The Robots Are Coming: Is Hotel Automation Getting Realer?

By Robert McGarvey

We’ve heard about it for at least a decade but now the warnings are getting louder: the robots are coming to hotels and restaurants near you.

Probably the loudest gong was rung at this year’s CES in early January.  Headlined AP: “Robot baristas and AI chefs caused a stir at CES 2024 as casino union workers fear for their jobs.”

Tech Times headlined likewise: “Robot Bartenders: CES 2024 Showcases Future of Hospitality, Sparking Job Security Worries.”

CNET got in the trenches with the robots: “I Tried Ice Cream, Stir Fry, Beer and Cocktails, all Made by Machines at CES ’24.”

Understand two facts: even though I am all for helping workers keep good jobs, I also am not opposed to replacing humans in many hospitality positions with robots.  

Will that in fact happen?

Headlines aside, no time soon.

The Hotel Tech Report has a summary that seeks to separate fact from fiction. It is a year old but much of what it reports remains true. Robots are coming our way but they aren’t here yet.

Case in point: housekeeping jobs are not presently threatened, although truth to tell most hotel managers would love to put a stake in housekeepers if in fact affordable machines could replace them.  It’s simply the case that we are far removed from being able to create a robot that can make a bed and that would have a clue between what’s trash on the floor of a hotel room and what needs to be preserved for the guest.  Is that dirty, torn white sock on the bathroom floor trash?

Yes, robots can deliver towels and probably can do a better job operating the slick window coverings I find in many hotels (and that I struggle to use properly).  But it will be some years before housekeeping jobs are endangered. I can see big hotels deploying robots to do some of a housekeeper’s work – vacuuming is another case in point.

But much of the present housekeeper’s job is beyond a robot’s current ken.

Another case in point: robot bartenders are real, they actually do work – see Royal Carribean’s Bionic Bar.  There’s also a plus to a robot bartender: it’s unlikely to steal from the establishment, either cash or booze.  But devices such as RCL’s robots are costly – prices are upwards of $100,000 for one device and humans would still be needed to replenish the bottles and do a clean up of the place.  A robot’s useful life expectancy is also unknown. So far, robot bartenders are deployed as conversation starters more than as replacements for people.

Can I think of jobs that actually are in jeopardy in hospitality? I can.  At least some dealers at casinos are not long for the world.  Robots already are in use at some Macau casinos, with apparently good results.

Aren’t humans needed to spot cheaters?  I’m not persuaded that dealers are good at that except in the case of the clumsiest cheats.  Eyes in the sky at casinos watch every move at the tables and there also are many casino workers whose jobs are to monitor action at tables. Dealers aren’t essential in this security and if casino management believe robots are better for the bottomline, bet on the demise of dealers.

How about front desk personnel at hotels?  The experts say yes – but, you know, I’d say it has largely already happened but it’s not robots who are replacing front desk staff but guests.  I can’t remember the last time I checked out at the front desk – it’s accomplished with a few clicks on my phone.  I’ve also used self check in at hotels and have no complaints. Hotel management has cleverly outsourced many front desk tasks to us.

The conclusion: the robots are coming to hospitality but so far it’s more talk than actual job loss by humans.  It’s taken a good decade for bots to adequately replace humans, most of the time, in providing customer service via phone – and there still are times when the bots completely strike out.

I expect to see human bartenders and waiters and cooks and housekeepers for some years to come. Whether we’d rather interact with machines or not.