Hotel Tycoon Review and Giveaway

There is nothing like getting the family together to play a board game. Not only do they teach valuable skills such as turn-taking, following instructions, how to be a good winner or loser – but it is also good for moral development and the strengthening of the family unit. My boys really love Hasbro’s Monopoly – in fact we have so many versions that we even have one in French! So they were keen to give Hotel Tycoon a try. I think the verdict was that they really enjoyed it as they asked to play it again and again.

Hotel Tycoon Review

Like Monopoly, but different… in a good way.
Hotel Tycoon Review and Giveaway The aim of Hotel Tycoon is to build a resort empire by developing areas of land a hotel that you expand by adding new buildings.

Setup: The first time you play Hotel Tycoon you will need to make all the buildings, which means folding all the cardboard panels and putting the relevant roofs and bases on. Luckily the box contains a sheet of paper that shows you how to pack all the buildings neatly into the box so you don’t need to remake them each time.

Hotel Tycoon Review and Giveaway

Playing: Each player puts their playing piece (an airplane) on the start runway, and then take turns to roll the standard six-sided die to decide how many spaces to move. Each space has an image on it depicting what action to take:

  • A suitcase full of money – buy the title-deed to any land next to the space you are currently on. If you are the first person to buy the deed, then you pay the full price, but if another player has already purchased the deed but hasn’t yet built any buildings, you may buy it off them but only have to pay the repurchase price (which is half the original price) – the other player cannot refuse.
  • A builder’s hat and tools – gives the opportunity to develop on any of the areas that you have the title-deed for. If you choose to build you have to decide where you want to build and how many buildings (which must be built in order) you want to build. You then have to announce to the other players your decision – then you must roll the second die, which has the coloured dots on (the Planning Permission die).

If you manage to roll a green dot then you just pay the bank the amount for the buildings you chose to build. If you roll a red dot planning permission was denied, and you may not build.  If you are lucky enough to roll a ‘H’ you get all the buildings you announced for free no matter how much it would have cost. However if you are unlucky and roll a ‘2’ you must pay double the price – you cannot back out of the build even if you can’t afford it!! If this is the case then you must auction a site to raise funds.

  • A hotel entrance – if you own an area with at least one building on it you can claim a free hotel entrance.
  • A tower – you receive a free building for any area that you own the title-deed for.

As you progress around the board, passing the hangar (red line) will give players £2,000 and passing the air control tower (yellow line) will give players the opportunity to purchase one hotel entrance per area of land.

Hotel entrances (either bought or gained) are placed on spaces that are adjacent to areas that you own (and have a building on).  Once a hotel entrance is placed on one side of a space, another cannot be placed on the other side, this can be quite a useful tactic if you want to block another player from placing entrances.

If you land on another player’s hotel entrance, you must roll the standard die to see how many nights you stay at their hotel. This in conjunction with the rating of the hotel (decided by the number of buildings) will determine the amount of money to be paid to the hotel owner.

Hotel Tycoon Review and Giveaway

Auctions: If you are in a position where you cannot pay a debt for whatever reason, then you must auction one or more sites, to raise funds to pay the debt off. If no-one bids then the buildings must be removed and the deed returned to the bank. If you cannot pay the debt, you are bankrupt and out of the game.

Summary: The game was fun to play, and in the early stages, title deeds can change hands many times, making it a frantic dash to get those first buildings onto a site. The ability to block other players from placing hotel entrances by placing yours on spaces that affect them makes for a tactical aspect of the game. The use of colourful 3D buildings make the game pleasing to the eye and a bit more fun for younger players.

Suitable for ages 8+ (but our 6-year-old played fine when playing with an adult)

Players 2-4

Visit http://www.hoteltycoongame.co.uk/ for further information and reviews.

Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/hoteltycoongame

I received the game for purposes of review. All words and opinions are my own. The giveaway has finished.

135 thoughts on “Hotel Tycoon Review and Giveaway”

  1. I love the idea that this game is not only a game but it is a way of expressing your own ides! Who wouldn’t want to build their own resort empire and hotel and make it just perfect!

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  2. It looks like a lot of fun, I like to play games with my hubby except Scrabble as he is rubbish at it! Fingers crossed and thanks for the lovely giveaway 🙂

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  3. We love monopoly here and I’m looking for more challenging board games for Sunday evening family night! This sounds perfect

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  4. My son loves monopoly and I think it is too old and too competitive for him. I think he will enjoy this much more! It is more for his age and he will be able to practise his maths skills 🙂

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  5. sure our grand-kids would especially 9 year old boy as he likes to win things, but he’ll make the rules up as he goes along

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  6. We love the game as the whole family like playing together and the concept of the hotel is very appealing for the family. That would be lot of fun to play.

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  7. To me it’s the fact that it is a Tycoon game. I have played a lot of them on PC (Roller Coaster Tycoon, Railroad Tycoon etc.) So it would be good to see how this compares.

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  8. I have played similar games on my phone – I love these kind of games and my kids are old enough to be able to play them properly now.

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  9. I like the idea of this game as it is the only way that I will ever get even close to being a Tycoon! we love board games and haven’t ever played this.

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  10. This game looks like great fun for all the family. we too are Monopoly lovers and really would like to give this game a try

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  11. I love this game, I had the old version when I was a kid and the most appealing part (then and now) is the 3D aspect where you actually get to build your own hotels.

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  12. I think it would appeal to my son as it involves building, and he likes building stuff, & the rest of us would enjoy the competitive Monopoly-esque element of it!

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  13. I love having different board games in the house that the older kids can play when the weather is bad and they cant get outside, I like the idea that this game allows them to build up their own empire! a great lesson!

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  14. My Husband had this game years ago and we loved it, now our Daughter is old enough to play it I would love for it to become one of our family board games (our current favourite is Game of Life)

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  15. what appeals to me the most is that it seems like the sort of game which can be played again and again with the family and never get boring. It seems to be a family friendly competetive game which would be great fun for christmas get togethers

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  16. We love board games and often play them over Christmas. Would love to win this as it looks like it will satisfy both the Monopoly lovers and haters.

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  17. It sounds very entertaining and involving. I love the idea of stopping others in their hotel pursuits, all very scheming!

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  18. I like the fact that it’s suitable for ages 8+, making it perfect for the ages of my children. I also like it that it sounds a little bit like monopoly, so I know my children would enjoy this.

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  19. I’ve always loved games like this, even as a child I love having to use my mind. I like that this game requires thinking and can be somewhat educational for children playing. Not to mention super fun!

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  20. It looks like a fun game, that will appeal to the whole family. My kids would love it! We enjoy playing board games as often as possible x

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  21. I loved playing the computer game when I was younger, and we all love Monopoly – so I suppose the main appeal is Hotel Tycoon computer game meets Monopoly board game and it looks great fun!

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  22. I love the look of this game. My daughters are a little bit older now and we already love Monopoly, trivial pursuit or the Logo game so this would be a perfect addition to our sunday gamesnight collection

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