Alcotraz Liverpool: Cell Block Three-Six — Restaurant in Liverpool

We booked the Alcotraz experience in Liverpool for a friends hen do. We followed the instructions and arrived 10 minutes prior to our arrival time. It was pouring with rain and they left us stood outside for over 20 minutes. There is no alcohol smuggling involved by the way, it is just a way that they don’t have to spend on alcohol. You are then given a long talk from an angry woman on the door who speaks to you like you are literal children and she was really rude to a girl who arrived 30 seconds after she began her important speech and even though her group was being spoken to by the angry woman she sent her to the back to spend more time in the rain.

When we finally got in we spent 10 minutes inside the actual experience. We received a cocktail (mocktail for me as I am pregnant) which was nice, but about two mouthfuls worth of liquid, and spoke with the warden before being removed from the experience because a girl in our group had her nickname as ‘fag’. When we explained that this was her nickname due to her being a chain smoker and we was happy to apologise and explain they changed the story to they had heard one of us say the word ‘faggot’ which was a lie to not let us back is as that never happened. They then returned our alcohol that we took with a lot of it missing despite receiving one drink.

We was given an email to contact about a refund but they are refusing to communicate with anyone but the ‘lead booker’ even though I have spent money and travelled to visit here to spend more time receiving an angry speech in the rain than actually having the experience. They are offering the ‘less booker’ opportunity for us to return which is BIZARRE when they are claiming we made their staff feel unsafe as we used hate speech and slurs (which never happened). They also will not give me details to escalate this further as I am not the lead booked.

Avoid at all cost. They have absolutely stolen our money with this experience.

Edit: now being asked (well not me, the lead booker because they won’t communicate with anyone else) to remove the review because I have received a £17 refund and that it is frustrating to fall ‘victim’ of a negative review - they are NO victim and this review is 100% accurate and regardless of a partial refund which took blood sweat and tears to get I still would never recommend this...

Visited Alcotraz on 31.03.24 as part of a hen weekend and it was so much fun! We did book a long time in advance (booked in September for March) but since visiting, I can completely understand why time slots fill up quickly! Even before arriving to Alcotraz, their communication was fantastic - booking confirmations were sent quickly, tickets were easy to find and they were so accommodating when needing to amend my booking. From the minute we arrived, everything was professional, organised and fitted the fun spin on Alcotraz. We were talked through some general housekeeping rules and then how things would work inside the ‘prison’ and nothing disappointed! The actors were beyond brilliant - so professional, incredibly funny and allowed you to get involved in the fun as much or as little as you wanted - everything was on your terms. Each cell were asked if they wanted to be sent on their own mini missions so we could each be a part of the storyline - this made the experience for us! And the drinks service was also fantastic, within a minute of being in the cell we were greeted by the girl who would be making our cocktails that day and she asked if there were any allergies, dietary requirements or flavours we didn’t like so she could tailor our drinks especially for us. She was brilliant - all drinks tasted amazing and the 4 rounds of cocktails were well spread across our time in Alcotraz. Shout out again to the actors on that day (Willy, Gilly, Cassidy and of course the Warden!) they were kind enough to have a quick selfie with us at the end of our timeslot - all while staying in character! An absolute 11/10 experience and I’d recommend...

Different and fun activity. Me and my Mrs went for the boss ticket - you get a bag of sweets and get to keep a cup each - altogether with booking fee was approx £57per person (£30 odds with no sweets/cup)

Fun experience - lasting around 2hours. You spend some time a jail, get a orange prison jumpsuit. You take your own booze in and they make you cocktails - we took in 2 35cl bottles and they returned half a bottle so a decent amount is used for 8 drinks. Meet some inmates and the warden - strike up some deals.

The venue was pretty decent looking. Cells were full of little details. Space for around 4 people in each cell to sit comfortably. The actors were fantastic and played their part, the warden was absolutely hilarious. But if you go, go in group of 3/4 for a better experience. And it is accessible friendly for people with mobility issues.

Issues I had with the event were The people that weren't acting (the event manager and the boy from the front door) kept walking through the cells, with the boy coming in and sitting down going on his phone in his own clothes was annoying - takes away from the experience a little. And the timing - we were called into the laundry room for the 'deal' and we felt very confused. Then we saw the warden - so we realised that part should have been the other way round. One of the groups never actually went to see the warden and they were a little annoyed so they just had the sit in the cell and drink experience.

Overall it was ABIT pricey but I would still recommend it. Couple of issues but the actors were superb and it's not something that you come across...