Hotel Architect
Review
Managing in Sin City
by Howie Howard
reviewed on PC
Enjoy your stay at my new hotel
The newest hotel management sim, Hotel Architect, accepted it's first guests to much fan fare back on May 20, 2025 when it appeared in Steam's Early Access. In early September of 2025, developer Pathos Interactive unveiled their new and improved pre-launch version of this very detailed PC hotel simulation game. The latest big unveiling includes a lot more features along with a new hotel building location in Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is the hotel and casino capitol of America and possibly the entire world!
With the release of the Las Vegas update as a new hotel building location I'm sure you can guess what the theme will be in this city that never sleeps. Why of course it's the night life and gambling casinos with their one-armed bandits, roulette, blackjack and many other very detailed gambling games. Actually New York City is the city that never sleeps but once you start playing Hotel Architect you probably won't be getting much sleep either. In addition to the very detailed gambling system, new corresponding features like a new croupier staff type has been added with hotel characters being able to become a hypnotist, math genius, swindler or slow counter. Everything that was added goes along very nicely with the gambling theme.
Can I really be a hotel guest and manager at the same time?
Yes, you can be both, but don't let the cartoonish art style present in the game fool you because this game is extremely deep and detailed in nature. One very nice feature of Hotel Architect is the option to play a duel role in the game. Of course you will be the faceless hotel builder, manager and owner but you can also create an in game persona or character that will appear in game. The choices are a guest, (with various types to choose from) or you could be a staff member, (that has different temperaments and attributes) or a simple service character like a waiter or casino employee. You can even customize your in-game character's name, appearance and voice! I got a big kick out of seeing my alter ego character at work or play in game! The duel option would seem to be a unique option which I haven't seen in other sims. Two thumbs up and kudos to the developer for that feature!
The previous early access version of the game that was and still is very detailed hasn't changed much in this pre-launch version so I would like to go through some of that game play next. Like with all simulation games whether the theme is farming, a military situation a hotel, or anything, you always start out at the bottom and need to work your way up. In Hotel Architect you have the choice to start with an empty plot of land or a rundown, fleabag building in need of major renovations. As you move through the initial stages of the game you are required to decide the type of lodging facility you want to provide to your customers. You won't be able to jump right in and expect to build a 5-star luxury resort hotel in the beginning. So building a nice little budget motel for backpackers will be the way to go.
What's the real goal of a wannabe hotel manager?
Since your goal is to build up a world wide hotel empire and you always have to start someplace and that somewhere is the bottom. The budget hotel for beach going vacationers or low rent back packers will give you the experience necessary to be able to advance to bigger and better hotels until you finally are able to reach the highest experience rated level with all the options open. However getting there isn't as easy as you may think it will be. It's not only about the building itself, it is also about how the guests feel about your establishment and it's amenities - or lack thereof.
Hotel guests can be finicky and hard to please, they can be disruptive and nasty and they can be demanding and they will be all of that and more in this hotel sim. If you fail to please them during their visit, or if your staff are not capable of pleasing them then your hotel will receive a failing review after their visit ends. Also on a frequent basis a hotel reviewer will come around and give you an opinion on how good or bad your hotel is. If it doesn't rate high enough then you will have to work to make it better. Once it passes muster and you get favorable ratings then you can move on to stage two and further until you have a chain of 5-star establishments to be proud of!
It's all about the staff, when it should actually be about the hotel guests...
Speaking of hotel staff; the hiring and management of acceptable and competent staff is a big part of Hotel Architect. The prospective hotel employee will come with a unique name and an even more unique set of skills and attributes and each individual will have different personalities. The beginner hotel worker may not seem suitable for the job when it comes to attributes but they will gain experience in the job they are assigned to and they will become quite proficient. Keeping the employees happy and eager to do a good job can be a challenging experience in itself but when the guests start giving high ratings and they leave with a smile on their faces then everything will be right in your budding hotel empire.
Not the Hotel California
Folks, Hotel Architect is a simulation game that can be considered to be part of a rather crowded genre. However, I think that the game itself rises above all the rest in this particular genera not because of fantastic graphics (which it does have if you like cartoon types), it rises above the rest because of the depth of gameplay and superior detail concerning the subject matter of hotel construction and management.
The guests saunter around your establishment like stuck up entitled royalty causing mayhem where ever they go. While the staff scurries around trying to please these various sets of rabble rousing back woods backpackers and sun worshiping beach goers to businessmen and women and eventually on to extremely rich aristocrats and gamblers that require their every whim be satisfied. It's all here and it is a whole lot of fun to boot.
Hotel Architect's developers started out in locations like Gothenburg, Sweden, Santorini, Greece, Paris, France, St. Anton, Austria and it expanded in to an entirely different game atmosphere in Las Vegas. So if you want to be a budding hotel executive and guest, then book a room in this very well done hotel simulation and you won't be disappointed. There is something for everyone in this game which is exactly what any good vacation stay in a real life hotel is made of!
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8.9
fun score
Pros
Very deep and detailed hotel business sim that allows you to be both hotel manager and guest.
Cons
Well, there really aren't many other than the sun might not be shining when you head to the beach!
