“Beep”, chirps a slim, R2-D2-esque robot, dancing as it receives yet another good review from a satisfied customer. In a hotel just across from Apple’s corporate campus in Cupertino, California is the new robot bellhop/butler, aptly named “Botlr”.

Standing at a menacing 3 feet tall, and racing around at break-neck speeds of up to 4 miles per hour, Botlr works in the lobby of Aloft hotel, bringing up items like phone chargers, snacks, razors, towels, newspapers…etc to any of the hotel’s 150 rooms in 2-3 minutes.

It’s journey starts in the lobby, where a receptionist enters in the room number on a display, and places the requested item into a small storage bin on the top of the robot. Botlr then finds its way to the elevator, using sensors and cameras to avoid obstacles(humans), after which it makes its way to the guest’s room. As Botlr arrives, it places a call to the guest, alerting them that their package has arrived. After delivering the item, Botlr doesn’t ask for a tip, no, it asks for something even better; a good review! Then after following all the prompts from its touch-scree-interface, it dances and runs away.

With trips these days getting so expensive, it’s nice to have a bellhop that understands and asks for something more practical, not to mention the speedy service.

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