Upon its release, "Hotel Mario" received negative reviews from video game magazines "Electronic Gaming Monthly" and "GamePro". Critics commented that "Hotel Mario"s gameplay was simple yet addicting. "GamePro", while calling the game fun, believed that it would soon bore players, and gave it a fun factor of 2.5 out of 5. When "Electronic Gaming Monthly" named Mario the greatest video game character in 2005, they considered "Hotel Mario" his most embarrassing moment. Similarly, it was considered as the worst Mario game of all time by ScrewAttack, who criticized the game for its audio and controls, as well as for being solely "based on shutting doors." GameDaily included "Hotel Mario" in its list of the worst games starring Nintendo mascots, stating its gameplay lacked identifiable Mario elements mainly used in the series. The game was also listed as the worst 2D platformer in the "Mario" series by N-Europe. The site found the Koopaling battles "uniquely bad", calling the game itself a "steaming turd".