Botlr (a robot butler) delivers toiletries and towels to guests at Aloft Hotels. Aloft is building a hotel in Corpus Christi, which should open in 2018. Courtesy Photo
A multi-million international hotel chain plans to build a $3.5 million hi-tech hotel with robot butlers and smart phone check-ins. A permit request was made to the Corpus Christi Development Services Department to build an Aloft Hotel at 5117 Embassy Drive near the Best Buy at Everhart Rd. and S. Padre Island Drive.
A part of the Starwood Hotels chain, Aloft Hotels are on a building binge, with 11 facilities underway in Texas, 41 in the U.S. and 45 more around the world. Starwood Hotels also owns the W, Sheraton and Westin hotels.
Known for its innovative use of technology, Aloft Hotels have incorporated smart phones into the typical hotel stay. Visitors can book their room, receive the room number and unlock the door without ever having to stand in a check-in line. Visitors can also view menus and order room service on their smart phones. In fact, the room service menus in the international hotel chain do not come in with different language options. They use emojis — small pictures of food items — for ordering.
And, then, there’s Botlr (like butler), a round-the-clock robot that can make deliveries of towels and toiletries by request from a smart phone. Tips are still expected: in the form of thank you tweets.
Made by Savioke of Sunnyvale, Calif., Botlr uses a wi-fi connection to call the elevator and find its way to the right hotel room door. It then calls the guest on the room phone to let them know it’s there. Deliveries are carried in a hatch on top of the robot, which opens when the guest comes to the door.
Aloft also features what it calls Rooms of the Future, with two large format HD TVs side-by-side at the foot of the bed and smart mirrors that cast reflections along with live weather feeds.
The newest hotels recently opened in New Orleans, South Beach and Manhattan. In Nov., the company announced plans to build an Aloft Hotel in Shanghai, China.
"The Aloft brand is known for its vibrant social scene, tech-driven amenities and flowing no-walls, no-limits space,” read a release from the company. “Guests to the hotel can expect to find a high-energy atmosphere, urban-influenced design and lots of tech-savvy touches. The Aloft brand curates one of the industry’s largest live-music series – Live at Aloft Hotels – which hosts emerging talent for intimate performances.”
Aloft has been called by industry analysts the fastest growing brand in the history of hospitality with hotels now open in 16 countries. According the chain’s website, the Corpus Christi version should be completed in 2018.
Other Permits
Also requested through the Development Services Department in recent weeks were permits for:
• A remodel of the Orthopedic Center of Corpus Christi at 6118 Parkway Drive for $259,929;
• A remodel of the Whataburger at 14301 S. Padre Island Drive for $99,795
• Tenant finish out for Aveda Institute at 1110 Ayers St. for $238,500;
• Tenant finish out for Harbor Freight at 4101 Interstate 69 Access Road for $420,000;
• New construction, El Rinconcito Restaurant at 4013 Prescott St. for $650,000;
• New construction, Manhattan Park office building at 5117 Williams Drive for$175,000,;
• New construction, Magellan at 973 Poth Lane for $2.5 million;
• New construction, Little Caesar's at 11262 Leopard St. for $120,000;
• New construction, AmSpec, 301 N. Omaha Drive for $95,000;
• New construction, Dollar General Store, 5720 Leopard St. for $600,000.
Permits were granted for construction of a FEMA Dome at 4101 Wildcat Drive at Calallen High School totalling $4.9 million and a new Bill Miller Barbecue restaurant at 4785 Saratoga Blvd for $700,000.
