Next Level Escape Rooms — Attraction in Hamilton

I have updated my review to 5 stars as a result of the absolutely sincere and honest response from the owner on my initial review. It is very clear that ours was a fluke situation that was out of their control and not the usual experience one would receive at this venue. It is clear that the owners are very committed to customer satisfaction and I have no doubt that the next experience there will be as great as all of the other reviews you can read about them.

Greatly appreciate your candid and genuine response and I will definitely be giving you guys another try. For the record, we have told many people to try out the Thompsons room as well.

(I was not asked to update my review however I feel that how a business responds to constructive feedback says more about them than any negative experience there ever could, and they deserve to be recognized for this rare and respectable response)

Original review:

We did The Thompson’s room. Unfortunately the venue was clearly overbooked or understaffed as they were very frazzled when we arrived and no one addressed us from behind the counter for 15 minutes. We were supposed to show up 15 mins early to ensure we were ready at our time slot but those 15 minutes were wasted with us waiting at the desk for nothing. Once we finally got into the room, I was disappointed to see that the communication system and timer were archaic and sub par from every other room I’ve done. A walkie talkie and a standard kitchen timer were used as opposed to the high tech countdown timers and intercom systems most other escape rooms have.

The room itself was neat, feeling cartoony and with lots of similarities and throw backs to the Simpson’s set. The puzzles were challenging and used different technology and types of problem solving, however there were several technical problems and malfunctions that confused us as we had done things correctly but the mechanisms did not activate so we thought we must be doing it wrong, at which time we had to radio for help and were told a few times that this or that should have happened but didn’t. And they had to manually override. This caused a lot of wasted time. Also it was clear that due to them not having enough staff or time to watch us, they missed cues that would have required them to manually activate/release mechanisms so we could move on but because they were too busy they were not paying attention to us and didn’t realize that we had solved certain puzzles. So again we wasted time, had to radio and then repeat the cue that we had already done several times with no response.

They ended up giving us some extra time without explanation which I assume was due to their errors throughout the experience, but there was never any apology or accountability taken for the problems.

All in all, the room is worth doing, but it would have been much better if everything worked properly and the staff was effectively supervising their monitors so they don’t miss...

I rarely give 5 stars but Next Level Escape Rooms definitely deserves it! From the greeting at the front counter, to the game, to the time we left was such an amazing experience.

A couple days ago our group of 4 did The Thompson’s room and absolutely loved it! For someone like me who has never even watched a full episode of The Simpson’s (what the game is ripped off from), it didn’t even matter when it came to solving the puzzles and having a good time. The similarities and little jokes from the show were definitely more enjoyable for the rest of my group who understood them, but even I had a blast without knowing the ins and outs!

The game was set in a very big room compared to others that I’ve done and there were countless amounts of props to interact with. The room was like an exact replica of the cartoon show!

Also, the lady running the game for us was amazing! She gave us amazing hints when we needed them but never gave anything away, and she was supportive and encouraging of our progress throughout.

When we made it out with 3 minutes to spare, she and another man who helped us check in were there to greet and congratulate us. They chatted with us all about it for awhile and even took us back in to show us how the one puzzle worked that we couldn’t figure out.

I honestly can’t say enough great things about this company, their games, and the people who run it! The price is SO worth it, and they conveniently have lockers you can leave belongings in while you’re in the room so you don’t lose track of anything. We will absolutely be back to do the rest of their games! We’ve already told so many people all about our amazing experience. It was the first time doing an escape room for two of the people in our group and it exceeded everyone’s expectations and got us all hooked!

Thank you Next Level for the...

We did the Thompsons room, and I won't go into too much detail, so I don't spoil it for the rest of you. It's a great beginners' room, not easy, though - you have to definitely get a sense of everything in the room and think a bit outside of the box. I do want to give special mention to the owner and staff of this business. My fiancé had reached out to this business with the intention of creating a proposal for me. He had a lovely conversation with Heather and provided her with the "Will You Marry Me?" Card, and she did the rest. I won't explain how the proposal went because it involved a puzzle, but let's just say it took me 5-7 business days to realize what was going on, haha! It was so creative and fun, a dream of an engagement. I'm so thankful to the staff who was also able to capture the moment on camera and share it with my fiancé and I. Overall, it was an amazing place, great people, and just based on that room alone, I definitely want to...