Hotel Tycoon Board Game Review

Reviewed by Cath Joyce

Hotel Tycoon is a board game for up to four players where you move around the board buying properties and building hotels, it is aimed at children aged 8+. The aim of the game is to be the last remaining player having forced the other players into bankruptcy.

The hotels have to be made up before playing the game but they are pre folded and it is easy to slot the cardboard hotels into the bases and add the roofs. I was initially unsure whether they would all fit back into the box when they were assembled but I needn’t have worried as they have provided a handy picture to show how to put the hotels back in the box so you can close the lid. Typically I didn’t notice this the first time we played the game but it was helpful second time round.

To play, each player takes turns to roll a dice and move a small plastic aeroplane around the board. There are different game spaces, buying spaces where you can buy the title deed of a property, planning permission spaces and a free build space. When on a planning permission space you first decide where you want to build a hotel and a second dice is rolled to decide the outcome of your planning application. A green dot means permission has been granted so you build your hotel(s) and pay the bank, a red dot means planning permission has been refused so you need to try again next time you land on a planning permission space. To add more fun to the game there is also a “H” side which enables you to build the hotels you wanted for free and a “2” side which means you have to pay double. This can mean that the player does not have enough money and must raise additional funds by auctioning land. The final space is a free build space which saves a considerable amount of money by letting you add a free hotel on any piece of land you own.

Each of the properties has a theme of its own – beach, arctic, city, oriental etc… and the hotel models match the theme. The board looks more and more impressive as the game progresses and is certainly very colourful.

Once the game gets going and land and hotels have been purchased the game gets interesting. Land on the right space and you can buy some property or build a hotel but land on the wrong space and you end up paying for a stay in the hotel, the length of stay decided by another roll of the dice. Each property can be improved by building more hotels, leading to a higher star rating and higher rates. One thing we did find was our youngest son managed to get all around the board without being able to buy a piece of land and this was a little disheartening for him but he did go on and became a successful hotel tycoon and came second in the game.

We enjoy playing board games and thought Hotel Tycoon was a great family game and now we are more familiar with the rules it will be much more fun.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £29.99

Suitable for age 8 years +, 2-4 players

Available to buy from Amazon here.