Does Sunset Motel offer a relaxing retreat or a tiresome task?

Sunset Motel is a simulation game that allows you to step into the role of a motel owner. In a genre often filled with intricate systems and demanding schedules, Sunset Motel promises a blend of renovation, management, and customer satisfaction, all with a supposedly relaxing pace. Will it provide a satisfying experience for aspiring hoteliers, or is it merely another forgettable pit stop on the digital highway? Read on to find out!

Checking In

Sunset Motel casts players as the new proprietor of a dilapidated roadside motel (seriously, it’s in bad condition!). The overarching objective is to transform neglected rooms into welcoming havens, ensuring the satisfaction of every guest who crosses your threshold by cleaning rooms, painting them, and installing new furniture. Sunset Motel focuses on a clear progression: start with fixing a couple of the ten available rooms, gradually earning income, and then reinvesting to expand and improve your facilities.

Guests will, naturally, arrive with various needs, from requiring luggage carried to their rooms, to requesting food or laundry services. As you progress, you unlock upgrades and skills, making tasks easier and eventually allowing for the hiring of staff to delegate responsibilities.

As with most simulation games, there is no deep story, as such. Instead, the focus is about experiencing the ins and outs of what it is to be a hotelier.

The Maintenance Crew

The core mechanics of Sunset Motel revolve around renovation and service provision, depending on what customers need. You will engage in hands-on tasks such as applying vibrant colours to walls, laying new tiles, and furnishing rooms with stylish items. As you might expect in the motel business, guest satisfaction is a major focus in Sunset Motel. As you earn money, new features and upgrades can be unlocked, which in turn streamline the processes that you take part in, streamlining them.

Beyond renovation, Sunset Motel incorporates service tasks like checking in customers, delivering items, and handling laundry. While initially hands-on, the ability to hire staff aims to alleviate some of the repetitive tasks as your motel grows. However, that’s not to say that doing these tasks yourself is a bad thing – it isn’t. It’s good to know what it is that you need to do in order to keep your business running smoothly, and Sunset Motel does a good job in displaying the wide variety of such tasks.

The habitable environment is also huge, allowing you to travel to any number of different sites across a wide area, be it the motel itself, the nearby restaurant, or something further afield.

Room with a View

Sunset Motel features a visual style that prioritises clarity and functionality, with a slightly stylised, perhaps somewhat cartoonish, aesthetic. However, this aesthetic looks good and is never unpleasant. The environments are designed to clearly present the state of the rooms and the available renovation options, allowing players to easily distinguish different items and areas.

While not pushing graphical boundaries, the visuals serve the purpose of a simulation game, focusing on clean presentation rather than photorealism. Details like furnishings and decorative elements are distinct, allowing for creative expression in room design.

Sunset Motel features a background soundtrack composed mainly of muzak, which aims for a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere, and sound effects are also realistic.

Extended Stay

Sunset Motel offers a fair degree of replay value, primarily through its emphasis on creative freedom and open-ended progression. While the core objective of restoring the motel remains consistent, the ability to customise every detail of the rooms, entertainment areas, and facilities to pretty much whatever you would like allows for diverse playthroughs.

You can experiment with different design styles, aiming for specific themes or catering to particular guest preferences. In addition to that, the gradual unlocking of upgrades, skills, and staff also provides a sense of progression that encourages continued engagement.

Conclusion

Sunset Motel delivers on its promise of a relaxing yet engaging management simulation. It provides a satisfying loop of renovation, service, and expansion, with enough creative freedom to keep aspiring hoteliers invested. While some early tasks might feel repetitive before automation unlocks, and with somewhat basic graphics, the overall progression and the reward of seeing your rundown motel transform into a bustling haven are genuinely gratifying. For those seeking a casual yet rewarding experience in the simulation genre, Sunset Motel offers a pleasant escape and is definitely worth checking out!

Grade: 7.5/10 – Good