STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aloft Hotels, the innovative hotel brand for today’s hyper-connected global traveler, today announced that its second robotic butler, or Botlr, is officially reporting for full-time duty at Aloft Silicon Valley, effective immediately. This is the brand’s second full-time cyber associate, following the debut of the world’s first Botlr at Aloft Cupertino last year. Additionally, starting August 27, the original Aloft Botlr will hit the road, rolling across country to Aloft Miami South Beach, and will later be transferred to the new Aloft Manhattan Downtown - Financial District for a short stint this Fall before returning to Cupertino.
“We embarked upon this robotic experiment years ago, and it has proven what we suspected all along — humans and robots can co-exist and work side by side to elevate the guest experience,” said Brian McGuinness, Global Brand Leader, Starwood’s Specialty Select Brands. “Botlr has been an integral part of the Aloft Cupertino experience, and the demand from guests and associates around the world to interact with our biotic bellhop has been astounding. As we add our second Botlr to the Aloft team and transfer our first Botlr to new hotels around the country, we know they will continue to not only make hospitality history, but, more importantly, memories for our guests.”
#BotlrOnCall
Starting today, the brand’s second Botlr will officially be on call full-time as the able android of Aloft Silicon Valley, where it will assist Aloft talent in delivering amenities to guest rooms. Smartly dressed in a custom uniform and nametag, Botlr autonomously transports everything from toothbrushes to the day’s paper as it navigates the 172 rooms and five floors of Aloft Silicon Valley with ease. Like its predecessor, it accepts Tweets in lieu of tips, and during its training period was known to roll around the hotel’s lobby and W:XYZ bar (obliging guests with selfies along the way, of course). This newest Aloft associate not only frees up existing talent’s time, allowing them to create a more personalized experience for guests, but enhances the hotel’s current tech-forward offerings.
#BotlrTakesMiami
Aloft made history last August when it became the first major hotel brand to hire a robot for both back and front of house duties. This omnipresent operative became an instant overnight sensation and travelers from around the world have flocked to Aloft Cupertino to watch it in action. All of this attention is why Botlr needs to recharge its batteries with a change of scenery. Starting August 27, Botlr will be moonlighting in Miami for a few days at the new Aloft South Beach where it will surprise guests with deliveries from a special “Botlr Takes Miami” menu that includes every day beach essentials. It will also hand out towels in the lobby and act as a “wingbot” for sly singles at W:XYZ bar.
#BotlrHeartsNYC
After soaking up some sun, Botlr will temporarily join the staff of the new Aloft Manhattan Downtown - Financial District in early Fall. As part of this short Manhattan transfer, Botlr will greet guests on select evenings with either bull or bear shaped cookies and candy (depending upon how the stock market performs that day) as well as fetch guest deliveries from a special “BotlrHeartsNYC” menu including bagels, MetroCards, and every day essentials for survival in the Big Apple. Botlr will also be a part of the hotel’s official ribbon cutting ceremony, slated for early September. It will then return to Aloft Cupertino and re-join the staff full-time.
“00111010 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00101100 00100000 01110111 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 01110110 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100111 01110010 01100001 01101101 01101101 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101010,” said Botlr, the world’s first robotic butler. “01101111 01110101 01110010 01101110 01100101 01111001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101110.”
[Translation: I am happy to help you, wherever my programmed journeys take me. Tweets greatly appreciated.]
Aloft Botlrs represent yet another forward-looking milestone for Aloft, Starwood’s innovative, tech-forward incubator brand. Recent innovations include SPG Keyless, the world’s first truly mobile, keyless entry system, piloting Apple TV services, mobile-controlled guest experiences, and more. Most recently, Aloft announced its testing innovations such as Mobile Controlled Lighting and Wake Up Preferences as well as Virtual Reality experiences for rollout within the next year.
Let’s get social. Follow @AloftHotels on Twitter, check us out on Instagram @AloftHotels, or head to Facebook.com/AloftHotels.
Both Botlrs are graduates of Savioke, a Santa Clara, CA-based company that provides robots to the services industry including hotels, hospitals, restaurants and offices
About Aloft Hotels
With 100 hotels open now and coming soon in 15 countries around the world, Starwood’s (NYSE:HOT) Aloft brand delivers a fresh approach to the traditional staid hotel landscape. For today’s (and tomorrow’s) connected, curious and communal evolving global traveler, the Aloft brand offers a tech-forward, vibrant experience and a modern style that is different by design. For more information, please visit www.alofthotels.com/experience.
