Japan Set to Open First Hotel Run by Robots This Summer

A high-tech hotel staffed by multilingual robots is set to open within the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Japan starting this summer. The Henn Na hotel – which is the Japanese word for “strange” – will be staffed by “Actroids,” robots that have been developed over the past 11 years by the Sanrio‘s animatronics division.

The Actroids will provide room cleaning, front desk assistance and porter services, allowing the hotel to keep their costs down and thus making it “the most efficient hotel in the world,” as put by president Hideo Sawada. One night at the hotel will run you ¥7,000/night JPY (approximately $59 USD) for a single room and ¥9,000 JPY (approximately $76 USD) for a double. During peak seasons though, visitors will have to bid for space, with an upper limit of ¥14,000 JPY (approximately $118 USD) for a single room. The two-story hotel will have a total of 72 rooms open by July 17, and you can start reserving them on the website. Check out the photo set here and let us know what you think in the comments below.