Hospitality as a Third Growth Frontier
This article is part of the results of The Biggest Fleet 2025. Click here for all resultsHospitality has emerged in Biggest Fleet 2025 as a small but visible third growth frontier for cleaning robots, after retail and the public sector. The sector now spans hotels, resorts, convention centers, and cruise ships. Travelodge still dominates the scene but now shares the scene with five other operators. Hospitality is beginning to show the contours of a market that could eventually scale.
The UK Cradle of Hospitality Robotics
The British hotel sector remains the birthplace of cleaning robots in hospitality. Travelodge retains one of the largest fleets in the entire ranking, operating 7,500 Killis RoboVac Buddies. At position #2 overall in 2025, the chain is still the only hotel group to have scaled room-level microbot cleaning across its estate. This makes the UK the cradle of the sector. Rumors point to other hotel brands preparing to follow suit, partly driven by persistent labor shortages after Brexit. With new models such as the i-team cobotic 1700, Nexaro NR 1500 and 1700, Cleanfix S170 Navi, and the newly launched Genius Swift now available, the range of options for hotel deployment has widened.
Chart 2: Hospitality in 2025: Travelodge’s #2 Fleet vs. Five Smaller Signals Combined.
Germany Adds McDreams as a Hybrid Case
McDreams Hotels in Germany joined the ranking at position #48. Unlike most other operators, the budget chain deploys Nexaro units in a dual role: the same devices are used in Drop-and-Go room cleaning as well as in lobbies and corridors. This combined approach makes McDreams one of the few hospitality operators to apply a single robot type across both guest rooms and public areas.
China Joins with Huazhu Group
A major returning entrant is Huazhu Hotels in China, ranking at position #22 in 2025 with a Radar Score of 250. The group already appeared in the 2024 list at position #15. As one of Asia’s largest hotel groups, Huazhu demonstrates that robot adoption in hospitality is no longer confined to Europe. Huazhu’s size suggests that further scaling across its network could make hospitality a much bigger vertical in the years ahead.
Cruise Lines Enter the Ranking
Royal Caribbean became the first cruise operator to appear in Biggest Fleet, entering the 2025 ranking at position #59 with a fleet of 6 robots (Radar Score 30). The scale is modest, but the setting is unique. Cruise ships pose challenges unlike any land-based facility: connectivity gaps at sea, mechanical stress from constant vibration, and the need to cover both casino carpets and outdoor decks. Royal Caribbean’s deployment is therefore less about size than about proving feasibility, signaling that maritime environments may soon form part of the robotics landscape.
Public Areas Take the Lead
Outside the UK’s room-cleaning fleets and Germany’s hybrid case, most hospitality deployments remain focused on public spaces. Valamar Resorts in Croatia appear at position #53 with a Radar Score of 40, reflecting a similar pattern in European resorts, where lobbies, corridors, and event halls are the first targets for automation. Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore appears at position #56 with a Radar Score of 35, showing how convention centers are using cleaning robots in highly visible, high-traffic environments.
A Sector on the Verge
The hospitality industry’s representation in Biggest Fleet 2025 now spans six operators: one mega-fleet in the UK, one hybrid in Germany, and four smaller but significant fleets across China, Singapore, Croatia, and the cruise sector. Yet the signals are important. Contracts between robotics vendors and hotel groups are being signed, and the first generation of deployed robots is already reaching replacement cycles. The split between room-focused microbots (Travelodge), hybrid deployments (McDreams), and corridor-focused scrubbers and vacuums (Huazhu, Sands Expo, Royal Caribbean, Valamar) mirrors the sector’s dual needs. If just one additional hotel chain in Europe, North America, or Asia decides to scale, hospitality could rapidly expand its footprint in the ranking.
This article is part of the results of The Biggest Fleet 2025. Click here for all results