Step back to the early 20th century and visit one of Europe’s grand capitals—Vienna. You can’t miss the majestic white building adorned with columns. A stately figure in impeccably fitted livery will inform you that you stand before “Austria,” the most fashionable hotel in the empire. But it wasn’t always so grand. Not long ago, “Austria” was a modest three-room inn tucked away in the alleys of the old city. Then a new owner took over, brimming with ambitious ideas, and that day changed everything. Want to know how it happened? Travel back a few more years—or simply start a game!

The Game Grand Austria Hotel

This is a delightful Eurogame where players develop their own hotel business. Set in mid-19th-century Vienna—Europe’s cultural capital—players begin as owners of small hostels with just 10 crowns of starting capital, aiming to elevate their establishments to the level of the Grand Austria Hotel. Hiring staff, catering to demanding guests, providing impeccable restaurant service, preparing pristine rooms, and managing proper guest placement are all part of the challenge. Beyond skillfully juggling these tasks, you’ll need to earn money and rack up victory points.

Gameplay

Welcome—and don’t be shy, it’s your hotel! Each player receives a double-sided board depicting a four-story hotel with its own kitchen and a restaurant with three tables. The green area with numbers is your wallet; track your money by moving a marker across its spaces. Start the game by setting it to 10.

First, the hotel rooms must be prepped for guests. Note that rooms have three statuses: unprepared (closed door), ready for occupancy (open door), and occupied (with a “do not disturb” sign). Room statuses are managed in-game through purchasing and placing special double-sided tiles. At the start, each player has three rooms ready for occupancy.

Guests

As you’d expect, guests are the heart of the hotel. Only by satisfying their whims and demands will you earn extra bonuses, money, and victory points. Guests come in four types (by color): Blue aristocrats, high-society elites, settle only in blue rooms; yellow creatives—artists and poets—require yellow rooms; red common citizens take red rooms; and green tourists will accept any available room.

Restaurant

Before checking in, your guests visit the hotel restaurant. Each has a unique order marked in the top left corner of their card. Only after fully satisfying their order will they leave you the bonus indicated on their card and head to their room. This works perfectly: it frees up a restaurant spot for the next guest, and an occupied room yields additional bonuses.

Your Hotel Staff

At the game’s start, you’re the sole employee—owner, manager, bartender, maid, and more. Depending on your strategy, you could single-handedly run the hotel to the end. But if you need help, staff are always available. The game includes 48 staff cards, each with unique abilities detailed in the rules. Before play begins, each player receives 6 staff cards they can hire during the game. While in your hand, they’re inactive; remaining staff cards don’t participate.

Reception

This is the game’s main action field. At the start of each round, the first player rolls a handful of dice and sorts them into action spaces. The die value determines the action type, and the number of dice indicates how many times it can be taken. Players then take turns performing their chosen action by removing dice from a space or passing if their desired space is empty and other actions aren’t needed.

A game lasts 7 rounds, after which the player with the most victory points—not money—wins. As you may have noticed, this board game mirrors real-life business management in many ways. Here, money isn’t the goal, but a means to an end.