Setup · Grand Austria Hotel

The boards and supply

Put the game board in the middle: it holds the 5 guest spaces, the Emperor track, the Round track and the spaces for the Emperor tiles and Politics cards.
Put the Action board with its 6 Action spaces next to the game board.
Put the dustbin and the 75/150 victory point markers next to it.
Sort the dishes and drinks — strudel (light brown), cake (white), wine (red) and coffee (black) — into a supply beside the board.
Shuffle the Guest cards into a face-down stack and turn 5 face up, one on each guest space.
Shuffle all Staff cards into a face-down stack.
Pick one Politics card each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces.
Pick one Emperor tile each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces (they are used after rounds 3, 5 and 7).
Sort the Room tiles by colour into three stacks.
Put 10 dice on the first Action space; return the rest to the box.
Keep the Turn Order tiles marked for 2 players on the back; return the others.
Put the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.

Solo: the Automa

Choose a level: Easy ignores the bracketed icons and every Staff icon on the Automa cards; Normal ignores only the bracketed icons; Hard uses them all.
Normal and Hard: take every Staff card with a game-end effect out of the deck, shuffle them and put 5 face down by the Automa’s hotel unseen — its private Staff deck. Shuffle the rest back into the Staff deck.
Shuffle the 20 Automa cards and put them by the Automa’s hotel.
Set up as for 2 players, but the Automa gets no dishes or drinks, no money marker, no starting rooms and no starting guest.

Each player

Take a Hotel board, an Overview card and the 6 wooden disks of one colour.
Put one disk on 0 of the Emperor track and one on 0 of the victory point track.
Put one disk on 10 of the money track of your Hotel board: you start with 10 krones. Keep the other disks for the Politics cards.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen. [Waltz] With Vienna Ballrooms, add 1 champagne.
Draw 6 Staff cards and keep them hidden — or draft: take 6, keep 1, pass the rest left, until you hold 6.

Before the first round

Agree which side of the Hotel boards to use: the front is the same for everyone, the backs differ and are harder.
Choose the start player at random and give the Turn Order tiles out accordingly.
From the player with the highest Turn Order tile, counter-clockwise, each player takes one face-up guest into their café for free. After each pick slide the guests right and refill the empty space on the left.
Each player prepares up to 3 rooms, starting with the bottom-left room, each next to one already placed, paying the cost printed for its row.

The boards and supply

Put the game board in the middle: it holds the 5 guest spaces, the Emperor track, the Round track and the spaces for the Emperor tiles and Politics cards.
Put the Action board with its 6 Action spaces next to the game board.
Put the dustbin and the 75/150 victory point markers next to it.
Sort the dishes and drinks — strudel (light brown), cake (white), wine (red) and coffee (black) — into a supply beside the board.
Shuffle the Guest cards into a face-down stack and turn 5 face up, one on each guest space.
First game: take out the recommended Staff sets A to D (one set per player), then shuffle the other Staff cards into a face-down stack.
Pick one Politics card each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces.
Pick one Emperor tile each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces (they are used after rounds 3, 5 and 7).
Sort the Room tiles by colour into three stacks.
Put 10 dice on the first Action space; return the rest to the box.
Keep the Turn Order tiles marked for 2 players on the back; return the others.
Put the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.

Solo: the Automa

Choose a level: Easy ignores the bracketed icons and every Staff icon on the Automa cards; Normal ignores only the bracketed icons; Hard uses them all.
Normal and Hard: take every Staff card with a game-end effect out of the deck, shuffle them and put 5 face down by the Automa’s hotel unseen — its private Staff deck. Shuffle the rest back into the Staff deck.
Shuffle the 20 Automa cards and put them by the Automa’s hotel.
Set up as for 2 players, but the Automa gets no dishes or drinks, no money marker, no starting rooms and no starting guest.

Each player

Take a Hotel board, an Overview card and the 6 wooden disks of one colour.
Put one disk on 0 of the Emperor track and one on 0 of the victory point track.
Put one disk on 10 of the money track of your Hotel board: you start with 10 krones. Keep the other disks for the Politics cards.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen. [Waltz] With Vienna Ballrooms, add 1 champagne.
Take your recommended Staff set (start player set A, the next player set B, and so on): these are your 6 Staff cards. Keep them hidden.

Before the first round

Use the front side of every Hotel board: it is the same for everyone.
Choose the start player at random and give the Turn Order tiles out accordingly.
From the player with the highest Turn Order tile, counter-clockwise, each player takes one face-up guest into their café for free. After each pick slide the guests right and refill the empty space on the left.
Each player prepares up to 3 rooms, starting with the bottom-left room, each next to one already placed, paying the cost printed for its row.

