What do the hotels in Planet Coaster actually do?

[NZFanatic]

Obviously hotels get brought up a lot. They were in Coaster and so people want them in Zoo as well. Personally I disagree that they're necessary for a zoo in any way at all, or even slightly commonplace enough to warrant the description 'realistic', but this is more about what function they actually serve in the game.

I'm just confused by the concept. The game's day/night cycle isn't even slightly important. So overnight stays for guests don't matter; the same guests can be in your zoo for weeks at a time as the game is now. So "overnight stays for guests" just seems like a weird thing to say. Guests already stay overnight without hotels, because what the guests, animals, and staff actually do isn't dependent on the time of day. The passing of time barely factors into anything aside from pregnancy and aging of animals and a few in-game schedules (monthly habitat inspections and what not).

So why bother porting over hotels?

I can accept the answer, "Because they can." That's fine, there's really no argument there. It's as good a reason as any other and at the very least it's honest. "We don't actually need them and they probably won't add much, but they exist in the engine so why not?" would actually be a refreshing answer, but I'm curious as to what this facility practically achieved in Coaster and how people think it will function in Zoo.

 

[Captain Callum]

The concept of hotels allowed the guests to take an extended break in your park without leaving the park itself. Guests would leave the hotel with fully refreshed stats like hunger, thirst, energy etc. It could be great for large zoos where guests easily tire out half way through and leave because they run out of energy, by placing a hotel in the middle of the zoo, this would allow tired guests to refill their levels and continue onwards completing their visit. Currently allowing guests to travel through a large zoo is difficult without guests getting upset/tired deep into the zoo. Often a second entrance is placed at the opposite end to encourage guests to keep moving through the back of the zoo before finally leaving through the second entrance.

 

[FoxyDee]

That is an interesting take I havent really thought about whenever the porting of hotels into PZ got brought up. Maybe that is why we havent seen them being ported yet. I am also not sure how exactly they function, as I have never played Planet Coaster. The only useful function I can think of that they could bring is that maybe they could refresh all of the guests needs all at once.

To be honest, I would rather see all the remaining food and drink brands ported to PZ, rather than hotels. Sure, hotels exists in zoos irl, but mostly it is in the big AAA zoos and even then not really that common among them.

 

[NachoB]

That is an interesting take I havent really thought about whenever the porting of hotels into PZ got brought up. Maybe that is why we havent seen them being ported yet. I am also not sure how exactly they function, as I have never played Planet Coaster. The only useful function I can think of that they could bring is that maybe they could refresh all of the guests needs all at once.

To be honest, I would rather see all the remaining food and drink brands ported to PZ, rather than hotels. Sure, hotels exists in zoos irl, but mostly it is in the big AAA zoos and even then not really that common among them.

The idea of having a re charging station for guests is a nice idea haha

I don't need hotels. I haven't heard of many zoos that have them so i don't consider them an essential features. But i can see the functionality of it.

If they also came with a revamp of the day/night cycle that would be cool. For now i don't know what the purpose of night time is in the game other than lightning changes.

 

[Aramar]

This was the official announcement for Planet Coaster:

• Hotels- a home away from home for your guests
  • Combine the foyer with standard and luxury rooms for your guests
  • Hotels allow guests to rest and return to the park after an allotted time - this will create a temporary boost to the number of guests in a park that goes above its normal park rating allowance
  • Hotels have a slew of perks that bolster their effectiveness in specific ways and increase their overall prestige
  • Hotel prestige is also boosted by nearby scenery
  • Hotel perks become less effective when the hotel has not been cleaned by a janitor

And this was the livestream where they explained hotels:

Source: https://youtu.be/VX66zDud9_w?si=gyefzu5EuxlOAIVY

 

[Fnord Velkor]

This was the official announcement for Planet Coaster:



And this was the livestream where they explained hotels:

Source: https://youtu.be/VX66zDud9_w?si=gyefzu5EuxlOAIVY

I miss Bo Marit

 

[KoenZoo]

In Paira Daiza they have a lot of possibilities for guests to stay the night, located directy against guest exhibits, like (polar and brown) bears, penguins, sea lions or seals, tigers, barnyard area, deer area and I think I'm still forgetting 1/2. Of course ingame I don't think it would really add that much (since we don't really have a start and end of the day), but with all the assets we are having there are of course endless possiblities to create something for the visual effect. I'm thinking to add that as well to some exhibits/general hotel just for the extra feeling it is giving to the game.

Who knows that one day we are getting Planet Zoo 2 and then get a more realistic time effect in the game with the zoo opening and the zoo closing at a certain point. For example the zoo opens at beginning of the day and a one day cyclus (opening hours) is during 1-2 hours, after which all guests leave the zoo and you then "jump" to the next morning (to make sure you don't need to wait 1-2 hours again till the zoo opens again). If that would be the case hotels could add a hole new level to the game. Guests who stay after closing, go eat in your zoo (maybe you can even select paths so you can decide where the guests can and can't go after the zoo is closed).

 

[Milurian]

The concept of hotels allowed the guests to take an extended break in your park without leaving the park itself. Guests would leave the hotel with fully refreshed stats like hunger, thirst, energy etc. It could be great for large zoos where guests easily tire out half way through and leave because they run out of energy, by placing a hotel in the middle of the zoo, this would allow tired guests to refill their levels and continue onwards completing their visit. Currently allowing guests to travel through a large zoo is difficult without guests getting upset/tired deep into the zoo. Often a second entrance is placed at the opposite end to encourage guests to keep moving through the back of the zoo before finally leaving through the second entrance.

This is pretty much the one and only reason people want hotels its to keep the guests in large zoos for more than 5 seconds. There is also the whole story telling aspect associated with overnight stays at a zoo but the main driving force is definitely to stop guest hating everything.