By Rebecca Stone

Astral Hotels has installed a life-sized AI holographic check-in kiosk at its Queen of Sheba Hotel in Eilat, betting that automation sells better when it looks human. The Israeli group developed the system with EyeFeelIt, an Israeli technology company, according to a Jerusalem Post report.

The avatar does not run the whole transaction. It hosts the arrival. Guests scan a QR code displayed by the hologram, complete the required steps on their own smartphones, and collect a physical key card from the kiosk when the process finishes. The design matters for two reasons. It spares travelers from typing personal data into a shared lobby screen. It also lets Astral automate arrivals without forcing guests onto mobile keys, which remain unwelcome to some.

The hologram doubles as a concierge. It answers questions about amenities, recommends restaurants and suggests nearby attractions — a function that keeps the hardware useful after the arrival rush, when conventional kiosks often sit idle.

Lior Berneman-Zvulun, vice president of marketing and digital at Astral Hotels, described the installation as a first step in the group's broader effort to embed new technology in the guest experience. Astral will evaluate the Eilat deployment before deciding on a wider rollout.

EyeFeelIt CEO Sharon Birnbaum said the company designed the avatar to be more than a transaction point. The goal, he said, is to make it an around-the-clock interface between guest and hotel.

What does Astral's hologram replace?

The system replaces the staffed front-desk arrival for basic transactions — registration, information, key dispensing — while keeping a visible host in the lobby. Who pays for it is undisclosed. Astral and EyeFeelIt have not said which property-management system (the hotel's core booking and operations software) or locking system will support the kiosk, how it will authenticate guests, or what happens when a check-in stalls. The languages supported and whether guests can reach a live employee through the kiosk also remain unspecified.

Those gaps matter because the market is already crowded. Mews, Virdee, Ariane Systems, Stayntouch and Canary Technologies all sell combinations of mobile registration, self-service kiosks, identity and payment collection, key issuance and property-system integration. Canary, for instance, moves the entire process onto the guest's phone with no additional lobby hardware. The hologram is not competing against manual check-in. It is competing against cheaper, proven software.

How fast is the competitive standard moving?

Quickly. Nordic operator CIC Hospitality installed an AI holographic front desk at the Aiden by Best Western Lolland in Denmark in late 2024, built with Holoconnects, RAVATAR and Mews. That system checks guests in and out, generates keys, books additional rooms, makes restaurant and spa reservations and answers questions. Holoconnects says the CIC rollout has since reached 30 hotels in Scandinavia.

The Danish system also shows the feature Astral has yet to demonstrate: human backup. If the avatar there cannot complete a request, the guest connects with a CIC employee in Oslo, who appears in the same display and assists remotely. Appearance alone will not differentiate a system for long. The durable advantages lie in property-system integration, identity verification, payment handling, key encoding, multilingual support and clean handoff to a human without restarting the interaction.

What is the actual business case?

Not the elimination of the front desk. A bare touchscreen may suit a limited-service hotel where speed is everything. An upscale property may balk at equipment that feels like an airport terminal. The avatar offers a compromise: automate the transaction, keep a visible host. The stronger economics come from absorbing simple arrivals and repetitive questions so staff can handle room problems and special requests, and from covering overnight reception without peak-hour staffing levels.

Astral will need to measure more than foot traffic. Adoption rate, completion time, abandoned sessions, employee interventions, key-card failures and guest satisfaction will determine whether the pilot works. Accessibility is a further test; a voice-led interface may fail guests with hearing, speech or visual impairments.

The Queen of Sheba pilot is visually ambitious. Its verdict will rest on a duller standard: whether guests reach their rooms faster without creating new work for employees. If Astral can also make the avatar a useful concierge throughout the stay, the hologram may prove more than a lobby attraction.