The boards and supply

Put the game board in the middle: it holds the 5 guest spaces, the Emperor track, the Round track and the spaces for the Emperor tiles and Politics cards.
Put the Action board with its 6 Action spaces next to the game board.
Put the dustbin and the 75/150 victory point markers next to it.
Sort the dishes and drinks — strudel (light brown), cake (white), wine (red) and coffee (black) — into a supply beside the board.
Shuffle the Guest cards into a face-down stack and turn 5 face up, one on each guest space.
Shuffle all Staff cards into a face-down stack.
Pick one Politics card each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces.
Pick one Emperor tile each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces (they are used after rounds 3, 5 and 7).
Sort the Room tiles by colour into three stacks.
Put 10 dice on the first Action space; return the rest to the box.
Keep the Turn Order tiles marked for 2 players on the back; return the others.
Put the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.
[Waltz] Shuffle the expansion’s guests, Staff cards, objective (Politics) cards and Emperor tiles into the base stacks before you pick — for the modules you use.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: lay 3 random ballroom boards above the game board, 2-player side up, and the Round indicator tiles 3, 5 and 7 above them from left to right.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: put the balcony board to the right, its door level with the top row of the rightmost ballroom.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: turn the Action board to its champagne side (or lay the overlay) and add the champagne to the supply.
[Waltz] Celebrities: swap 3 white dice for the 3 colored dice (the dice count stays the same).
[Waltz] Celebrities: shuffle the celebrity tiles into a face-down stack — without Puccini, Mata Hari and Picasso unless you also play Vienna Ballrooms.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the lounge board by the Action board and lay the top 3 celebrities on it, left to right.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the victory point chits nearby.

Each player

Take a Hotel board, an Overview card and the 6 wooden disks of one colour.
Put one disk on 0 of the Emperor track and one on 0 of the victory point track.
Put one disk on 10 of the money track of your Hotel board: you start with 10 krones. Keep the other disks for the Politics cards.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen. [Waltz] With Vienna Ballrooms, add 1 champagne.
Draw 6 Staff cards and keep them hidden — or draft: take 6, keep 1, pass the rest left, until you hold 6.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: after the Staff cards, lay out one rehearsal room board per player; from the player right of the start player, counter-clockwise, each picks one, puts it left of the Hotel board and fills it with their 10 dancers.

Before the first round

Agree which side of the Hotel boards to use: the front is the same for everyone, the backs differ and are harder.
Choose a start player at random: they take Turn Order tile 1, the next player clockwise tile 2, and so on.
From the player with the highest Turn Order tile, counter-clockwise, each player takes one face-up guest into their café for free. After each pick slide the guests right and refill the empty space on the left.
Each player prepares up to 3 rooms, starting with the bottom-left room, each next to one already placed, paying the cost printed for its row.
[Waltz] Unique Hotels, Start Player and Would You Like Some More? change a few of these steps — see the Let’s Waltz! page.

The boards and supply

Put the game board in the middle: it holds the 5 guest spaces, the Emperor track, the Round track and the spaces for the Emperor tiles and Politics cards.
Put the Action board with its 6 Action spaces next to the game board.
Put the dustbin and the 75/150 victory point markers next to it.
Sort the dishes and drinks — strudel (light brown), cake (white), wine (red) and coffee (black) — into a supply beside the board.
Shuffle the Guest cards into a face-down stack and turn 5 face up, one on each guest space.
First game: take out the recommended Staff sets A to D (one set per player), then shuffle the other Staff cards into a face-down stack.
Pick one Politics card each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces.
Pick one Emperor tile each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces (they are used after rounds 3, 5 and 7).
Sort the Room tiles by colour into three stacks.
Put 10 dice on the first Action space; return the rest to the box.
Keep the Turn Order tiles marked for 2 players on the back; return the others.
Put the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.
[Waltz] Shuffle the expansion’s guests, Staff cards, objective (Politics) cards and Emperor tiles into the base stacks before you pick — for the modules you use.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: lay 3 random ballroom boards above the game board, 2-player side up, and the Round indicator tiles 3, 5 and 7 above them from left to right.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: put the balcony board to the right, its door level with the top row of the rightmost ballroom.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: turn the Action board to its champagne side (or lay the overlay) and add the champagne to the supply.
[Waltz] Celebrities: swap 3 white dice for the 3 colored dice (the dice count stays the same).
[Waltz] Celebrities: shuffle the celebrity tiles into a face-down stack — without Puccini, Mata Hari and Picasso unless you also play Vienna Ballrooms.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the lounge board by the Action board and lay the top 3 celebrities on it, left to right.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the victory point chits nearby.

