Not since the first Jetsons cartoon aired in 1962 has there been so much interest in hospitality robots. These high-tech helpers are supplementing staff in several Bay Area hotels—and gaining more than a few fans along the way.
Not only are they sought after for selfies (they’ve been known to pull off the occasional photo bomb in the elevator), each day their ‘mettle’ is tested, they take on their tasks with no complaints—just a wink and a whirrrr.
At these five Bay Area hotels, robots aren’t just a novelty, they’re a vibe.
Luma robot Henry's baseball card(Courtesy of Luma Hotel)
Luma Hotel, San Francisco
Barry Bonds. Willie Mays. Henry the robot: In the world of trading cards, only one of these is the hot, new collectable. Henry is one of four hospitality robots featured on baseball cards at Luma Hotel in San Francisco’s Mission Bay. The high-tech, boutique property is capitalizing on its proximity to both Oracle Park and Chase Center, and nodding cheekily to Silicon Valley.
“Everybody loves our robots and the kids go crazy, so we developed baseball cards for them,” says Luma Hotel general manager Lee Severino. “We have all their stats from last year of how many deliveries they did and how many good compliments they got.”
Luma is the only Bay Area hotel to have four robot butlers who assist the front desk and food and beverage staff at their Twyne Coffee Bar and popular rooftop restaurant, Cavaña. Henry, Lumie, Lucy, and Lola deliver everything from lotion to lattes, and on a busy Saturday or Sunday they might have as many as 40 room service calls. “Most of the calls come between 7am and 9am, when we’re constantly having the robots going up onto the floors and interacting with guests,” says Severino. With the moves of a rock star, they glide like Michael Jackson and shimmy like Little Richard. Even their beep is sexy.
// 100 Channel Street (Mission Bay), lumahotels.com
Roger Restaurant at The Ameswell Hotel, Mountain View
The winner in the best-dressed category is Optimus Dine, a dashing, four-foot-tall Keenon T10 robot/server in Roger Restaurant in Mountain View’s The Ameswell Hotel. With video screens in both the torso and head area, Optimus often sports a tuxedo and a winking smile as he carries up to three trays of food from the kitchen to his pre-programmed table. The torso screen can also be used to advertise upcoming events.
“It’s definitely an attention catcher,” says sales and marketing director Ksenia Gavrysh. “Everyone is pulling out their phones and taking pictures… but the robot is more of an extra touch, a tribute to innovation in Silicon Valley and not a substitute for servers.”
Roger Restaurant has had a robot helper since The Ameswell Hotel opened to the public in 2021. And while Optimus may wish for a counterpart in housekeeping, Gavrysh says they still have to work out the logistical challenges of robot navigation in a 255-room luxury boutique hotel.
// 800 Moffett Blvd. (Mountain View), theameswellhotel.com
Hotel Trio's hospitality robot, Rosé(Courtesy of @hoteltriohealdsburg)
Hotel Trio, Healdsburg
With wine on the mind of most Healdsburg travelers, you can probably guess the name of Hotel Trio’s hospitality robot. It’s Rosé, a tribute to the Jetsons mechanical maid, Rosie. Rosé stands about three feet tall, with silver accents and a seductive smile. She’s built with Bluetooth capability and loaded with a mapping system of the floors and rooms in this luxury Marriott hotel.
“We get a report every week on how many trips Rosé makes to rooms,” says general manager Sherrie Carreno. Rosé saves Hotel Trio guests a trip to the lobby for things they may have forgotten, like toothpaste. She also brings blankets, extra towels, and even crayons and coloring books for kids.
In the lobby bar, another high-tech gadget also attracts a lot of attention: the self-serve wine Cruvenet. Guests get $15 loaded on their card key for tastings at check-in, then hold a glass under the spout after choosing their varietal and pour size. The machine is stocked daily with wines from throughout the region.
// 110 Dry Creek Rd.(Healdsburg), hoteltrio.com
Radisson Hotel, Sunnyvale
Born from a desire to limit human exposure during Covid, Wall-E the robot has been making room service runs at the Radisson in Sunnyvale since 2022.
“Guests think it’s a hoot,” says Rocio Deras in the hotel’s sales department, who adds that Wall-E makes little beeps when he’s rolling down the hall—almost like R2-D2 from Star Wars. He also has a sense of humor. Once the guest lifts the lid to retrieve an order, they’re asked to leave a rating on Wall-E’s screen panel. He responds by telling the human something cute like “you’re tickling me.”
// 1300 Chesapeake Ter. (Sunnyvale), choicehotels.com
Axiom Hotel robot Astro in his lobby dock.(Courtesy of Axiom Hotel)
Axiom Hotel, San Francisco
In San Francisco’s historic Axiom Hotel, a robot named Astro (after the Jetson’s dog… anyone starting to see a pattern here?) is an eager runner for staff at the front desk and the on-site Turn café, which overlooks the Powell Street cable car turnaround.
Heiko Novak, Axiom’s director of sales and marketing, says guests can send a text or call the front desk asking for Astro’s services. The most frequent requests are for extra coffee pods for the in-room espresso machines and Little Sweet Boba Tea from the café. Once the items are loaded into the robot’s “belly,” he’s programmed with the room number and heads for the elevator.
“Astro is super polite and tries very hard not to get in anyone’s way,” says Novak, but shyness aside, he will do a little dance if you give him a five-star rating upon delivery.
// 28 Cyril Magnin St. (Union Square), axiomhotel.com
