The Hotel Assassination

Spoiler Warning: Plot details, ending details, or both are in the text which follows.

"Man, you get what you give out, Mr. Lowrey."

―Franklin Clinton upon killing Lowrey

The Hotel Assassination is the first assassination mission in Grand Theft Auto V given to protagonist Franklin Clinton by Lester Crest.

Overview

Lester orders Franklin to kill Brett Lowrey, CEO of Bilkinton Research, while Lowrey is leaving the Von Crastenburg Hotel in Richman. Lester suggests two ways in which this can be accomplished: by shooting Lowrey with a sniper rifle or by destroying Lowrey's car (with Lowrey inside) with a sticky bomb. Regardless of how the player chooses to kill the target, once Lowrey is dead, Franklin must escape the scene and any resulting wanted level. Once this is accomplished, the mission ends. Post-mission, Franklin then calls Lester to confirm that the job is done. Lester tells Franklin that their investment portfolio is getting a "little successful". Lester figured that tangible assets would be the best investment, so he bought a house in Vinewood Hills. Also, that he needed someone to live there due to tax purposes. So, Franklin came into mind, and Lester told him that all of his stuff was being moved in from his aunt's house to the new property. Franklin was surprised and ecstatic that Lester was giving him an entire property for free, as well as feeling relieved, for not having to live with his crazed aunt Denise, ever again.

Mission Objectives

Go to the hotel.
Wait for the target to appear.
Assassinate the target.
Leave the area.
Lose the cops. (Only if you have been spotted)

Gold Medal Objectives

Sniper Boy - Kill the target using a Sniper Rifle
- For an easy snipe and clean getaway, go to the second level of the car park. Stand just a little back from the edge, overlooking the two vehicles. Wait until the checkout time arrives. Lowrey will enter from your right, and will be the only man not wearing a suit. Snipe him in the chest/neck/head, then get in their vehicle and leave the car park on the opposite side as the hotel. Use Franklin's ability to get out quickly without crashing. You can also snipe the target from the top floor and escape through the ramp. The mission will immediately be complete after landing in the street.

Tips

Planting a Sticky Bomb on either the Washington or the FIB Granger will cause guards to see it wherever it is placed (noticed instantly if on the Washington, and noticed when Lowrey boards the Granger by the guards). Because of this, if you want to use sticky bombs, Follow these steps: First, aim below the granger, then plant the bomb there. Next, place a bomb on the ground on the west side (assuming the reference point is at the carpark and if you are not sure where the Washington will be parked then place sticky bombs around the west side of the hotel). if you want to kill everyone in the convoy (doing so will not or have a very little chance of getting a wanted level since there are no more guards to spot you).
Quick timing is required in this mission when shooting the target. If the player misses the shot, the target will run away after hearing the gunshot, failing the mission.

Aftermath

Public Liberty Online Newsaper

"The Betta Pharmaceuticals share price is on the rise, following the news that Brett Lowrey, CEO of Bilkinton Research - the company behind the new erectile dysfunction wonder drug Priapol - has been murdered in Los Santos. Mr. Lowrey's business practices had come under scrutiny in recent days following widespread reports of heart attacks from Priapol users and accusations that Bilkinton had paid off the FDA. The LSPD has said that a full investigation into his death will be underway within hours."

Weazel News (Radio)

"A pharmaceutical CEO found murdered. Brett Lowrey, CEO of Bilkinton Research, the company that manufacters controversial new heart stopping erectile dysfunction drug Priapol has been found murdered in Los Santos. With Betta Pharmaceuticals share price already spiking on the news, there won't be many Mollis investors weeping tonight."

Deaths

Brett Lowrey - Assassinated by Franklin Clinton under the orders of Lester Crest.

Rewards

The reward is $9,000. Thanks to Lester, Franklin now owns a new safehouse in Vinewood Hills, the 3671 Whispymound Drive. Franklin's previous safehouse is turned into a "center for women" by Denise Clinton, and the interior and garage are no longer accessible to the player (unless they use glitches or tricks). On the enhanced edition, the garage is still usable, however.

