average score of 47, based on 24 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Critics gave a lukewarm reaction to the album's first disc, which they felt was mostly "predictable" and "generic," while most of the praise went towards the second disc comprising ambient techno: AllMusic calling it the record's "saving grace" and Entertainment Weekly complimenting its "ethereal" instrumentals. Andy Kellman from AllMusic observed that Hotel shows little inspiration from Moby's previously advertised new wave and post-punk era, while criticizing his decision to hold off from sampling, which he felt led to an album with "all valley and no peaks," but nevertheless praised the "lovely" opening and closing tracks. Not all critics opposed Moby's decision to abstain from sampling; Christian Hoard from Rolling Stone considered the "nostalgic" songs to "transmit singer-songwriter warmth and clarity through textures that effuse autumnal beauty," despite their feeling relatively sparse, and the slower tracks "[vaguing] out." On the other hand, Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times was unimpressed with Moby's "detached, deadpan" vocals, which leave most of the tracks as "surface decorations." He felt that although it sounds more "natural," its essence was instead "less organic and more calculated," thus showing the album's "insistence on being liked." Writing for The Guardian, David Peschek also commented on the record's vocals, feeling that the "cumulative vocal pallor" and "bizarrely cliched ideas" make for a "wan listen." Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine further compared the record to a chain of hotels, writing: "[Hotel] is one identical room/song after another. Same furnishings, same instrumentation, same emotionless façade." Nick Cowen of Drowned in Sound felt similarly about the album's "bland and instantly forgettable" tone, while disapproving of the "unbelievably bad" cover of "Temptation," which he wrote was too "stripped down" and slow. Pitchfork'''s Rob Mitchum was most critical of Hotel, pointing out that the record "strikes the same mood of one-way-street sloganeering" consisting of "simple, familiar, and recycled" imagery, which dropped Moby to a "blank manufacturer of rock-by-numbers," devoid of his previously distinguishing characteristics. However, Entertainment Weekly's Doug Brog was more positive towards the album, commending Moby's "appealing cheekiness" among the songs, especially with the "big-chorus soft rock" of "Slipping Away." Andy Battaglia from The A.V. Club agreed that Hotel still "holds out a few touching glimmers," with songs like "Slipping Away," which is carried by a "robust melodic hook," coupled with the "sexy, mysterious production and breathy vocals"