It seems the world is not quite ready for a fully automated hotel staffed by robots.
Japan’s Henn na Hotel – dubbed the Strange Hotel – brought in more than 200 droids starting in 2015 to usher in a brave new world of automated hospitality.
However, it hasn’t quite gone to plan with about half being given the boot.
After the novelty wore off, the limitations became apparent, with some robots unable to compete with real humans.
Hotel owner Hideo Sawada said humans had to take over some tasks such as photocopying guest passports at the front desk, and robots were not able to deliver guest luggage to all rooms.
They were only able to move on completely flat surfaces.
The in-room virtual assistant called Churi was unable to answer guest queries and even kept trying to respond to a guest snoring all night.
"When you actually use robots you realise there are places where they aren’t needed – or just annoy people," Sawada told the Wall Street Journal.
