Grand Austria Hotel
2-4
10+
45+
At the beginning of the 20th century, Vienna was one of the major centers of Europe. Artists, politicians, nobles, citizens, and tourists populated the streets of the city, and the emperor ruled them all.
You are in the thick of the Viennese Modern Age, trying your luck as a hotelier. For that, you must expand your little hotel and prepare new rooms. In the meantime, your guests require culinary excellence. Make sure each and every guest receives a proper dish and drink. You may need to hire additional staff.
Despite all that, do not forget to render homage to the emperor, or you will fall into disgrace pretty soon. Face the challenge and turn your little hostel into the Grand Austria Hotel!
images © Mayfair Games
User Reviews (1)
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So if La Granja’s dice selection mechanics and the tile placement mechanics of Castles of Burgundy had a baby that they lay in a bed of Victory Point Salad you would have Grand Austria Hotel.
Gameplay/replay:
You are managing a hotel/cafe where you have to prepare your rooms and give the customers in your cafe what they want to entice them to occupy said rooms. Played over 7 rounds with 2 actions per player per round, there’s certainly scant little time to screw around. And the game can be very unforgiving if you neglect certain things (like the emperor track in odd numbered rounds where not hitting your goal can be catastrophic). In these 14 total rounds, you select customers, then choose between getting desserts and drinks (which your customers want), preparing rooms (so you have a place to put those satisfied customers), hiring staff (for end game points or for abilities that help throughout the game), or getting money or a push on the emperor track. As you fulfill the needs of the customers you select they will occupy rooms you have prepared, which get you points both for the customer and at the end of the game for the room. Every odd numbered round from 3 on is an emperor track scoring round where you either win a bonus, win nothing, or take a severe penalty. The game ends when the 7th round concludes and the end game points are added to your score overall. As there so many ways to get VP you can try many things in future plays and keep things fresh for yourself.
The bad:
There’s a heavy amount of iconography and yes the book does a splendid job explaining it, but there is so much that multiple people will need to see the book slowing the game at times. The game would be better served with some quick reference sheets (print them up if you can find a good set anywhere) The first time you play this it will be a bit of a challenge to maneuver properly through the myriad system of combos that the cards can grant, but don’t let that deter you
In the end, it is a heavier game than it looks at first, but it is really fun and worth learning if you like a Feld-esque game without the Feld in it.