As the canine residents of Heartlake City are being left at bus stops and lost in bushes, the cats are lording it up in their very own hotel. A luxurious place to relax, chill and scratch some furniture. The Cat Hotel is one of the mid-sized sets and expands on the narrative introduced in the LEGO® Friends theme this year. For my next LEGO Friend set review, I’ll be taking a look at another of the animal-themed builds with the Cat Hotel.
Product Details
Set Name: Cat Hotel | Set Number: 41742 | Pieces: 445 | Theme: LEGO Friends
RRP: £24.99/$29.99/29.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 4 (plastic) | Instructions: Paper + Builder App | Mini-dolls: 2 | Stickers: Sheets x 1
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail
Although the build begins with a number of minibuilds, these are eventually incorporated into the build, so the Cat Hotel is a fully contained building, with no random extra pieces of scenery. Those minibuilds include two pieces of furniture, which have been scratched to pieces by the guests. There’s also a small scratching post/climbing frame, which judging by the furniture, doesn’t get much use. Finally, there’s a litter tray and yes it not only features a freshly deposited dump but also a tinkle. Once the building is complete, these have specific spots upon which they can be placed.
The building is sort of open plan as it contains the front and side walls of the Cat Hotel, with the back completely open and a small outdoor area. The exterior of the building has some great details. The use of wheel arch plates makes the perfect framing roofs for the windows. Another interesting element used for the outside of the building is a door with a cat flap built into it. This was introduced in the LEGO Ideas Home Alone set and has only appeared in three other sets.
One of the highlights of the Cat Hotel is an excellent sign located above the door. This is a cute little snoozing cat. The use of parts to create this is perfectly done and combines nicely with the sticker details. Before heading inside, the final unique detail found on the exterior is a small outdoor play area. The tree is located on a small patch of green but it is linked to the building by a small bridge. I like that it’s connected to the building and isn’t a separate section.
Inside the Cat Hotel are a series of small pens. Each one is used as an area for the feline guests to stay. As mentioned above these are also kitted out with the additional minibuilds. These perfectly fit into their areas. There are plenty of other places for the cats to climb including a bridge, which spans the upper section of the room.
The set features two mini-dolls. These include one of the new main characters Ollie, who appears to enjoy his outfit as this version appears in two other sets. Here’s joined by another new character called Naomi and one of the residents of Heartlake City. The character is unique to this set, although the legs do appear in one other set. One thing I love about the new Friends characters is the new hairstyles they introduce and both featured in this set are great.
A Cat Hotel obviously needs some cats in order to stay in business. There are three of them included in this set. Two of them are only found in the Cat Hotel with the third being the excellently smug kitty featured in the Diner set. New creatures include Gertrude, who is a grey cat, she’s a very regal-looking animal, even more so with the addition of a crown. The excellently named Pixel is a rather chunky cat, with the same mould used to create the grumpy white version. Shadow is the little black cat and I maintain that it has the most amazing smug expression.
Overall
It feels more like a daycare centre for cats as opposed to a hotel, but it is still a great little set. It features a few decent elements some of which are only found in this set and other which are only found in other sets. It would have been nice if Ollie was a unique version, especially as some of the other characters have multiple outfits across sets. As cute as the cats are, the Friends animals are far too cartooney for me. But I guess if they weren’t, we wouldn’t have the marvel that is Shadow the smug cat.
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This set was provided BricksFanz and provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
