Last week during a business trip to Japan, I spent a night at the Henn na Hotel— and it turned out to be one of the most amusing parts of my visit. The check-in counter was staffed by two robotic dinosaurs wearing bellboy hats. Yes, dinosaurs. And in my room, a small talking robot named Churi-chan was waiting to greet me. At one point in the evening, while I was setting my alarm, the robot suddenly started dancing to cheerful music. I couldn’t help but laugh— and then oddly, I found myself dancing along.
Over the course of a few funny interactions — her politely scolding me for turning off the lights without asking, or offering weather updates in a dramatic tone — I actually got used to having her around. When I checked out the next morning, I felt strangely sentimental, like I was saying goodbye to a quirky little friend.
Henn na Hotel (which means “Strange Hotel”) first opened in 2015 at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki and holds the Guinness World Record as the first hotel staffed by robots. Since then, it has expanded to around 20 locations across Japan, offering a mix of futuristic tech and playful hospitality.
While such hotels are not yet widespread in Japan, it’s clear that the Japanese are more at ease than we are when it comes to interacting with humanoids and robots. For me, it was a surprising and entertaining glimpse into what the future of travel might look like.
(By Olivier van Beneden; Managing director)
