A technological revolution could be about to sweep away the days of unfriendly service at caravan park check-ins, and simultaneously bring site fees tumbling.
As incredible as it sounds, the advent of robot receptionists and mechanical amenities block cleaners could be just a few years away. And, with staff costs slashed, the expectation is that the price of an overnight stay will also be significantly reduced.
The Henn-na Hotel at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park near the Japanese city of Nagasaki is paving the way by introducing cutting edge technology that could set a precedent for the future. The hotel, which is slated to open in July, will ‘employ’ 10 robot staff for jobs ranging from check-in to room cleaning.
The humanoid robots will be able to speak fluent Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English, and will have human characteristics such as breathing, blinking and making eye contact.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently called for investment in ‘non-human resources’ to bring about a ‘robot revolution’ and Japan’s largest bank has already announced it will be trialling a customer-service robot in select branches.
The Nao robot uses cameras to analyse customer’s emotions and a microphone to judge their mood by their tone of voice.
Now, the president of the Huis Ten Bosch theme park, Hideo Sawada, has vowed to create the most efficient hotel in the world.
“In the future, we’d like to have more than 90% of hotel services operated by robots,” he said.
And the cost savings – brought about by robot labour and the widespread use of solar technology – are to be passed on to guests.
A single room will cost around A$75, while a twin room will come in at A$100, significantly cheaper than comparable hotels in the area.
However, with the expected peak season interest set to book out the hotel, guests will be invited to ‘bid’ for a spot in the venue. However, bidding for a single room will be capped at around A$150, which is still very, very cheap by normal Nagasaki standards.
The hotel’s first building will contain 72 rooms, and plans for a second wing are already being discussed.
It is unclear whether the current range of robots will be able to be programmed to help nervous grey nomads reverse into tight van park sites, or tell noisy campers to be quiet after 10pm.
