Room Escape Ottawa — Local services in Ottawa

Before anyone accuses me of sour grapes for not getting out: feel free to look through my history and see that I have left 5 star reviews for rooms I didn't escape, and I have left 3 star reviews for rooms that I did. For me, it is all about the quality of the time spent during the 60 minutes that you pay for an escape room moreso than the actual act of getting out.

My husband and I visited Room Escape Ottawa this past Saturday and tried their Deliverance room. We have done well over 50 rooms between us, so we consider ourselves Escape Room Enthusiasts. We picked this facility due to the overwhelming number of positive reviews on both our Facebook Group and Google reviews.

The Good: All bookings are private bookings. No worries about having to be thrown in with random people at the last moment. 2.The room itself was also multiple levels, which was something different. We had actually booked a second room but were definitely not coming back for the other because of our experience with the first. Even though it was inside the 24 hour cancelation rule that should have meant no refund (which we were totally willing to accept), they very kindly took pity on us and refunded our fee.

The Bad: 1.The room had an abundance of the same type of locks. This is one of my pet peeves in escape rooms because it forces you to try the same combo multiple places - wastes time on the experience versus filling with valid content. The physical facility shares the space with an archery activity center. It was bedlam - kids running around unmonitored, screaming groups of people playing some kind of tag. The layout makes no sense because they cram you into a waiting area and then make you move so they can take photos. Walkie talkies for clues. Every time we asked for a hint, they told us what we had already tried/figured out because they clearly couldn't really see or hear what we were doing.

The Ugly: Oh my holy mother of goodness I have never heard music so loud in an escape room in my life. In a game designed for team building and communication, I couldn't even hear my husband standing right next to him. Insanity. The GM came in the room at one point. I hate nothing more than someone interrupting our experience. If you can't effectively give clues through your hint system, either you need better communication skills, a better hint delivery system, or better puzzles. In no way should it ever be required for a human to insert themselves in my game. Cheesiest theme ever. Had I known what I was booking, I would not have.

That being said, if I lived in the area, had young kids and a few hours to kill, I wouldn't hesitate to go to this facility. As a solo couple of escape room enthusiasts, I wish I had known what I was getting myself into and gone to a different facility. Hopefully this review will save someone else in the same boat from making the...

Best rooms in the city! Multiple-room escape experiences instead of being crammed into one room for the duration, and a whole hour in the room vs. the 45 minutes you'd get at most of the other places in town. There's also ample free parking. Great design and fun puzzles. Must try!

The Boom Room (military-themed) and Serial Killer Charade (horror-themed & not for the faint of heart) are both wheelchair accessible as are the bathrooms. Stranded (sci-fi / outer-space-themed), is not wheelchair accessible, as it is two floors high (which is pretty cool!) and requires the ability to climb. (There's an actual climb in the room with the option of taking the outside stairs instead if you're not comfortable with doing the climb.) Their VR (virtual reality) room, Decomposed (horror / haunted theme but not scary), is a two-part experience and is really cool! It is on the 2nd floor, so it isn't wheelchair accessible, and the minimum age they recommend is 13. Their newest room, Deliverance (haunted pizza theme - but not scary), is also two floors high but has a staircase rather than a climb like Stranded.

Booking in advance (online - through their Web site) is highly recommended. Traditional rooms can accommodate up to 8 people, while the VR room can take up to 6. For a private experience in a traditional room, the minimum group size is 4, and you have to call them to request this if you're booking for less than 8 people. If you have less than 4 people, expect that you might play with others (unless you want to pay for 4 spots, which is an option). For the VR room, all bookings are private (minimum 2 players).

They provide unlimited clues, which are sent to a TV screen in the room that also has a countdown timer on it to let you know how much time you have left. Lockers are provided to lock up your valuables, and there's no need to bring a lock. (Your host will give you a key.) You need to check in at the front desk where the archery tag arena is, then the front desk staff will direct you to the room escape lounge, where you will hang out until your host comes to greet you and offer you a locker key. They will give you a few minutes to put away your belongings and hang up your jackets. They will then return to take a photo of your group, after which they will lead you to the briefing room to go over game play rules, guidelines & tips as well as the story of the room you're about to experience. Listen closely, as the information they provide is very helpful and will give you a better chance at success.

You could even work off the adrenaline of trying to escape from the room by shooting your friends with arrows in the archery tag arena afterwards (booking for this is...

I have been to several escape rooms across the US and the warlock room we did here was probably one of the most intricate and challenging. Really cool room ! They put allot of work into this one! . If you are fairly good at sample rooms, you will like this! We had 3 first timers to an escape room and a 5yo and 7yo. We had the clues but only started using them 30 min in. We should have maybe used them sooner. If you have first timers, perhaps try an easier room. But overall the actual room staff was helpful and we all had good fun!

So why only 4 stars?

Unfortunately the experience started off on a bad note with the counter staff. We were helped by Vickie who definitely did not have a smile on her face when we arrived. Not sure if she was having a bad day but she was very cold with us.

I had previously called and asked about bringing my 5 yo and 7yo and the gentleman who answered was so kind and helpful and stated not to include the 5 yo and that they would not charge for him.

She seemed to be very skeptical of that and asked, who told you that ?” And’s when I explained I had called ahead to double check, she then asked, “well what was his name?” It felt like she thought we were trying to scam them… trying to sneak in a 5 year old?!

As you walk in there is a very cool nerf play area with people playing a few games. My 7 yo and 5 yo were looking at some of the nerf equipment sitting in an open bin next to the counter, and Vickie looks at them and sternly yelled at them, “ I’m going to ask you not to touch those!”

The whole family was jarred by the comment and we all looked at each other in a surprise manner when she spoke to the kids like that.

So although that soured our first experience there, it is still a...