FEATURE
(IHG) and can be used in very tight small places
introduced Relay - nicknaming it Dash - in like guests rooms all the way to huge open
2015 to its Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon corridors airports, ballrooms and hotels.”
Intercontinental
Hotels
Group
Valley, in the US state of California. At the Green says that he perceives anecdotally
time Gina LaBarre, vice president of Americas that hospitality is currently suffering from a
brand management at Crowne Plaza, said: labour crisis - the world over, the industry is
“Given the hotel’s location in the heart of struggling to find people to do these kinds of
Silicon Valley, it is a natural fit to enhance our jobs. “Even with 1.4 billion people in China,”
service delivery program with the addition of he says, “they still struggle to hire people for
the latest in robot technology. We expect our cleaning jobs. So my company focuses on
guests to be impressed by the technological filling that gap and filling in that social void.”
Green believes that having robots in
sophistication of Dash.”
hotels will help alleviate pressure on staff
IMPROVING THE INDUSTRY so they can spend more time catering for
Micah Green is the founder of a robotics guests, from the front desk experience and
cleaning company in the US, called Maidbot. concierge to assisting with back of house,
His company’s stated mission is to identify the cleaning and even food operations.
problems that can be solved with robotics, “There might be more time because having
and one of the big trends he has seen is with robots do the tedious jobs will free up time
“mundane jobs” within the industry. for staff to do other things. They could help
His company has created a housekeeping
more and give a better experience, or just
in provide more services to the guests as well.”
by Furthermore, he says, jobs done by human
Green as a “mini self-driving car” that focuses staff members will be done better and more
on cleaning every square inch of a certain consistently over time as a result.
robot
called
numerous
Rosie,
properties
already
and
present
described
area. “It’s small,” he says, “so it’s very versatile
April 2018
Green hopes eventually to see robots
www.hotelowner.co.uk
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