Each player

Take a Hotel board, an Overview card and the 6 wooden disks of one colour.
Put one disk on 0 of the Emperor track and one on 0 of the victory point track.
Put one disk on 10 of the money track of your Hotel board: you start with 10 krones. Keep the other disks for the Politics cards.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen. [Waltz] With Vienna Ballrooms, add 1 champagne.
Take your recommended Staff set (start player set A, the next player set B, and so on): these are your 6 Staff cards. Keep them hidden.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: after the Staff cards, lay out one rehearsal room board per player; from the player right of the start player, counter-clockwise, each picks one, puts it left of the Hotel board and fills it with their 10 dancers.

Before the first round

Use the front side of every Hotel board: it is the same for everyone.
Choose a start player at random: they take Turn Order tile 1, the next player clockwise tile 2, and so on.
From the player with the highest Turn Order tile, counter-clockwise, each player takes one face-up guest into their café for free. After each pick slide the guests right and refill the empty space on the left.
Each player prepares up to 3 rooms, starting with the bottom-left room, each next to one already placed, paying the cost printed for its row.
[Waltz] Unique Hotels, Start Player and Would You Like Some More? change a few of these steps — see the Let’s Waltz! page.

The boards and supply

Put the game board in the middle: it holds the 5 guest spaces, the Emperor track, the Round track and the spaces for the Emperor tiles and Politics cards.
Put the Action board with its 6 Action spaces next to the game board.
Put the dustbin and the 75/150 victory point markers next to it.
Sort the dishes and drinks — strudel (light brown), cake (white), wine (red) and coffee (black) — into a supply beside the board.
Shuffle the Guest cards into a face-down stack and turn 5 face up, one on each guest space.
Shuffle all Staff cards into a face-down stack.
Pick one Politics card each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces.
Pick one Emperor tile each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces (they are used after rounds 3, 5 and 7).
Sort the Room tiles by colour into three stacks.
Put 12 dice on the first Action space; return the rest to the box.
Keep the Turn Order tiles marked for 3 players on the back; return the others.
Put the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.
[Waltz] Shuffle the expansion’s guests, Staff cards, objective (Politics) cards and Emperor tiles into the base stacks before you pick — for the modules you use.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: lay 3 random ballroom boards above the game board, 3/4-player side up, and the Round indicator tiles 3, 5 and 7 above them from left to right.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: put the balcony board to the right, its door level with the top row of the rightmost ballroom.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: turn the Action board to its champagne side (or lay the overlay) and add the champagne to the supply.
[Waltz] Celebrities: swap 3 white dice for the 3 colored dice (the dice count stays the same).
[Waltz] Celebrities: shuffle the celebrity tiles into a face-down stack — without Puccini, Mata Hari and Picasso unless you also play Vienna Ballrooms.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the lounge board by the Action board and lay the top 3 celebrities on it, left to right.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the victory point chits nearby.

Each player

Take a Hotel board, an Overview card and the 6 wooden disks of one colour.
Put one disk on 0 of the Emperor track and one on 0 of the victory point track.
Put one disk on 10 of the money track of your Hotel board: you start with 10 krones. Keep the other disks for the Politics cards.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen. [Waltz] With Vienna Ballrooms, add 1 champagne.
Draw 6 Staff cards and keep them hidden — or draft: take 6, keep 1, pass the rest left, until you hold 6.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: after the Staff cards, lay out one rehearsal room board per player; from the player right of the start player, counter-clockwise, each picks one, puts it left of the Hotel board and fills it with their 10 dancers.

Before the first round

Agree which side of the Hotel boards to use: the front is the same for everyone, the backs differ and are harder.
Choose a start player at random: they take Turn Order tile 1, the next player clockwise tile 2, and so on.
From the player with the highest Turn Order tile, counter-clockwise, each player takes one face-up guest into their café for free. After each pick slide the guests right and refill the empty space on the left.
Each player prepares up to 3 rooms, starting with the bottom-left room, each next to one already placed, paying the cost printed for its row.
[Waltz] Unique Hotels, Start Player and Would You Like Some More? change a few of these steps — see the Let’s Waltz! page.

