REVIEWS OF HOTEL EXECUTIVE CLUB LOUNGES, KIDS CLUBS AND MORE.
Of all the surprises during our stay at LUMA Hotel Times Square, nothing quite matched the reaction we got the evening ALINA turned up at our door. We had absolutely no idea she existed, and within about thirty seconds of that first knock, she'd become the highlight of our children's entire trip.
ALINA is the hotel's very own robot butler, standing about three feet tall, and she's believed to be one of the first robotic hotel butlers to be introduced in New York City. Named after the ancient Greek word for "light," she rolls through the hallways of LUMA delivering everything from snacks and bottled water to extra towels and toiletries, all without a single member of staff needing to step inside your room.
The way it works is genuinely clever. You simply call down to the front desk with whatever you need, and the team loads it into ALINA's secure internal compartment before sending her off. Using autonomous Wi-Fi mapping technology, she safely navigates her way through the hotel's hallways and even operates the lifts by herself, avoiding guests and obstacles along the way using her onboard cameras and sensors. Once she arrives at your door, she calls the room telephone to let you know she's there, and you simply enter your PIN on her touchscreen to open her compartment lid and collect your delivery. Mission complete, she rolls herself straight back to her charging dock in the lobby, ready for the next request.
We hadn't requested anything ourselves that evening, so it came as a complete surprise when there was a knock and ALINA was waiting outside with a special delivery for the children: an Adventures in New York City activity pack, complete with a set of crayons. The kids were absolutely beside themselves. In fact, they were so taken with ALINA herself that the pack and crayons were almost an afterthought, they just wanted to stand there looking at her, watching her lights, asking endless questions about how she worked and whether she could talk back.
Our daughter crouched right down to eye level with ALINA's screen and started waving at her little animated eyes, half expecting her to wave back. Our son wanted to know everything, how fast she went, whether she could see them, whether she got tired, whether she had a name for the elevator too. We ended up standing in the hallway for a good few minutes just watching her sit there, lid open, lights glowing, long after we'd already taken the activity pack out of her compartment. Neither of them wanted to go back inside the room and let the moment end.
From that point on, ALINA became the main event of the stay as far as our children were concerned. We ended up calling down to reception more than once purely so we could request something small, just for the thrill of watching ALINA make her way up and deliver it to our door. Extra towels, a bottle of water, it didn't matter what it was, the excitement of hearing that phone ring and opening the door to find her waiting there never wore off.
Every single time, it was the same routine: the moment we told the kids ALINA was on her way, they'd race to the door and press their ears against it, waiting for that phone to ring. When it did, they'd sprint to answer it before we could, and then throw the door open like they were greeting an old friend rather than a delivery robot. They started giving her little updates each time, telling her about their day, asking if she remembered them from the last delivery, completely unbothered by the fact she couldn't actually answer back. At one point our son declared he wanted a robot exactly like her for his bedroom at home, and our daughter spent a good ten minutes trying to work out whether ALINA had a favourite colour, eventually deciding it must be blue, since that's the colour she's finished in.
By the end of the stay, ALINA had become such a fixture of our evenings that the kids would ask about her before they asked about dinner. There's something brilliant about watching two children who are usually glued to tablets get completely captivated by a real, physical robot doing something genuinely useful right in front of them, and honestly, we found ourselves just as charmed. Every time that lid popped open and her little screen lit up, there was a small ripple of excitement that ran through the whole family, adults included.
What makes ALINA properly impressive rather than just a gimmick is the technology underpinning her. She's built on the same robot architecture used by Savioke, a company known for pioneering autonomous delivery robots in hotels, and she uses 3D cameras and multiple sensors to map her surroundings and navigate safely, even operating lifts wirelessly to move between floors on her own. It's the kind of contactless, seamless service that feels genuinely futuristic, but rather than replacing the human touch, she frees up the hotel's team to focus on the bigger, more personal moments of a guest's stay, while she handles the quick, practical deliveries in between.
It's easy to see why she's picked up coverage well beyond New York and built up a following on social media. She's a proper reflection of just how tech-forward LUMA is as a hotel, but she never feels cold or clinical, she's genuinely charming, and our children would tell you she was the best part of the whole holiday.
Meeting ALINA turned out to be one of those unexpected moments that ends up defining a trip. We went into our stay at LUMA Hotel Times Square expecting a comfortable room and a good location, and came away with two children who are now completely convinced that robots are the future and thoroughly disappointed that our home doesn't have one of its own. If you're travelling with kids and staying at LUMA, do not tell them about ALINA in advance, let her surprise them the way she surprised ours. It's a moment they won't stop talking about.
We are a family of 4 - mother, father and two children. Our aim is to travel the world and review all travel opportunities to help other families.
If you want the latest information on the best Hotel Executive Club Lounges, Hotel Kids Clubs and other travel information, be sure to sign up for our free newsletter full of tips and great travel ideas.
