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Bellhop bots? This Japanese hotel will be run by robots

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, for helping me with my luggage. Hen-na Hotel in Japan is set to open with check-in bots and robot concierges, porters and maids. So we don't have to tip them, right?

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton

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No word yet if the robot staff will look like Twiki from "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century." NBC

Nothing says hotel hospitality like being greeted by a smiling robot. Checking into Hen-na Hotel in Japan means you'll be surrounded in robots eager to help make your vacation hassle-free and memorable.

The Hen-na Hotel is scheduled to open July 17 inside the Huis Ten Bosch theme park -- a tribute to the Netherlands -- in Sasebo, Nagasaki.

In addition to a robot staff, the tech-savvy hotel also will use facial recognition instead of room keys.

"We will make the most efficient hotel in the world," company president Hideo Sawada said, as reported by Japan Times. "In the future, we'd like to have more than 90 percent of hotel services operated by robots."

Robots replacing human employees should help keep labor costs at a minimum, which means cheaper rates for customers. A night at the hotel will cost approximately $60 (£40 or AU$77 or 7,000 yen) for a single room and $80 ( (£53 or AU$103 or 9,000 yen) for a twin room. When the hotel is operating during peak tourist season, rooms will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

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