Meet "Botlr," the three-foot-tall robotic bellhop that will bring requested items to your room and then do an appreciative dance if you give it a happy review.
Launching on Wednesday at the Aloft hotel in Cupertino, Calif., the bot butler "chirps" like the famous R2-D2 and comes from Silicon Valley startup Savioke, the New York Times reported.
The robot, which is built in a column-style and not intended to look human, moves at about the speed of a quick walk and can bring small items such as newspapers, toothbrushes and razors to hotel rooms in two or three minutes.
After getting to the door of one of Aloft's 150 rooms, Botlr calls the guest and then automatically opens its storage bin to deliver the necessary item. Instead of a tip, hotel guests can put a "review" into a display on top of the robot, which will inspire it to perform a small dance before leaving--if the review is positive, that is.
Botlr can even navigate multiple floors of the hotel, communicating wirelessly with the elevator doors and then coming inside the elevator while making sure to make way for human passengers.
Based in Santa Clara, Calif., Savioke contacted Starwood Hotels earlier this year to ask if the Aloft hotel chain was interested in bringing on Botlr.
Will robotic help ever replace hotel staff?
"I see this as an enhancement to our customer service," Brian McGuinness, Starwood Hotels' senior vice president for its Specialty Select brands, which include Aloft hotels, told the Times. "It's not going to be a replacement for our human talent."
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
