Coming soon: The world's first robot-operated hotel

The future is now.

In China, Pudu Robotics, a leader in commercial service robotics, and Shenzhen Culture & Tourism Industry Development Co. Ltd have officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop the world’s first full-scenario robot-serviced hotel on the West Artificial Island of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link. 

 The island is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in China, travel news hub Travel Mole reports.

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link is widely recognised as one of the world’s most complex cross-sea transportation systems, combining bridges, tunnels, artificial islands, and underwater interchanges into a single engineering marvel.

The plan is to transform West Artificial Island showcase for artificial intelligence, robotics and smart tourism. 

As a strategic gateway connecting key cities across the Greater Bay Area, the West Artificial Island provides a platform to showcase next-generation technologies to visitors from around the world.

Unlike hotels where robots simply assist employees, the project aims to automate virtually every guest-facing and operational task. 

Service robots already deliver amenities in many hotels across Shenzhen and other major cities, while some properties have introduced humanoid robots at reception desks. This, however, will be the world’s first hotel designed from the outset to operate entirely without human staff.

The 44-room hotel is scheduled to open in 2027, although visitors will be able to experience the concept earlier. Pilot operations are expected to begin in late 2026, with a limited number of rooms available for public testing.

Designed as a next-generation hospitality destination, the hotel will integrate robots across every major service scenario, including guest reception, room delivery, cleaning, food service, and guest support. 

Powered by embodied AI and multi-robot collaboration, the project represents one of the industry’s most comprehensive deployments of robotics in a real-world hospitality environment.

The company says its AI platform, powered by its proprietary PuduFM 1.0 foundation model and PuduAgent operating system, will coordinate all robotic services through a shared intelligence network. 

Different robot models will perform specialised tasks while communicating with one another.

Among them, FlashBot will deliver drinks and snacks ordered via smartphone, the T300 robot will transport luggage to guest rooms, while the CC1 Pro and MT1 autonomous cleaning robots will maintain the property using AI-powered waste detection and adaptive cleaning technology.

The hotel itself will be the first phase of a broader smart tourism initiative. 

Over the coming four years, robotics and AI services are expected to expand across West Artificial Island, supporting attractions, restaurants and visitor facilities. 

It will be fascinating to see guest reactions. 

Okonomiyaki: a seriously weird food experience

It is a seriously weird food amalgam.

Okonomiyaki, claimed by both Hiroshima and Osaka, has links to pancakes, noodles, omelette and more.

As we were not visiting either city on our current trip to Japan we opted for an outlet of one of Hiroshima’s best-known creators of the dish, located in a shopping centre in Yokohama. Damn fine it was, too.

The only problem for us was that there were no English menus available. And lots of choices.

So we just pointed at what looked good on the menu. And hoped.

Here is how okononomiyaki is described by Wikipedia: a Japanese savoury pancake dish consisting of wheat flower batter and other ingredients (mixed, or as toppings) cooked on a teppan (flat griddle). Common additions include cabbage, meat, and seafood, and toppings include okonomiyaki sauce (made with [an approximation of] Worcestershire Sauce,  aonori (dried seaweed flakes), bonito flakes, Japanese mayonnaise and pickled ginger.

Sounds dreadful. Tastes good.

Take public transport anywhere in the country for €9 a month

Be quick.

Until the end of this month visitors to Germany can pay a one-off €9 ($13) fee and travel anywhere in the country by public transport.

One fee. Unlimited trips.

And Germany’s €9 a month rail passes have proved so successful the government is under pressure to extend the scheme it introduced in June but finishes at the end of August.

The heavily subsidised pass grants all German residents and visitors unlimited travel on regional transport.

The pass entitles the user to travel on buses, U-Bahns, S-Bahns, trams and local and regional trains for one calendar month but does not include high--speed long-distance trains like the IC or ICE.

The current pass has led to a drop in congestion on roads in 23 out of 26 cities examined as part of a preliminary analysis by traffic data specialist Tomtom for the German Press Agency last month.

Around 21 million of the €9 tickets were sold in June alone, Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) figures showed. That’s on top of the roughly 10 million subscribers who automatically received the discounted ticket.