Welcome to the best hotel in Vienna! In the Grand Hotel Roll & Write Board Game, you prepare rooms, host guests, make staffing decisions, and win the emperor's favor by managing your money and trying to avoid loans.

The game lasts seven rounds, and each player has a hotel board and a staff board, with eight of each available. At the beginning of each round, you roll dice according to the number of players, and then place them in the six spaces (numbered 1-6) on the action board. In each round, you choose one of the dice and use the corresponding action based on its strength, which is determined by the number of dice in that space when it is removed.

• Prepare as many rooms for guests as the strength of the action, paying the cost for each.
• Occupy a prepared room by paying the cost minus the strength of the action, gaining the depicted bonus in the process.
• Advance on the emperor's board according to the strength of the action, gaining the bonuses listed as you reach them, with additional bonus points for loyalty at the end of the board.
• Earn krone, the game's currency, equal to the strength of the action.
• Hire a staff member to your board, paying the cost minus the strength of the action. Two staff members give you a permanent bonus, two offer a one-time effect, and two provide bonus points during evaluation.

If you are the first player to occupy one of the eight rows or seven columns, you earn bonus points that are not available to anyone else who occupies that row or column later. When you occupy all the rooms in an adjacent color group on your board, you gain an immediate bonus of points (for a blue group), krone (red), or steps on the emperor's board (yellow).

The bonuses and effects of the staff vary on each board, so you need to find a way to take advantage of the opportunities offered through them in combination with the special layout of your hotel's rooms and the dice available in each round.

After seven rounds, players calculate their points, possibly losing some along the way for ignoring the emperor, but ideally overcoming this loss thanks to occupied rooms, a variety of bonuses, and points from staff during the final evaluation.