VN - Ren'Py - Harem Hotel [v0.18.2] [Runey]

Great game w tons of fans. I mean 29k posts on this forum so some of us have to be right about the game being so good.

The Dev, Runey, is very involved in here as well as friendly and helpful. He (?) helps out and responds to loads of posts in addition to working on the game. He takes in suggestions and occasionally uses them in the game, and is always a very gracious and decent person. I've seen some devs that are just vicious and foul towards folks.
Also, this forum has some of the friendlier bunch of posters here......

HH is a fun game where the MC falls into a hotel, fixes it up, and has permanent girls staying here. Each one of the guests have been written so that they have unique looks, personalities, and issues... One of the predominant stories is slavery with Elves. There are several other themes as well. It's not too heavy and hasn't been too preachy.

The graphics are fun and easy on the resources. The game is fun to play and you have a tendency to care about the girls and want to keep coming back for more. There are various kinks represented which also helps keep things interesting.

It's also a very easy game to play for awhile then come back and pickup again later without feeling lost.

Everyone here has their own favorite girl, though we all know that Lin is the best.!.

Almost 8 GB of outdated and badly designed door opening simulator. How this game got to top is a big mistery.
Whole gameplay is based around battling a mess of interface and opening doors in architacuraly challenged hotel (no map to help you get about) to unlock any kind of scene, where a girl tells you how she feels and what can you buy to make her feel better. Ux is unintuitive, clunky trash. The whole time management thing is trash heap of bad mechanics. Graphics is hedious, outdated and would be good in 2004. All girls look the same, square faces, weird grims, petite asian clones (no diversity). Their "sexy" uniforms (that you can unlock after hours of grinding) are basically strings; uniforms should be uniforms like secretary or maid dress, shoes, pantyhose etc. and not just differently coloured panties. Their stories are childish, boring cliche with many inconsistencies. Two main components of this game: upgrading hotel and managing relations are very poorly designed and executed even worse. Relations-management is made through opening doors and walking on some girl (taking a shower) or asking her the same questions every day and half of the progress is hidden in hidden events (opening the right door at the right time). As for managing a weird hotel - it's just grind until you have enough money. Buy upgrades. Make more money. Boring, repetitive. How anyone could find that engaging is a mystery. Even bigger mystery is how many people rated graphics in this game - good or very good, wtf!

I thought it was gonna end up like most 3D ero games that are mostly bad and make me hesitant to download but I give this one a spin, but oh boy I was so wrong, pretty characters and personality, wholesome story here and there. such beautiful masterpiece

I love Ashley and Emma so bad

Phenomenal game! I've kicked over a few dollars on patreon over time and im glad to see the project still plugging along. Great CGs and I appreciate the lack of NTR.
I've devloped a liking to the character Jin, she's had a character arch that I dont see much on F95 and I wont spoil it for you. Despite being a side character she's recived alot of love and good wiriting. For all of the main girl content seems to be very evenly distributed among them, there is no one girl being flavor of the month with patches, there is always something for a few of them. They're well fleshed out and have more then a "sex-doll" personality.

Version Played: 012.2

This game easily sits in my top 5 with its blend of charming characters, interesting setting and regular updates.
What started out as a bog-standard game with rote situations and older graphics has morphed into something really interesting from a world-building/story perspective (science-fantasy) with some surprisingly moving story beats.

Positives:
+ Absolutely amazing cast. In terms of personality, there's someone for everyone here.
+ Great world-building that gets you invested into it wanting to know more about it.
+ Consistent updates
+ some bush

Negatives:
- Dated graphics
- Some grinding, but what little there is can be augmented with codes!

Overall, this is one of the games I most look forward to for updates. Lin is something special!

Like this? Try!: Mythic Manor
Notes to Dev: Really looking forward to seeing what comes next!

Really top quality. Excellent gameplay. ( Not too grindy, but it also doesn't give you everything straight off the bat, thus not making it feel overwhelming or making you feel lost. ) "Main" plot is rather simple, but quite effective at setting everything up. The real gem of the game is everyone else's stories, which I think are really interesting and well written.
Really awesome characters with each having their own distinct personalities, motivations and backstories. ( From really shy girls to ones that straight up would bang on sight. ) Very good art style. ( YEAH... can't say much about it because it really is up to personal preference, but overall everything is sleek and quite polished, and to me this art style is one of the best. ) The amount of content is also very high, especially if you compare with most games like this. Personally, I don't have any complaints regarding sound and music, since all seem appropriate to the situation. And last but not least... the sex scenes are really awesome, with enough variety to not make it feel like you're doing the same things over and over again but just with a different girl.

To sum up, JUST DOWNLOAD THE GAME IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!! Honestly, couldn't recommend it enough

10/10

Will keep visiting it again!

