Disclosure: I may earn a small commission from the companies or products mentioned in this post.
“The Crystal Maze on Crystal Meth”
This is the interesting quote Homemade Mysteries use to lure you into Lady Chastity’s Reserve Escape Room… and it’s certainly not wrong.
Hidden inside a regular pub in Farringdon, you must pass by the groups of revellers enjoying after work drinks with colleagues, and climb up the stairs to a secret room on the 3rd floor. The unsuspecting location, and lack of obvious signposting in the pub, really adds to the mysterious feel of the room.
Here you are greeted by Gabriel, your host from times past, who will summon you into the room and have you fully immersed in the experience from the second you arrive.
After signing you in on a magic machine from the future (an IPad), you are told the haunting, and somewhat entertaining, story of Lady Chastity – the socialite party-thrower, with a seedy way of encouraging her guests to enjoy her soirées, who eventually came to a rather dark end.
So finally your team is thrown into her private room with only torches to find your way around. You must solve the clues and puzzles, mixed among her strange collection of belongings, to search for the final bottle of her infamous aphrodisiac wine.
The Verdict
I won’t ruin too much, but all I can say is that Lady Chastity’s Reserve isn’t just your standard escape room. The elements of mystery, comedy and immersive theatre certainly make this experience stand out from the crowd. And with some sordid stories and nerve-wracking moments, it’s easy to see why the game is for those 18+ only.
The puzzles are challenging but not too difficult once you really get into the swing of things. We struggled a little to begin with, but luckily you can ask for Gabriels help up to 3 times throughout the hour which certainly helped. With just over 5 minutes left we managed to retrieve the wine and escape the room back into the calm of the downstairs pub.
Oh, and did I mention that you get to keep the bottle of Lady Chastity’s Reserve wine to calm your nerves afterwards? However, fortunately/unfortunately (delete as appropriate), this bottle doesn’t actually contain the rumoured aphrodisiac properties!
* This experience was organised by Love Pop-Ups London and hosted by Homemade Mysteries, however, all opinions are entirely my own.
Visit Lady Chastity’s Reserve Escape Room:
Emily is a born and raised London girl, starting life in the north of the capital then moving down to Fulham in the southwest. She has a master’s degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology from University College London and now works full-time running this blog and as a freelance travel writer, splitting her life between London and travelling the world as a digital nomad.
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Was a very fun escape room. Loved the fact even more so that we won.