Hijinx Hotel Bday Fun

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👩🏻‍🦰 So, here I was, facing the dreaded reality of turning another year older. Cue the melodramatic music and the existential crisis. But hey, what better way to drown out the sound of my own aging than by diving (literally - there’s a ball pit) into an adventure-packed day at Hijinx Hotel?

It just so happens that 3 out of 4 of the ladies in my main girl squad (one of those being me) are all born in February. So, we decided that the Hijinx Hotel was the perfect spot for a joint birthday bash like no other.

If you haven’t heard of the Hijinx Hotel, it is not a place where you book a room for the night. It is an immersive interactive game experience in the style of a quirky New York hotel. The rooms all contain different challenges that you have to work with your teammates together to get good scores. Hijinx is perfect for groups, and would be great for a date or a day out with a mate.

From the moment we entered Hijinx Hotel, it felt like stepping into another world. The vibrant colours, quirky decor, and friendly staff had us in the mood for some fun. We grabbed a quick drink at the bar while waiting for the rooms to free up, and the food menu looked amazing, I’ll definitely be back for a feed next time!

Anyway, when they were ready for us we headed through the elevator into the ‘hotel’ hallway and received our briefing and room card to enter our first challenge room. I would say that the first room was one of my favourites - you had to answer questions about things that were in the cute animal mural painted on all the walls. Like this:

Without giving too much away, there’s a bunch of different throwing and physical challenges, as well as some that test your mental acuity - and your friendships!

The rubix cube room where we had to remember increasingly long sequences and work together to get the order right had us at each other’s throats.

Ironically enough, we got the high score for the day in that room! When we exited, our host said that she was worried we weren’t coming out as friends because she could hear us yelling (and yes, probably swearing) at each other from outside the room haha!

My only complaint would be that the rooms are so Insta-worthy but there is no time (or lighting) to hang around and take pics in them. They are all so pretty, colourful, and fun. Every time we opened a new door the scenes in front of our eyes were met with ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s. And we had FAR too much fun in the ball pit rooms - there were two!

We laughed (most of the time), we strategised, and we absolutely smashed it overall, having the highest score overall for our hosts’ shift that day.

But Hijinx Hotel isn't just about puzzles – it's about the memories you make along the way. Between the bouts of laughter and triumphant high-fives, we dove into ball pits, giggled like school girls as we slid down slides, laughed at each other’s failures, and celebrated the bond that brought us together and had us remaining close friends some 10 years later.

I tell you what though, by the end of it, we were all sweaty, tired messes. It really reinforced the not-so-glamorous side of aging with the realisation that maybe, just maybe, I'm not as spry as I used to be. Case in point: the throwing challenges left me with sore arms for days afterwards. If you’re not particularly spritely, you might find some of the challenges, well, challenging. But don’t let that deter you, because getting older may be inevitable, but who says we can't have a little fun along the way?

Have you visited Hijinx Hotel? Let us know below in the comments!