can control multiple appliances and electronic devices from your own phone, hotels around the world have paid attention, and then some.

Tech loving hotel guests and human hating travelers have reason to celebrate as robots become increasingly popular in hotels around the world. While the technology is still being rapidly developed, and costs can be high, these pioneering hotels are employing robots for various tasks, although it may be awhile before they completely replace humans. Still though, it begs the question, at what point might these robots be in our homes joining our families and serving as helpful aids to our lives?

However, before we get to that point, let's take a look at five robots shaking up the hotel industry.

1. Henn-na Hotel

Telegraph

Located in the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Japan, this hotel is perhaps the most famous of robot staffed hotels. Boasting it provides “The Ultimate in Efficiency”, while also being fun and exciting, this hotel is staffed by robots throughout. Upon check-in you are greeted by one of three multi-lingual robots, although reports caution against throwing any curveballs at it lest you confuse it into inertia and a human must be summoned. After successfully checking-in, your luggage is whisked away by a robotic arm only to be delivered to your room by your robotic porter. If you worry about losing your key, don’t; once the facial recognition has registered your face, there is no need for a key. Your room even contains a tiny robot called Chu-ri-chan which can turn the lights off and on, give you the weather forecast and provide wake-up calls. Despite the creator’s best efforts towards efficiency, the robots serve more as a novelty with countless reports of glitches and problems with actual service delivery.

2. Mario

Travelzoo

This gregarious robot first began life in the healthcare and education fields, but has since taken up residence at the Ghent Marriot Hotel in Belgium. This tiny humanoid speaks 19 languages and can assist with check-in, politely hand you room keys and occasionally feels the need to break out in dance, to the delight of guests. He has become quite the local celebrity with his own Facebook page, routine visits from school classes, and field trips of his own around the area.

3. Connie

Digital Trends

In a MacLean, Virginia Hilton hotel the resident robot is solely responsible for answering guest questions. Whether a traveler wants to know where the pool is or the most popular attractions, Connie, named after hotel founder Conrad Hilton, will point them in the right direction. With a “brain powered by IBM, the robot is designed to get smarter the more it interacts with people.

4. Yotel

Yotel

Offering accommodations in a decidedly techy atmosphere, this New York City hotel offers the first robotic luggage porter in the United States, dubbed Yobot. While the process provides a cool show for guests, its use is somewhat limited; bags must be placed into bins which will then be stowed away by Yobot in the lobby area, not easily accessible from the guest rooms. Still, with the hotel boasting it offers luxury accommodations at affordable prices, it might be worth checking out.

5. SaviOne

Savioke

Care for a cup of Starbucks, extra towels, toothbrush or other necessity? This three foot automaton can be loaded up with your request, given your room number, and set on its mission to fulfilling your wish. It will summon the elevator, navigate the hallways using cameras and call your room phone when it has arrived at your door. Once its task is complete, it will return to the front desk, without notifying anyone you answered the door in your birthday suit. While the only way it can interact with guests is through a touch-pad, its design is oddly reminiscent of a human countenance. Relay, as it has been dubbed by its creators, has become so popular, guests will request items simply for a chance to meet “him”. This automaton concierge has been deployed in twelve hotels across the country so you have a few options to meet this “celebrity”; head to the Marriot Los Angeles LAX, the Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley, the Grand Hotel in Sunnyvalle, the Aloft Silicon Valley or Cupertino, or the Holiday Inn Express Redwood City. Better still, no tipping is required, Relay simply asks that you tweet about how cool it is.

With nearly two-thirds of guests saying they wouldn’t mind being tended to by a robot, and the technology growing by leaps and bounds, expect to see more humanoids rolling around your favorite hotels soon. For the machine adverse though there is still hope since for many hotels the cost of these machines is still prohibitive, slowing their plan for global, or at least hospitality, domination.

Nathaniel Berman is Managing Editor of Housely - Follow him on Twitter