For almost the entire life of the Sims 4, the community has been begging for a Sims 4 Hotels system similar to previous entries, like the Sims 2 Bon Voyage’s hotels system. There were mods to assist in this as soon early as 2015, but the closest the base game and DLC ever got to the system was the custom vacation rental system added with the pre-release patch for Snowy Escape from November 2020. However, players have a new way to create Sims 4 Hotels with the use of custom venues including roles, schedules, and more lot-specific customizable options available in Adventure Awaits.

This means that since the release of The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits earlier this month, we’ve gotten about as close as the game has ever been to a fully functioning hotel system, with a few of its own… special quirks.

Building Sims 4 Hotels in Adventure Awaits

Roles

When setting up custom venues to create a Sims 4 Hotels experience in Adventure Awaits, the most vital piece in making the lot work as intended is to create the proper staffing roles for sims, as well as a guest role to differentiate the sims on the lot. Breaking down the hotel experience, the primary staff needed to create something similar in Adventure Awaits is customer service or receptionist staff members, janitorial or housekeeping staff members, chefs or culinary staff members, and then a guest role.

Custom venues currently allow for up to 20 sims on a getaway lot at a time, meaning that restricting the amount of staff sims present to allow for more guests will be your best option. The amount of staff members per role will vary depending on the schedule you decide on, what theme you lean into, or your overall intention with your Sims 4 Hotels. You can go as small as one staff member each to allow for the max amount of guests, or split roles that you feel would take more time or effort between multiple sims.

Customer Service & Receptionist Staff

Friendly and outgoing sims to greet visitors, “check them in”, and just generally be a friendly face to those new to the hotel is a cornerstone of the real world hotel experience, and most want to emulate that in any Sims 4 Hotels they build!

Activities

Since The Sims 4 does not have a true “receptionist” or “check-in” role or activity, having a sim who has actions that focus on immersion, as well as just overall sociability, will help with how the hotel feels when visiting.

The typical criteria added for the role include…

• Age: Young Adult, Adult, Elder
• Skills +2: Charisma, Comedy, etc.

Some easy activities to add for a Receptionist or Customer Service staff role include…

• Be Friendly
• Write (On Computers)
  • If you only place one computer in the hotel, this should allow for receptionists who look as though they’re working behind a front check-in desk.
• Optional: Tend Bar, Tend Coffee/Tea Counters, etc. (Primarily if you’d like sims who do more than just look helpful.)

These are the basic activities I chose for my receptionist, but you can choose many more, especially if you decide to play a smaller hotel that may have multi-faceted staff, like someone who provides customer service but also repairs and cleans.

Uniforms

You can choose to have your sims be casual and wear what they would like, or make a very simple uniform, but I styled a few options using a variety of DLC and base game items to provide inspiration, both for feminine and masculine style sims in customer-facing roles. I found that you can go very formal or business casual, or you can reel it in and use some spa day polos and polo dresses to create a very uniform and consistent look across all employees.

Housekeeping Staff

Staff to clean up after sims, especially messier or sloppy ones, can help keep your hotel pristine and welcoming to guests, both your own sims and those you see as visitors and customers. This is particularly important while having staff that cooks food, since most sims become uncomfortable (sometimes to an extreme extent) when they’re in a dirty environment, including dirty plates, garbage piles, etc.

Activities

Setting up a housekeeping activity list is fairly straightforward, though it varies depending on additional DLC you have or want to use features of. Some activities include…

• Clean
• Cleaning Home Activities
• Laundry
• Repairing Items
• Being Friendly

You can also separate the role to include maintenance sims that will interact with guests and repair any broken objects!

Uniforms

In real life, housekeeping and janitorial uniforms tend to vary. Most align closer with standard business casual that may include aprons, gloves, or other gear to protect from staining that can be found in cleaning commercial properties. You can also lean into a more classic or stereotypical look, with formal wear or maid & butler outfits. You can even go closer to something janitorial and look for work jumpsuits that could really stand up to any mess.

Culinary Staff

While some use cooking as a stress-relieving hobby, most people in general don’t want to cook while they’re on vacation, and they especially don’t plan on cooking while in a hotel. Hiring culinary staff to prepare meals for your guests will allow your guest sims to have easy access to their meals and excellent quality food, similar to a real world continental breakfast or complimentary meal services provided in vacation packages, making the whole trip easier while also creating a form of immersion.

Activities

The activities for culinary staff are also fairly straightforward. Any activities surrounding cooking, serving food, cleaning their stations, and more. Some reliable options include…

• Be Friendly
• Cook
• Serve Food
• Tend Bar / Mix Bar Drinks
• Tend Coffee/Tea Counter
• Make Nectar
• Bake
• Make Smoothies
• Make Treats
• Grill

Uniforms

Using Dine Out in particular, I found it very easy to create uniforms for Culinary staff that vary from head chef level, down to sous chefs or apprentices. They even include some dirtied swatches. Depending on the sim, I added dark gloves similar to what it seen in many restaurant kitchens, though many chefs in real life also opt for consistent handwashing and bare hands.

Guest

The guest role is both the most important and the easiest to customize! You can choose criteria for guests to limit what type of sims can arrive to any of your Sims 4 Hotels. Some criteria ideas could include adult-only hotels, senior resorts, occult getaways, and so much more!

