The Hotel

Riddle Room (Canberra, Australia)

Time limit: 60 minutes

Age limit: 16+ (negotiable)

Player limit: 4-8 (4-6 recommended)

Difficulty: 3/5

Awards: TERPECA Finalist (2022-2023), TERPECA Nominee (2020-2021, 2024), Best of Morty (2023)

Date visited: June 2025

After a quick lunch, we headed back to Riddle Room for our third room of the day, The Hotel, the No. 1 rated Canberra room on Morty. Months before booking, I had checked with Riddle Room to make sure we were able to play it, considering the room is said to be Riddle's scariest room and for 16+ only. The main concern is that, as the room has puzzles requiring 4 people, if any one person couldn't handle it and had to exit the room prematurely, the remaining players would not be able to complete the room.

Fortunately, the rule was not set in stone, and they made an exception after I explained to them that we were enthusiasts who had already played several scary rooms. And to be honest, we didn't find this room scary at all. It was mainly atmosphere, with a couple of sounds that could be construed as tame jump scares. So if you're on the fence about whether or not to play it, don't be — The Hotel is worthy of all the hype!

The theming of The Hotel was exquisite. While the layout, like most escape rooms, didn't necessarily make the most sense, everything from the wallpaper to the decor oozed a creepy boutique hotel vibe. Coupled with carefully crafted lighting and sound design, the atmosphere created was quite immersive. With multiple areas and an intriguing and mysterious narrative, it came across as a truly epic challenge that felt longer than a 60-minute experience.

In terms of puzzles, The Hotel was a hi-tech room with not a single padlock in sight. There were indeed puzzles that required all four hands on deck, and other puzzles that demanded attention to detail and teamwork, as well as a bit of hunt and seek. The only downside was that there was one particular puzzle that proved to be a little unresponsive, probably due to wear and tear, and it took us several tries to get it to activate properly.

Even though The Hotel was technically one of the easier rooms, we struggled with its puzzles the most of any room at Riddle Room, needing 4 hints to escape with a little over 7 minutes to spare. Like The Mine, there was more than one possible ending, so make sure you choose wisely!

While all of the rooms at Riddle Room were fantastic, The Hotel was arguably their best in terms of theming, atmosphere, attention to detail, and overall cohesiveness. It's one of the best rooms in Canberra and across all of Australia.

Escape time: 52 minutes and 48 seconds

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
A+	A	A-	A-	A-

Verdict: As far as creepy hotel themes go, The Hotel is an absolute banger that hits it out of the park.

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
A+	B	A	A+