Hotel Nocturnus

We've been doing escape rooms for the last couple of years and a friend said we should try this room. I can truthfully say it is the best escape room business that we've been to so far and highly recommend. Its a combination of haunt and escape game. Hotel is a serial killer themed room but not like the other serial killer rooms we've been in. It is a lot bigger than most of the rooms we've done and had 13 areas we made to make our way through to get to the end. We were really pleased with how they pulled you into the story with all the handcrafted hotel rooms and games. They did not use the plastic wall panels we see being used in so many escape room games now. We're not interested in going to a sterile commercialized escape room that lacks originality and that seems to be what so many escape room owners are producing but not these people. You can tell they poured their hearts into this room. We've never seen the detail they put into the design of the game in other rooms. We particularly liked the games that are made directly into huge intricate props. We were expecting a bunch of combination locks but that wasn't the style of this room. I don't want to spoil it for anyone but we screamed more than once. They put live actors in the room with us like their advertising says but we felt safe because we had an actor with us throughout the game that managed to scare the crazies who had been trapped in the caverns away. Our guide also helped us with nudges when we got stuck. We hadn't seen their style of room in other places and it was thrilling but not overwhelming meant to throw us off our game. You should not be afraid of small spaces if you play this room. You will also be expected to crawl a little bit and stoop down. If you can't do these things you might be able to avoid them if you let them know in advance but I would say you should play a different room We really enjoyed and liked the fact that they did not rely on cheap tricks like turning off all the lights to scare us. The atmosphere is scary by itself. If there had been more it would not have been an escape room but would have been more like a haunted house. We booked another room already and recommend you try this business.

This escape room was one of the more challenging escape rooms we’ve completed although I wouldn’t necessarily label it as “expert” level. However, we did get help from their assistant and some puzzles were a little bit more challenging. I’d say we solved around 80-85% on our own. In comparison to the escape rooms I’ve been to, I appreciate the mix of puzzles and not focused too much on combination and lock and key locks. Nothing too out of the ordinary with sensors, sounds, sequential order of button pressing, etc. I wished the quality of the props were better. Often times I felt cheap alternatives were used. And while it didn’t take away from the overall experience, I’m still consciously thinking about it since other escape rooms will pay more attention to detail in this area. Some of the lock releases required way too much precision to work. One of our item placements was off by a few millimeters and if we didn’t get help we would doubt ourselves if the puzzle was actually solved. We wasted time in one room as we had to hold a key card up to the door but didn’t know you had to hold it for 3-4 seconds so we proceeded to believe we were incorrect until we asked for help. Overall, we had a great time and escaped with 1 min left! I don’t think I will go back due to the quality of the escape room to the price you pay but kudos to the crew investing in this and being super friendly and entertaining.

This was a great escape room with easy and brain thinking puzzles. IT IS NOT A LINEAR ESCAPE ROOM. You go back to places you’ve been through and have to connect dots. The GM in the room helped us understand what we can touch and not when we were worried of breaking stuff. Some rooms are very squeamish and if you don’t like that, don’t do the room. The only bad thing is the story line, I thought we were solving a killer story but we fully didn’t? I’m still confused on it but, overall it’s fun!

Amazing room with so much to do! All of it very interactive and creative. Having the GM in the room was a must but did a great job not helping but more guiding if needed.

This is by far the best escape room we have ever done and I’ve done over a hundred. The room is huge and you work your way through about 13 different sections to get to the way out. I counted at least 8 major serial killers in the story and finally getting to the identity of zodiac was totally unexpected. I’m not going to say we got out without clues because some of the puzzles are hard and they’re definitely unique compared to other San Diego escape games. If you’re looking for a game that you need to win then this probably isn’t for you. You also don’t want to bring younger players here as it’s a little scary. Overall this is a must do game.

As someone who’s played around 30 escape rooms, I’m throughly impressed whenever I encounter different puzzles or elements! I appreciated the live actor who assisted whenever we needed. We literally only made it with 1 second to spare! I had done this game with people who haven’t completed many escape rooms and they were able to contribute to puzzles easily!

Okay, when I first walked in, I expected I was going to be jump scared every 5 minutes; not like that at all. The room is very thrilling, well designed, and you see the different serial killers and other historical murders they based this room on. That being said, a great time. I felt stupid that the way out is the way in, but you don't know that when you're trying to get out of the first room. However, you do need to collect lots of clue throughout the game, to escape in the end. The elevator was nice touch, and I loved feeling like a People Under the Stairs. We had a lot of fun, and the host was great.

As of writing this I am currently at 27 rooms. I am by no means an expert. That being said, this is how I felt: We had a late night reservation. Initially the owner seemed like a cool guy. The lobby is top-notch and very well done. I loved the atmosphere. We were given a word to say when we needed a hint, making me think that we were going to be a special system in place for using the word. We never used it... You will be told that an investigator actually tried the room and said it was exactly how it works as an investigator (they work with the police; it is not just one person or one group that solves the mystery, but multiple agencies). Instead of relying on cameras and communication, you have a guide that is there with you (read: leading you) through each room, and is there, "as you need hints" (you will get them anyway). A friend and I were continously told to start over for one puzzle instead of allowing us to fail and learn from it for the next attempt. The storyline is a bit all over the place, and once you finish you are left with a, "so what did we solve?" feeling, instead of the adrenaline induced, "yeah, we nailed it!" or "dang, almost got it." When asked what we thought of the room I said that is it was middle of the road; that I've done worse but this was no where near the top for me. The setup, theme and decoration was awesome, but the constant interactions with the guide left me not being able to keep a train of thought and it spurred this odd anxiety of: ***Trying to figure out what I'm looking at and how to decipher the puzzle I could be looking at before the guide spoils it for me.*** It is very linear. One particular puzzle, three of us were waiting on a group member to answer because there was nothing else to do. This happened at least 3 times. Don't get me wrong, the rooms are awesome and I wanted to explore the uniqueness and details of them. However, my experience seemed to be on rails and I did not get the chance. In the end, while trying to be constructive with what I did not enjoy about the room was met with more talk about the investigator that tried the room and back handed comment such as, "...if you were smart, you would have done..." which turned me off to giving any further constructive criticism. Before starting the room, the owner stated that it is one of the hardest rooms in San Diego. It is, in that reading and using a single cipher to decode the majority of the word puzzles can wind down the clock to solving the room and leave you in a time crunch. If you use them, bring your reading glasses. I personally put this on the same level as the Scooby Doo room with Escapology for comparison; looks super cool, not executed well at all. I get that an investigator attempted it and said good work, but just because something says, "military-grade" doesn't make me want to buy it further. I'm paying for an experience, not "how it would be." ------ TLDR: If you enjoy spooky, serial killer themes, this is your room. If you don't mind a linear puzzle arc, this is your room. If you don't like wondering if the answer you are formulating is or is not the correct answer, this is your room. If you enjoy seeing innovations in escape rooms (there are many innovation here that as very cool), this is VERY much your room. However, I enjoy trying and failing 4 times to crack the code the 5th time. Call me a masochist, but I want to struggle because it makes the victory all the sweeter. ----- This is a story book, not an escape room.