Stock Tip

Pre-mission preparation:
- As Michael (Optional):
  - Strangers and Freaks: The Truth missions, while betraying the Epsilon Program during the finale; $2,009,500 (net profit).
- As Trevor (Optional):
  - Random Event: Altruist Camp Shootout; $103,000.
  - Random Event: Drug Shootout; $10,000 - $100,000 (formerly weekly, now only one time, see Drug Shootout's EDIT information).
  - Strangers and Freaks: Maude's Bail Bond missions; $20,000 - $40,000, depending on tactics.
  - Strangers and Freaks: Nigel's Vinewood Souvenir mission The Last Act; $10,000, by letting Al Di Napoli live.
  - Purchase the McKenzie Field Hangar: $5000+ for Arms Trafficking Ground and $7000+ for Arms Trafficking Air each time.
- As any character (Optional - likely Franklin or Trevor):
  - Purchase the Sonar Collections Dock and collect all the Nuclear Waste; $690,000+ (net profit).
  - Random event: Gray's Bike Theft; $100,000 in Animal Ark stock (sell/reinvest).
  - Random event: Buried Alive; $60,000+.
  - Random event: Deal Gone Wrong; $25,000+.
  - Random event: Countryside Shootout; $10,000.
  - Random event: Security Vans; ~$5000 each.
  - Holding up stores; ranging from nothing to $3000 at most.
- Make sure it's Monday, if not, keep sleeping with any of the protagonists numerous times to advance the time to Monday. (Trevor can sleep for 12 hours)
- Invest all the money of all three protagonists in Betta Pharmaceuticals stocks on the Bawsaq site.
Post-mission
- Wait for a few in-game hours or sleep once before selling the stocks so that they can reach their maximum value; the percentage of return here is ~50%. Be advised - after about 24 in-game hours, the value of the stock will start to drop.
- 240% return on re-invested funds.
  
  Once again, invest all the money of all three characters, but this time choose Bilkinton Research. Their share price has cratered, but will start to recover within about 72 in-game hours. It should fully mature to its pre-assassination level in another 72 in-game hours. The percentage of return here can easily surpass 100%.
Timeline: Purchase Betta Pharmaceuticals stock and complete the mission on Monday, sell the stock by Tuesday, purchase Bilkinton Research stock by Friday, and sell that stock anytime after the following Monday.

Note: save the game in a different slot before doing this mission, so you can reload in case anything goes wrong.

The Dollar Pills stock is an alternative, in case the player is unable to access the Bawsaq site, just do as explained above and you should get a percentage of return of 100% with the Dollar Pills.

Video Walkthroughs

GTA 5 - Mission 33 - Hotel Assassination 100% Gold Medal Walkthrough

GTA 5 - Mission 33 - Hotel Assassination First Person Gold Medal Guide - PS4

GTA 5 PC - Mission 33 - Hotel Assassination Gold Medal Guide - 1080p 60fps

Trivia

Any cars parked in Franklin's previous safehouse will be lost so storing them in a separate garage will be beneficial. If the player has only one vehicle parked in their garage then it is best to use it as the getaway vehicle for the mission and driving it into Franklin's new garage. (However, if Franklin parks the vehicle too close to Lester's mission trigger point, the vehicle will disappear.
If the player switches from Franklin to either Trevor or Michael and then back to Franklin, it will instantly bring the player into the cutscene of Franklin being informed by Lester that Franklin has a new safehouse, and the game will introduce the player to Franklin's new safehouse.
Besides the news about Lowrey's death, there's also a news article from Daily Globe about a lawsuit against Redwood Cigarettes. This is a foreshadowing of the events of the next assassination mission.
The player needs to be careful on where they escape because if the player is careless, Franklin might end up going to the wrong exit thus receiving 2 wanted levels.
Franklin can take the FIB Granger if he chooses to snipe the target. Since it's a police vehicle, you'll need to put it into your new Garage.
This is the only assassination mission that must be completed to progress the story, (since Franklin gets a new safehouse and must choose the final missions) the other assassination missions can be done after completing the story.
- If this mission isn't complete before doing Blitz Play, after the last heist setup for that mission, Franklin will text Michael and Trevor telling them to wait as he needs to do something for Lester.
It is best to do Three's Company before this mission, as it will give Franklin a free Heavy Sniper, meaning that the player can invest more money from the jewelry store heist.
After completing the mission, if Franklin quickly drives to his aunt's house and enters it while on the phone with Lester his room will be full of his possessions; when the phone call ends the environment is quickly refreshed. After being refreshed his possessions will disappear from his room and he will be locked and trapped inside the house.

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