Source (New York YIMBI)
Oct. 27, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
Visitors to Long Island City will now have the chance to enjoy a futuristic robot butler and food delivery courtesy of emojis from the comfort of their own hotel room.
Aloft, a hotel brand owned by the Starwood group, is opening a new location at 27-45 Jackson Avenue on November 10, and it promises to bring a high-tech experience to the area.
The 18-story, 74,000 square foot hotel will hold 176 rooms, as well as a bar, a lounge, a snack bar, a gym, a pool, and 1,500 square feet of meeting space.
There will also be a 1,700 square foot outdoor terrace on the ground floor.
Aloft Long Island City-Manhattan View is one of 234 locations around the world, promising a “modern, tech-savvy design and a youthful, “hip” social experience at an affordable price,” according to the company.
“Since I was a child, growing up in Queens, I’ve heard about Long Island City becoming ‘the next big place,’ said architect Gene Kaufman. “Now, all these years later, I’m proud to be doing a high-profile hotel in the heart of the area.”
When staying at Aloft, guests will experience technology such as “Botlr,” a robotic butler, keyless room entry, allowing them to simply tap their smartphone on the door to enter the room, and emoji-only room service, where they can simply text emojis and their room number to order room service.
The two meeting spaces available for rent are equipped with 50-inch flat screen televisions and free Wi-Fi, with the largest space available measuring 700 square feet.
The new hotel will also feature Aloft’s signature WXYZ Bar, offering a space for live music performances.
There are three Aloft hotels already in New York City, one in Harlem, one in the Financial District and one in Brooklyn, but this will be the first location in Queens. The group will be opening another Aloft location in Midtown in December.
The new hotel is accepting reservations for the coming months, with prices ranging from $161 to $379 per night, depending on the room.
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14 Comments
The exterior lighting on this building is obnoxious.
It’s ugly as hell and shines into my apartment all night long. Aren’t there laws against this sort of thing?
Long Island City, Queens, could use a City Parks recreation center, with an indoor pool and senior, youth and children’s indoor sports/classes for winter healthy activities.
Reading about an indoor pool for the visitor reminds us that our borough has far fewer year-round facilities than Manhattan, especially. Real estate interests get their high rises, so why not demand that we get stress relief? (Asser Levy recreation center even has pool tables!)
After reading some of the posts here I can totally understand why a robotic butler and less human interaction is the way of the future… too many sour human beings around!
Why do you assume robot butlers would want anything to do with these people? if I were a robot working for nothing in a LIC hotel, I would at least expect some common decency from the customers..
Anonymous, I couldn’t have said it any better.Homeless shelters on the rise in LIC / NYC. LIC on pace for 61 hotels=overkill. How many will become homeless shelters????????????
None. NYC is on pace for 60 million visitors this year. Hotel occupancy is hovering around 88%. That is very healthy and easy money for hotels. Throw in the fact that most hotels here are cheaper than in Manhattan and you can see why there is so much interest in LIC. I convinced my friend to stay in LIC last time he visited on business. He said he will never stay in Manhattan again. LIC is quieter, has great views, is cheaper and has easy access to Manhattan.
their light outside of their building is so annoying. It shines directly into my window all through out the night.
Makes me feel like I live in a futuristic movie
Maybe we’ll get toilet paper delivered quicker.
wait and see it will become a homeless shelter they get $4,000.00 a month –
Actually $4000/month would be a bargain. NYC pays $4500/month for rooms at the Holiday Inn.
Reduced human interaction and greater feelings of isolation! Huzzah! Looking forward to when I can spend days without seeing, hearing, smelling, or tasting any sign of life. Please jam silicon into all of my orifices!
Given that I spend a fair amount of the year in hotels for business, I would absolutely welcome a robotic butler. The last thing I want after a hard day of work is explaining my dinner order to someone with poor English skills. Now if only I could check in to my room in the cab on my way to the hotel and skip the front desk clerk asking me how my trip in was.
I feel more sorry for any robot that has to deal with you.