The Take by TRAVHOTECH – CES 2026 Day One

Welcome to Day One. If you want the headlines on the 100-inch transparent TVs and the keynote speeches, you can read the mainstream press—they have that covered. We bypassed the « Hollywood » of CES to hit the trenches of the Expo Halls. This is where we find the real gadgetry; the stuff that is quietly plotting to run your hotel for you.

The theme of the day? « The End of Chores. »

We are looking at a future where you—or your paid help—won’t be pushing a vacuum, mowing a lawn, or even mixing a drink ever again.

Here is the exhaustive « Weird, Wonderful, and Surprisingly Useful » list from Day One.

The TRAVHOTECH Take: The application for high-rise hotels is obvious. Why dangle a human off the side of a building when a robot can squeegee the 40th floor perfectly? Inside, this signals the end of « heavy lifting » for housekeeping. The staff of the future becomes the manager of the fleet, not the muscle behind the mop.

The Story: Flying Vacuums & Robot Appliances We saw robot appliances designed to do just about everything. The standout? The MOVA Pilot70, a flying vacuum cleaner that actually deploys a drone to clean split-level lofts (yes, really). We also found window-cleaning robots scaling glass walls like geckos, proving that the days of dangerous manual window washing are numbered.

The TRAVHOTECH Take: The « Open Lobby » concept is great until you need a private call. These modular pods are the solution, turning dead corners into rentable business centers. But the real surprise was the « Agri-Tech » moving indoors. We aren’t just talking about a potted fern in the corner; we are talking about food production systems that look like art installations.

The Story: Meeting Pods & Intelligent Planters Framery and Room displayed static, acoustically sealed meeting pods in all different sizes (no, they don’t fly, but they do everything else). On the green side, we saw Smart Planters designed for both commercial spaces and guest rooms. These aren’t just for aesthetics; they are intelligent production systems (think automated hydroponics) that monitor plant health and air quality, allowing hotels to grow fresh mint for the bar right in the lobby.

The TRAVHOTECH Take: Forget the Fitbit; put the tech in the shirt. Mode Wearables is effectively building an operating system for clothing. For bellmen freezing in the driveway or housekeepers overheating on checkout day, uniforms that self-regulate temperature are a game-changer. Plus, haptic vibrations for silent alerts (« Room 202 needs towels ») beat a blaring radio any day.

The Story: Smart Clothing & Connectivity We saw Smart Clothing that goes beyond simple fabrics—these are full-blown wearables with an OS that manages temperature and communication. For the digital nomads, TP-Link and TCL showed off portable WiFi 7 and Cellular-WiFi routers. These are non-negotiable for business travel, creating a secure, high-speed bubble anywhere and bypassing dodgy hotel portals.

The TRAVHOTECH Take: We are officially in the era of the « Quantified Self, » even the parts we leave behind. The smart toilet is the ultimate amenity for high-end wellness resorts—guests can track the efficacy of their detox in real-time. On the lighter side, Digital Scent Managers allow a lobby to smell like « Energizing Citrus » at 8 AM and « Relaxing Sandalwood » at 8 PM, automatically.

The Story: Scents, Toilets & Sensors There is enough wellness tech here to sensor every part of your person. Vivoo showcased a Smart Toilet Console that clips onto the bowl to monitor « quality » (so to speak) and analyze hydration/nutrition. We also saw Digital Scent Managers pitching « Fragrance as a Service, » using AI to mix scents on demand.

The TRAVHOTECH Take: The Dutch are back, but where are the bikes? The solar city car is the perfect rental vehicle for island destinations—easier to park than a golf cart. And for the guest room, the AI Bartender is the minibar upgrade we’ve been waiting for. Finally, a machine that cuts you off responsibly.

The Story: Dutch Cars, Telescopes & Cocktails Squad Mobility brought their Dutch electric solar city cars (asking the question: what happened to the bicycles?). We found Smart Telescopes like Hyperia that turn a dark sky into an instant Instagram moment. And, of course, the Personal Automated Cocktail Bar—a machine that uses facial recognition to mix your drink (and maybe judge your age).

The TRAVHOTECH Take: This is the sleeper story of the show. Amazon is moving heavily into B2B infrastructure. Their satellite comms (Project Kuiper) are aiming to rival Starlink for enterprise backhaul. If you run a hotel on a remote island, the space race is the best thing that ever happened to your PMS connection.

The Story: Commercial Security & Satellites Amazon made a quiet but massive play into Commercial Security with new commercial-grade tech from Ring (including surveillance trailers) and Satellite Comms via Project Kuiper. They are aiming to own the back-end infrastructure of remote businesses.

The Observation: We learn a lot about marketing here. Some booths work, some don’t. The trend this year? Bigger is better. The robotics and landscaping booths were literally bigger than the Casino gaming stands of recent years—a clear sign of where the operational money is flowing.

The Reality Check: Look, everything here has an « AI Inside » sticker. My toaster claims to have a neural network. But if you strip away the marketing fluff, the real story of Day One is autonomy. We are seeing devices that don’t just inform us but do the work for us. Whether it’s cleaning the windows, maintaining the plants, or regulating your body temp, the manual labor is being engineered out of the system.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find that AI Barman. I hear he makes a mean martini and doesn’t judge my hydration levels.

TRAVHOTECH is an award winning global consultancy dedicated to empowering the hospitality and travel sectors through strategic technology integration and business transformation. Founded by industry visionary Mark Fancourt, TRAVHOTECH operates on the principle that technology, when viewed as a competitive advantage, is the key to unlocking new levels of efficiency, guest experience, and profitability.

Leveraging over three decades of direct industry experience from both the vendor and operator perspectives, TRAVHOTECH provides unparalleled consulting, advisory, and mentoring services. The firm specializes in bridging the gap between complex technological capabilities and practical business needs, ensuring solutions are not just innovative but also deliver tangible, sustainable differentiation for its clients.

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