A humanoid robot at the Henna Hotel (Weird Hotel) in Huis Ten Bosch, Netherlands. Photo: Trevor Williams/WireImage
Among some people, the talk is all robots, all the time. Not at Hilton Hotels. Matt Schuyler, Hilton's chief human resource officer, tells Axios that the chain is not contemplating robots to staff its front desks or to clean rooms — not now, and not in a decade either.
When it comes to cleaning, robots may get rooms somewhat scrubbed, "but I don't see in our lifetime robots cleaning rooms to the satisfaction of our guests," Schuyler says. It's a similar story with reception. "We want this to be a human experience."
In Japan, robots are having a mixed experience as they are introduced into hotels, reports the WSJ. Robots are being created for the hospitality industry, but they don't appear to be quite ready for prime time yet.
Last month, Hilton came out on top of Fortune magazine's 100 best places to work list for 2019, a leap from last year, when it was ranked 33rd. Hilton has a global staff of more than 405,000 people, some 913,000 rooms in 5,600 hotels, and some 22,000 jobs openings.