Yes but unfortunately when you start in a new town it's just a piece of property like the rest, you dont get it for free and if I went that route, I'd probably have to save a brand new HH to the bin, as the one in my current world is currently beautiful and at 5 star status.
In other words, I could'nt just pop into a new town with the little $2-3K left over I have after buying a house and expect to raise the hotel and live off it's profits- it would be more like $178K- so then Im stuck at a catch22: If I had the $178K then I wouldnt need the resort- if I cheat the 178K into my household funds, it kind of nullifies the reason for playing (if that makes sense), which is to see what kind of stuff these sims can get into while saving up for it.