The iconic Robot Hotel of Japan, the Henna-na (which literally translates to ”Strange” has actually laid off half of their 243 robot workers that used to take care of their everyday functioning.

Ever since the hotel opened back in 2015, they’ve gained a whole lot of publicity by employing hundreds of robots. They served as a fun and unique gimmick to the hotel, however in the end were not able to keep up, shattering the dreams of having a completely automated world, as well as advancing Japan’s image.

Some of the main issues come from creative ideas that didn’t work out as planned, such as a robot working at the front desk for check-ins.  Other issues included the fact that the personal assistant robot in each room was not able to compare to that of any new smartphone.

These robots were found to be both annoying and too often than not would break down. The robots further were not able to handle foreign guests, and human workers would have to show up in order to photocopy their passports.

The Henn-na Hotel plans to take on a different kind of robotic technology in the future and give it a second try, however one that is more similar to what is more commonly used, such as facial recognition. Perhaps it won’t be quite as charming, but hopefully it will be more effective.