January 1st MSRP $200 3066 parts official pics are up.

Here’s a look: https://www.brickfinder.net/2021/12/06/lego-boutique-hotel-10297-official-announcement/?fbclid=IwAR0AEh6U1SF54i9suVg1FrHfo2XXqZOjidPCsE0vOGAIdTQ5vDikrLV80Co

 

The beautiful Diner was panned early on for not fitting the classic theme, and holds poor reviews today compared to older modulars. But it seems to have opened the door for sets that move away from the older, blander colored, sets. This would have been panned even harder than the diner had it been released first. 

My favorite line from the Brickset review:

Quote

There is nowhere to toilet, though, and no public facilities in the hotel, either!

They can just go out to the sidewalk and pretend it's San Francisco

Just drop some of these on the sidewalk

Edited December 6, 20214 yr by brickvoyeur

Nice set. The right side of the Parisian may line up well with that upper patio. 

 

'Interesting' building technique used for the foundation.  Heres a look next to the most recent modulars. Very colorful indeed. 

 

Initial reaction: Meh, not a fan.  

 

Not sure if I'm a fan of the color variations separating each level. Each individual level looks appealing but

together seem to make it look busy and lose the "flow".  Could be that it's just a different concept than

we're used to from previous modulars.  The scale of the outdoor area and stairs compared to the rest

of the modular does look a little "weird" as well.

my initial response was "cool; something different"...but then it turned to it's maybe "too different".

Almost like you need two to complete the 2nd half of the building

i actually really like this one. the last two for me have been pretty ho-hum. i also am curious what two of these could produce. 

I really like the overall look of the hotel, but I can't help feel that the art gallery has compromised the ground floor. Without it, they could have had the receptionist by / under the stairs, and a café on the ground floor with an awning out to a patio area (with chairs, etc.) where the gallery sits. It might also have allowed for some bathroom facilities for the middle-floor plebeians. LEGO modular designers just seem to have ADHD recently, where they can't design just one building, and instead have to cram something else in even if it doesn't quite make sense (see Brick Bank for the worst example). 

1 hour ago, $20 on joe vs dan said:

my initial response was "cool; something different"...but then it turned to it's maybe "too different".

Almost like you need two to complete the 2nd half of the building

I think that this design really looks like the "conceptual" version of a larger build.

I like Lego's recent focus on designing sets for the AFOL community.  However, often times, I find Lego's desire to keep the MSRP manageable somewhat constraining.  10297 looks good but could be a lot more if expanded. 

I think that there's a meaningful revenue opportunity here for Lego.  In addition to selling 10297 as is, Lego should also offer the instructions for an expanded version requiring 2 sets of the standard 10297.  Doing so will most likely prompt me to double my standard modular holding for this set.

This concept of offering "expansion instructions" could be extended to other AFOL-themes as well.

Edited December 6, 20214 yr by cambridge02138

I like it BUT sometimes it would be nice if lego don't feel obliged to tack on a 'side' building all the time. I'd have preffered it if they ditched the art display and the interesting but superfluous angle of the walls, and used those and extra parts to add a restaurant or something to the ground floor, then added to the floors above to add dinky bathrooms to the two mid level rooms, so it was more of a convincing in its function as a hotel. 

Edited December 6, 20214 yr by Graphicski

The modular line jumped the shark with this one. Terrible design. 

LEGO could have delivered another boring corner...this is not that. I think they did a great job keeping it fresh.

4 hours ago, BricksBrotha said:

 

'Interesting' building technique used for the foundation.  Heres a look next to the most recent modulars. Very colorful indeed. 

 

Initial reaction: Meh, not a fan.  

 

This corner looks too colorful, even by San Francisco standard.   Almost Diagon Alley vibes

3 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

This corner looks too colorful, even by San Francisco standard.   Almost Diagon Alley vibes

It needs some local representation.

The modular line jumped the shark with this one. Terrible design. 

Opinions are funny. Because I’m just the opposite. This is the first one I’ve liked in awhile (not a fan of the last two - Police Station and Bookstore)

Whaaaat? San Francisco has standards?  

54 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

It needs some local representation.

 

And about 20 of these to re-enact the "flash mob"

Initial reaction: It's fine.....but I would have rathered they nixed the 'side shop' and invested the parts into the main structure. I'll have to watch some video reviews to make my final judgment. I'm a Modular Buildings collector, so will be buying it eventually.

2 hours ago, Mathew said:

The modular line jumped the shark with this one. Terrible design. 

Shark was jumped a long time ago with the Downtown Diner. 

36 minutes ago, eliminator said:

Initial reaction: It's fine.....but I would have rathered they nixed the 'side shop' and invested the parts into the main structure. I'll have to watch some video reviews to make my final judgment. I'm a Modular Buildings collector, so will be buying it eventually.

Therein lies the problem. I've basically committed to buying every future modular building until either I die or The LEGO Group stops making them. My opinion, therefore, doesn't matter. All LEGO has to do is put some technic pins at the side of any building they produce and I start twitching.

That add-on store on the side looks weird to me.  Those kind of corner buildings (the hotel) usually fill up the whole corner. 

This one looks like it was originally built on a sharper corner then they added a section to the side of the building when the block was restructured

8 hours ago, brickvoyeur said:

 

 

I enjoy this, but I also didnt start out with GG and go from there. I really just have PR, Palace Cinema, Diner and Garage. I am on the fence about Bookstore and might pass on the Police Station. For me, I know this would get lots of playtime with the kids. Same reason I ended up getting the London Bus before it goes, I find that the more play it gets from my girls, the more I enjoy it. 

This design looks really nice in my opinion, I dont even mind the side shop. 

I'm just glad they didn't try to recreate Cafe Corner and Hotel. I don't mind the angles. I like that the angles break up the flow of the other buildings. I have all modulars going back to Market Street (yes it's a modular). So I'm a fan regardless.