"A Storybook Scenario brought to life," is how I would describe my first experience with Chambers. It has been a few months since my friend and I did The Temple. We were paired with another group and had a ton of fun. Many thanks to Harmony and Ron for the experience!
I won't go into too much specific regarding the room, but I was blown away. The production value of the room is unlike anything I've experienced before. My friend and I really felt like we were the main characters in our own Temple Adventure. I also really enjoyed the theming of the puzzles, they fit into the theme well and add to the experience. The mix between mental puzzles and physical puzzles was okay, though I would say it veered slightly more toward physical puzzles. But that was okay, since it allowed every member of our group to contribute and do things, especially for our younger group members. For Escape Room veterans, they may find the puzzles here too easy, but for the average person, I think they would be just challenging enough. Lastly, I also enjoyed how the room puzzles heavily emphasized teamwork. While there were puzzles that could be done solo, there were quite a few puzzles that required more than one person to complete.
Will I come back? Yes, but if I want to splurge.
I go into detail more below, but it is more expensive compared to some of the other Escape room companies on the island. Since Escape Room outings are most often a last minute decision in my friend groups (usually less than 24 hours in advance), we usually have to pay for the full amount of Escape Rooms upfront. It can be a little hard on the wallet to have to pay so much upfront. But if I have a little money to burn and a friend to go with, I am more than willing to come back to this place. I look forward to trying their VR rooms in the future.
This company is different compared to other Escape Room games on O'ahu, and differences are listed below.
Location: It's by Ka'ahumanu Hale (the big court house by restaurant row), and about a block or two away from restaurant row. Basically, once you see the orange "THE KORNER" Store, it's right across the street. It's in the same building as the Children with Aloha Academy. However, check-in for this business is actually upstairs: Suite 203. There's a set of stairs and a small elevator that you can use, but the stairs and elevators don't have a lot of room to maneuver. Beware if you bring a big group, since it might get a little crowded.
Parking: Unlike the different Escape Games on the Island, there is no dedicated parking here. Based on their FAQ's, it's street parking only. You can park at the Metered Parking Stalls by the Ka'ahumanu Hale courthouse, but make sure to check whether or not parking is free or if you have to pay. We parked at one of the metered parking stalls for an evening room. If you do decide to utilize one of these metered parking stalls near the area, especially if you have an evening room, I would recommend locking your car and bringing all your valuables with you. I would also recommend that you go down with a friend, if you can, since it can get kind of sketch down there, especially at night.
Escape Games/Challenges: This place has both Virtual Reality Escape Rooms and Live Escape Rooms. 3 Virtual Escape Rooms (Space Station Tiberia, Depths of Osiris and Dragon Tower), and 1 Live Escape Room (The Temple) as I write this review.
The Virtual Reality Escape Rooms are pretty self-explanatory. Your group (Up to 4 people), dons Virtual Reality Headsets attached to a backpack and your goal is going to be to escape from that virtual space/world that you're in.
The Live Escape Room is similar to the physical escape games that can be found in the other Escape Room companies on the island like Breakout Waikiki, Hawaii Escape Challenge, Room With A Clue, and Solve The Room Hawaii. Suffice to say, it follows the same type of deal as other Escape Rooms, you need to solve puzzles to unlock physical locks and escape the room.
Discounts: Before I forget, there are a variety of discounts that Chambers has too. They have Kama'aina Discounts for locals, but make sure to bring your ID. They check for it. Kama'aina comes out to $35.60 per person after tax. They also have on-going discounts for Military and Students, which equate to 15% off.
But the best part is, you can stack these discounts. So if you're a local and you're either military or a student, you can book under the Kama'aina discount, and at the end of the checkout process, put in the code for military or student, and book the room for even cheaper! When you stack the discounts (Kama'aina + Military/Student), it comes out to $30.26 per person after tax. I definitely wish more Escape Room companies did discounts. read more