Japan's new robot hotel

A menacing-looking dinosaur, a female humanoid and a small android greet guests

A menacing-looking dinosaur, a lifelike female humanoid with blinking lashes, and a small android greet guests at this Japanese hotel where almost all employees are robots.

The Weird Hotel, as it is aptly called in English, is set to open to the public tomorrow, becoming the latest oddity in a country known for its quirky guest accommodation.

But the £45-a-night ($80) hotel goes beyond using robots as a gimmick, as it is among the first to use facial recognition technology instead of swipe cards as room keys.

Hideo Sawada, who runs the hotel as part of the Huis Ten Bosch amusement park in Sasebo, Nagasaki, told the Associated Press the use of robots is not a gimmick, but a serious effort to utilise technology and improve efficiency while saving on labour costs.

He hopes the robots will carry out 90 per cent of tasks normally completed by humans.

At the Henn na Hotel, as it is called in Japanese, the dinosaur wears a hat and bowtie, telling visitors: 'If you want to check in, push one.'

The guest then punches a button and enters his or her personal information on a touch panel screen.

Before heading up to their room guests can store items in a 'robot cloak room'.

After guests drop items into a box, a giant robotic arm snatches it and then puts it into an open space in a wall where the boxes are stacked.

A guest can do this while an automated trolley delivers luggage to their room, which has a small robot with a Siri-like ability to answer questions about the current time or weather.

While the concierge - a doll-like hairless robot with voice recognition - can provide details on breakfast, it cannot call a cab or match the capabilities of its human counterparts.

The temperature of the rooms is monitored with technology that detects body heat and guests can call for robotic room service using a tablet instead of a phone.

Two things the robots cannot do is take care of security or make the beds.

But there are plans to use a robot to deliver room service.

Mr Sawada is eager to open another robot-staffed hotel in Japan, and is keen on taking the concept abroad.