Pets Hotel – PS5 Review

I know these type of games have existed in the past but Pets Hotel offers me a different realm of management. Games Incubator originally brought the game to Steam almost two years ago and now it’s seeing a Playstation 5 release. Whilst the game does try to keep you busy, the day-to-day upkeep of the hotel can feel basic and lacking in depth.

Management of the hotel has a simple loop. Clients approach reception and you and accept or deny their pets. The most basic need is a roof over their head but that is often accompanied by feeding. You can play with them to keep them content and do all the housekeeping that comes with it like walks and cleaning them. It’s a lot of dirty work but it’s all delivered with a leisurely tone.

It involves plenty of basic tasks but the volume of customers makes time feel short. I’d rarely turn a person down so I was always spinning plates. Admittedly, they seem happy to wait. Staff can be hired to lighten the burden, although these positions can be slow to roll out. Receptionists can handle the front-office duties and you can buy headsets to handle calls away from the front desk.

The objective is obviously to send pets back to their owners in a happy state. Pets have their own needs which does lead to variations in care. You can also hire staff to handle this but you have a budget to be aware of. I do find Pets Hotel to be very hands on. Days are relatively quick to vanish and customers do turn up at regular intervals. It’s a busy game and it can feel very active.

You can play with the pets thanks to a number of mini-games. These are very basic but can be crucial when looking after an animal’s wellbeing. Dogs require regular walks and they will sometimes leave a mess. Cats can enjoy being fussed over. It can be relaxing but, with time being a precious resource, it can also present a burden. I appreciate your role is more than just a landlord. You’re aim is to be a caregiver as well.

How you play it is a little limited. After a few short tutorials, you’re let loose into the proper experience. This can be without limitations in the free play mode. You can start from scratch or pick from a few sample hotels. Anyone preferring a more structured, goal-orientated progression can look towards the scenarios. There’s a mere a four of them and, due to the lacking in detail, you have to be in them to really know what these scenarios are about. There’s no short description, snappy title or anything to hint at what is heading your way.

Whether in free play or scenario mode, you don’t really have an opportunity to tinker with starting budgets. The sample hotels on offer do come with their own set budget but, if you’re wanting a more granular starting point, you’re out of luck. A sandbox mode gets rid of a budget entirely but I would’ve preferred a more customisable solution.

The pets you admit can come in all shapes and sizes. Dogs and cats tend to be your main residents buy you have the potential for fish tanks and rabbit hutches. All the rooms are numbered but I couldn’t always tell at a glance what room housed what animal. The distinguishing features tend to be inside and rooms don’t tend to have windows.

Construction is a simple affair. A room is made up of four walls, a ceiling, floor and a door. There’s some creative license as you can pick wallpaper and floor types, although no options look particularly great. On the whole, the game lacks a polish and it cheapens the experience. You can decorate rooms with toys, bowls and other accessories. It can give them a touch more character, although they never step outside the realm of function.

As the game progresses, there are opportunities to expand your hotel and spruce it up. It can be a bustling place as more staff are hired and replaced over time. Seeing it from a ground-floor perspective can be interesting, although you really need to become efficient at whatever tasks are heading your way. Knowing the floor plan of your hotel is also helpful, particularly as there is no in-game map.

This bare-bones presentation is a big detriment to Pets Hotel. Revisiting old save files can be tricky when there’s no timestamps associated with them. You just have to know which one you’re looking for. The in-game booking computer and tablet keeps track of things much better, although the interface looks cluttered and unsightly. In certain circumstances, it could be difficult to see what I was confirming. Whilst the clientele were very unbothered by turning their pets away, I still don’t like making that kind of error.

Visually, it lacks clarity and sharpness. It’s a very cheap looking game with assets that do look like they’ve barely been tinkered with. Don’t get me wrong, it conveys what it needs to but it does feel like a game that’s originate on lesser hardware. Loading can be lengthy and hangs for just long enough to put the fear of losing progress in me. At times it can feel held together.

I think Pets Hotel offers a chance to fill a rarely-travelled niche in the management genre. Unfortunately, it lacks a depth and polish to make it worthwhile. On the surface, it can provide a busy experience but there’s a lack of urgency, outside of the hand-picked scenarios. Even then, it has a relaxed approach that has made me lose interest. Visually, it’s a budget title through and through but the interface also struggles to remain clear and concise. It’s a game that functions but it could’ve been much more.