When the butler is a robot, do we still need to tip?

In 2014, Starwood’s Aloft Hotels introduced a novelty in their property in Cupertino, California: a robotic butler. Is “A.L.O.” (as it was dubbed) the wave of the future? In the Hotel Yearbook 2015 - Special Edition: Technology, which appeared last fall, Brian McGuinness, in charge of the company’s Specialty Select brands which includes Aloft, shared with us the story of how the company developed and launched this new concept, the “Botlr”. As it was obviously a milestone worth remembering – the first time in history that a member of a hotel staff was not a carbon-based life form! – we decided to reprint the story here.

In 2014, Starwood’s Aloft Hotels introduced a novelty in their property in Cupertino, California: a robotic butler. Is “A.L.O.” (as it was dubbed) the wave of the future? In the Hotel Yearbook 2015 - Special Edition: Technology, which appeared last fall, Brian McGuinness, in charge of the company’s Specialty Select brands which includes Aloft, shared with us the story of how the company developed and launched this new concept, the “Botlr”. As it was obviously a milestone worth remembering – the first time in history that a member of a hotel staff was not a carbon-based life form! – we decided to reprint the story here.