The boards and supply

Put the game board in the middle: it holds the 5 guest spaces, the Emperor track, the Round track and the spaces for the Emperor tiles and Politics cards.
Put the Action board with its 6 Action spaces next to the game board.
Put the dustbin and the 75/150 victory point markers next to it.
Sort the dishes and drinks — strudel (light brown), cake (white), wine (red) and coffee (black) — into a supply beside the board.
Shuffle the Guest cards into a face-down stack and turn 5 face up, one on each guest space.
First game: take out the recommended Staff sets A to D (one set per player), then shuffle the other Staff cards into a face-down stack.
Pick one Politics card each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces.
Pick one Emperor tile each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces (they are used after rounds 3, 5 and 7).
Sort the Room tiles by colour into three stacks.
Put 12 dice on the first Action space; return the rest to the box.
Keep the Turn Order tiles marked for 3 players on the back; return the others.
Put the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.
[Waltz] Shuffle the expansion’s guests, Staff cards, objective (Politics) cards and Emperor tiles into the base stacks before you pick — for the modules you use.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: lay 3 random ballroom boards above the game board, 3/4-player side up, and the Round indicator tiles 3, 5 and 7 above them from left to right.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: put the balcony board to the right, its door level with the top row of the rightmost ballroom.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: turn the Action board to its champagne side (or lay the overlay) and add the champagne to the supply.
[Waltz] Celebrities: swap 3 white dice for the 3 colored dice (the dice count stays the same).
[Waltz] Celebrities: shuffle the celebrity tiles into a face-down stack — without Puccini, Mata Hari and Picasso unless you also play Vienna Ballrooms.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the lounge board by the Action board and lay the top 3 celebrities on it, left to right.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the victory point chits nearby.

Each player

Take a Hotel board, an Overview card and the 6 wooden disks of one colour.
Put one disk on 0 of the Emperor track and one on 0 of the victory point track.
Put one disk on 10 of the money track of your Hotel board: you start with 10 krones. Keep the other disks for the Politics cards.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen. [Waltz] With Vienna Ballrooms, add 1 champagne.
Take your recommended Staff set (start player set A, the next player set B, and so on): these are your 6 Staff cards. Keep them hidden.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: after the Staff cards, lay out one rehearsal room board per player; from the player right of the start player, counter-clockwise, each picks one, puts it left of the Hotel board and fills it with their 10 dancers.

Before the first round

Use the front side of every Hotel board: it is the same for everyone.
Choose a start player at random: they take Turn Order tile 1, the next player clockwise tile 2, and so on.
From the player with the highest Turn Order tile, counter-clockwise, each player takes one face-up guest into their café for free. After each pick slide the guests right and refill the empty space on the left.
Each player prepares up to 3 rooms, starting with the bottom-left room, each next to one already placed, paying the cost printed for its row.
[Waltz] Unique Hotels, Start Player and Would You Like Some More? change a few of these steps — see the Let’s Waltz! page.

The boards and supply

Put the game board in the middle: it holds the 5 guest spaces, the Emperor track, the Round track and the spaces for the Emperor tiles and Politics cards.
Put the Action board with its 6 Action spaces next to the game board.
Put the dustbin and the 75/150 victory point markers next to it.
Sort the dishes and drinks — strudel (light brown), cake (white), wine (red) and coffee (black) — into a supply beside the board.
Shuffle the Guest cards into a face-down stack and turn 5 face up, one on each guest space.
Shuffle all Staff cards into a face-down stack.
Pick one Politics card each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces.
Pick one Emperor tile each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces (they are used after rounds 3, 5 and 7).
Sort the Room tiles by colour into three stacks.
Put 14 dice on the first Action space; return the rest to the box.
Keep the Turn Order tiles marked for 4 players on the back; return the others.
Put the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.
[Waltz] Shuffle the expansion’s guests, Staff cards, objective (Politics) cards and Emperor tiles into the base stacks before you pick — for the modules you use.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: lay 3 random ballroom boards above the game board, 3/4-player side up, and the Round indicator tiles 3, 5 and 7 above them from left to right.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: put the balcony board to the right, its door level with the top row of the rightmost ballroom.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: turn the Action board to its champagne side (or lay the overlay) and add the champagne to the supply.
[Waltz] Celebrities: swap 3 white dice for the 3 colored dice (the dice count stays the same).
[Waltz] Celebrities: shuffle the celebrity tiles into a face-down stack — without Puccini, Mata Hari and Picasso unless you also play Vienna Ballrooms.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the lounge board by the Action board and lay the top 3 celebrities on it, left to right.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the victory point chits nearby.

