You’ve no doubt heard of smash rooms, splash rooms and escape rooms. Well, now Sydneysiders are the first people in the world to get up close and personal with ‘challenge rooms’. Plucked from the madcap minds of the team at Funlab, the creators of popular mini-golf chain Holey Moley and Sydney’s new augmented reality darts bar La Di Darts, Hijinx Hotel is a brand new concept that pairs silly good times with a competitive edge.
As you enter the space, visitors find themselves in an eye-popping, Art Deco meets Willy Wonka hotel lobby complete with its own neon-lit cocktail lounge. To be clear, this is all simply theatrics rather than reality – as the Hijinx Hotel tagline explains; you come here to play, not stay. Once you’ve ‘checked-in’ at the concierge desk, you’ll be guided to a fantastical elevator that bucks and jiggles its way to a corridor of very special hotel rooms.
Each of the 15 rooms contains a unique, highly physical game, conjured with vibrant, immersive whimsy. Swim in a giant cereal bowl ball pit, tiptoe around a floor of lava, or enter a neon polka dot universe or an old-timey carnival – no two rooms are the same. You’ll have just four minutes in each game to earn as many points as you can and be ready to feel the pressure because this hotel has a voice and it’s not afraid to up the stress levels when your time is running out.
Visitors can opt to play five, ten or all 15 games, with the full course taking about two and half hours to complete. Each of the individual courses of five games contains a puzzle, a ball pit and a trick shot game, so if you’ve only got time to visit a few of the rooms you won’t be short-changed on the fun. There are the Honeymoon Sweets, which riff on nostalgic faves like noughts and crosses and pub trivia, there’s Foy-YAY rooms which boast the most visually stunning games, and then there’s the Drawing Rooms which transports visitors to a topsy-turvy world where nothing is as it seems.
Once you’ve tested your mettle against the challenge rooms, you’re bound to be in need of some refreshment – as we mentioned before, these games are highly physical, especially the ball pits! The Hijinx bar offers a range of fun signature cocktails, each with its own bells and whistles (don’t miss the Bubblegum Martini complete with bubblegum scented smoke bubbles), and bar snacks so you can refuel.
For what, you may well ask? Well, there are more than just challenge rooms to enjoy here. The Hijinx Hotel is part of Funlab’s huge new Alexandria entertainment complex which also features the Archie Brothers Cirque Electriq and Australia’s largest novelty golf course.
