Pets Hotel Review (Xbox Series X)

STAFF REVIEW of Pets Hotel (Xbox Series X)

Friday, March 7, 2025.
by Peggy Doyle

My love of cozy games, specifically those with animals, is undeniable. When I saw a game called Pets Hotel, a simulation game where you run a pet hotel business, I jumped at the chance to review it. Sadly, this game developed and published by Ultimate Games, did not greet me with any of the joy and comfort I was hoping to get from it.

A single player, first person experience should mean that you feel fully submersed into the role of the Pets Hotel owner, but the clunky controls and sluggish AI constantly made me frustrated. Pets Hotel takes place over a few chapters, as well as a sandbox mode, but most of the story is fairly linear. Simulation games in general don’t require a story, so I wasn’t surprised by the limited one I got here; you are the new owner of a Pet Hotel, and once given the keys you must learn the ropes before opening to the public.

The gameplay is simple. Register the pet (dog, cat, fish, turtles, other small pets) in the computer using all information gathered by phone. Once the owner arrives, check in the pet, take them to their designated room and from there take care of any needs like feeding, bathing, playtime, bathroom breaks etc. Each action involves its own minigame to complete. Once the duration of the pet's stay passes and the owner comes to retrieve their pet, check the pet out and you’re ready for that room to be used for its next guest.

On top of taking care of the guests, you will grow your business by adding rooms and decorating your business. One day in the game lasts around 15 minutes but can be ended at any time manually. Ideally, this is after you finish your list of tasks for the day.

While gameplay was simple, it did take some time to figure out, even using the tutorials. Actions required by you on a daily basis in the game needed to be more guided in the beginning. From the basics of entering the pet reservation, the initial phone call tells you the pets name and duration of stay but if you don’t remember, you can’t go back and check the duration. While you can guess, you will have to re-enter the pet's name manually each time.

Also, telling me to go to the computer to hire someone, for instance, didn’t explain how to do that task once I got to the computer, so I had to spend time scrolling through random tabs until I figured it out. Hiring assistants means you don’t have to drop everything and run to the phone, but like any employees, they have their quirks (unintentionally, I assume). One was observed simply spinning in circles at one point, which was funny because I have thought about doing that on the sales floor during my years of retail.

Challenge mode allows you to play through any of four pre-built hotels all while managing a budget. You have 30 days to reach a high reputation while maintaining a certain number of pets in ‘good condition’. This will take a few hours to complete. There is also a free mode where you will build a pet hotel from scratch.

Graphically, the game was fine, although visually dated. The animals were adorable, but it did have many moments when a pet had to be in a very specific place to interact with it. The controller layout didn’t feel intuitive, and this made it obvious that this was meant to be a PC game played with a mouse and keyboard.

The soundtrack can only be described as something you’d probably hear in a hotel lobby. It wasn’t intrusive, but it didn’t stand out either. It functioned for what it was intended to be and were suitable but didn’t have much in the way of a punch or wow factor.

Although Pets Hotel is cute, it’s lacking. It could have been so much more, but I think it falls again into the category of games ported to console that should have had some more care added to them before release. I knew from the start to take the gameplay with a grain of salt. I enjoyed taking care of the animals and the minimal management elements added a bit of interest, but there just isn’t enough here to captivate and keep me playing for a long period of time. While I might recommend this for younger gamers because it’s pretty simple, the clunky mechanics would be frustrating for them, I think.

**Pets Hotel was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series X**

Overall: 6.0 / 10
Gameplay: 6.5 / 10
Visuals: 6.0 / 10
Sound: 6.0 / 10

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