Hotel replaces porters with robot
A New York hotel has become the first to employ a robot to take care of its guests' luggage.
The Yotel on 42nd Street and Tenth Avenue has installed a 20ft-tall robotic arm, called the Yobot, to transfer suitcases to lockers.
According to reports in the Daily Mail, the boss of the 669-room hotel Gerard Greene calls it the 'iPod of the hotel industry'.
The pod-style rooms are 170 square feet and have been designed by aircraft designers to make them feel larger.
Yotel check-in
Until now, Yotel has only opened hotels at airports and already has properties at Heathrow, Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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