We had the BEST time at Insomnia Escape Room DC for my son's 16th birthday! It was my first-ever escape room, and my son--who's done a few before--said this was hands down his favorite so far. We chose the Mafia room, and from the moment we stepped in, we were transported to the Prohibition era. The atmosphere, the design--everything felt like stepping into a vintage crime thriller. The puzzles were super engaging--challenging enough to keep us on our toes, but perfectly balanced for the time limit. I especially appreciated that each room is a private experience, so it was just our group working together, which made it even more special. Martina, our host, was incredible--welcoming, professional, and gave just the right hint when we were stuck without taking away the thrill. We cracked the final clue with five minutes to spare and left feeling exhilarated! The location is a hidden gem--tucked in a quiet, walkable corner of Glover Park, close to restaurants and shops, and very easy to get to. We're already planning our return--my son can't wait to try another room with his sister and friends! The Patient room is next on our list! read more

It's amazing how small this place looks yet fits 3 different themed escape rooms. The alchemist (difficulty level: 8), the lab (difficulty level: 9), and mafia (difficulty level: 6). I came for a friend's bday and we did the mafia room and we got the all-time record with 31 minutes left. It wasn't easy but definitely not hard. I've done escape rooms where it had a lot more puzzles (some irrelevant to actually solving the escape room). But I felt the mafia room would be great for a family or group of friends, both casual and competitive. Most of us were competitive hence the time and using no hints. Would love to try the other rooms. Despite it being on the corner of Wisconsin Ave, a busy street, there was plenty of street parking and very accessible. Love that it isn't a totally busy neighborhood. read more

Very surprised by the reviews. Perhaps I'm spoiled by my first and excellent experience of an escape room in Old Town Alexandria, but this was...plain, basic, and bordering on dull. In a group of 5, this was ~$33/person, and for the money, it definitely was not worth it. Yes the service was excellent, and the guys there were both friendly and kind, but the room and lobby were lackluster, and lacked effort in the ambiance (room and lobby); perhaps this was how escape rooms used to be a decade ago, and for 2010 it was great then, but given the options now, this escape room was outdated. It felt like I was in a friend's garage who tried to do create their best own amateur experience with a few gadgets; for the money and quality, there are much better experiences, Old Town Alexandria being one of them. I appreciate the excellent service here, but the everything else needs updating. 2.5/5 read more

We arrived at 4:30 for our 4:45 booking and nobody showed up! We waited around until 5:15 and then finally left. We called and emailed with no reply! What a complete scam!! We had 10 very disappointed people!! read more

Insomnia Escape Room DC - Very disappointed kids!! - Escape Games Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Even though we didn't escape I had fun!! Went with my coworkers for a team building event. Our manager picked the hardest room!!!! With a bunch of A type personalities we did not complete the room lol. The clues were hard but they are great for making you think!! I would go back with friends or for a double date. I'm thinking of taking my son as well since he thinks he knows everything! Lol We did the patient room. Hardest room the have apparently some genius group got through in 24mins!!!! Wow read more

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We had a great time! No spoilers, but I'll say that the clues were well designed, the locks and mechanisms were quite varied. I really appreciated that our booking guaranteed that we had a private adventure, even though we didn't have enough people to fill the room. read more

I did the Patient Escape Room with four of my friends and had such a great time! The employee in charge of our room was super nice and the entire experience was great. We are very much beginners for escape rooms, but with a few hints, we're able to escape with one minute to spare. The room is fairly small and was already a little tight with five of us, so I wouldn't recommend having a huge group but I would definitely recommend this place for a fun night. I'd love to go back and try some of the other rooms! read more

Had an awesome experience participating in a virtual version of the Alchemist escape room! I'm a big fan of escape rooms but have never done a virtual one until today. Mira was my host and was fantastic! Mira was super encouraging and made sure I could keep moving forward without giving too much away. I really appreciated having them as a host! The VR experience was user friendly and still very engaging. I highly recommend this experience if you are unable to go in-person. I'm looking forward to the next time I can escape! read more

My family visited Insomnia Escape Room while vacationing in National Harbor over Christmas break. Since there were 10 of us, we just booked the entire room. We chose the room with the Stranger Things theme, as we had a wide age range and did not want to choose anything that would be too difficult. We were able to request clues easily, and everyone was able to participate and lead us to an important clue. We ended up solving the room, which was a great way to end our visit. I would definitely go back again when in the area, as this was my favorite out of all of the escape rooms I've been to so far. read more

