From the World

Hotel porter robots in Los Angeles

February 2018

Tug robots

Robots are already available in other hotels, but these are sturdier.

The brand-new Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel has a fleet of robots that can carry out three tasks: room service, luggage delivery, and welcoming guests at reception.

These large robots, named “TUG”, are developed by Aethon. They are already widely employed in US hospitals for logistics.

For the hospitality industry, the most innovative of their functions is porterage: they can take luggage up to the guests’ rooms, using service elevators and a combination of internal GPS and the hotel’s WiFi system to find the way. The doors to communal areas (corridors, elevators, etc) are equipped with sensors that allow the robots to open them on their own.
When they’re at their final destination, they automatically dial the room’s phone number and tell guests a secret code to unlock their cargo hold. Guests take their luggage, and robots go back down to the lobby.

Greeter robots are also a big hit with the clients: they can guide guests anywhere in the hotel, from the lobby to the pool, from the bar to the toilets.
Guests even take selfies with them!