Each player

Take a Hotel board, an Overview card and the 6 wooden disks of one colour.
Put one disk on 0 of the Emperor track and one on 0 of the victory point track.
Put one disk on 10 of the money track of your Hotel board: you start with 10 krones. Keep the other disks for the Politics cards.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen. [Waltz] With Vienna Ballrooms, add 1 champagne.
Draw 6 Staff cards and keep them hidden — or draft: take 6, keep 1, pass the rest left, until you hold 6.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: after the Staff cards, lay out one rehearsal room board per player; from the player right of the start player, counter-clockwise, each picks one, puts it left of the Hotel board and fills it with their 10 dancers.

Before the first round

Agree which side of the Hotel boards to use: the front is the same for everyone, the backs differ and are harder.
Choose a start player at random: they take Turn Order tile 1, the next player clockwise tile 2, and so on.
From the player with the highest Turn Order tile, counter-clockwise, each player takes one face-up guest into their café for free. After each pick slide the guests right and refill the empty space on the left.
Each player prepares up to 3 rooms, starting with the bottom-left room, each next to one already placed, paying the cost printed for its row.
[Waltz] Unique Hotels, Start Player and Would You Like Some More? change a few of these steps — see the Let’s Waltz! page.

The boards and supply

Put the game board in the middle: it holds the 5 guest spaces, the Emperor track, the Round track and the spaces for the Emperor tiles and Politics cards.
Put the Action board with its 6 Action spaces next to the game board.
Put the dustbin and the 75/150 victory point markers next to it.
Sort the dishes and drinks — strudel (light brown), cake (white), wine (red) and coffee (black) — into a supply beside the board.
Shuffle the Guest cards into a face-down stack and turn 5 face up, one on each guest space.
First game: take out the recommended Staff sets A to D (one set per player), then shuffle the other Staff cards into a face-down stack.
Pick one Politics card each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces.
Pick one Emperor tile each of A, B and C and lay them face up on their spaces (they are used after rounds 3, 5 and 7).
Sort the Room tiles by colour into three stacks.
Put 14 dice on the first Action space; return the rest to the box.
Keep the Turn Order tiles marked for 4 players on the back; return the others.
Put the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.
[Waltz] Shuffle the expansion’s guests, Staff cards, objective (Politics) cards and Emperor tiles into the base stacks before you pick — for the modules you use.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: lay 3 random ballroom boards above the game board, 3/4-player side up, and the Round indicator tiles 3, 5 and 7 above them from left to right.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: put the balcony board to the right, its door level with the top row of the rightmost ballroom.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: turn the Action board to its champagne side (or lay the overlay) and add the champagne to the supply.
[Waltz] Celebrities: swap 3 white dice for the 3 colored dice (the dice count stays the same).
[Waltz] Celebrities: shuffle the celebrity tiles into a face-down stack — without Puccini, Mata Hari and Picasso unless you also play Vienna Ballrooms.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the lounge board by the Action board and lay the top 3 celebrities on it, left to right.
[Waltz] Celebrities: put the victory point chits nearby.

Each player

Take a Hotel board, an Overview card and the 6 wooden disks of one colour.
Put one disk on 0 of the Emperor track and one on 0 of the victory point track.
Put one disk on 10 of the money track of your Hotel board: you start with 10 krones. Keep the other disks for the Politics cards.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen.
Put 1 strudel, 1 cake, 1 wine and 1 coffee in your kitchen. [Waltz] With Vienna Ballrooms, add 1 champagne.
Take your recommended Staff set (start player set A, the next player set B, and so on): these are your 6 Staff cards. Keep them hidden.
[Waltz] Vienna Ballrooms: after the Staff cards, lay out one rehearsal room board per player; from the player right of the start player, counter-clockwise, each picks one, puts it left of the Hotel board and fills it with their 10 dancers.

Before the first round

Use the front side of every Hotel board: it is the same for everyone.
Choose a start player at random: they take Turn Order tile 1, the next player clockwise tile 2, and so on.
From the player with the highest Turn Order tile, counter-clockwise, each player takes one face-up guest into their café for free. After each pick slide the guests right and refill the empty space on the left.
Each player prepares up to 3 rooms, starting with the bottom-left room, each next to one already placed, paying the cost printed for its row.
[Waltz] Unique Hotels, Start Player and Would You Like Some More? change a few of these steps — see the Let’s Waltz! page.