Insomnia Escape Room DC - Escape Games Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I received a gift certificate for this establishment for my birthday and finally got a chance to use it. It wasn't super clear where the location was but eventually we found it located right by the Starbucks. Our part of seven arrived ten minutes early and completed the forms needed. We had made a reservation in advance and did the mafia room. Only 2/7 people in our group had done an escape room before so we got the 411 on rules and suggestions. Overall we really enjoyed this room and the clues kept us engaged the entire time. We ended up escaping before the time went out even though we made a lot of mistakes. One recommendation I have for staff is to actually pay attention to the rooms. We asked for help multiple times and never got any. We waited and waited until finally someone came over the speaker. I found this to be quite frustrating. Overall it's a great place to go and a fun activity to do. We'll definitely be back. read more

I had the Alchemist on my ER bucket list for a long time. It might have been a half decent room if we had a GM who was paying attention, but it was awful. Soooo many logic leaps, and you need to use some clues more than once (I've never seen this before in over 100 rooms) and no help from the GM. He let us stay stuck on that stupid tedious globe puzzle for what seemed like at least 30 minutes. Kept asking for hints and kept giving us hints that didn't help. So we never even made it out of the first room. This has not EVER happened to me. You should NEVER let a team languish in the first part of the game. It's not fun, just frustrating. And he had no idea what we had or had not completed yet. We had no idea of time, and he did nothing to prod us along when we were clearly stuck in one spot. Terrible all around. So disappointed. read more

Went recently to the Mafia room with a group of 4 (our gamemaster was Lexi (sp?), who was totally awesome), and we had a great time! If you have any experience with escape rooms, you'll most likely certainly escape, which is my preference because you can strategize as to when you can ask for hints and actually try to make the leaderboard. Easy booking system, the staff is incredibly nice, and never any steps that were completely seemingly random - each step was an actual riddle you had to (and could) figure out. A fun time, and would definitely recommend. (PS - for the mafia room, I think a group of 4 is the perfect size, otherwise it might get crowded.) read more

Blake was amazing! Almost made it out of the 9/10 room. Looking forward to coming back! Thanks!

I've done a lot of escape rooms and I always enjoy Insomnia. The Dungeon things room is a combination of IT and Stranger Things. The clues lead you through the room at a good pace. Game Masters are always there with the right clue at the right time. This is definitely one of the best escape rooms in the area. read more

I love escape rooms but have never done a VR one before. The Alice was so immersive and also very challenging as an escape room vet. Loved every min and John Repo is the man!! He deserves a raise. Made the experience beyond my wildest dreams. Ask him about the classic CGR. read more

I would advise parties of four or fewer request an Escape room that's a level 6 or below. Our group consisted of 8 people (4 couples) and all hands were on deck in The Alchemist Escape room which was a level 8. We literally were finishing our last clue when time ran out. Overall it was a great time and everyone had a blast. We "called for clues" (you wave at the camera and someone from the front desk will answer you) three times during our time. One of the three times, we waited 10mins to get a clue so be mindful to request additional time if your call for help goes unanswered for an extended period of time if there's only one person working the desk. Now, they may or may not grant you an additional 5 extra mins but it's worth a try. Another party we were with received an additional 5mins and escaped, they were in the AI (artificial intelligence room, level 6). Once your group is locked in the room, you have 60mins to solve the scattered clues after a brief story is told and door closed/locked. The Alchemist is a trick escape room, we thought we were done w/ our 9 clues all early and then... a trap door opened and we were like... wait, there's another room?!?! OMG, the pressure truly turned up then. Lol Some logistics Parking: If you can find a spot, parking is free on the weekends. We were lucky to find parking, street side directly in front of the entrance. Building Entrance: Once you walk up the stairs into the building, you'll see a set of elevators to take to level 2. COVID: A temperature check is not performed however, mask are required. Once the escape room door is closed, mask can come off while it's just your party. read more

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This place is awesome! The staff is so friendly and personable and the experience is so fun. We did the mafia room and it was so immersive and enjoyable, would totally recommend for a night out with friends! read more

