This is a theme park, not just another escape room. That’s what the owners of Escape Hotel Hollywood want you to know. Seconds after you walk off Hollywood Boulevard and into the “hotel lobby,” this is obvious.
All visitors pose for a “passport” picture, which is a clever gift for seasoned escapers who plan on trying all the themed rooms. Eventually, the hotel will feature 11 themed rooms in all. Though the Escape Hotel currently offers six other rooms – “Agent,” “Cocaine,” “Daycare,” “Witchcraft,” “Zombie” and “Slaughter” – we could not resist trying the official Exorcist room, the room designed with official support from Fox Studios in conjunction with their Exorcist TV show.
The multi-room escape, centered around a basement chapel, is full of special effects, and an actor provides escapers a subtle guide forward. The better you read the actor, the greater your odds at success.
Following a variation on the storyline of the classic movie and new TV show, the Exorcist escape room maintains a creep element that also propels the attraction along. Escapers can easily immerse themselves into the plot, which is amplified with more than a few eerie moments.
With its flair for the theatrical and deep attention to detail, the Escape Hotel is maximum bang for your escape-room buck. With many more rooms to explore … eh, escape from, the Exorcist room runs the risk of setting the bar too high for the others, but if nothing else, it’s an extremely promising sign of where escape games can go. We look forward to finding out what horrifying challenges are in store at the hotel.