The porn, action and content are amazing. Well-written characters. If you want to jerk-off this is a great game to try. A tad slow to start but ramps up very, very fast. But so far my favorite aspect has been the story-telling. Each character has wonderful story-lines to work through, and holy mother this game made me feel all sorts of emotions besides horny. Great job. On top of all that, world-building in this game is insane. Not only is there content to flesh out the world. It's mostly well-written. (I'm not a worldbuilder so don't quote me.) But I very much have enjoyed it and look forward to learning more. Try it, enjoy it, review it.

I enjoyed the game more when it felt like the characters had more distinctive stories, with update 13 consolidating what feels like most of the characters stories to be reduced to elf slavery bad in some facet or another it's lost a lot of the charm.

Harem Hotel [v0.18.2] [Runey]
5 stars and my favorite game on the site.
It doesn't have the best animations on the site, and it doesn't have the best girl drawings or the best setting, but it's all top notch, without a bad thing.
The story of the girls is very good (some more than others).
Ok, the truth of the 5 stars is entirely thanks to Kali, Lin, Ashley, Ellen and Autumn.

Easily one of, if not the best hentai game I've ever played. Everything from the sex scenes to the story and characters is just phenomenal. If anything, I'm almost disappointed it's a porn game, simply because the story alone is better than half of what Hollywood puts out these days.

One of the best fuck games there are, no doubts about it. Animations are great, characters look fantastic, story is pretty dope. 5/5 easily. I just wonder if were at 0.12 and the way the stories develop is so crazy as it is now, where the shit is this even going? I for one cant wait to see. Just play it ya ding dong.

Version reviewed: v0.12

Abstract
This game features a main character (the player) who has just recently inherited a hotel with a highly skilled assistant and a slave that will help him to build his own harem of girls. Great graphics, great background music selection, fluid storywriting, lacking a bit of direction recently (since v0.11), huge download, no official android version anymore (for those who care, I don't).

The whole playthrough occurs from the perspective of the faceless player, so hereinafter I will refer to him as "you". The progression through the game is split in (non-repeatable) "events" and (repeatable) scenes where you train your girls into several fetishes, becoming sexually experienced (and dependent of you), and making them more submissive and obedient. Some events or scenes are hidden and require characters to have been trained to a certain point to unlock, making sexual training/expertise the way in which characters rise their stats. Also, the developer issues updates rather often.

Review
I've been playing this game since v0.04 and found it refreshing and promising. As soon as the player move into the hotel (first playable scene) he starts engaging with a set of vulnerable and troubled girls that soon will become part of his harem by means of grooming, caring, pampering, and, of course, sex, which I think is (or was) the core of the game.

During the first releases the events were rather short, making the playthrough very dynamic. Its naive nature make the game wholesome and aligned with an idyllic reality, so all minor inconsistencies with human psyche and the real-world references were easy to bypass. It was extremely easy to do a readers pact and get immersed in the game. The quality of the graphics wasn't as great as they are now, so I can say there have been some major improvements over time.

In this game, life is bitch and you're to the rescue. Some, if not all of the characters have been into some dark sht (often more than what one can handle, hence they being in need of belonging and a parental figure) and, as in real life, soon you learn that there are many shades of gray between black and white and there is more to a person than what meets the eye. Consequently, although in the beginning one quickly picks a favorite, the storytelling plays with one's emotions and soon makes the player fond of all characters. I think this is a feature most people will love of the game.

However, there are three reasons why I am not granting 5 stars to this game. First and foremost, the events have substantially grown in length and sometimes become a bit tiresome to read (storywriting-wise, too many words for little advance in the story). Second, is Elves, which to me is starting to become a "drop it" reason, specially to those who, like me, like learning about human history. Last, but not least, the sexual components of the visual novel seem either exhausted or under-exploited and doesn't appear to be a core-component in the self-discovery process of the characters.

I have the impression that, since the past three updates, the game has turned into an Elvish history master-class with annoying moral lectures on how bad slavery is (elves are slaves and, legally, you own some). Suddenly, slaves are everywhere and become the bread and butter of the events, even altering the background of non-elvish characters, quickly becoming tiresome. Rather than taking advantage of a great opportunity for social criticism, (which must be done with elegance, in a subtle way), we are introduced a species of life-lasting dumb people, clearly inferior to humans according to canon and story, but with dialogues that desperately try to convince otherwise. Dumb or not, slaves built empires and great nations (Egyptian, Roman, Spanish, British, and even the USA was built with the blood of slaves), but that greatness is nowhere to be seen. Even though the game has a strong bias towards the social environment of the slave period in Southern USA, and an educated player will quickly find that the storywriter is following USA's political agenda rather than pursuing a deep understanding of the history of slavery to enrich their writing rather than it look like one species is taking a capitalist-centered advantage of another species of retards. The same could be said about AI/robots (for Sci-Fi fans), and ancient civilizations, but those are minor details.

It is yet to be seen what the new update brings us, though.