Insomnia Escape is great! My family and I consider ourselves to be "escape room connoisseurs" and we found this challenging, but fun. We definitely recommend 1000%. Blake was a fantastic game master as well! read more

I have been here 3 times and each time has been a blast. The staff is always great and accommodating. Not very handicap accessible but great rooms! I recommend 100% read more

Insomnia Escape Room DC - Escape Games Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Well let me tell you.....this is by far the worst escape room experience I have had in my entire existence. We arrive to the location 10 minutes before our The Patient scheduled time and realize there is a previous group still in the room. No big deal! Only the "game master" keeps going in and out of the game area so we hear clues being yelled out which is pretty frustrating. The previous people come out and the "game master" says he's sorry they should of gotten out but there was a glitch in the computer so it wasn't showing that they entered the right code. He then spends the next twenty minutes trying his hardest to reset the room by banging, slamming and doing whatever else he can to reset the room with the door open. We start the room 19 minutes late and no kidding it's probably 90 degrees in this room. We mention it multiple times to the "game master" and he finally acknowledged it 40 minutes into our time. Oh did I mention our "game master" said he was playing Minecraft while he should be focused on our game? So we are going through the room and we ask for our first clue......crickets......about a minute he comes on speaker and proceeds to help us. Oh did I mention that our "game master" said he didn't like the company's clues and he would do his own type of clues? As the women in our group disrobe because it's hotter than hell we ask for our second clue..... Nothing Ask for clue again waving our arms and speaking louder....nothing We open outer door to get some fresh air and maybe he can heat us asking for clue......oh he's outside of the game room talking to someone maybe a friend or another customer who knows. We ask him how much time we have left and he says well your time is up but since you started late it's whatever. After doing 30+ escape room this was the most unprofessional, mismanaged one of them all. I hope this review makes it to your eyes amongst all the glowing 5 star reviews written by English scholars. Update: The ownership/management was very responsive to our issues and issued an immediate refund. They gave me a nice heartfelt email and I thank them for their concern. Updated review to 2 star based on their assistance. read more

We came here for my wife's birthday - parking is easier than advertised with plenty of free 2 hour parking around. The setting is very well done - we've done quite a few over the years, and this is one of the better ones. Decor, trickiness - ie challenging enough - and the atmosphere of the Cosa Nostra / prohibition area worked well. Nice feature - if there's enough of you, once you book the room it's yours, ie no sharing with strangers. Highly recommend it. read more

Insomnia escape room was pretty cool. We did a "Stranger Things" themed room which was fun but difficult. There were a lot of moving pieces to the room. The room was a little tricky to find just make sure you follow the signs. read more

We did alchemist and the Patient, their two hardest rooms. We had done 15 escape rooms together and had only failed twice (don't want to talk about it). Alchemist- it was definitely their highest rated room and it lived up to the hype. It was a classic escape room with challenging puzzles and a decent storyline. The quality of the room and props was great and true to theme. We escaped with 9 minutes left but we were slightly inebriated... We'd rate this room a 4.5/5. The Patient- the plot was a bit difficult to follow (we debated it after the fact). It was fairly linear but the last puzzle to exit malfunctioned and the escape was anticlimactic. The quality of the room was pretty good but not as good as alchemist. We escaped with 15 minutes left. We'd rate this room a 2.5/5 when comparing to other rooms we have done. Overall: Room quality is very good. The themes are clear and well defined. There is a wide range of room options and difficulties. Downside: no clocks in the rooms and one of our game masters did not give us any updates on our time. It's a little pricey but they are private rooms and they give you a discount to come back of 30% off. We would definitely want to give the other rooms a try. read more

Mafia: The clues walk you through the experience well, but still involves a lot of creative thinking. Fun experience! Like a traditional escape room. Oblivion: This room was special and my reason for the 5 stars. Tech heavy and a totally different way of thinking through an escape room. It was a little glitchy but we asked for help and they were able to walk us through it. The VR part was cool but limited. If you want VR, would recommend going to their VR game stations downstairs. read more

We went here for the first time (no previous experience at an escape room). Five of us went into the mafia room and the other five went into the alchemist room. I would recommend no more than five people per room. It is the perfect number and anymore people might be too crowded and just get noisy/confusing with too many people trying to solve the questions. I was apart of the group that went into the alchemist room. We made it out with only 8 minutes left! Loved it!! It was hard and I was nervous we wouldn't get out! I highly recommend this escape room! read more

