The Marlowe Hotel

Overwhelmingly positive (466 ratings)

The Cipher Room Newtown

Escape room
IRL

Mark as done to rate

Step into your own black and white, film noir adventure! You are a private investigator in 1950's New York. One day you receive a letter from Betty McGee - a singer at the notorious Marlowe Hotel. She informs you that the gangster kingpin and hotel owner, Eddie Marlowe, is trying to blackmail her with incriminating material. She needs you to break in and retrieve the documents. You know Eddie is bad news, but you agree to take the case. What secrets await you inside the hotel? How will you locate the photos? What do you really know about Eddie Marlowe? Game located in Sydney, Australia

2-8
60 mins
Expert
Not scary

Awards

Ratings

All (466)

Overwhelmingly positive

Gameplay: Overwhelmingly positive

Atmosphere: Overwhelmingly positive

Customer service: Overwhelmingly positive

Reviews

etphonehome

13 escape rooms

Magical and slightly surreal atmosphere from the moment you open your eyes transported into another world.

Gameplay

Atmosphere

Beautiful scenic design and soundscape

Atmosphere

Beautiful scenic design and soundscape

Customer service

Particularly interesting or different

Yes

Particularly interesting or different

Yes

Story

Difficulty

Medium

Difficulty

Medium

Game tech

Mechanical

Game tech

Mechanical

Ideal number of players

Scary

Not scary

Scary

Not scary

Minimum age

Was anything broken?

Live actors

Physically active

Not at all

Physically active

Not at all

Easy to find location

Yes

Easy to find location

Yes

Parking

Medium

Street parking

Parking

Medium

Street parking

Nov 19, 2025

PercyMunday13

10 escape rooms

Had a great time in this room, a real challenge. Was incredible theming and atmosphere

Gameplay

Enjoyed the flow from outside to inside

Atmosphere

Absolutely loved the black and white. So well done

Customer service

I wish there was a meh button rather than thumbs up or thumbs down. Our game master wasn’t bad but we also left feeling like we were a ‘burden’ the intro stuff was very bland and the hint we were given when we asked wasn’t super helpful. We ended up guessing puzzle and after the same the game master was very bland and the way they talked to us brought down the vibe. We felt like we had been a burden somehow

Particularly interesting or different

Yes

The black and white is really what made it different

Story

Difficulty

Hard

Scary

Not scary

Nov 19, 2025 | Experienced Oct 30, 2025

wombat22

16 escape rooms

Super well themed, very fun puzzles. Satisfying and challenging experience - would recommend embracing the black and white aesthetic and dressing the part for the room.

Gameplay

Atmosphere

Customer service

Ideal number of players

Aug 22, 2025

corky

13 escape rooms

Cipher Room are in a league of their own so compared to their other rooms this one is pretty meh. Compared to anywhere else it would be top tier. Their other rooms have more spark and intrigue compared to this one.