The robots that save waiters 3,000 kilometres a year at a Granada hotel

When the latest generation robots Echo and Electra appeared in the dining room of the Gran Hotel Luna in Granada city, the staff greeted them with suspicion.

The arrival of Artificial Intelligence in almost every sector generates inevitable concern: "Are they coming to take our jobs? However, now the waiters at the Granada hotel are convinced of the benefits of this technology: Echo and Electra are helping them with their jobs.

"Now they can't live without them! Those who were reluctant are now delighted, we have improved the service thanks to the robots. They take away the work that doesn't look good," sums up Leonor Sánchez, the maître d' at the Gran Hotel Luna de Granada.

The two robot waiters move fluidly through the dining room of the Granada hotel, where the professionals load them with the dirty dishes and crockery that they diligently move to the kitchen and they are sent back to the dining room with the clean items. They are programmed to make automated journeys, scan the environment and to avoid obstacles.

The idea of incorporating robots in the dining room came from the CEO of DeLuna Hotels, Javier Tausía, a firm advocate of "meaningful" innovation to add value to the group's hotels. The Gran Hotel Luna, with 365 rooms, is the largest hotel in Granada city and has a large permanent staff, plus temporary agency staff, depending on occupancy.

The lack of professionals in the hospitality industry is a problem that is stifling the growth of the sector throughout Spain, which is causing more and more and more hotels to opt for these technological solutions to support the teams.

At DeLuna Hotels they are clear that they are not here to replace anyone but to look after the team so that their waiters don't have to spend their time bringing dirty dishes to and from the kitchen and can focus on serving the guests.

"The fact that AI frees our teams from routine and repetitive tasks is positive so that we can focus on continuing to improve the guests' experience, which is what really makes the difference. The robots are avoiding 3,000 kilometres of travel and the loading of three thousand tonnes a year," explains DeLuna Hotels' Head of Quality, Rocío Solís.

Technology is a driving force, but at the Granada hotel group, the value of the human component is also important. "Technology helps the team so that they can take care of the guest," insists Solís.

They don't take orders, nor do they serve like real waiters, but they transport dishes, carry the weight and avoid unnecessary journeys.

"Now I have all the waiters in the room focusing on customer service. All the tables are clean and the buffet is restocked while the robots do the ugly work. Our professionals work much more calmly and this is noticeable", says the head waiter. Moreover, Leonor jokes that she is delighted with how polite Echo and Electra are: "They never complain about anything".