[187] The Cipher Room: Marlowe Hotel

Date: 23/07/2023

Company Name: The Cipher Room

Room: Marlowe Hotel

Cost: $57 per person (Team of 4)

Time Allowed: 60 Minutes

Website Link: https://www.cipherroom.com.au/ourgames

Location: 640 King St, Newtown NSW 2042

Best Parking: Street Parking is best or Parking lot 2-6 Princes Hwy, Alexandria NSW 2015

Succeeded: Yes

Rating: 

• Hospitality/Gamesmaster: 8
• Room Quality: 8
• Immersion: 8
• Puzzle Design: 7 
• Fun Factor: 7

Overall: 7.60/10

Room Description: 

Step into your own black and white, film noir adventure! You are a private investigator in 1950's New York. One day you receive a letter from Betty McGee - a singer at the notorious Marlowe Hotel. She informs you that the gangster kingpin and hotel owner, Eddie Marlowe, is trying to blackmail her with incriminating material. She needs you to break in and retrieve the documents. You know Eddie is bad news, but you agree to take the case.

What secrets await you inside the hotel? How will you locate the photos? What do you really know about Eddie Marlowe? 

Comments:
Kyle: The Marlowe Hotel immerses players into a captivating black-and-white film noir adventure, reflecting its purely black/grey and white aesthetic. The magic truly begins as the compelling story unfolds seamlessly within the fantastic theme. Despite being rated a challenging 5/5 on their website, our team, perhaps in top form that night, triumphed with over 10 minutes to spare, even with minimal hints. The Marlowe Hotel boasts a mix of low-tech and subtle high-tech puzzles, showcasing hidden lock mechanisms that add to the mystery as doors open almost magically. Each puzzle, though challenging, remains entirely solvable, contributing to another high-quality room from Cipher!

Josh: (Will edit)

Simon: The setting of this escape room was amazing! With the theme being film-noir, the room really encapsulates all the great elements of the mid 1900's genre. If we had have turned up in black and grey suits it would've felt exactly like were in a film-noir crime drama masterpiece! Very classy setting! The puzzles were challenging and some were unique. Overall our team did quite well. Cipher has contiued to deliver on it's well thought out and challenging rooms. After missing 3 escape rooms, the blue flannel made it's triumphant return!