Breakout Chester: Vacancy

By | March 20, 2019

by Breakout Chester (website)

42 Bridge Street Row, CH1 1NN

Chester

2-5 players

60 minutes

Exhausted after a long journey, you place your bag down on the freshly made bed, ready to relax. Suddenly, an ominous sixty minute countdown begins. No matter what you try, the door will not open. Welcome to the Crimson Lake Motel. You check in, but you NEVER check out...
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Overall rating

Rated between 2 and 3.5 out of 5

based on ratings from 31 users
combined with 5 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

EscapeCarrtists rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 25 Jun 2019 Team size: 2 Time taken: 58:29 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivenquite difficult

Following our stressful Forsaken adventure we underestimated the level of difficulty for Vacancy. Not as well thought out as rooms like Excalibur and Forsaken but still enjoyable with plenty to do and plenty to make your brain work.

TheEscapeBoomers expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hosting

Typical BO room. Fairly easier, great for new players. 

Gemma Victoria rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: Nov 2019 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
intense

Some nice elements to the room, we managed to solve a puzzle whilst missing a key part 

Jess_keds expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
plainunoriginal
roberts0502 expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Played: 6 Nov 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 48:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivenfamily friendlyplain
thehermit experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!

This is a very easy room for those who played before, so would definitely recommend for first time players

grogu42 experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 10 Mar 2017
quite difficult
Creepy hotel theme not bad, could be better. Some good puzzles, but one puzzle was a little too long winded for our liking.
Ollie C rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 1 Dec 2018 Team size: 3 Time taken: 54:55 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverimmersive

Another fun room from Breakout. Thought it was going to be very dark and creepy based on the website description but it was actually quite well lit (has a window looking outside). Nice mix of puzzle styles so it gave everyone something to be able to excel at and a couple of tricker parts to slow down the group.

matt_keds expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Played: 20 Aug 2017 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingfun

#2

Fun enough, but the set is a bit tired and low budget.  Typical of a Breakout room, I would suggest Forsaken or Forgotten Tomb instead if you’re heading to Breakout.

Emma Macedo experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 15th August 2019 Team size: 3 Time taken: 53:35 Outcome: Successful escape!
quite easy
Mynameisntjeff rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: Team size: 5 Time taken: Outcome: Successful escape!
Hailstone experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivenoverpriced😨creepy
samsham experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 6 May 2023 Team size: 5 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-driven
Jess Phillips rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 2 Time taken: 53 mins Outcome: Successful escape!
immersive😨creepy
knoh39 experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
fraggle42 experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 15 Apr 2016 Team size: 2 Time taken: 47.12 Outcome: Successful escape!
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 2 and 2 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
TheEscapeBoomers expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Typical detective game, very easy game (If there wasn't any resetting mistakes...)

🤘The Pick of Destiny expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
MerseyMarauders expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 3
family friendlyplainquite easy
Adam S experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 07/05/2018 Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
Philip & Gemma rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 15 Jul 2017 Team size: 2 Time taken: 59.59 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneygood themingsmall space😨creepy

Solid theming set in a hotel/motel room. Has a creepy feel throughout that is well delivered. A mixture of puzzles and searching push this linear room along.

We played this room as an unexperienced 2, and got out just in time. We literally swiped the exit key card at 59.59!

A very traditional style escape room with a couple of small rooms but good theming.

flyingoctopus expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

We found this room a little tired and in need of some TLC. The game itself was fairly straight forward and flowed well. 

We were left in Reception for quite a while before our game without any explanation or interaction. 

thehermit experienced rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!

 At least you know what you're getting with breakout once again it was a very generic detective themed room which we managed to accidentally skip a few puzzles, what still a escaped with a good time

Anonymous experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
Anonymous experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
Mark Greenhalgh expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Charly expert rated this:Rated between 1.5 and 1.5 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!

Really didn't enjoy this room 

Wesley Mead expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Scotus0 expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 08/10/2017 Team size: 4 Time taken: 55:11 Outcome: Successful escape!

Hotel Haunts

Having beaten a 3-star room, I was ready to up the antè with a group of coursemates by tackling Vacancy.

Story
Checked in and suddenly locked in, who knows what will happen at this gloomy motel if the sixty-minute timer reaches zero? 'You check in, but you never check out' is a perfectly succinct phrase that sets the tone of this room!

Puzzles
A good number and mixture to match the 4-Star difficulty rating. They seemed to remain at the same level of trickiness throughout. Busy hands and busy eyes were needed the whole time!

Mise-en-scène
I was a big fan of the ominous, dated hotel experience and the progression through it. From the tatty wallpaper to shabby furniture, a lot of thought and effort has been put into this one. I was ready to write a one-star TripAdvisor for the Crimson Lake Motel

Final Comments
Four is the best number for this one, as you can split up in groups of two when/if necessary.

Reviews by escape room review sites

Not a bad room, but not brilliant. Click the link to read our review! 
Not a bad room and there are definitely better in Cardiff, but if you need a room to do then this is a decent contender

See also

Other copies of this game in other locations:(Different copies of the same game sometimes have significant differences.)