The 3.0 update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons has introduced an official hotel on every island's pier, rendering many player-created hotels obsolete. Players who spent years crafting fake luxury resorts now face an easy decision to tear them down. This change highlights the game's balance between official features and community creativity.
On January 16, 2026, GameSpot reported that the 3.0 update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons has significantly impacted player-driven hotel creations. The update adds a fully fledged hotel to the pier of every island, effectively putting countless handmade resorts out of business.
Players have long built simulated hotels using creative methods, such as terraforming multi-room interiors with partitions to mimic hallways and suites, or employing visual trickery for facades viewed from specific angles. These designs evoked diverse settings, from sun-soaked Greek islands to urban skylines and luxury resorts. One example is the Dodo Hotel, documented in a Reddit post as a purely aesthetic facade on its final day.
"The fateful day has come for the new update, and the local resident-run hotel has fallen on hard times thanks to the illegally constructed hotel on the pier," wrote Redditor ll_LoneWolfe_ll in a post. "These are truly troubling times for the residents of my island!"
The official hotel is rigidly fixed to a specific pier location, limiting customization of the structure itself. However, players can modify the surrounding area. For instance, Redditor jorgom transformed their pier using custom designs, fences, castle pillars, and themed furniture inspired by the Sanrio character Pompompurin.
This development underscores Animal Crossing's tension between developer-imposed boundaries and player ingenuity. While the new hotel standardizes the feature, the community continues to personalize and innovate around it, proving the game's enduring appeal lies in what players create with the tools provided.