Another note is that the limit for custom venues is 20 sims at a time, so I would recommend choosing the amount of staff per role you want, and then creating one or more guest roles to fill the rest of the space. Roles can only hold up to 8 sims, so you may need to create more than one guest role. They can either be exact copies, or slightly different if you want some variety.

Activities

Now this set of activities will be based on a few factors, primarily where you set up your hotel and what your goal is for the sims to do. Hotels that are coastal or who have multiple indoor or outdoor pool areas would benefit from designated activities for using pools, swimming, or enjoying nature. You can also adjust your activities by season, if you have Seasons installed, to prevent guests from freezing outside because they wanted to go swimming on Winterfest Eve.

Some easy activities to include are…

• Campfire
• Water Activities
• Dive in the Ocean
• Fish
• Seasonal Activities
  • Spring Activities
  • Summer Activities
  • Fall Activities
  • Winter Activities
• Use Hot Tub
• Swim
• Outdoor Recreation
• Use Kayaks
• Use Water Vehicles

And so much more depending on the DLC you have available! You can even choose to be incredibly hands off, and just give your guests the activity of Free Time whenever you’d like! Another note is that adding the Stay Close to Family activities will autonomously make sims interact with and stay close to their household members they arrived with.

Build Requirements

Custom venues generally require disposal (garbage) items, plumbing, and a few other simple options. For functionality sake, I would recommend accounting for the amount of sims you have and having that many guest beds and bedrooms, as well as employee quarters and break areas to allow them to rest as well. Although, it is entirely up to you how you layout or design your Sims 4 Hotels!

Room(s) Required

Basic rooms required would include…

• Guest Bedrooms
• Guest Bathrooms
• Kitchen
• Dining Area
• Employee Bedrooms
• Employee Bathrooms

However, there are loads of other rooms you can add in for immersion or to expand the activities your sims can have! Some ideas I’d recommend would be…

• Indoor Pool
• Employee Break Room
• Recreation Room
• Business Center or Computer Lab
• Housekeeping Laundry Area
• Janitor’s Closet/Space
• Gym
• Front Lobby
• Bar or Coffee Shop
• Yoga Studio
• Spa

And so much more! Let your imagination run wild and choose options to fit your location, target sims, and activities!

Custom Schedules

You can also change the activities of individual roles to align with the custom schedule and to create dynamic days for every sim, from guest to employee. Sims in the Sims 4 have fairly resilient needs, so most of the time spent is up to you!

I generally recommend to add two schedule slots for Eating and Self-Care for guests, around what would be considered Breakfast time and Dinner time. For staff members, try to fit in times for them to take care of their own needs and take breaks as needed, since they are also present the entire time during getaways.

I would adjust staff activities one slot off of guest activities. For example, have your housekeeping sims rest or do self-care while your chefs are cooking and your guests are eating, and have them do cleaning in the next time slot. You can also have staff who work overnight, who split their shifts in half and sleep in between, whatever fits your Sims 4 Hotels and their guests the best!

Another note is that you should probably make time blocks in the schedule with multiple activities in mind, as they can only be as short as 3 hours long.

Gallery Recommendations

I also took the liberty of browsing some amazing options already created by Sims 4 Gallery users, that you can download if you want to dive into using playing Sims 4 Hotels in Adventure Awaits right away!

Monolith Boutique Hotel by LimeCondenser

Welcome to The Monolith Boutique Luxury Hotel. A total of 20 beautifully decorated rooms across four distinct tiers: Deluxe x4; Superior x11; Ultimate x1; Executive – Garden View x4. I’ve set a detailed schedule to divide the main activities throughout the day. The lot type is Custom Venue, but you can easily change it to a Small Business Venue lot type or adjust the scheduler based on your own interests! *YouTube @LimeCondenser #ShowUsYourBuilds #AdventureAwaits #NoCC #LimeCondenser

The Stanley Hotel V2 by Luv2play24

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. Must use MOO – has 2 famliy suites, 2 mini suites, 2 double & 2 single rms, can be set to restauraunt, cafe, retail, spa, bar, lounge, currently set to museum. Made a few changes from real hotel, includes ghost tour office and part of the old tunnel below that collapsed. Spot for kids, small movie theater, 2 bars, wedding venue, library. I also included a small maze. Please do not re-upload. #TheStanleyHotel #nocc #theshining *updated bathrooms & few add ons

Winter Hotel by BrunaSouzaG

Please don’t re-upload my creations. Sem conteúdo personalizado. – Por favor, não reenvie minhas criações para galeria com ou sem modificações. #bsgsims #brunasouzasims #gibbipoint #adventureawaits

Hotel Paradisaque by Luna1111111

Hothead Hotel by Cassboughtazoo

If you reupload or edit, please use my hashtag #cassboughtazoo – it makes me happy to see other simmers have fun with my creations! Grand Hotel & Spa, have bb.moveobjects on, better build buy suggested for debug items. Includes five bedrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 pools, 2 bars, a lobby, a garden, a spa, and numerous places to lounge the day away. #hotel #spa #rivieraretreat #pool #grandhotel #50×50 #bnb #business #communitylot #gibbipoint #adventureawaits #university #gettogether #bedandbreakfast

Have you dabbled in building or using Sims 4 Hotels with Adventure Awaits custom venue system? Are you planning on any other interesting builds or ideas? Let us know! Be sure to follow The Sims Community for new guides and articles about Adventure Awaits and other news!