Conclusion
If you are looking for a pack of heartbreaking stories with wholesome endings and a pinch of lewdness on top, this game/visual-novel is great for you. However, if you're looking for a highly interactive game or realistic situations with strong foundations, then just give this one a try but do not expect to meet your expectations.

This was one of the first adult games I have ever downloaded. This is a phenomenal game. I appreciate all the hard work that has been put into it. I have downloaded a few more games but few compare to this one. This is a staple that I just keep coming back to. Just well done!

I played and abandoned this game months ago. I couldn't tell what was going on or what was the next step in game for a given character. The MOD really helped! Sometimes you need to wait 4-5 in game days for the next event to occur.
I played through version 12 and found the game VERY enjoyable. Quite an in depth (sometimes too much depth) story and the animations are very well done (even if this game isn't my preferred style).
EXCELLENT Game!

I played 12.4v and wasn't upgrading from another version.

Pro
I greatly enjoyed the amount of thought put behind the characters. Yes, you are ultimately going to sticking holes like a golf course's flagpole but there is an cohesive reason. There is plenty of "porn logic" but it's not "lemon stealing whores" level.

Some stories developed the character a lot more than I thought was possible like Lin.
The extra sauce of the game is that characters interact with each other in scenes following other person's story. At times, you need to progress other characters stories to continue another. But if you like multiple characters, then you naturally met the requirements. Sometimes I was surprised that a character mentioned something in another story.

The loop of going through the doors to talk or just having an event forced on you is surprisingly good. I kept playing along to see the story of characters and got surprised at times. There are some characters I don't care about (Ashley) but the dialogue is good enough to keep me reading. The smart thing about the game is that you don't have to explore every character if you don't want to.

The art is pretty good to me. There is a consistent anime style that isn't off putting.

Con
Like any project of age, there are clearly parts of the game that are underbaked like the bondage section or even visiting the hotel sections. The bondage section feel like it doesn't really fit with the game. You basically just pick what sex position you want and you watch. They good scenes, but don't feel like they are part of the game.

Interacting with the girls outside of their events feel oddly flat. I never felt like I learn something new about them taking them out to coffee. The scene in the tea shop can be quite good but still feel disconnected from the rest of their story.

I don't think the game is harmed from these things since the main pull of the game is clearly the events and stories. Also, the game still uses those settings. It's just that going to those places "yourself" is not very deep.

Neutral
As others pointed out, there is a large amount of exploration about slavery in the later parts. On one hand, exploring it allows for more character development such as Lin and Kali. But the problem is that the story still rests on "porn logic" and trying to explain how slavery works raises a lot more questions than it answers.

There is definitely a tone shift from the earlier part of the game. It is to the point where I feel like it's a entirely different game. It's pretty sudden shift into this mode and I think that's there the issues people have start.

I am not really sure if we really needed a deep dive into the world of Harem Hotel. Honestly, it didn't seem like the game was even created with that in mind.

I don't feel too negative about this inclusion because it does expand on the story of characters that is more interesting to me than the questions raised by the world building.

Conclusion
I wasn't really expecting much for a porn game with anime visuals. But there is a good reason why this is among the highest rated in on this website. It's a great game and showcased that porn games don't have to be poorly written.

Honestly one of the best games here, it has more content than most games and its still not finished, animated sex scenes, great characters with awesome development, they really feel like real people, but also know how to get the sex done, all in all a really great game

Great game. I love most characters. More Kate! Make her a main girl - or something close, please!
Writing great, scenes great, management not annoying. Got no complaints.
The variety you put in is nice, too. I thought how am I supposed to get that much money, but it sure is possible.

I don't fully understand the hype around this game given such high ratings, but having thought about it I think that's mainly just because this game isn't super appealing to me. In terms of the NSFW aspects, the game is great. Quality art, attractive characters, and decent writing. For me though the game just feels shallow as there's little narrative or challenge to the game.

This is a review most won't like but meh.

Pros
The concept is interesting and while it doesn't break any new ground, it gives it an unique enough spin
Writing is for the most part engaging and entertaining
Characterarc have satisfying payoffs
Graphics are among the better Honey Select offerings.

Cons
The writing has gotten preachy and indignant
Every character gets tied up in a moral crusade that feels completely off in the setting
Some characters come off as intensely unlikeable for long stretches of the game until their arcs resolve, reducing the motivation to actually resolve said arcs.
The latest update drops a twist that makes absolutely no sense and serves only to further the silly agenda the dev has

All in all, the game was better a year or two ago. So much potential and so many good things absolutely wasted because the dev decided to turn Harem Hotel into a politics-simulator and refuses to even consider criticism.

Good story. Long game. Lots of repeatable actions. Good number of characters. Easy to progress story line. At no point did I feel lost as to what I was supposed to do next. I very much enjoyed playing through the story (couple of times so far) and am looking forward to future updates.