Hotel unveils ROBOT butler that makes automated room service calls and accepts reviews from guests instead of tips



The Botlr--short for robot butler--debuted at the Cupertino, California Aloft hotel on Tuesday



Named A.L.O, the robot comes dressed in a vinyl collar and wears a nametag as it ferried amenities to guest rooms

A.L.O. is the hotel industry's first automated bellhop



A California hotel introduced a new bell hop on Tuesday: meet A.L.O, the industry's first robot butler.

Robot butler: Meet the Botlr, the hospitality industry's first automated bellhop

Shortened to Botlr, the high tech hospitality technology will ferry amenities from the front desk of the Aloft in Cupertino to any of its 150 rooms in just three minutes or less.

The Starwood company is using its Silicon Valley location as a test bed for the the speedy R2D2-like drone.

'As soon as A.L.O. entered the room, we knew it was what we were looking for. A.L.O. has the work ethic of Wall-E, the humor of Rosie from The Jetsons and reminds me of my favorite childhood robot, R2-D2.' Brian McGuinness of Starwood’s Specialty Select Brands said in a press release Tuesday.



The 3-foot tall robot, made by the firm Savioke, features a smart vinyl collar and even a name tag.



While running everything from razors to mail to Aloft guests, A.L.O. moves at a fast clip of up to 4mph.



Meanwhile, Savioke says it manuevers through elevators and communicates easily with guests and staff.



'All of us at Savioke have seen the look of delight on those guests who receive a room delivery from a robot,' said Steve Cousins, CEO of Savioke.

Starwood and Savioke hope to use the robot as a way to funnel existing human staff toward more sensitive tasks rather than a death knell for bellhops.

With the delivery complete, the robot then asks for a review. If the guest inputs a positive remark on the built-in screen, the robot does a happy dance.

Zippy: The Botlr debuted Tuesday at Aloft's Cupertino location, where it will zip up and down elevators to deliver amenities to any of the 150 guestrooms in three minutes or less

The accomplished drone then zips back to the elevator, sends a message instead of hitting the down button and returns to the lobby where it plugs itself in and awaits a new task.

So how exactly will guests experience A.L.O.?



According to the New York Times, the robot will arrive to guests' doors soon after they put in a request and will automatically place a call to the room instead of knocking.



When the robot's sensors indicate the door has opened, it lifts its storage bin lid to reveal the requested item.



A.L.O.'s official start date is August 20. The company hopes to roll out more Botlrs soon thereafter.

stiff competition: Starwood says its new robot has the work ethic of Wall-E and the likeability of R2D2









