How to play Boutique Hotel Manager

In a Nutshell

In the booking phase, players set their prices per day, and guests choose the cheapest available hotel.

In the planning phase, players hire staff to cater to their guests.

In the walk-in phase, guests show up at the hotel with a budget in mind and stay at the first hotel that matches it.

At the end of the week, guests give a positive or negative rating based on the staff level at the hotel.

Setup Instructions

1. Each player takes a Hotel Mat, 8 Price Dice (numbered), 3 Staff Dice (pipped), and the Rating Marker of the same color.
2. Take 10 random Guest Cards face down and place them in the middle of the table.
3. Place the Check-in Die in the middle.

Detailed Rules

Preparation Phase

• Each player secretly sets their daily rates by placing 1 Price Die on each day of the week on their Hotel Mat and 1 Price Die on the Breakfast space. Dice values represent 100 to 600 in increments of 100. (i.e. 1 means 100, 2 means 200 etc..)
• Each player receives 500 in Money Cards and 1 blank Money Card (card back on both sides).
• Each player places their Rating Marker on the 3-star space on their Hotel Mat.

Booking Phase

• Players take turns starting from the youngest, proceeding clockwise.
• At the start of their turn, a player may change one and only one Price Die.
• The player then rolls the white Check-in Die; the result shows the day guests are checking in.
• The player draws and reveals a Guest Card, which shows the type of stay the guests are trying to book.
• Each player with availability calculates the total rate for the stay, including breakfast if requested.
  • to have availability, players need to offer the same rooms for the entoire stay
  • when more than 1 room is required, rooms can be placed anywhere unles there is a door symbol between the room which requires the rooms to be adjacent
• The player offering the lowest total price wins the guests and receives the money
  • If there is a tie in price, guests choose the best-rated hotel. If ratings are equal, players compete in marketing by bidding Money Cards face down (blank cards allowed). The highest bidder wins. If still tied, demand is generated and all tied players get guests.
    • Losing bidders discard their bid as marketing expenses are non-refundable.
• The winning player then blocks the rooms according to the card symbols. Note the color (brown or green) and shapes (circle and squares) of the stay.
  • note that in case rooms need to be adjacent they are noted as a door on the card and need to be connected with a transparent cube on the Hotel Mat
• Each player starts with three rooms. If all are booked on a single day, the hotel is full for that day.
• Repeat for all 10 Guest Cards.

Planning Phase

• Players hire staff for the upcoming week. Staff must be hired for the entire week, even if demand is only on certain days.
• Hotels need staff for Housekeeping, Kitchen, and Check-in:
  • Housekeeping: 1 staff per occupied room per day.
  • Check-in: 1 staff per guest checking in on a given day (squares of any color)
  • Kitchen: 1 staff per stay with breakfast on a given day (brown tokens of any shape)
• Players place Staff Dice on the appropriate spaces on their Hotel Mat and pay 300 per staff (each pip equals 1 staff).
• Note: Players should take into account guests who will walk-in during the next phase as there is a penalty for understaffing (see Rating Phase).

Walk-in Phase

This phase has 7 turns that represent the 7 days of the week. In this phase, each turn, one Guest tries to check-in on that same day. (i.e. on the first round guests try to check-in on Monday, then on the second turn on Tuesday etc...). During this phase, there is no need to role the Check-in Die since Guest check-in on the day of the turn which is the definition of "Walk-in" guests.

• Each day of the week, draw one Guest Card. Guests are checking in on that day.
• Players compare their total money. Guests go to the hotel with the least money first, then the next, and so on. In case of a tie, players bid Money Cards face down. All marketing money is lost. If still tied, roll the white die to determine the winner.
  • This ranking is done once at the start of the Walk-in phase, not before every turn.
• For each day:
  • Players may change one Price Die.
  • Roll the white die to determine the guest's budget per night. Die values represent 100 to 600 in increments of 100.
  • Draw a Guest Card.
  • Guests go to the first hotel (based on the ranking) that meets their budget. If no hotel qualifies, the guests are lost.

Rating Phase

• At the end of the week, guests rate each hotel.
• Players evaluate:
  • Number of check-ins vs. Check-in staff
  • Number of booked rooms vs. Housekeeping staff
  • Number of breakfasts vs. Kitchen staff
  • For each shortfall, lose 1 star (multiple infractions per category are possible).
  • A player with less than 1 star loses the game.
  • If there are no infractions, increase the rating by 1 star.

Expansion Phase

• Players may pay 1000 per room to expand their hotel for the next round.

Preparation Phase

• Each player secretly sets new daily rates by placing 1 Price Die on each day and 1 on the Breakfast space.
• Players remove the Staff Dice from their Hotel Mat.
• All Stay and Check-in Tokens are removed
  • Tokens from previous weeks that rolled over are added, if any

End of Game

At the end of the second week, the player with the most money wins. In case of a tie, the highest-rated player wins. If still tied, the game ends in a draw.

F.A.Q.

• What happens when a stay exceeds Sunday?
  Use the Sunday rate for the extra days. Place tokens on the side of the Hotel Mats; they carry over to the next week if needed.

Additional Rules

• More than 2 players: With additional sets, the game can be played with any number of players.
  • On the Advance Booking Phase: draw 5 times the number of players in Guest Cards and place them in the middle, face down.
  • On the Walk-in Phase, for every 2 players, one walk-in guest appears per day