Insomnia Escape Room DC - Escape Games Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I came to DC as part of my journey to conquer Escape Rooms around the country. I was visiting a friend in DC and wanted to add that location to my checklist. I tried several different venues but the only one that was open on short notice was Insomnia Escape rooms. My friend told me about this place, it is very good when you have a small party as you can have as few as 3 or even 2 people for your own private Escape Room experiences. Some problems we had, though, included that the price was high, 36 dollars instead of the usual 28 that we were used to. The puzzles seemed pretty easy, and we were out of the challenge room within 40 minutes (maybe we were just on fire that day?) Lastly, the customer service was the worst that I've experienced out of all the escape rooms I've been to. The lady who greeted us was pretty emotionless and dry the entire time. Even her congratulations at the end of our success was flat-toned and banal. It made my experience feel a little less complete. Usually, the staff employed by escape rooms are really excited and enjoy talking about the whole experience. Oh well, there's always the next escape room, I guess. -Wouldn't come here a 2nd time -Fine time but I felt like it could have been better -Expensive among escape rooms. The Saturday night rate was 50 dollars a person! -Staff just wasn't excited to be there read more

I loved it. Everything was so fun, the person who hosted us AKA the game master was great! I loved everything about this experience. The setting is beautiful and the rooms are so fun and modern. #loveBlake read more

Solid experience with no major complaints. We did the Alchemist room and finished it in about 45 minutes. We had a group of 6 and felt like we could've cut the group down to 4-5. I feel like everyone in an escape room should have a role at all times and there weren't enough puzzles for everyone in the group as there was always someone unnecessarily teaming up on a puzzle or standing around waiting for the next puzzle to unlock. The puzzles also played out fairly linearly which again is better in smaller groups but not when you have folks waiting for the next thing to order to move on. There were some good puzzle mechanics and an even balance on types of puzzles so the experience didn't seem too one-note. Props to the builder of the room on all the different triggers for things opening up. This room seemed a bit more low budget/production but still did a great job on those elements. The game attendant seemed pretty lackluster about the theme. It's the first time I've been in a room without a timer/clock on the wall and we were told we'd be given alerts at 30 min and 15 min but that didn't happen and when we asked for the time were told we had "about 20 minutes" which is vague when every minute counts. The game was sloppily reset as I found a notebook with clues from the previous participants before we started and we quickly closed it up and returned the book. There was also one lock that wasn't reset- the items were in the box but they forgot to relock the lock. Puzzles weren't very hard and relied mainly on attention to detail and observation more than logic. I would have preferred more skill based puzzles. We were told the Alchemist was the hardest puzzle so probably won't be back since it was already a bit on the easier side. I like the rush and anxiety of racing against the clock and the lack of clock and difficulty in the puzzles didn't make it the frenetic experience that gives you a rush of accomplishment when you're done. Lastly, you pose for photos in the escape room at the end and there's a potential for spoilers if you look at photos before you start but that's just me being nit picky. But overall, solid puzzles and good physical mechanics so I would recommend it for smaller groups. read more

My guests and I had our sunny July 4 plans ruined. We agreed on trying an escape room, and this was the only one that was open on Monday, and a holiday at that. We did The Alchemist, in which the goal was to find the Sorcerer's Stone. It was a little silly at first when they casually explain your scenario while in the lobby, as you're still wildly aware that you're sitting in a building in DC. But once they put us in the room, we became completely immersed. I won't ruin anything, but I will say that there were plenty of awesome surprises. They had some really cool effects and I still can't understand how some of the clues triggered the room to do what it did, but every new revelation got my heart pumping. It was like in a movie. They monitored us, ready to provide a (tiny) clue or remind us how much time we have left. They also ingeniously placed an hourglass in the room which matched the theme, which we turned over and seemed to last about an hour. But that never took us out of the experience. Definitely check this one out. A note: It was the first escape room for all 4 of us, and even though this was an advanced room, we still got out with 3 minutes left. read more

Insomnia Escape Room DC - I was going for sinister, but accidentally ended up with bored. I swear I had fun! - Escape Games Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

