Bonds Escape Room - Fairfax — Attraction in Fairfax

My mom and I did an escape room for the first time here, we did The Joker's Trap. Just off the bat, I thought the pricing wasn't fair because for this room we had to pay for a third person that just didn't exist, and I talked to the manager and the reasoning behind that wasn't good, and she really didn't show any flexibility as far as bringing the price down. It did affect my enjoyment of it a little bit, therefore the four stars. We had a great time all and all however. It was a nice updated atmosphere inside, we were greeted by Val, I believe . We didn't have to wait too long before we got to a room, we were actually running a few minutes late and she was nice about it. We were given a little intro video and then give an our full time on the clock. She told us where to start and we had whatever hints we needed to proceed along the way. The thing is after the first chair puzzle, and just in general, it was hard to proceed- to know which direction/ which order of puzzles to go in without asking for hints or having specific directions . I would have definitely have the directions written, even though the idea of a game master is fun, you're having to ask them for every little thing and they may have other rooms they need to manage. And then a person may feel like they're having to ask for hints and that they're inadequate in solving the puzzles in some way! But she was great at giving us the hints and good at communicating for the most part. The numbers on the lock in there are faded, FYI. You are able to skip around even though overall you need to go in order and they do build on each other to a certain extent. I would say the puzzles in this one were medium difficulty. I thought the set of the room was very cool, colorful, and authentic to what you think a Joker's Trap might be! The room was very warm. When it came to the PUZZLE some pieces were a missing and when I asked the game master about that it was seeming like she was insisting they were there, then afterwards she did say that there were some intentionally missing. So that's a little confusing? But we did have a lot of fun trying to figure all the puzzles out and it was nicely engaging and stimulating for the brain :-). In the end we apparently got halfway through in the time allotted- and were told there was a 70% completion rate for that room, don't quite believe it. But it did feel like we got a good amount of puzzles in for that time. It was really cool the technology/ sensors or whatever was used in the room. So when you did something at one area it opened or activated something in another area! And we appreciate it that she was willing to give us a little extra time if we wanted. I also really like the story of The Joker's trap and the background sounds and words, and I even wish they were a bit louder! There was a selfie station there and a snack machine, FYI. And if you bought it at the time you could get 20% on your next game! Overall, we had an awesome time, Val was nice, friendly and helpful, and I would do an escape room again, but perhaps not there- there are some other ones in the area that are more...

Our group of 9 kids and adults came in on a Sunday afternoon. We were told to check in and wait for the room to be vacated. While waiting I used the restroom. It could clearly use a good cleaning. Toilet needs a scrubbing and sink is coated in dust. When it was our turn to go in the employee gathered us and immediately asked us to wait again without explanation, So someone else in our group decided to go to the bathroom. The employee decided to go back into the employee room. So we ended up having to wait for her again. Finally she came back a couple minutes later and we watched a briefing about the escape room. It was hard to hear. Then we were told to go into the room and that it wouldn't be locked in case anyone had to use the restroom.

The adventure we chose was the White House one. You're supposed to be in the Oval Office. It was the most beat up Oval Office I have ever seen. Everything was old and run down. Chairs and couches had rips in the cushions. Lots of dust bunnies under the couch. Wallpaper ripping and falling off. It was not well kept at all, keeping in theme with the dirty bathroom. It's like they didn't really try at all.

We were able to escape in just 30 minutes, which was a huge let down. Pretty disappointed in the overall appearance of the place. The fish bowl adventure looked fun and much tidier (from the outside at least), but with so many escape rooms in the area, I'm not sure I would want to come back to this one...

In an age where customer service is just terrible, Bonds Escape Room redefines and sets the standard of excellence! Taylor was our game master and was manning the desk. Taylor was amazingly helpful. I initially took my son and a few friends on a Monday during a teacher planning day hoping to do the Cure escape room. However, since nobody booked the 12:00 pm slot, they were not planning to open it until 2. However, when I noted that the 2:00 time slot would not work, they said, "let's see what we can do." They managed to bring the game master in for 1:00 pm and so we grabbed some lunch across the street and came back. It was a fantastic experience.

We went back for my daughter's birthday. Ken was the manager who we worked with to set everything set up, coordinate logistics, and while we were setting up the party rom, gave us needed help and supplies. We were also reunited with a familiar face - Taylor was once again running the show for us as well as another gamemaster, Joe. The girls were doing the Joker's trap. They were initially enthused, and then a little intimidated. Joe and Taylor explained how it was not scary and even offered some other options. The girls decided to push forward, and the experience was, once again, amazing!

Very rarely do you find a great activity, a great staff, and great customer service in one...