If you’ve jumped back into Animal Crossing: New Horizons with the 3.0 update, you’ve probably felt that familiar mix of excitement and mild confusion that hits whenever Nintendo drops a big batch of new content and suddenly your island has a busier social life than your calendar. One of the standout additions is the Resort Hotel, a new space designed to expand your plans beyond the daily routine: room decorating, guest management, and even a ticket system for unlocking items. But how exactly do you unlock it—and where is it if you still can’t see it?
The key is a name that will be very familiar to anyone who’s been sailing these waters for a while: Kapp’n. The hotel is tied to his presence on the island, so the fastest (or slowest) path depends on whether you’ve already unlocked him. Either way, once you find it, the rest is pretty straightforward… and yes, there’s the occasional “corporate task” from Tom Nook, because some traditions never die.
Where the Resort Hotel is and how to enter if you already have Kapp’n
If you’ve already unlocked Kapp’n on your island and your game is updated to version 3.0, finding the Resort Hotel is as simple as following a familiar route: head to Kapp’n’s pier. With the update, that area changes and expands, and you’ll see a larger dock next to a hotel over the water that’s hard to miss.
There’s no trick and no extra condition here: the doors aren’t locked. Walk in, talk to Kapp’n and his family, and you can start taking part in the hotel activities right away. And if you’re wondering whether you’re actually on the right game version, there’s a quick check: on the main menu loading screen, the version number appears in the top-right corner.
This matters because if the hotel isn’t showing up and you’re sure you’ve met every requirement, the first suspect is usually the obvious one: you’re running an older version. Digital life—sometimes the issue is less “island mystery” and more “update your software.”
What to do inside the hotel: decorating, tickets, and the shop
Once you’re inside, the hotel has its own rhythm—and it’s worth understanding so you don’t miss daily opportunities. To start the decorating missions, speak with Leilani at the reception desk. She’s your gateway to the requests: you’ll be able to decorate rooms as part of these activities, but there’s a clear daily limit that sets the pace: you can only decorate two rooms per day. Is it a restriction? Yes—but it also adds that “shift planning” vibe that, let’s be honest, fits the game’s DNA.
Next, it’s a good idea to step outside and find Tom Nook. He sticks to his usual role: he wants to expand and, of course, he wants you to do the work. In this case, he’ll ask you to craft DIY items to send off and sell as promoted products from your island. In return, he pays you in the hotel’s own currency: Hotel Tickets.
Those tickets won’t just sit in your pocket collecting virtual dust. Inside the lobby, on the right, you’ll find the souvenir shop run by Grams. That’s where you can spend the Hotel Tickets you earn—both from decorating rooms and from completing Tom Nook’s DIY requests. It works like a parallel micro-economy: do hotel-specific tasks, and you unlock access to purchases tied to that same loop.
Also, the hotel content doesn’t end on day one. The following day, the game gives you two more rooms to decorate and unlocks an especially fun option: planning hotel outfits for guests to wear. From there, it becomes more social, because you’ll start seeing visitors arrive on your island as hotel guests. In the end, the Resort Hotel feels like a natural extension of the “island life” fantasy, but with an extra layer of management and customization—almost as if a small creative mode suddenly slipped into your daily routine.
How to unlock the hotel if you don’t have Kapp’n yet
If you’re a new player, or you’re simply taking island upgrades at a relaxed pace, you may not see the hotel because the essential requirement hasn’t been triggered yet: having Kapp’n available. To get him, there are several specific requirements you need to meet:
• Reach a 3-star island rating
• Upgrade the museum by donating 15 items to Blathers
• Have K.K. Slider perform a concert on your island
Out of those steps, the most flexible one is the 3-star rating. There isn’t a strict checklist, because the game lets you shape your island your way, but the overall goal is clear: beautify the island and make it feel more complete, with decoration and organization. To see how you’re doing, you don’t have to guess—you can talk to Isabelle and request an island evaluation whenever you want.
Once you have the rating, you’ve donated enough to the museum, and you’ve hosted K.K. Slider’s concert, Kapp’n will appear on your island. In practice, that’s usually enough for the hotel to become available too. If it still doesn’t show up right away, the game’s usual behavior suggests a simple fix: wait one day for the change to fully apply.
In fact, when you log in, Isabelle often announces Kapp’n’s arrival and/or the Resort Hotel unlock during the daily broadcast. So if you’re tracking unlocks, that message acts as official confirmation. And yes, it’s one of those moments where you realize that—even on a paradise island—“restart and check again tomorrow” remains a surprisingly effective technique.