This escape room is a must! We went to the alchemist room. I highly recommend doing this with six or more people. It's a hard puzzle to crack so the more brains you have in the room the quicker you can solve it. My team of six (Brilliant minds... Or so we thought) made it out in the knick of time. I believe we had two minutes to spare. If you struggle with the game, you can ask someone on an intercom for clues. They are looking at you through their night vision cameras so you can get some help that way. (No shame in any help... My team sure received a bunch of clues.) I don't wanna ruin the fun and surprises along the way. I won't give you guys too much information. The one thing I do want to leave you with is you have to give this place a shot! read more

Virtual Reality almost always gives me a headache but this was far from that. It felt so real. My son and I partnered up for the Escape Room and really had to work together... spoiler alert- we escaped! Andrew, the Game Master, was friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend ! read more

We went for the first time, it was definitely very interesting and a lot hard than we expected. Very intricate details placed in the room. Highly recommend The Alchemist! read more

Our previous experiences at Insomnia were great, but we left pretty disappointed after playing Dungeon Things because of how glitchy it was. For example, there is a part of the game where you need to hold up an item to a board on the wall. We did so, but after nothing happening for several seconds, the game master called us on the walker talkie instructing it to keep holding the item up. It seems like the receptor on the wall was really glitchy, and without the instruction from the game master, it would have been impossible to figure this out. Another example is the part of the game where you hold up an item and it's supposed to emit a laser that you aim at a particular spot. Well, the laser didn't work. We kept on holding it and the laser didn't shine, and when it did, it kept on flickering out. We struggled with this faulty laser for several minutes and the game master apologized for the glitch when we were finished. Finally, at the end of the game, the latch releasing the final game piece failed to open so the ending made no sense. The game master had to come into the room and manually open the drawer. Our experience was very frustrating to say the least, and these problems made it not worth $95. I really liked the previous escape rooms at Insomnia, but this experience was not good. 9/5/19 edit: I'm changing my review to 4 stars for their excellent customer service. Damira reached out to me to say they fixed these issues with the room, so I hope future teams have a better experience than us. She also gave us a credit for a future room, which was very nice. Thank you! read more

this review is for the patient room: sloppily put together, our game master lost the key to one part of the room, to fix it she had to give away some details to the room, open the door, and hand us some clues we were to receive upon opening the lost key chest. this really broke the concentration and flow to the room. the room started 20 minutes late because the game master was still scrambling to set up the room when we arrived. we got into the room and was immediately told to leave because the room apparently still wasnt done. when we finally got started, one of the puzzles kept ejecting a clue we were not supposed to receive until the correct time. to top it off, the game master came and left the room just to ask us not to look at the ejected clue. so from start to finish the game master entered and left around 3 times through out the room. when we asked for clues, the game master had to ask us which part of the room we were at, because she probably wasnt watching us intently. in doing so, she just told us exactly what to do to solve the puzzles. in other locations the clues would be given as riddles to make the experience more escape room-esque. when we finished the game master did not go over any part of the room with us, and she even told us to get out so she could set up the next room. we finished the room with 15 minutes left too. i knew she started us late, but that shouldnt have cut into the 1 hour time we had paid for. overall, very disappointed in this disorganized room, one of the worst experiences ive had. our team has done around 21 escape rooms together, and this was the second to last place for us. if youre an escape room enthusiast, this is not the place for you. the room was rated at a 9/10 difficulty but felt like a 6/10. read more

Thank you Blake for being a great game master. Your knowledge of the game was impressive! We attended for a family birthday and had a really fun time. It was challenging but doable - having a Stranger Things fan among us also made it extra fun. read more

Had a great time on Father's day with a big team. First time in a room with some vr/ar which was a nice but if extra fun for the kids. Game was fun and challenging. Very tech heavy with lots of touch screens, but personally prefer a but more hidden tech. Everyone had fun! Thanks! read more

I had the best time. Staff was very friendly and the activity was thought provoking and intense down to the last second. I'm definitely coming back. read more

We had an amazing time at the Alchemist yesterday - our party of four got on the leaderboard! Really immersive story, clean transitions, logical next steps, above and beyond any other Escape room I have done. Excellent set design and a pair of awesome and welcoming Game Masters. Will be booking the Patient next! read more

great time! Staff was very friendly and room was a fun game. Brayden was hilarious and made our experience a real treat! Highly Recommend the patient room! read more

First time doing VR escape room. the training before starting the game was super helpful. Game master John was awesome. We will be back to try the others. read more